Month: May 2013

Travelogue: Chiloé

Chiloé is a large island in Chile’s south right near Puerto Montt. It’s got its own culture and was one of the last places in Chile I hadn’t been.

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Although LAN just added a new flight into Castro, I decided to fly into Puerto Montt to check out the city, then take the bus to Castro. I left on Friday, arrived into Puerto Montt, took the bus from the airport to the bus terminal and walked around the harbor. It’s clearly a port town, a bit run down near the bus station, but I had some good food. I’m not sure I’d spend much time there if I had more time in the south, but it was worth seeing. I got on the bus and settled into the four hour trek to Castro.

After about an hour, the bus reached the channel that separates Chiloe from mainland Chile. Apparently this straight has one of the strongest currents in the world, but I didn’t feel a thing on the ferry. I got into Castro late at night and walked from the bus station to Palafito del Mar, a newly renovated hotel built in a palafito, or house with stilts, right on the water. It might be a bit expensive if you book directly, but I found a discount on booking.com.

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Church in Castro

Chiloe’s economy is based on fishing, potatoes and timber. In the summer its overrun with tourists, but when I went in April, there were hardly any tourists. The first day was cloudy and windy, but I ventured out anyway going to Dalcahue where I checked out the local artesental market and ate a traditional curanto. Curanto is a mix of sausage, chicken, pork and just about every kind of seafood you can think of cooked in broth and served with two potato based starches. The sunday lunch style meal is cooked by digging a hole in the ground, heading up stones, putting in the food, then covering it with thick leaves and left to cook. Unfortunately I was there on a Saturday so I had curanto made in a pan, but it was incredibly good. The fresh seafood was a welcome chance from Santiago’s cuisine.

I spent the rest of the day taking buses between Chilotan towns, exploring coffee shops, old town squares and the famous wooden churches. Chilotan houses are generally built out of wood and so are the massive, brightly painted churches. Everything is slower, people are nice and happy to chat for a long time. The coffee shop on the main square, right near the church, in Dalcahue is a welcome suprise. The level of cuisine in Chiloé is so much better than in Santiago and the service is impecable.

At night, I ate at El Mercadito, a locally sourced restaurant owned by some Santiagino translants. The food was great and left me wanting so much more in Santiago. Seriously, if you took Chilotan service and food and brought it to Santiago, the place would be full all the time and I’d be there a few times per week. The closest comparison is a few restaurants and cafes in Barrio Italia in Santiago.

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I loved the arquitecture, the clean, crisp air, the incredible food and all of the people who are just happy to chat for as long as you’d like. I would have liked to stay longer, especially during the summer (outside of February) when the weather is nicer. But I could see spending a month there writing, hiking, eating good food and working on a new project.

Introducing Exosphere: The New Entrepreneurial Community in Santiago

I’m excited to finally share Exosphere, a project I’ve been working on for the past few months. Located in the beautifully restored Palacio Concha, Exosphere is a community for entrepreneurs and creatives who want to take control of their lives and support themselves via their own projects. Whether you already have a business and want to use coworking, or just have an idea and need mentors or someone to share your day to day struggles, Exosphere is the place for you.

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Exosphere is special because it’s not just another coworking space, although you can use it that way. It’s special because of Exosphere founder Skinner Layne’s overarching vision. He wants to change education, entrepreneurship and at the base of it all, empower people achieve their dreams and break free from having to work for a big company their entire lives.

His vision is the following: most people have the potential ability to create their own business, but most lack the tools and the entrepreneurial push to actually get started and then have success. He believes that you can teach entrepreneurship. That people will have success if they have real community around them. People to share ideas. People to share failures. To keep them motivated. To share contacts. To find business partners. And foster success.

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I know it sounds like a massive goal, but I believe Skinner and his growing team can do it. I first met Skinner in 2010 when I first got to Santiago.  Skinner sent my business partner Jesse an email seeing if we wanted to meet another gringo who’d moved to Chile and we quickly became good friends, helping each other out with business challenges. When I first met Skinner, he was working on a ton of projects in parallel. About a year ago when he first got the idea for exosphere, I saw a change. He dropped all of his other projects. Our weekly meeting turned into brainstorming sessions about education, entrepreneurship, the future of work and empowering individuals. That’s when I knew he was onto something big. When he invited me to be on their board, I knew I had to do it.

