Issue · October 2026 · everything a nomad needs, city by city

Nomadzine

The visa · Peru

Peru

Peru wrote a "digital nomad" migratory category into its migration law in 2023, but it has never been added to the immigration agency's procedures manual, so there is no form, no fee and no way to apply. Remote workers therefore arrive as tourists, or convert to the trabajador or rentista residence categories, both of which are filed online with Migraciones for modest fees. The single fact that governs planning is that the tourist stay is capped by law at 183 cumulative days in any 365 and is not extendable for most nationalities.

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The routes

Researched 9 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice

  1. Temporary stay

    Tourist entry (Turista)

    Calidad migratoria Turista

    Remote workers on a stay of a few weeks to a few months who are paid entirely from abroad and do not need a Peruvian identity document.

    Income floor
    none published
    Duration
    Set by the officer at the border; capped by law at 183 cumulative, non-renewable days within any 365-day period. Migraciones' own public communication has described the practical tourist ceiling as 90 days, and the two figures are not reconciled in its published material.
    Cost
    No fee for visa-exempt nationals. Overstay is charged at 0.1% of the Tax Unit per day.
    Processing
    Immediate at the port of entry.
    Eligibility
    Nationals of the countries listed as visa-exempt by the Peruvian consular service; others need a tourist visa from a consulate. Onward travel and means of support may be checked.
    Work rights
    The tourist category does not permit remunerated or profit-making activity in Peru. Migraciones has itself stated in public communications that remote workers previously relied on tourist visas, which makes work for a foreign employer a tolerated grey area rather than an authorised one. Local clients and local employment are not permitted.
    Dependants
    Each traveller is admitted individually; there is no dependant mechanism.
    Leads to
    no
    Apply
    At the port of entry for visa-exempt nationals; at a Peruvian consulate for others.

    Documents Passport valid for the intended stay · Andean Migration Card (Tarjeta Andina de Migración), issued electronically on entry · Evidence of onward or return travel · Evidence of accommodation and means of support if asked

    Official page →

  2. Nomad visa

    Digital nomad category (legislated, not operational)

    Calidad migratoria Nómada Digital

    Employees of companies domiciled outside Peru working remotely from Peruvian territory — on paper only; the category cannot currently be applied for.

    Income floor
    Not published. No threshold has been set because the procedure has never been added to the immigration agency's procedures manual.
    Duration
    365 days, extendable, as announced. No implementing rule has fixed the terms.
    Cost
    No fee has been set.
    Processing
    Not applicable; no filing route exists.
    Eligibility
    As drafted in Legislative Decree 1582, which amends Legislative Decree 1350: the employment relationship must have been formed abroad with a company domiciled outside Peru, and the activity must not generate Peruvian-source income. Detailed eligibility awaits the implementing regulation.
    Work rights
    As drafted: subordinate remote work by electronic, telematic or telecommunications means for a foreign-domiciled employer. Remunerated or profit-making activity generating Peruvian-source income is expressly outside the category.
    Dependants
    Not published.
    Leads to
    Not published. Migraciones has said holders wishing to start a business in Peru would have to change status.
    Apply
    No filing channel exists. Migraciones stated the category would be granted only once the regulating resolution was published and the procedure added to its procedures manual; successive updates to that manual have not added it.

    Documents Not published — no requirement list has been issued · The implementing resolution and the entry in the Texto Único de Procedimientos Administrativos are both still outstanding

    Official page →

  3. Freelance / self-employed

    Worker residence, independent contractor (Trabajador residente — independiente)

    Calidad migratoria Trabajador residente (trabajador independiente)

    Freelancers and contractors who can produce a services contract with a Peruvian contracting party running a year or more — the closest thing Peru offers to a self-employment permit.

