Overview
The Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (PDI) is Chile's civil investigative police force, responsible for criminal investigation, migration control and related police duties under the Ministry of the Interior. Entry into the force runs through two separate training institutions, each with its own yearly admission cycle: the Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (the Oficial Policial Profesional de Línea, or OPPL, track leading to the professional rank of Investigador Policial) and the Centro de Capacitación Profesional, known as CECAPRO (the Agente Policial track, a technician-level investigative and migration-control role). Both admission processes are covered below.
Who can apply
Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL track)
Chilean nationality and single (soltero/a) marital status.
Aged 17 to 21 at the time of enrolment; an exemption can be requested under current regulations if age or height requirements are not met.
Fourth year of secondary school (4° medio) completed, or currently being completed.
Minimum height without shoes: 1.75 m for men, 1.60 m for women.
Valid national ID card; clean personal, family and criminal background; health compatible with police duties.
Men must have their military service situation resolved.
A university admission test — PAES or PDT (the test that replaced the PSU) — taken within its validity window, combined with the secondary-school grade average (NEM) for the academic component of the score. For the 2026 cycle, the minimum weighted score to be considered was 500 points (PDT) or 510 points (PAES).
Candidates who already hold a professional degree of at least four years (eight semesters) from a Chilean university or professional institute are exempt from some of the above requirements.
Centro de Capacitación Profesional / CECAPRO (Agente Policial track)
Chilean nationality, aged 18 to 30 at the start of training.
Secondary-school diploma (Licencia de Enseñanza Media).
Military service situation resolved (this does not require having actually served).
Class B or professional driver's licence held by the time of the driving test.
Certificado de antecedentes para fines especiales (a clean-background certificate for special purposes).
Good health and an impeccable personal background.
Admission stages
Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL track)
The published process has these stages, several of which are pass/fail (excluyente):
Prueba psicotécnica: an objective test of cognitive ability and aptitude. Pass/fail, and worth 20% of the final admission score.
Evaluación psicológica: an individual interview with psychologists. Pass/fail.
Evaluación médico-dental: confirms the candidate's health is compatible with the duties of a police officer.
Evaluación física: tests endurance, agility and strength against institutional requirements. Worth 20% of the final admission score.
Entrevista policial: an oral interview before a panel of two police officers, assessing verbal and non-verbal communication and personal presentation.
Prueba de inglés (English-language test).
Declaración del historial personal (a personal-history declaration).
Academic score: based on the PAES/PDT result and the NEM, as described above.
Training runs three years in residential regime at the Escuela, followed by a fourth year of supervised professional practice in PDI units, before the professional title of Investigador Policial is awarded.
Centro de Capacitación Profesional / CECAPRO (Agente Policial track)
Applications are checked against the eligibility requirements above, after which PDI runs its own aptitude, physical, medical and background evaluations before confirming places; the institution's published pages do not break out a separate scoring weight for this track. Training lasts two years: the first year is residential (internado) and full-time, the second combines b-learning coursework with professional practice. Graduates receive the title of Técnico de Nivel Superior en Labores Investigativas y Control Migratorio.
Important dates
Chile's academic year runs February/March to December, and PDI's admission cycles for a given intake year run in the preceding year. For the 2027 intake:
Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL track): the admission process opened on 20 March 2026, with applications closing shortly after and results published on 3 May 2026.
CECAPRO (Agente Policial track): a first call for applications ran from 19 February 2026 to 20 March 2026; a second call opened 25 June 2026 and ran to 31 July 2026.
PDI typically runs more than one intake window per year for the Agente Policial track, so candidates who miss one call can often apply in a later one for the same intake year.
Fees
For the Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL track), applying requires a CLP $35,000 inscription payment (via Webpay) that validates the application. Once admitted, students pay a one-off incorporation fee of 55 UF in their first year, plus an annual tuition (arancel) of 70 UF for each of the three years of academic training. (UF, the Unidad de Fomento, is Chile's standard inflation-indexed unit; its CLP value is published daily and changes accordingly.)
For CECAPRO (Agente Policial track), the application and the full two years of training are free of charge.
How to apply
For the Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL track), candidates register online within the announced admission window at escuelapdi.cl and pay the inscription fee through Webpay before proceeding through the stages listed above.
For CECAPRO (Agente Policial track), candidates apply entirely online using their ClaveÚnica (Chile's digital government ID) on the CECAPRO admission site within the announced window; there is no application fee.
Preparation tips
Both tracks include a physical-fitness evaluation, so candidates should train for endurance, agility and strength well ahead of their test date rather than starting once the admission window opens. For the OPPL track, keep a valid PAES or PDT result and NEM ready within the test's validity window, since the academic score is combined with the other evaluations rather than being a separate qualifying step. For both tracks, gather the required documents — ID, background certificate, driving licence — in advance, since missing paperwork is a common reason applications are delayed or rejected.
What are the two ways to join the PDI?
Through the Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales, which trains Oficiales Policiales Profesionales de Línea (the detective/investigator career track), or through CECAPRO, which trains Agentes Policiales (a technician-level investigative and migration-control role). Each has its own eligibility rules, admission stages and yearly intake.
Is there an age limit to apply to the PDI?
Yes. The Escuela de Investigaciones Policiales (OPPL) track requires candidates to be 17 to 21 years old and single, while the CECAPRO (Agente Policial) track requires candidates to be 18 to 30 years old.
Is there a fee to apply?
For the OPPL track, there is a CLP $35,000 inscription fee, plus incorporation and annual tuition fees (in UF) once admitted. The CECAPRO (Agente Policial) track is free, both to apply and to train.
How long does training take?
The OPPL track takes three years of residential training plus a fourth year of supervised professional practice before the title of Investigador Policial is awarded. The CECAPRO (Agente Policial) track takes two years, ending in the title of Técnico de Nivel Superior en Labores Investigativas y Control Migratorio.