Chile to give temporary residence to Venezuelans

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Venezuelans may apply for Chilean "democratic responsibility" visa which allows temporary residence for one year.

"The Chilean government approved for Venezuelan migrants and refugees the possibility of applying for a democratic responsibility visa at any Chilean consulate in the world," said David Smolansky, the Organization of American States' coordinator for the crisis of Venezuelan migrants and refugees.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Smolansky stressed that the only requirement to apply for the document is to be regular in the country from where it is requested.

The democratic responsibility visa allows a temporary residence permit for one year, extendable for once and gives the possibility to later request the definitive residence.

On April 16, 2018, Chile started to give the democratic visa with the condition that it can only be applied at the consulates in Venezuela.

Venezuela's economy has been in precipitous decline following a global downturn in the price of crude oil, the country's main export. A political unrest is ongoing between Venezuela’s elected President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido since Jan. 10.

Nearly 5,000 people leave Venezuela every day because of "instability and uncertainty" amid a crisis over the presidency and economy and 3 million Venezuelans have already left the country since 2015, UN Refugee Agency reports.