    Income floor
    None at the application stage. Economic solvency of S/ 55,000 gross annual income, equal to ten Tax Units, is required later, at the change to permanent status and at naturalisation.
    Duration
    365 days, extendable. Extension of residence is a separate procedure from renewal of the foreigner's identity card and must be filed before the residence expires.
    Cost
    S/ 161.40 under code 07568 for a change of status filed inside Peru; S/ 58.80 under code 07567 where the applicant is outside the country. Payment is made at Banco de la Nación or through Págalo.pe against the travel document number.
    Processing
    30 working days for the in-country change of status; the from-abroad procedure page states a maximum of 30 calendar days.
    Eligibility
    No police, criminal or judicial record in the country of origin or in any country of residence over the previous five years. An Interpol international exchange record no more than six months old is required for the in-country change. The contracting party must be active and traceable in the tax register. The in-country change is personal and does not admit a representative.
    Work rights
    Gainful activity in Peru, dependent or independent, for the public or private sector. Local clients are permitted; this is a route into the Peruvian market rather than a shield for foreign-only income.
    Dependants
    There is no dependant add-on. Spouses, registered partners, children and first-degree ascendants apply separately under the Familiar Residente category, which itself permits dependent or independent gainful activity.
    Leads to
    Counts towards the permanent category after three consecutive years of residence, subject to not being outside Peru for more than 183 consecutive calendar days in any 365 without authorisation.
    Apply
    Online through the Agencia Digital de Migraciones. Applicants outside Peru use the from-abroad procedure; those already in Peru on a qualifying status use the change-of-status procedure.

    Documents Completed change-of-status or migratory-status form · Copy of a valid passport or recognised travel document · Services contract stating a duration of one year or more · Interpol Ficha de Canje international exchange record, issued within six months · Certificate of no criminal, judicial or police record covering the previous five years · Sworn statement by the contracting party's legal representative, with registry entry and page number where the signatory is not the general manager · Receipt number and date of the procedural fee

    Official page →

  4. Residence

    Rentista residence

    Calidad migratoria Rentista residente

    People with a pension or a stable, permanent unearned income from abroad — the cleanest fit for someone whose money arrives without a Peruvian contracting party.

    Income floor
    A minimum permanent net income of US$ 1,000 per month from the foreign source, evidenced by a document from the country the income comes from. Peruvian-source income is accepted without a stated floor.
    Duration
    Indefinite permanence, per the change-of-status procedure.
    Cost
    S/ 161.40 under code 07568 for a change of status filed inside Peru; S/ 58.80 under code 07567 where the applicant is outside the country.
    Processing
    30 working days.
    Eligibility
    Receipt of a retirement pension or permanent income of Peruvian or foreign source. No police, criminal or judicial record in the country of origin or in countries of residence before entry. For the from-abroad route the applicant must be outside Peru. Whether the grant is temporary or resident depends on the supporting documents and the authority's discretion.
    Work rights
    The category is built on passive or pension income and does not itself authorise gainful activity in Peru. Migraciones does not publish an express permission or prohibition for remote work performed for a foreign payer.
    Dependants
    No dependant provision within the category; family members apply under Familiar Residente.
    Leads to
    The permanent category is expressly available after three consecutive years to workers, investors, researchers and members of religious communities; rentistas are not named in that list, and Migraciones does not publish a rentista route to permanent status.
    Apply
    Online through the Agencia Digital de Migraciones.

    Documents Completed and signed migratory-status or change-of-status form · Copy of a valid passport · Certificate of no judicial, criminal or police record covering the five years before arrival · Document from the source country evidencing minimum permanent net income of US$ 1,000 a month, notarised or authenticated, and apostilled or consularised · Sworn statement that the money enters Peru through a bank or financial institution supervised by the banking, insurance and pensions regulator · Interpol Ficha de Canje international exchange record for the in-country change · Receipt number and date of the procedural fee

    Official page →

  5. Long stay

    Worker residence, employed (Trabajador residente — dependiente)

    Calidad migratoria Trabajador residente (trabajador dependiente)

    People taking a job with a Peruvian employer, including remote workers who convert to a local contract.

    Income floor
    None at the application stage; S/ 55,000 gross annual income, equal to ten Tax Units, is required at the change to permanent status.
    Duration
    365 days, extendable. A contract with a probation period, or shorter than a year, is assessed instead under the temporary worker procedure.
    Cost
    S/ 161.40 under code 07568 in-country; S/ 58.80 under code 07567 from abroad.
    Processing
    30 working days in-country; up to 30 calendar days for the from-abroad procedure.
    Eligibility
    An employment contract approved by the labour authority, not more than 30 calendar days old, stating a term of one year or more. The employer must be active and traceable in the tax register. A contract signed inside Peru requires the signatory to already hold a qualifying status or authorisation to sign documents.
    Work rights
    Full local employment with the sponsoring employer.
    Dependants
    No dependant add-on; family members apply under Familiar Residente.
    Leads to
    Counts towards the permanent category after three consecutive years, with the S/ 55,000 gross annual income test and three recent payslips or a fifth-category withholding certificate.
    Apply
    Online through the Agencia Digital de Migraciones.

