Documents to Ship to Chile: Requirements and Process

Quick Answer: Cargo from the USA to Chile clears with five core documents: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin when preference is claimed, and a mandato authorizing the Chilean customs agent to file the DIN. With AB Group Shipping, a 20 ft container from Miami starts at $1,080 (September 2026 quote), 24 days port to port.

The paperwork, not the vessel, decides how fast your cargo leaves San Antonio. The price table under this answer updates itself each month, so always check it against the September 2026 figures quoted in this guide.

What documents do I need to ship to Chile?

Quick Answer: Servicio Nacional de Aduanas lists five documents for a commercial import: the commercial invoice, the packing list, the bill of lading or air waybill, a certificate of origin when preference is claimed, and a mandato that authorizes the Chilean customs agent to file the import declaration.

That list comes straight from Aduanas' own guidance, ¿Qué debo hacer para importar una mercancía? (16 November 2020). Everything else your file carries supports those five. Get them right and clearance becomes routine.

Each document has a different author. Knowing who produces what stops the last-minute scramble before cut-off.

• Commercial invoice (factura comercial) — issued by the US seller or exporter.
• Packing list — issued by the seller or the warehouse that loaded the cargo.
• Bill of lading or air waybill — issued by the ocean carrier or the NVOCC.
• Certificate of origin — issued at origin, needed only when a tariff preference is claimed.
• Mandato — signed by the Chilean importer, authorizing the agente de aduanas to file the DIN.

Your customs agent will usually ask for more. The consignee RUT, the insurance certificate and any product permit all travel with the file in practice, even though Aduanas does not list them in that same answer. Confirm your own document set with a licensed Chilean customs agent before you book.

Household goods take a different road. Under Partida 0009 the formalities are the original bill of lading or air waybill, a list of the personal effects, menaje and work tools with the US$ value of each item, and the passport or certificado de viajes issued by the PDI. Returning Chileans also present the papeleta de recepción, an identity document and the V°B° of SAG or the health service where it applies. If you are relocating rather than importing stock, start with our Moving to Chile Cost Calculator: Instant Quotes (2026).

Documents by stage: origin, transit, destination

Most holds trace back to one missing piece at one stage. The table below shows who owns each document and what breaks without it.

Two bills of lading usually exist on one shipment. The master B/L is issued by the ocean carrier to the NVOCC. The house B/L is issued by the NVOCC to you, the shipper. Your consignee releases cargo against the house B/L, not the master.

Then there is the release method. A telex release means the originals were surrendered at origin, and the destination agent can hand over cargo without paper. If you insist on original B/Ls and courier them to Santiago, a lost envelope leaves a paid-for container sitting at San Antonio while storage runs. Telex release removes that risk on most commercial shipments.

How do you prepare the commercial invoice and packing list for Chilean customs?

Quick Answer: The commercial invoice should identify the seller and the buyer and describe the goods line by line with their value; confirm the exact fields your file needs with a licensed Chilean customs agent. The packing list repeats those lines with pieces, marks, net and gross weight, and dimensions. Both must match the bill of lading exactly.

Build the factura comercial field by field. A complete invoice is the single cheapest insurance against a retention.

• Invoice number and issue date
• Full legal name and address of seller and buyer
• Consignee RUT exactly as registered
• Line-by-line description — no generic wording
• HS code per line
• Unit price, quantity, line total, grand total
• Currency stated in words or ISO code
• Incoterms 2020 term with named place (FOB Miami, CIF San Antonio, FCA Houston, DAP Santiago)
• Country of origin per line

The declared value drives the whole tax calculation. Duty and IVA are built on the CIF value — cost plus insurance plus freight. That means your freight charge and your insurance premium have to be traceable on paper, not estimated in a phone call.

Insurance deserves a note most guides skip. Under Chapter 3 of the Compendio de Normas Aduaneras, if no insurance certificate or invoice exists, Customs simply estimates the premium at 2% of the FOB value when working out CIF. Insurance is not a condition for clearance in Chile. It is still worth buying, but its absence does not stop your container.

