Chile’s migration authority has obtained a court-backed freeze on JetSMART bank accounts over unpaid migration fines linked to flights carrying foreign passengers without required entry documents. The case involves 42 sanctions issued between 2023 and 2025, totalling about CLP 781 million, and adds direct financial pressure on the low-cost carrier in one of its key South American markets.
The Servicio Nacional de Migraciones moved after the penalties remained unpaid for an extended period. In several cases, the breaches also involved failure to provide passenger lists to the Polícia de Investigaciones, the agency responsible for reporting the underlying violations. JetSMART is challenging the fines in court and maintains that the measure is limited to the amount claimed, not a general freeze of all company accounts.
The airline has said the disputed penalties affect less than 0.0003% of its annual passengers and do not materially affect operations, which continue normally. One earlier sanction in the wider dispute was already overturned by the Santiago Court of Appeals, with further legal review still pending.