Foreigners cannot own land that is within a distance of 10 km from the border and 5 km from the coast. The Ministry of Defence can extraordinarily authorise the foreign ownership of land within a distance of 5 km from the coast in some cases. For the purposes of the OECD FDI RR Index, the restriction on access to land in border areas by foreigners and foreign-owned entities is assumed for national security purposes and, hence, not considered a restrictive measure under the index; the restriction on access to land in proximity to the coast is, however, considered a restriction under the index and assumed to affect only accommodation, food service and real estate investment activities.
"Article 6.- Public lands located up to a distance of 10 kilometers, measured from the border, may only be obtained as property, lease or under any other title, by Chilean natural or legal persons.
The same rule will be applied with respect to public lands located up to 5 kilometers from the coast, measured from the highest tide line. In the latter case, however, these benefits may be granted to foreigners domiciled in Chile, after a favorable report from the Undersecretariat of the Navy of the Ministry of National Defense. However, the public beach lands may not be alienated in any way, within a strip of 80 meters wide measured from the highest tide line of the coast of the coast, which will only be subject to acts of administration by the said Undersecretariat of the Ministry of National Defense and subject to the restrictions established in this article.
However, the public beach lands that are located in the X Region, Los Lagos, in the XI Region, Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, and in the XII Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica may be transferred in ownership to individuals. Chilean natural or non-profit legal persons. Disposals will be arranged in accordance with the rules of this decree-law, with a prior favorable report from the Commander in Chief of the Navy, and the acquirer must reside in the respective region in the manner and conditions determined by the corresponding Regulatory Decree. Said lands, during a period of 10 years, counted from the registration of the respective domain, may only be transferred by act between living in qualified cases, with a prior favorable report from the Ministry of National Assets and authorization from the Commander in Chief of the Navy. Within the specified period, the competent Real Estate Curator may not register any transfer that does not include the aforementioned report and authorization.
Likewise, within this period, the purchaser of the fiscal land may not enter into any contract that deprives him of the possession, use and enjoyment of the property, unless authorized by the Ministry of National Assets granted for well-founded reasons.
Any transfer of these lands by succession due to death, and those made after the term indicated in the previous paragraph, whether free or onerous, must be communicated by the Real Estate Curator corresponding to the Commander in Chief of the Navy , within a period of 30 days, counted from the date of registration. The provisions of the third paragraph of article 4 of this decree-law will be applicable in case of non-compliance by the Real Estate Curator, of the aforementioned obligation.
Exceptionally, by means of a founded supreme decree and prior report of the Commander in Chief of the Navy, land of public beaches, located within the 80-meter wide strip, referred to in the second paragraph of this article, may be transferred to legal persons Chilean non-profit organizations, whose object is the cultivation and propagation of letters or the arts, being forbidden, in any case, to tax or dispose of them in whole or in part.
The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the rules that govern border areas and other special provisions on the matter.
Article 7.- For reasons of national interest, it is prohibited to acquire the domain and other real rights or to exercise the possession or possession of real estate located totally or partially in the zones of the national territory, currently declared border by virtue of the decree with force of law N ° 4, of 1967, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to nationals of bordering countries unless there is authorization provided for in the third paragraph of this article.
The prohibition referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be extended to companies or legal persons with headquarters in the neighboring country, or whose capital belongs 40% or more to nationals of the same country or whose effective control is in the hands of nationals. of those countries. This provision shall not govern with respect to the real estate referred to in article 19 of Law No. 19,420.
The President of the Republic, by means of a supreme decree based on reasons of national interest, may expressly and by name exempt nationals of neighboring countries from the preceding prohibition and authorize them to acquire or transfer the domain or other real rights or possession or possession. of one or more specific properties, located in border areas.
The respective decree will be issued through the Ministry of the Interior and must also be signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defense, having to consult within its foundations, reports of the General Staff of National Defense and the Directorate of Borders and Limits. of the State.
The aforementioned authorizations will not confer privilege of any kind, and cannot be invoked, under any pretext, to evade Chilean laws and the jurisdiction of national courts.[...]" (Decree-Law no. 1939 on Rules on Acquisition, Administration and Use of Goods of the State (10 November 1977), last amended on 14 February 2019, Articles 6 and 7 [google translation])
Decree-Law no. 1939 on Rules on Acquisition, Administration and Use of Goods of the State (10 November 1977), last amended on 14 February 2019, Articles 6 and 7
[<a href="https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=6778">Decree-Law</a>]