    Documents Completed migratory-status or change-of-status form · Copy of a valid passport · Employment contract approved by the labour authority, term of one year or more · Sworn statement by the employer's legal representative naming the applicant · Certificate of no judicial, criminal or police record covering the previous five years · Interpol Ficha de Canje international exchange record for the in-country change · Receipt number and date of the procedural fee

    Official page →

  6. Residence

    Permanent residence

    Cambio a calidad migratoria Permanente residente

    Workers, investors, researchers and members of religious communities who have completed three consecutive years of residence and want to stop filing annual extensions.

    Income floor
    S/ 55,000 gross annual income for the tax year before the application, equal to ten Tax Units, evidenced by payslips, withholding certificates or an annual income tax return.
    Duration
    Permanent. No residence extension is required; the foreigner's identity card is renewed every five years, or every three for minors.
    Cost
    S/ 161.40 under code 07568.
    Processing
    30 working days.
    Eligibility
    Three consecutive years of residence, with no absence exceeding 183 consecutive calendar days in any 365 unless authorised. No criminal, judicial or police record. Investors must additionally evidence tax and social-security compliance and ten jobs held by Peruvians on the payroll for the three preceding months.
    Work rights
    Gainful activity without a further permit within the underlying category.
    Dependants
    No dependant provision; family members apply under Familiar Residente.
    Leads to
    Naturalisation is administered separately by Migraciones. Its published procedure states two consecutive years of legal residence, a fee of S/ 301.50, economic solvency of ten Tax Units or S/ 55,000 gross annual income, an examination on Peruvian history, culture and reality, an Interpol exchange record and a sworn health declaration. A new Nationality Law raising the residence requirement to five years was published in August 2025, and sources disagree on whether it is yet in force; the Migraciones procedure page still states two years.
    Apply
    Online through the Agencia Digital de Migraciones. A November 2024 competition-authority ruling allows a representative to file.

    Documents Completed and signed change-of-status form · Copy of a valid passport or recognised travel document · Certificate of no judicial, criminal or police record covering the five years before arrival · Evidence of S/ 55,000 gross annual income for the previous tax year · Current employment contract, administrative relationship or annual tax return, depending on the underlying category · Three recent payslips or a fifth-category withholding certificate

    Official page →

Without a visa, by passport

The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated

  • EU / EEA / SwitzerlandVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey. The tourist category bars remunerated or profit-making activity in Peru, yet Migraciones has publicly described remote workers as having relied on tourist visas before the nomad category was drafted.
  • United KingdomVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey, on the same basis. Nothing published expressly authorises or expressly forbids work performed for a foreign payer.
  • United StatesVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey. Repeat entries and long cumulative stays draw scrutiny, and re-entry may be refused once 183 days in 365 have been used.
  • CanadaVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey, on the same basis as other visa-exempt nationalities.
  • AustraliaVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey. No published carve-out for remote work exists.
  • JapanVisa-free for tourism; up to 183 cumulative days in any 365, at the officer's discretionGrey, on the same basis.
  • South AfricaVisa-free for tourism, per the Peruvian consular service's exemption listGrey, on the same basis as other visa-exempt nationalities.
  • BrazilVisa-free for tourismGrey. Remunerated activity in Peru requires a worker status regardless of the exemption.
  • Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador)Visa-free for tourism, with extension of the tourist stay reported to be available in practice only to Andean Community nationalsGrey for remote work. The extension advantage concerns length of stay, not the right to work.
  • IndiaTourist visa required, unless holding a valid United States, Canadian, British, Australian or Schengen visa with at least six months' validity, in which case entry is reported as visa-exemptGrey once admitted, on the same basis. The visa condition is a consular practice reported in the Peruvian consular service's requirement list and should be confirmed with the relevant consulate.
  • ChinaTourist visa required, subject to the same reported exemption for holders of a valid United States, Canadian, British, Australian or Schengen visaGrey once admitted. The exemption is conditional and applied at the consulate and the border.

