Naturalización menor (14+ con residencia permanente)

Four cumulative conditions, all drawn verbatim from DFL 5.142 Art 2 penultimate inciso (as recast by Ley 20.888 Art unico Nº1 b)): (1) the applicant is a 'hijo de extranjero' (child of a foreigner) who 'hayan cumplido 14 anos de edad' (has completed/turned 14); the inciso sets a floor of 14 and functions as the sub-18 counterpart to the ordinary 18+ carta of Art 2 inc 1 ('los extranjeros que hayan cumplido 18 anos de edad'). (2) 'tengan mas de cinco anos de residencia en el territorio de la Republica' (more than five years of residence in Chilean territory); structurally the same five-year period as the ordinary carta, and note that Ley 20.888 deleted 'continuada' only from inciso 1, so the penultimate inciso reads 'mas de cinco anos de residencia' without 'continuada'. (3) 'cuenten para ello con la autorizacion de quienes esten a cargo de su cuidado personal' (the authorization of those in charge of the minor's cuidado personal / personal care), a substantive consent condition unique to the minor route. (4) 'hayan obtenido permiso de permanencia definitiva' (the minor must already hold a permanent-residence permit, permanencia definitiva, assimilated to residencia definitiva by Ley 21.325 Art 176 inc 2). Practically, a 14-year-old with more than five years' residence must have arrived in Chile by roughly age nine, so the route targets long-resident migrant children. No explicit upper age is stated in the inciso, but from age 18 the ordinary carta (Art 2 inc 1) governs, so the operative band is 14-17. The general Ley 21.325 Art 86 impediments (recent crimenes or simple-delito convictions) apply to any carta grant, minors included.

The carta is granted, for a minor as for an adult, 'por el Presidente de la Republica, en decreto refrendado por el Ministro del Interior' (DFL 5.142 Art 1). Under Ley 21.325 Art 157 Nº8 the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG) is competent to 'Tramitar las solicitudes de carta de nacionalizacion para su resolucion por parte del Ministro del Interior y Seguridad Publica'; Art 87 refers the 'procedimiento para la obtencion, perdida y acreditacion de la nacionalidad' back to DFL 5.142. The petition under DFL 5.142 Art 4 is lodged at the Intendencia Regional / Gobernacion Provincial of residence (Region Metropolitana applicants file directly with the Ministry), stating names, birthplace, edad, estado civil, numero de hijos, profesion, bienes raices and 'Si se ha naturalizado en otro pais'; it must be accompanied by a consular/identity certificate, a 'Certificado de antecedentes expedido por el Gabinete Central de Identificacion', and a Servicio de Impuestos Internos certificate of tax compliance. For the minor route, the penultimate-inciso 'autorizacion de quienes esten a cargo de su cuidado personal' (guardian authorization) is the added procedural precondition. Police/Investigaciones reports must issue within 'un plazo de quince dias' (Art 6). A denial 'sera siempre fundado y firmado por el Presidente de la Republica' (Art 7). Cartas are numbered by the Departamento de Extranjeria 'correlativamente, previo pago del derecho, anotandolas en el Rol de Cartas' (Art 9).

Route CL-NAT-03 is the minor-naturalization pathway: acquisition of Chilean nationality by a foreign child aged 14 or older through a carta de nacionalizacion (naturalization charter) applied for in the minor's own name with guardian consent. Its constitutional anchor is Const. Art 10 Nº3, which makes Chilean 'los extranjeros que obtuvieren carta de nacionalizacion en conformidad a la ley' (foreigners who obtain a naturalization charter in conformity with the law). The operative statute conferring the carta is DFL (Decreto con Fuerza de Ley) Nº 5.142 of 1960, 'que fija el texto refundido de las disposiciones sobre nacionalizacion de extranjeros' (fixing the consolidated text of the provisions on naturalization of foreigners), expressly kept operative by Ley 21.325 Art 84: 'La nacionalidad chilena se otorgara conforme al decreto supremo Nº 5.142, de 1960'. The specific basis for the minor route is DFL 5.142 Art 2, penultimate inciso: 'Con todo, tambien podran solicitar carta de nacionalizacion los hijos de extranjeros que hayan cumplido 14 anos de edad, tengan mas de cinco anos de residencia en el territorio de la Republica, cuenten para ello con la autorizacion de quienes esten a cargo de su cuidado personal y hayan obtenido permiso de permanencia definitiva.' This penultimate-inciso formulation was introduced in its current form by Ley 20.888 (2016), Art unico Nº1 b): 'Reemplazase el inciso final, que pasa a ser penultimo, por el siguiente:' followed by the identical 14-anos text. Because the minor route grants an ordinary carta ('tambien podran solicitar carta de nacionalizacion'), the general carta framework of DFL 5.142 (Arts 1, 4-12) and the Ley 21.325 machinery (Arts 84, 86, 87, 157) apply, subject to the age-specific and consent-specific conditions of the penultimate inciso.