The packing list carries the physical truth of the shipment. It needs piece count, marks and numbers, net weight, gross weight and the dimensions of each pallet or crate. Chilean Customs compares those figures to the bill of lading. A gross weight that differs by a kilo from the B/L looks like an error to a system that flags errors for inspection.

What is the Declaración de Ingreso (DIN) and who files it?

Quick Answer: The Declaración de Ingreso is Chile's import declaration, regulated in Annex 18 of the Compendio de Normas Aduaneras. A licensed Chilean customs agent files it on the importer's behalf using the mandato, the commercial invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading. Duty and IVA are paid against it.

The DIN is the formal act of importing. Everything before it — the booking, the sailing, the arrival — is logistics. The DIN is the legal entry, and its format and content sit in Annex 18 of the Compendio de Normas (Servicio Nacional de Aduanas).

The mandato is what makes the filing lawful. It is the written authorization from the importer to the agente de aduanas. Without a signed mandato, no agent can act, no matter how complete the rest of the file is.

One threshold is worth knowing. A traveller may clear non-commercial goods without a customs agent up to US$4,050, according to the Aduanas page Equipaje de Viajero y Viajera, read in October 2026. Older Aduanas pages still show US$1,500 and US$3,000, so check the current figure before relying on it.

Vehicle imports also require the DIN (Compendio de Normas, Anexo 18). There is no shortcut for a car, and none for machinery.

Does the Chilean consignee need a RUT to receive the cargo?

Quick Answer: In practice yes. The RUT is Chile's tax identification number, and customs agents generally ask for the consignee's tax number to prepare the DIN. Foreign residents without one should confirm the alternative with a licensed Chilean customs agent before shipping.

RUT stands for Rol Único Tributario, Chile's tax number. RUN is the Rol Único Nacional, the national number for individuals. Your customs agent will confirm which identifier goes in the importer field of the DIN and on the commercial invoice consignee block.

Write the consignee block the same way on every document. Legal name exactly as registered, RUT, street address, comuna, región, phone and email. A mismatch between the bill of lading and the invoice — even a missing "S.A." — stalls the release while the agent files a correction.

Foreigners and new arrivals without a RUT have options, but Aduanas does not publish one single rule for the situation. Describe your case to a licensed Chilean customs agent before you ship, not after the container arrives.

Address format matters for the delivery leg and for every courier envelope. Chile uses street, number, apartment, comuna, región and a 7-digit postal code. A missing comuna is the most common reason a delivery fails in Santiago, where several comunas share street names.

Do US goods need a certificate of origin for Chile?

Quick Answer: Only when the importer claims a tariff preference. Aduanas lists the certificate of origin among the documents the customs agent needs when preference is claimed; without a claim, the shipment simply pays the general rate. The EU-Chile certificate applies only to EU goods and never covers US-origin cargo.

The rule is narrow and useful. Servicio Nacional de Aduanas names the certificate of origin in its import document list when preference is claimed. No claim, no certificate needed — the cargo pays the general rate and clears normally.

One error shows up constantly in files from US exporters. The EU-Chile Agreement certificate of origin applies only to EU goods (Subrei, Implementación Acuerdo Interino Chile-UE). It never covers US-origin goods imported into Chile. Sending that form with a Houston shipment wastes a day.

Have your customs agent confirm which claim and which wording apply to your US-origin goods. The duty treatment of US goods above USD 500 is not published on the official pages we verified, so this is a question for a licensed professional, not a blog.

• Manufacturer declaration naming the production country
• HS classification consistent across invoice, packing list and DIN
• Origin field on the invoice completed line by line

How much duty and IVA will your Chilean import pay?

Quick Answer: As a general rule Chilean imports pay 6% ad valorem duty on the CIF value and 19% IVA on the CIF value plus the duty. Where their import is authorized, used goods pay an additional surcharge of 50% on the duties that apply to them. Rates come from Aduanas, not from your freight quote.

