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ii. Decree Law 600 (“Decreto Ley 600”)
Decree Law 600 (1974), the Foreign Investment Statute, is a voluntary and special investment regime.
As an alternative to the common regime for the entry of capital into Chile, potential investors may apply to the Foreign Investment Committee to be subject to the regime set out in Decree Law 600.
The obligations and commitments contained in the Trade in Services Chapter and in this Annex do not apply to Decree Law 600, Foreign Investment Statute, Law 18.657 Foreign Capital Investment Funds Law, to the continuation or prompt renewal of such laws, to amendments to those laws or to any special and / or voluntary investment regime that may be adopted in the future by Chile.
For greater certainty, it is understood that the Foreign Investment Committee of Chile has the right to reject applications to invest through Decree Law 600 and Law 18.657. Additionally, the Foreign Investment Committee has the right to regulate the terms and conditions of foreign investment under the aforementioned Decree Law 600 and Law 18.657.
iii. Original ethnic groups
Nothing in this Schedule may be understood as limiting the right to adopt measures establishing rights or preferences to original ethnic groups.
iv. Commercial Presence (mode 3))
This Schedule applies only to the following types of commercial presence for foreign investors: sociedades anónimas abiertas y cerradas (public corporations open or closed), sociedades de responsabilidad limitada (private-limited companies), and agencias de sociedades extranjeras (subsidiaries).
Real estate acquisitions and the performance of other legal acts in border areas must comply with the provisions of the relevant legislation, which is unbound for the purposes of this Schedule. The border area is defined as land situated within a distance of 10 km from the border and up to 5 km from the coast and the province of Arica.
v. Movement of natural persons (mode 4))
Unbound, except for transfers of natural persons within a foreign enterprise established in Chile, in accordance to commercial presence, of senior and specialized personnel who have been employed by the organization for a period of at least two years immediately preceding the date of their application for admission, performing the same type of duties in the parent company of their country of origin. In any case, foreign natural persons may not represent more than 15% of the total staff employed in Chile, when the employer hires more than 25 persons.
Senior personnel are those executives who come under the direct supervision of the board of directors of the enterprise established in Chile and who, inter alia:
· conduct the management of the organization or one of its departments or subdivisions;
· supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees;
· are personally authorized to hire and fire or recommend hiring or firing or any other measure related to personnel.
Specialized personnel are those highly qualified persons who are indispensable to the supply of the service because of their professional knowledge or:
· possession of qualifications for a particular type of work or activity requiring specialized technical expertise;
· essential knowledge for the supply of the service, research equipment, techniques or management; and
· the non-availability of such specialized personnel in Chile.
The category of senior and specialized personnel does not include the members of the board of directors of a company established in Chile.
For all legal purposes, senior and specialized personnel must establish domicile or residence in Chile. Providers of services are admitted temporarily, for a period of two years, extendable to two more years. Personnel admitted under these conditions will be subject to the provisions of the labor and social security legislation in force.
The temporary presence of natural persons includes also the following categories :
a) A natural person seeking temporary entry, for the purpose of participating in business meetings, performing market or investment studies, generating business contacts or participating in negotiations related to the supply of services in the future, including the setting up of a business or enterprise in the territory of Chile. Temporary entry shall be granted when the business visitor: a) does not perceive remuneration in Chile; b) is not involved in making direct sales to the public; c) does not personally supply a service.
b) Persons working in a senior position, as defined above, within a legal person, who are responsible for setting up in Chile a commercial presence of a service provider of China when:
- the representatives are not engaged in making direct sale or supplying services; and
- the service provider has its principal place of business in the territory of China and has no other representative, office, branch or subsidiary in China .
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