How do you set up ClaveÚnica in Chile in 2026?

You need a Chilean foreigner identity card with a RUN from Registro Civil after residence is granted: Get a RUT and Apply for a residence permit. Tourists and people with only a provisional tax number generally cannot complete a full ClaveÚnica like residents. Keep the physical cédula valid; expired plastic is a common reason logins and renewals fail.

Create or recover ClaveÚnica only through official Gobierno de Chile channels (claveunica.gob.cl and linked Registro Civil or ChileAtiende flows). Ignore third-party “helpers” that ask for your password. The interface is Spanish-first; bring a bilingual friend if reading legal labels is still hard.

SERMIG’s Portal de Trámites Digitales accepts ClaveÚnica for many follow-ups and status checks once you have it, alongside or instead of older portal-only logins. Registro Civil appointments, some certificate downloads, and other ChileAtiende services also lean on the same key. Health and banking still have their own enrolments, yet identity verification across the state stack becomes smoother: Enrol in public health and Open a bank account.

Store recovery emails and phone numbers you control. When you renew residence and later renew the cédula, confirm ClaveÚnica still recognises the new card validity. Driving-licence municipal portals and other trámites may also ask for RUN plus ClaveÚnica depending on the commune: Convert a driving licence. Treat activation time as setup labour, not leisure: How expensive is Chile. If a login fails after a card renewal, fix the identity record before you assume the government portal is simply “down.”