"Tramites" in Chile

It is said that Chileans are tramitadores. That is, they are well-accustomed to waste their time going from one line to another, from one office to another (bureaucratic or otherwise), and getting some paper stamped in order to complete a task and satisfy some bureaucrat. You will also find that Chilean bureaucrats and office workers are incredibly ignorant, especially outside of Santiago, no matter how long they have been at their job. And they still act their role with arrogance as if they know. You will get wrong or capricious information that will drive you crazy at times since you will have to do or repeat (often unnecessarily) certain tasks. You will also find that these bureaucrats and office workers are not always on duty at the published times, or that they leave town unexpectedly so that you cannot get your task completed. The photos below show a few hundred people waiting to complete a tramite.

As an American, you WILL have a hard time getting used to such inefficiencies. But rather than get mad when it happens to you, you will be better off just preparing for it. You have to suffer more with such scenarios during the first few years in Chile than later on, but you are still going to average at least one hassle every quarter.

You cannot change Chilean culture. Things are not efficient in Chile like in the USA. No one will call you when you have a problem in your paperwork or tell you that you need to ask for a certain official form before trying to get a task completed. You will waste a lot of time in lines or on account of bad information. Remember too that no ones cares if you waste your time or experience some inefficiency. If you want to live in Chile you simply have to get used to this fact.

For instance, you will have all of your paperwork ready, or so you think. You go back to the office that gave you the list of tasks and you expect to get what you want. Instead you get rejected because one of your five documents was not on the right form or had a stamp out of date. At that point, you can either get mad and tell them, "see, this is why Chile is still underdeveloped," or you can take it in stride as a learning experience and be happy. If you smile and comply you will have an easier time with them during the next visit.

Yes, you will waste time and make extra trips and hate it. But learn to make the best of it and you will find your life in Chile to be much better. Review the earlier topic on taking numbers and waiting in line. Not everything in Chile is positive and tramitando is at the top of Chile's least desirable features.