Both rates come from the Aduanas page ¿Cuánto impuesto se paga al importar?. The general rule is 6% ad valorem on CIF and 19% IVA on CIF plus duty. The sequence matters: IVA is charged on a base that already includes the duty.

Used goods carry more. Where their import is authorized, they pay an additional surcharge of 50% on the duties that apply (Arancel Aduanero, Regla General Complementaria N° 3). Goods imported under Partida 0009 of Sección 0 are not subject to that surcharge.

Here is the math, shown step by step with every figure derived on the page:

1. Start with FOB value of USD 20,000.
2. Add ocean freight of USD 1,080 (a 20 ft from Miami, September 2026 quote).
3. Add insurance. With no certificate, Customs estimates 2% of FOB = USD 400.
4. Total CIF = 20,000 + 1,080 + 400 = USD 21,480.
5. Duty = 21,480 × 6% = USD 1,288.80.
6. IVA base = 21,480 + 1,288.80 = USD 22,768.80.
7. IVA = 22,768.80 × 19% = USD 4,326.07.
8. Duty + IVA = USD 5,614.87 on this example shipment.

Duty and IVA are not the only charges. Aduanas also names the Tasa de Almacenaje y Movilización de Mercancías and the Tasa de Verificación de Aforo. The verification fee by examination is published as a formula in the Compendio de Normas, Anexo 21 and Article 85 of the Ordenanza de Aduanas: 4% of import duties, never less than 0.5% of the customs value. No published amount was found for the storage and handling fee.

One 2025 change affects e-commerce rather than freight. The IVA Digital on online purchases under US$500 began on 25 October 2025 (Servicio Nacional de Aduanas). Send every tax question about your specific goods to a licensed Chilean customs agent or an international tax attorney — we quote freight, not duties.

Which shipments need a Visto Bueno from SAG, the health service or the DGMN?

Quick Answer: Alcohols, alcoholic drinks, vinegars and food of animal or plant origin need SAG approval. Pharmaceutical products need the health service's approval. Firearms, ammunition, explosives, chemical, flammable and asphyxiating substances and martial-arts implements need authorization from the Dirección General de Movilización Nacional. Missing permits stop the cargo at the port.

Three agencies control what enters Chile, and Aduanas names them in Productos que requieren autorización o Visto Bueno. Check your product list against them before you book space, not after.

• SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) — alcohols, alcoholic drinks, vinegars, and food of animal or plant origin.
• Health service — pharmaceutical products.
• DGMN (Dirección General de Movilización Nacional) — firearms, ammunition, explosives, chemical, flammable and asphyxiating substances, and martial-arts implements.

SAG casts a wide net. Animal products such as ham, sausages, cheese, yogurt, honey and animal feed must be declared. So must plant products: fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds, spices, woods and plant-based crafts. SAG inspectors block and destroy what may not enter.

Food is not banned as a block. In baggage, industrialized, labelled and factory-sealed dairy products may enter, and canned meat products may enter. Fresh or raw meat is prohibited (SAG Resolución Exenta N° 107, 10 January 2022). Medicines in baggage must be for personal use, in quantities suited to the stay, over the counter or with their prescription — otherwise they need prior authorization from the health service.

Documents vs merchandise: how courier envelopes differ from freight

Quick Answer: A document envelope and a box of goods follow different paperwork paths. Envelopes move on an air waybill with a declaration of no commercial value; merchandise needs a commercial or proforma invoice, a packing list and a DIN filed by a customs agent. Declaring goods as documents is the fastest way to a customs hold.

Even a document shipment deserves a complete proforma invoice. At a declared value of USD 1, the description, the printed-matter HS heading, the consignee RUT and the full Chilean address still have to be there. A blank field is a hold waiting to happen.

