Visa & Residency Guide to Peru

Want to know how to live in Peru or with residency?

This article will provide you with the basics of how to achieve that.

 By first talking about living in Peru on a tourist visa…

Then moving onto the nuances of that…

Such as the possibility of doing a visa run….

And also the consequences of overstaying your visa…

Before ending it on the topic of the temporary and permanent residency programs that exist.

For those who wish to live in this country longer than what a tourist visa allows…

And do to so legally and with more security.

So let’s get to it!

Tourist Visa in Peru

If you enter Peru, I have read that, depending on the migration agent you are dealing with, that you could be allowed anywhere from 30 to 183 days in Peru.

However, from what I am reading online, it seems folks do get the 183 days and others get 90 days.

To which if you get 90 days, you will be allowed to extend it again for another 90 days while in Peru.

So that’s what you can reasonably expect.

And it doesn’t seem like you can extend the visa beyond the 183 days.

So if you spend 183 days in Peru, you will have to leave the country as you are only allowed 183 days for every 365 day period.

And from what I am reading, you cannot enter Peru again on January 1^st if you spent the 183 days from around July to December.

You would have to wait roughly 182 days to be let back in.

Of course, that’s what I have understood on this issue as there seems to be some lack of clarity online about if they mean 183 days by calendar year or no.

All of that information came from this article here.

And read this article here also if you want more insight into the matter.

But my understanding is that it is not based on calendar year based on the different sources online about this topic.

Overstay the Visa?

It seems to be the case that you will be charged roughly around a dollar per day for overstaying your visa.

I have read some sources claiming it to be as high as 1.50 USD per day.

So expect that fine to be somewhere between a dollar to a dollar and a half per day.

Visa Run?

The answer to if you can do a visa run is a little bit tricky.

If we assume that you can stay in the country for 183 days per calendar year, then you should be able to do a visa run if you leave the country on December 31^st and come back January 1^st.

However, if it is 183 days per 365 day period where they expect you to stay out of the country for around 182 days…

Then I would assume you can’t do a visa run then and would have to stay out of the country.

I’ve also read online that border crossings by bus can be tricky if you are doing a border run as I have read that some foreigners can have difficulty with migration agents who might notice what they are trying to do a visa run.

So, all around, I’d say Peru is not a very friendly country for visa runs but they might be possible to a degree for some folks from my understanding.

Temporary Residency in Peru

If you want temporary residency in Peru, these are some of the common groups you can fall under in order to get temporary residency:

• An Independent investor
• Work Visa
• Artist
• Student
• Religious worker
• Retiree

Permanent Visa

From my understanding, once you have a temporary residency visa for at least 3 years, you can qualify for a permanent residency visa.

After which the permanent residency will last for 5 years and can be renewed for another 5 years.

And that’s the very basics of what you need to know!

Got any questions? Drop them below.

Follow my Twitter here.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Matt