Skinner’s persuaded his cofounders Antonio Manno and Amit Sonawane to come to Chile and a flood of foreign entrepreneurial talent has followed. The first entrepreneurs and mentors are already starting to work out of Exosphere. It’s opening as a coworking space this Friday. Foreigners are moving from multiple countries around the world just to be a part of Exosphere. Mentorship, community and entrepreneurial education will start next month.

Skinner, Antonio, Amit and the rest of Exosphere are trying to change the world. One life at a time. It’s going to be fun to watch them try. You can follow their progress on their Exosphere Blog, Facebook and read some of Skinner’s essays on his personal blog.

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If you’d like more information, please contact me. And if you’d like to go to the party, post a comment at the end of this blog.

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Public Radio International Interview About Startup Chile

Public Radio International’s America Abroad interviewed me this week for a segment called Attracting Global Talent to Ireland and Chile (listen here)The program focuses on what the US can learn about foreign programs that are attracting immigrant entrepreneurs. The first part is about an Irish program called High Potential Startup Funding which gives entrepreneurs investment to create their business, while the second part is where I come in, talking about Startup Chile. My parts starts at about 9:15 of the program and my favorite quote is at 17:00.

In about minute 14, the program interviews Professor Veronique De Rugy from George Mason University who says government should stay out of entrepreneurship because they pick winners and create an uneven playing field. She cites examples like politicly connected Solyndra to pan programs like Ireland and Chile’s programs. I agree governments shouldn’t pick winners, but her examples are actually supporting Startup Chile.

Solyndra got $535m in guaranteed loans. The whole goal of Startup Chile is to not invest billons in loan guarantees, research parks and other investments that as De Rugy put it are “crappy investments,” but rather to invest in thousands of companies, change the ecosystem and attract smart foreigners to Chile.

For the Solyndra money, the US could have run Startup Chile for 130 years! Imagine empowering individual small entrepreneurs instead of big politicly connected companies. That’s not picking winners. As I said in the interview, “its one of the cheapest and most cost effective government programs out there” because nearly all of the money gets recycled into the Chilean economy.

How To Apply for Chilean Permanent Residence Visa

Chile just approved my Permanencia Definitiva or permanent residence yesterday so I thought I’d share the steps you need to take you successfully get your visa. If you’re looking for temporary chilean visa info, check my previous post.

The entire process takes 6-7 months from when you first apply to when it’s granted or denied. They accept english applications, but in my opinion it makes sense to translate everything. If your spanish is bad, pay someone to translate your application.

Step 1 – Review Previous Visa Requirements

You must have already had a temporary visa for at least one year and have spent at least six months of that temporary visa in Chile. If you don’t meet this criteria, you must apply for another temporary visa. You’re only able to apply for a temporary visa twice, after that you must apply for a permanent residence. If you don’t meet the previous visa requirements, the extranjeria tells you you should apply for the permanent residence anyway and then appeal if it’s denied.

Step 2 – Review Application deadlines

You can first apply 90 days before your temporary visa expires. Do this as early as possible to minimize time you have with an expired carnet. More on this later.

Step 3 –  Go to Extranjeria website to pick your visa type

If you have your own business, Inversionista is likely the best one for you, but there are many other options. If you get confused or don’t know which one best fits your criteria, go to extranjeria in person and ask. They were very helpful every time I went and had questions.

Step 4 – Review the requirements.

Here’s the requirements for Inversionista. You can find the rest of the requirements for permanent visas here.

Step 5 – Fill out forms

Download the current Residencia Definitiva document (pdf) from Extranjeria and fill it out.

Step 6 – Get Certificado de Antecedentes from Registro Civil

You can do this online if you’ve already registered in the system or you have to go to a Registro Civil in person.

Step 7 – Get Certificado de Viajes from Policia de Investigaciones (PDI)

This document shows how long you’ve been out of the country during your last visa. Go to PDI offices at Morandé 672. This tramite costs CLP$800 and you usually have to wait at least an hour, sometimes more. It’s open from 830-1400.