Incoterms matter even on an envelope. The Incoterm agreed with the buyer sets who is meant to pay Chilean duty and IVA. Having the sender pay them sounds generous until you realize it exposes a US seller to import-side liability in a country where it has no RUT. Confirm who pays with a licensed Chilean customs agent before shipping.

Apostille is a separate formality from customs. Chile is party to the Hague Convention, so diplomas, powers of attorney and civil records issued in the United States normally need an apostille from the issuing state authority before a Chilean institution accepts them. Confirm the exact wording required with the receiving university, employer or notary in Chile. For envelope and small-parcel pricing, use our Courier Calculator Chile: Instant Rates, 3-8 Days (2026).

How much does it cost to ship cargo from the USA to Chile?

Quick Answer: Ocean freight to Chile is priced by container size and departure gateway. With AB Group Shipping, a 20 ft container runs from $1,080 out of Miami and New Jersey (September 2026 quote), port to port to San Antonio. Prices move monthly, so check the live table and the calculator on this page.

These are September 2026 port-to-port quotes. The price table on this page refreshes itself, so treat the figures above as a reference point and the live table as the number you book against.

FCL

MiamiUSMIA

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San AntonioCLSAI

from · Sep 2026 USD$1,080 Quote this route →

FCL

New JerseyUSNYC

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San AntonioCLSAI

from · Sep 2026 USD$1,080 Quote this route →

FCL

HoustonUSHOU

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San AntonioCLSAI

from · Sep 2026 USD$1,422 Quote this route →

Your gateway depends on your region. Florida ships through Miami. Texas and the central states ship through Houston. California and the Southwest go through Los Angeles/Long Beach. The Northeast uses New York/New Jersey, the Southeast uses Savannah, the Midwest railheads through Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest moves via Seattle. Cities not listed in our rate table price approx. off the nearest listed origin, with the departure port named on the quote.

Port to port excludes real costs that are not ABGS freight: inland trucking to the departure port, Chilean destination charges, storage at San Antonio, the customs agent's fee, duty and IVA. Budget for them separately.

Step by step: from quote to cargo released in Chile

Quick Answer: The process runs in seven steps: quote and booking, document collection, cargo delivered to the US port, export filing and sailing, arrival at San Antonio, DIN filed by the customs agent with duty and IVA paid, then release and delivery. Document errors, not vessels, cause most delays.

1. Quote and book. Pick the gateway, the container size and the sailing. Note the port cut-off date — it is not the same as vessel ETD, and the documentation cut-off closes 72 hours before the vessel's ETD.
2. Collect documents. Seller issues the invoice and packing list. Importer signs the mandato. Agent confirms the file is complete before the container moves.
3. Deliver cargo to the port. Your trucker meets the cut-off. Late delivery means the next sailing, and from Houston that costs another week or more.
4. Export filing and sailing. The carrier issues the master B/L; AB Group issues your house B/L. Transit then runs 14 days from New Jersey, 24 from Miami, 29 from Los Angeles and 32 from Houston.
5. Arrival at San Antonio. Discharge, terminal handling and transfer to the bonded area.
6. DIN filed. The agente de aduanas files per Annex 18 and pays duty and IVA against it.
7. Release and delivery. Cargo is handed over against the house B/L or telex release, then trucked to the consignee.

Keep your evidence file tidy: B/L number, vessel schedule, the DIN, the container release and the proof of delivery. Your accountant will want all five, and so will your insurer if anything goes wrong.

When Aduanas retains a shipment, it usually asks for a clearer description, a missing HS code, or proof of the declared value. The customs agent answers with the invoice and packing list already in the file. That is why a complete invoice prevents most holds before they start.

With thousands of shipments processed across the USA–Latin America corridor, the pattern holds: cargo moves on schedule when the paperwork is finished before the cut-off. Use the calculator on this page to price your exact origin, container size and sailing to San Antonio in seconds — no email required, no follow-up calls. Then bring your document list to a licensed Chilean customs agent and confirm it before you book.