Tax

When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer

Residency trigger
A foreign national becomes domiciled for income tax purposes after staying in Peru for more than 183 calendar days within any 12-month period. A change in domiciled status acquired during a tax year takes effect only from the following tax year, so the first year in Peru is generally taxed on the non-domiciled basis. Domiciled individuals are taxed on worldwide income; non-domiciled individuals are taxed only on Peruvian-source income, with withholding at 30% on fourth-category income from independent services and 30% on fifth-category payroll income. Domiciled status is lost by a foreign national who was domiciled and then spends more than 183 calendar days outside Peru in a year.
Special regime
None. Peru operates no flat-rate, exemption or newcomer regime for remote workers or recent arrivals, and none was announced alongside the digital nomad category.
Social security
Contributions to the health fund and to a pension scheme attach to Peruvian employment and payroll; the permanent-residence procedure for investors requires evidence of payroll tax and health-fund payments for employees. Migraciones' own description of the digital nomad category states that such workers have no local employer and generate no Peruvian-source income, which implies no local contribution. Certificate-of-coverage arrangements under bilateral social security agreements could not be verified from the official sources opened for this edition and are therefore not stated here.
Treaties
Peru's double-taxation treaty network is small by regional standards, and the finance ministry's treaty list was not among the sources verified for this edition, so individual partners are not stated. The practical point sits upstream of any treaty: income tax law sources services income to the place where the work is physically performed, so a person working from Peruvian soil can in principle generate Peruvian-source income even when the payer is foreign — while Migraciones' public description of the digital nomad category asserts that such workers generate no Peruvian-source income. That contradiction is unresolved in published material and is the main reason to take advice on a long stay.

Practicalities

Overstay penalties
A daily fine of 0.1% of the Tax Unit applies for each day beyond the authorised stay, reported as S/ 5.50 a day at the 2026 Tax Unit of S/ 5,500. The fine is payable on departure and boarding can be refused until it is settled. Migraciones may also order mandatory departure with a re-entry ban reported at up to five years. Authorised stay can be checked against the virtual Andean Migration Card record on the Migraciones site.
Foreigner's identity card (carné de extranjería)
Issued after a residence grant, on registration in the Central Foreigners' Register. Valid four years for residents, five for the permanent category and three for minors. Renewal costs S/ 22.10 under code 07561 and must be filed 30 days before expiry through the Agencia Digital. The card's expiry and the residence expiry are different dates: residence runs one or two years depending on the category and is extended by a separate online procedure.
SIM registration
Since November 2025 foreigners must contract a new mobile line in person at an operator's official service centre, with fingerprint verification against the Migraciones database; if the identity cannot be validated, the sale is refused. A passport or a foreigner's identity card is accepted as the identity document. One new line may be contracted per month, and since 14 February 2026 a maximum of seven lines may be held in one name.
Fees and payment
All Migraciones fees are paid at Banco de la Nación or through Págalo.pe, quoting a procedure code and the number of the travel document used to enter Peru. The main codes are 07567 for the S/ 58.80 from-abroad migratory-status application, 07568 for the S/ 161.40 in-country change of status, and 07561 for the identity card.
Documents from abroad
Foreign documents must be apostilled or legalised by a Peruvian consulate and the foreign ministry, and translated into Spanish. A certificate of no criminal, judicial or police record must cover the five years before arrival and every country of residence in that period. An Interpol Ficha de Canje record no more than six months old is required for in-country changes of status and, since 14 June 2024, again for naturalisation, after a court injunction restored the requirement that the competition authority had struck out.
Health insurance
No health-insurance document appears among the published requirements for tourist entry or for the rentista, trabajador or permanent-residence procedures. Health cover arises from the local social health fund where there is Peruvian employment.
Address and tax number
There is no separate municipal registration in the published procedures. The online application asks the applicant to select the Migraciones office nearest their home, and naturalisation requires a sworn statement of real domicile in Peru. Business and licensing procedures identify foreign individuals by tax register number together with the foreigner's identity card, which makes the card the practical gateway to formal registration.
Banking and the money trail
The rentista route requires a sworn statement that the income enters Peru through a bank or financial institution supervised by the banking, insurance and pensions regulator, so the foreign income has to be routed into the Peruvian system rather than merely evidenced abroad. Account-opening rules for foreigners are set by individual banks and are not published by the immigration authority.

Peru: a legislated nomad visa nobody can file, and the residence routes that actually work

Where remote workers base, and on what status

Lima's Miraflores and Barranco districts, Cusco and Arequipa carry most of the foreign remote-working population, and almost all of it sits on tourist entry rather than on any purpose-built permit. The legal ceiling is 183 cumulative days in any 365, and re-entry within the same 365-day window can be refused once that budget is spent. Extension of a tourist stay is reported to be available in practice only to Andean Community nationals, so for most passports the 183 days are a hard annual allowance rather than a starting point.

