Apostille and legalisation of foreign documents to open a company in Chile

Almost every foreign investment process in Chile involves documents issued outside the country: powers of attorney, good-standing certificates for the parent company, board resolutions, passports. For a Chilean notary, the Commercial Registry or the SII to accept those documents, they first need to go through one of two paths: an apostille or consular legalisation. Confusing the two, or skipping the correct one, is one of the most common causes of delay in incorporations handled from abroad.

Apostille: the short path

Chile is party to the 1961 Hague Convention, in force in the country since 30 August 2016. Among the more than 120 member countries, the apostille replaces traditional legalisation: it’s a single certificate, issued by the competent authority in the country of origin, that validates the document’s authenticity so it’s directly recognised in Chile, with no further steps.

If the country where the document was issued — a power of attorney, for example — is party to the convention, the apostille alone is enough. There’s no need to also go through the Chilean consulate in that country.

Consular legalisation: the long path

When the country of origin is not party to the Hague Convention, the document must follow the traditional legalisation process, which has more steps:

1. Certification by the competent authority in the country of origin.
2. Legalisation before the Chilean Consulate corresponding to that country.
3. Once in Chile, submission to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for final recognition.

This path takes longer and usually requires direct coordination with the consulate, so it’s worth planning for extra time if the country of origin isn’t a convention member.

Documents that typically require an apostille or legalisation

To incorporate a company or establish an agency in Chile from abroad, the documents that most often need this step are:

• The power of attorney authorising a representative in Chile to incorporate the company, process the RUT, or represent the parent.
• A good-standing certificate or certificate of legal existence for the foreign company.
• The parent company’s bylaws or articles of association, when its structure needs to be evidenced.
• Board or shareholder resolutions authorising the Chilean operation.
• Identity documents of the representatives, when the specific procedure requires it.

A detail that’s easy to overlook: translation

An apostille or legalisation certifies the document’s authenticity — not its language. If the document isn’t in Spanish, most Chilean procedures also require a translation, which in some cases must be done by an official translator or certified before a Chilean notary. It’s worth confirming this requirement before signing abroad, since the exact wording of the power of attorney — and its translation — is what gets reviewed once it reaches Chile.

Why this isn’t an isolated step

The apostille or legalisation is usually the first real bottleneck in a remote incorporation: without a correctly apostilled power of attorney, the deed can’t be signed in Chile, and without the signed deed, neither the incorporation nor the investor RUT can move forward. That’s why it pays to resolve this step in parallel with defining the corporate structure, not after the structure has already been decided.

This article provides general information about apostille and legalisation of foreign documents. It does not constitute legal advice for a specific case; exact requirements depend on the document’s country of origin and the Chilean institution it’s presented to. Izquierdo Deramond Consultores is a private and independent firm and does not represent the Government of Chile or any public authority.

Need to coordinate powers of attorney or documents from abroad? Book an initial assessment or see Invest in Chile.