Moving to Peru from the US: which visa or residence route fits

Peru's residence system is run by the Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones, usually just called Migraciones. Its rules sort foreigners into calidades migratorias (immigration categories), and the ones that matter most to Americans planning a move are rentista (pension or permanent income), trabajador (worker), familiar de residente (family member of a Peruvian or a resident) and the newer nómada digital (digital nomad). This guide sets out who qualifies for each, what the Migraciones procedure pages on gob.pe ask for, and how the application works. Requirements and fees come from those pages as checked on the date shown at the top.

Visiting first

US citizens do not need a visa for a tourist stay in Peru of up to 90 days, according to the State Department's Peru page. The border officer decides the length of stay, so check the period recorded on your entry. The State Department also asks for a passport valid at least six months from entry with one blank page, and warns that travelers without a recorded entry can face delays and fines when leaving. A tourist stay lets you look for housing and gather paperwork, but it does not allow work and does not turn into residence by itself.

How applications work

Migraciones handles residence categories online through its Agencia Digital. The pattern is the same across the categories below:

1. Enter the Agencia Digital with your personal details and choose the Migraciones office nearest the address where you will live.
2. Pay the fee at any Banco de la Nación branch using the code Migraciones gives, quoting the number of the travel document you used, or will use, to enter Peru.
3. Upload the required documents as PDF files.
4. Receive a file number plus a username and password for your Buzón Electrónico, the electronic mailbox where Migraciones posts observations, notices and the decision.

For the rentista, worker and family categories, the gob.pe pages list as a condition that you be outside Peru when you obtain the calidad migratoria. Separate procedures exist for a change of category (cambio de calidad migratoria) when you are already in Peru with valid status. The rentista change page lists a fee of S/ 161.40 under code 07568, against S/ 58.80 under code 07567 when applying from outside. The application goes to Migraciones online; the gob.pe pages do not send you to a Peruvian consulate in the United States for these steps.

Common documents

Each category asks for a signed application form, a simple copy of your valid passport, and a document from the competent authority showing that you have no judicial, criminal or police record in your country of origin or wherever you lived during the five years before arriving in Peru. For a US citizen that means a nationwide US record, such as the FBI Identity History Summary. The family category pages also require birth and marriage records issued abroad to be legalized by the Peruvian consulate and the foreign ministry, or apostilled.

Rentista (pension or permanent income)

Migraciones grants the rentista category to foreigners who receive a retirement pension or a permanent income from a Peruvian or foreign source. For income from abroad the page asks for:

• A copy of a document from the country the income comes from, showing permanent net income of at least US$1,000 a month.
• A sworn statement that the money enters Peru through a bank or financial institution supervised by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS).

The fee is S/ 58.80 (code 07567) and the stated processing time is 30 working days. Migraciones notes that whether you receive temporary or resident status depends on current rules, your documents and the authority's discretion. The change of category page describes rentista as giving indefinite permanence in Peru, and it adds an Interpol record check (Ficha de Canje Internacional) issued within the last six months for applicants already inside the country.

For Americans, a Social Security benefit letter or a pension statement is the obvious proof of income. The category does not allow employment income, so it fits retirees and people with investment or rental income rather than workers.

Trabajador (worker residence)

The worker category is for foreigners with an employment contract, administrative relationship or services contract in Peru, working for an employer or independently in the public or private sector. Migraciones requires:

• A copy of the employment contract, approved by the labor authority except where the law exempts it, for a term of one year or more, presented within 30 calendar days of issue.
• A sworn statement from the employer's legal representative naming you. The hiring company must be registered as active and habido (locatable) with SUNAT, Peru's tax authority.

The fee is S/ 58.80 (code 07567) and Migraciones states a maximum response time of 30 calendar days. A contract with a probation period, or one shorter than a year, is assessed as trabajador temporal (temporary worker) instead.

This route depends on a Peruvian employer or contracting entity. Remote work for a US company does not meet it.

Familiar de residente (family residence)

This category is for foreigners with a proven family tie to a Peruvian citizen or to a foreigner who lives legally in Peru. It also allows paid work, as an employee or independently. Who qualifies:

• The spouse of a Peruvian or of a foreign resident, with a marriage record. A marriage abroad needs legalization by the Peruvian consulate and the foreign ministry, or an apostille, and the record has a validity window (90 days if registered in Peru, 180 days or six months for records from abroad, depending on the case).
• A partner in a unión de hecho (civil union) registered with SUNARP, Peru's public registry.
• Children over 18 and up to age 28 who are single and enrolled in recognized technical or higher education, and adult single children with a certified permanent disability.
• Parents of the Peruvian or the foreign resident, and parents of the resident's spouse or partner.

The Peruvian family member must hold a valid DNI; a foreign family member must hold valid residence. The fee is S/ 58.80 (code 07567), with a response within 30 working days.

Nómada digital (digital nomad)

Peru added a digital nomad category to its migration law. A Migraciones press note describes it as being for foreigners who work remotely for companies domiciled outside Peru and have no Peruvian-source income, with a stay of up to 365 days that can be extended. The same note says Migraciones would begin granting it only after the implementing regulation is published and the procedure is added to its Texto Único de Procedimientos Administrativos (TUPA). On the date this page was checked, the Migraciones procedure pages listed on gob.pe did not include an application procedure, fee or income threshold for the category. Do not rely on income figures published elsewhere until Migraciones posts the procedure.

Until then, US remote workers who want to live in Peru long term usually need one of the categories above.

Which route fits

1. Retired, or living on a pension or permanent income of at least US$1,000 net a month: rentista.
2. Hired by a Peruvian employer on a contract of one year or more: trabajador.
3. Married to, in a registered union with, or the qualifying child or parent of a Peruvian or a legal resident: familiar de residente.
4. Working remotely for a US employer: watch the Migraciones procedures for the nómada digital category.

US obligations that stay with you

A move to Peru does not end US tax filing. The IRS taxes US citizens on worldwide income wherever they live. Peru has its own tax authority, SUNAT, and its own residence rules, so plan for both before your first full year there.

Common questions

Do I apply for Peruvian residence at a consulate in the US? The Migraciones pages for the rentista, worker and family categories describe an online application through the Agencia Digital, with the condition that you be outside Peru when the category is granted. People already in Peru with valid status use the separate change of category procedure.

How much income does Peru's rentista category require? For income from abroad, Migraciones asks for proof of permanent net income of at least US$1,000 a month and a sworn statement that the money enters Peru through an SBS-supervised bank.

Can I apply for Peru's digital nomad visa now? The category exists in the law, but Migraciones said it would start granting it only once the regulation and a TUPA procedure are published. On the date this page was checked, gob.pe listed no application procedure for it.

What does the application fee cost? The rentista, worker and family pages list S/ 58.80 under payment code 07567 at Banco de la Nación. A change of category from inside Peru, such as rentista, lists S/ 161.40 under code 07568.