/ Santiago Court of Appeals Sets Aside Fine Imposed on JetSMART by the National Migration Service
August 10, 2026The Santiago Court of Appeals upheld a constitutional protection action filed by JetSMART Airlines SpA against the National Migration Service, setting aside a fine imposed on the airline and ordering the administrative proceeding to be rolled back to the stage at which the administrative appeals filed by the company must be decided anew.
The dispute arose from a fine of 1,650 UTM imposed by the National Migration Service, based on the alleged failure to submit the General Declaration of Flight (GENDEC), a conduct that the authority deemed sanctionable under Article 114 of Law No. 21,325 on Migration and Immigration.
However, the Second Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals held that the conduct at issue did not fall within the scope of the infringement contemplated by the provision invoked by the administrative authority. The Court found that the airline had transmitted the information required under the applicable legal framework and concluded that the failure to submit the General Declaration of Flight did not correspond to the conduct described in Article 114 of Law No. 21,325. Consequently, it held that sanctioning the airline on that basis exceeded the legal limits of the National Migration Service’s sanctioning powers.
The Court further held that the challenged decision lacked a sufficient legal basis and affected the claimant’s property rights by upholding a substantial fine grounded on conduct not contemplated by the applicable legal provision. Accordingly, it granted the constitutional action and ordered the administrative appeals to be resolved again, on the basis that JetSMART had not committed the alleged infringement.
The decision is particularly relevant because it addresses the scope of Article 114 of Law No. 21,325 and its relationship with the API/PNR electronic systems used by airlines to transmit advance passenger information. It also provides important guidance regarding the use of the GENDEC form as a basis for administrative sanctions in migration matters.
JetSMART was represented by Raúl Montero López, partner at Alessandri Attorneys at Law, who argued that the sanction imposed by the National Migration Service was based on conduct different from that expressly classified by law as an infringement, an argument ultimately upheld by the Court.
The judgment was issued in Case No. 318-2026 by the Second Chamber of the Santiago Court of Appeals, composed of Justices Juan Cristóbal Mera Muñoz, Matías Felipe de la Noi Merino, and substitute Justice Daniel Eduardo Aravena Pérez.
