Expansion of Ireland-Chile Working Holiday Agreement

The Attorney General of Ireland, Rossa Fanning, was hosted on Wednesday, 15 March at the Foreign Ministry in Santiago by Chile’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alberto Van Klaveren. The Attorney General is visiting Chile on behalf of the Government of Ireland as part of a programme of visits to key partner countries globally ahead of St. Patrick’s Day.

Following the meeting, the Foreign Minister and Attorney General announced a permanent doubling of places under the Working Holiday Agreement between Ireland and Chile, which allows young people in each country the opportunity to live, work and study in the other jurisdiction for a period of up to one year.

Attorney General Rossa Fanning said: “I am delighted to join with Foreign Minister Van Klaveren in announcing this permanent increase in places available through our Ireland-Chile Working Holiday Agreement. There will now be 200 places available every year for Chileans aged 18-30 and interested in living, working or studying in Ireland for up to a year. Applications for the first tranche of places for 2023 will open on Thursday, 20 April. This is a reciprocal agreement and the same opportunities will apply for young Irish people looking to enjoy all the great experiences Chile has to offer. These people-to-people links give dynamism and great energy to our already warm and deep bilateral relations.”

Foreign Minister Van Klaveren chimed with the Attorney General's words and added; “Agreements like the Working Holiday Agreement are very positive for strengthening the bilateral links".

Foreign Minister Van Klaveren and Attorney General Fanning also discussed Chile and Ireland’s areas of ongoing political cooperation and growing business and economic ties. [The value of goods trade between Ireland and Chile increased by more than 39% in 2022 compared with 2021.] The Foreign Minister and Attorney General further discussed multilateral cooperation at the UN and OECD, the EU-Chile Advanced Framework Agreement agreed in December, opposition to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and the implications for Northern Ireland of the recently agreed EU-UK Windsor Framework.

Finally, the Foreign Minister and Attorney General signed a Working Dependents Agreement on behalf of the two governments, which will allow spouses and recognised partners of posted diplomats working in the other jurisdiction to obtain employment locally while on a posting. Ireland opened its Embassy in Santiago in 2019. Chile has had an Embassy in Dublin since 2002.