There is a discrepancy in Peru's own material about how long a tourist may stay. The migration law sets 183 cumulative, non-renewable days within 365; Migraciones' own announcement of the nomad category described the previous tourist ceiling as 90 days. In practice officers set the figure on entry and commonly stamp 90, so the 183-day cap functions as an outer limit rather than an entitlement.

For anyone staying longer, the durable options are the two residence categories that are actually filed and granted. Trabajador residente covers both employment and independent contracting, and the independent branch needs only a services contract of a year or more with a Peruvian contracting party. Rentista residente needs a permanent net foreign income of at least US$ 1,000 a month and a sworn statement that the money enters Peru through a supervised bank.

The nomad category that was legislated but never switched on

Legislative Decree 1582 amended the migration law in 2023 to create a nómada digital category: subordinate work performed by electronic, telematic or telecommunications means, for an employer domiciled outside Peru, under a relationship formed abroad, generating no Peruvian-source income. Migraciones publicised 365 days, extendable, and framed it as a replacement for the tourist workaround.

The same announcement stated the condition that has held ever since: the category would begin to be granted only once the regulating resolution was published and the corresponding procedure was written into the agency's Texto Único de Procedimientos Administrativos. Neither has happened. Updates to that manual in 2024 and 2025 came and went without adding it, and no requirement list or fee has been published. Anyone offering to file a Peruvian digital nomad visa in September 2026 is describing something that has no filing channel.

What the process looks like, and what it costs

Everything runs through the Agencia Digital de Migraciones. The fee is paid first, at Banco de la Nación or through Págalo.pe, quoting the travel document number used to enter Peru, and the receipt number goes on the form. Applications filed from outside the country cost S/ 58.80 under code 07567; a change of status filed inside Peru costs S/ 161.40 under code 07568. Naturalisation is S/ 301.50. Results arrive through an electronic mailbox, with a stated 30 working days for in-country changes and 30 calendar days on the from-abroad worker procedure.

The document burden sits abroad, not in Lima. A police, judicial and criminal record certificate must cover the five years before arrival and every country of residence in that period, apostilled or consularised and translated. The rentista income evidence must come from the source country in original form, notarised or authenticated, and apostilled. An Interpol international exchange record no more than six months old is needed for in-country changes; its status has swung between the competition authority striking it out in 2023 and a court injunction restoring it from June 2024, and it is currently required.

Progression is slow but defined. Three consecutive years as a worker, investor, researcher or member of a religious community opens the permanent category, provided no single absence exceeded 183 consecutive days in a 365-day window without authorisation, and provided gross annual income of S/ 55,000 in the previous tax year. Naturalisation adds an examination on Peruvian history, culture and reality. The residence period required for naturalisation is the one live dispute: the Migraciones procedure page states two consecutive years, while the 2025 Nationality Law raises it to five and takes effect only with its implementing regulation.

Tax, money and daily administration

Tax residence turns on more than 183 calendar days in any 12-month period, but the status takes effect only from the following tax year, so a first stay is generally taxed on the non-domiciled basis. Non-domiciled individuals are taxed only on Peruvian-source income, at 30% withheld on payroll or independent services income. Once domiciled, worldwide income is in scope. There is no special regime, flat rate or exemption for newcomers.

The unresolved question is what counts as Peruvian-source. Income tax law sources services income to where the work is physically done, which points at a remote worker sitting in Lima being paid by a foreign company; Migraciones' description of the nomad category asserts the opposite, that such workers generate no Peruvian-source income. Nothing published reconciles the two, and the tension has never been tested through a working nomad permit because none has ever been issued.

Two practical items have tightened recently. Mobile lines can no longer be bought casually by foreigners: since November 2025 the contract must be signed in person at an operator's service centre with fingerprint verification against the Migraciones database, one new line per month, and since February 2026 no more than seven lines per person. And the foreigner's identity card and the residence permit expire on different dates — the card runs four years for residents, the residence one or two — which is the most common source of accidental irregularity among people who assume the card is the permit.

Overstaying is priced rather than dramatic in the first instance: 0.1% of the Tax Unit per day, around S/ 5.50 at the 2026 Tax Unit, payable before boarding a departing flight. Persistent or large overstays draw mandatory departure orders and a re-entry ban reported at up to five years.

Researched from gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · gob.pe · elperuano.pe · the authority