Chile, Peru and Brazil: residence in South America

Three of South America's larger economies, with ordinary migration systems and — the feature that draws attention — comparatively short naturalisation periods by world standards.

Chile

• Temporary residence on employment, investment, professional activity or family, converted to permanent residence after a qualifying period.
• The migration framework was substantially rewritten in 2021, ending the informal practice of arriving as a tourist and applying from inside the country. Applications now generally begin at a consulate.
• Naturalisation after a defined period of permanent residence. Chile does not require renunciation.
• Property ownership is open to foreigners with restrictions near borders.

Peru

• Residence on work, investment in a Peruvian company, rentier income or family grounds.
• Naturalisation after a qualifying period of legal residence, with a Spanish language and civics examination.
• A low cost base and open property ownership away from border zones.
• Institutional volatility is the honest caveat: Peru has changed government repeatedly in recent years, and migration administration has been correspondingly uneven.

Brazil

• Residence on work, investment in a company or in property above a threshold that differs by region, family reunification, or retirement with evidenced income.
• The family route is unusually strong: a Brazilian child or spouse leads to permanent residence quickly and to naturalisation on a much shortened period.
• Naturalisation otherwise after a qualifying period with Portuguese language ability. Brazil permits dual citizenship, and Brazilian nationals are constitutionally protected from extradition — a fact that features in some applicants' reasoning and that should be considered together with the reputational scrutiny that reasoning attracts.
• Property ownership is open, with restrictions on rural land and border areas.

The common assessment

All three are places to live rather than statuses to hold: the residence permits expect presence, and the naturalisation clocks run on real residence with language examinations at the end. For a family genuinely moving, the paths are shorter than Europe's. For someone accumulating documents from a distance, none of them works.