Children Taken To or From Chile: Hague Convention, Exit Permits and Moving Abroad

Taking a child out of Chile

• If day-to-day care has not been entrusted by a judge to one parent, the child cannot leave without the authorization of both parents. If it was entrusted to one, the child leaves with that parent's authorization; if the court also decreed visitation with the other parent, the law requires that parent's authorization too (Law 16.618, art. 49; BCN Ley Fácil; ChileAtiende, entry 76194).
• The authorization is recorded in a public deed or a private document certified by a notary, and is not required if the child travels with the person who must give it.
• If the other parent cannot give it or refuses without a plausible reason, the Family Court of the child's domicile may grant it, considering the benefit of the trip and setting the period (Law 19.968, art. 8 No. 10).

More on this permit, and on what happens if the child does not return, in our guide to visitation with a parent abroad.

Moving abroad with the child

The law does not expressly regulate a permanent move of a child abroad. What is regulated is the temporary exit permit (article 49 of the Minors Law) and the determination of day-to-day care and visitation, which the judge sets based on the child's best interests, weighing among other criteria the emotional bond with both parents, the parents' domiciles and the child's opinion, without being able to rely only on the parents' financial capacity (Civil Code, arts. 225 and 225-2; ChileAtiende, entry 310). Before suing over day-to-day care or visitation, prior mediation is generally required, with the exceptions set by law (Law 19.968, art. 106).

The 1980 Hague Convention

• In force. Chile is a party to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, (Decree 386, 1994; HCCH).
• What is wrongful. A removal or retention that breaches custody rights under the law of the child's habitual residence; the Convention stops applying at age 16 (Convention text, arts. 3 and 4).
• Time limit. If less than one year has passed since the wrongful removal or retention when proceedings start, the authority orders immediate return; after that, return is still ordered unless the child has settled in the new environment (art. 12).
• Narrow exceptions. Return may be refused, for example, for later consent or acquiescence, grave risk of physical or psychological harm, or the objection of a child of sufficient age and maturity (art. 13).

Procedure in Chile

The Central Authority in Chile is the International Office of the Corporación de Asistencia Judicial of the Metropolitan Region, which files and litigates return requests received from abroad and also handles cases of children taken from Chile (ChileAtiende, entry 343). The court procedure is governed by the Supreme Court Auto Acordado (Acta 22-2024), which replaced the 2015 rules:

• a single hearing is set within the fifth working day;
• while it is pending, proceedings on the merits of custody are suspended (Supreme Court Acta 22-2024; Convention, art. 16).

What to do if the child was taken to Chile

What we do not claim

• A guaranteed total duration of the procedure: there is no official source.
• Relocation as a specific legal figure: there is no express rule on permanent departure; the court applies the general criteria.
• Whether Chile is a party to other child protection conventions (1996 Hague Convention, inter-American convention) or how the criminal offense of child abduction operates: we have not verified this with enough official sources.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources consulted

Spanish terms you will see