Step 8  – Get all your paperwork

  • Copy of both sides of your carnet
  • Copy of certificado de registro. You can use your certificado from last year or pay another CLP$800 from the PDI to get a new one when you’re getting your certificado de viajes.
  • Copy of your passport with all ID pages and any pages with Chilean visas or stamps. I just copied the entire thing.
  • Three 3×2 color photos with your name and rut

Step 9 – Write your personal statement

You need to write a personal statement why you’d like to stay in Chile. I included my resume, everything I’ve done in Chile, any press clippings from Chilean newspapers and my plans to stay in Chile, plus bank information showing that I would not become dependent on the state if they granted me the visa. My packet was about 15 pages long and the clerk in Extranjeria told me it was more than enough. Most people write a page and that’s it.

Step 10 – Get business documentation (if Inversionista)

If you’re doing the Inversionista visa for your own company or if you are an independent contractor you need to prove you are making money and have assets in Chile. You’ll need:

  • Copy of operating agreement (Escritura) of your Chilean company
  • Certificado de inicio de actividades from SII
  • Your company’s last 8 IVA payments
  • Your company’s last “balance tributario”
  • Your company’s last “declaracion de renta”
  • Proof you’ve paid your company’s patente
  • Proof that you actually own stock in the company

If you’re doing it as an independent contractor (emits boletas), you need to prove the same things as above, but with your own personal records.

Step 11 (optional) – Take everything to Extranjeria for a review

The clerks at Extranjeria are happy to go through your paperwork with you and tell you if everything is in order. I did this and realized I was missing a form, so for me it was worth it.

Step 12 – Mail all of this via Correo Certificado to:

SEÑORES:
SOLICITUD PERMANENCIA DEFINITIVA
CLASIFICADOR N° 8
CORREO CENTRAL
SANTIAGO

Step 13 – Wait for “Visa en Tramite” temporary 6 month visa.

Extranjeria says it will take 45 days and mine took exactly 45 days. If your old visa has expired (like mine did), you cannot reenter Chile on your old visa and must pay for a tourist visa if you enter before you get your “visa en tramite” paper work. You can check on your progress on the extranjeria autoconsulta website. Once you’re approved as “en tramite” you can print off your form which allows you to travel on your temporary six month visa.

Note: you must bring that paper with you if you travel, as your carnet will be expired. Make sure you have it on your person, not in your luggage. I made this mistake once and had to convince someone from my flight to get my backpack from baggage claim for me while I was waiting with a PDI agent who was mocking me the entire time.

You will get a letter from Extranjeria that says that your visa is “en tramite” and that you’re allowed to do any legal activity that you used to be able to do on your old visa, but no Chilean entity actually recognizes it, including:

  • Entel
  • VTR
  • Movistar
  • Claro
  • SII
  • Banks
  • Anywhere that requires a valid carnet

Basically you can’t do anything in Chile with your letter because nobody recognizes it. This was the most frustrating part of being between visas. I was carnetless from Nov 15th, 2012 until May 17th, 2013. If you have any official business, get it done before your carnet expires or else you’re screwed.

Step 14 – Pay application fee

You have to pay a fee, depending on the visa your applied for, via bank check at any bank. Mine was ~$50.000 and I had to go in person to my bank to pay.

Step 15 – Wait for approval or denial

It took me another five months before I was approved. You can check again on the extranjeria autoconsulta website for news.

Step 16 – Go to Extranjeria with your visa acceptance form, carnet and passport and get your permanent visa

Step 17 – Go to PDI to register your address and get your certificado de residencia definitiva (CLP$800).

Step 18 – Go to registro civil to get your carnet (CLP$4.050)

Step 19 – Wait two weeks and go back to the registro civil to pick up  your carnet

Step 20 – Drink a piscola to celebrate being a Chilean permanent residence and being done with all of these tramites!

Once you have the visa, you must either visit Chile once per year or you must go to an embassy once per year to renew your visa. If you go the embassy route, you’ll need to come back to Chile once every four years to keep your visa valid, or else you lose it.

Note: please review each step on your own, this is the process I used in 2012/2013 and may change without notice.

Looking for more high quality information about Chile? Check out my book Chile: The Expat’s Guide:

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