88 Comments 
Sunflower Updated All foreigners must present the Ficha de Canje Internacional to Migraciones when applying for any temporary or residence visa in Peru. So, before you can even begin the so-called Cambio de calidad migratoria - whether from a temporary visa or temporary authorization (for example, a stay as a tourist) to another temporary or residence visa, or from one residence visa type to another - you must first complete the Interpol clearance.
The Ficha de Canje Internacional is a document issued by Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization) certifying that a person is not an internationally wanted fugitive and does not have an “International wanted persons notice” (Red Notice).
Contrary to popular belief, obtaining the Ficha de Canje Internacional is a straightforward process - at least if you know how it works, can access the website to book an online appointment, and are lucky enough to find available slots.
Please note: The Ficha de Canje issued by Interpol in Peru and the criminal background check (the antecedentes policiales, penales, and judiciales in Peru) issued in your home country, proving the absence of any police, criminal, or judicial record, are two different documents. Migraciones requires both documents, for example, when applying for a residence visa in Peru. You can find more information on how to meet the antecedentes requirement in our article “International document corresponding to the antecedentes policiales, penales, and judiciales in Peru.”
For a few years now, Interpol has not only an office in Lima but also in a few cities in the provinces, making the process easier for those living far from the capital. It also gives people who cannot obtain an appointment in Lima in a timely manner the option to try elsewhere.
(1)
Interpol usually asks you to write your address and phone number on the photocopy of your passport and sign it.
(2)
Since May 2023, you no longer receive an entry stamp when entering Peru. As a copy of the entry stamp page used to be - and officially still is - a requirement, Interpol may ask you to provide proof of your legal entry into Peru and your date of arrival. So, to meet this requirement, simply download your TAM virtual from the Migraciones website. For more information about the TAM (virtual), see our article How many days did I get when entering Peru?. Under the section “Option 1: Migraciones website” you will find a detailed explanation of how to download the TAM virtual.
(3)
Please be aware that if you apply for the Ficha de Canje at the Interpol office in Arequipa, you most probably will be asked to present a second ID. Even though this is not listed among the official requirements, the officers there demand that, in addition to your passport, you provide another photo ID such as a national ID card, driver’s license, or a similar document from your home country.
(4)
Please note: Officially, the money order is still listed as a requirement. However, since July 2024, at least the Interpol offices in Lima and Arequipa accept or sometimes specifically request a copy of the “FBI Criminal Record Check” / “RCMP Certified Criminal Record Check”/” AFP National Police Clearance Certificate (NPC)” with apostille and official translation (which you need for the visa application anyway) instead of the money order.
As obtaining the money order is and always has been a challenge, having your criminal record check already prepared may spare you one hurdle.
If you want to be on the safe side, or if the Interpol office insists on the money order, note that in Peru it is officially called “Giro sobre el exterior”, but at BCP branches it is commonly known as “Giro Miami".
According to official sources, you should be able to obtain the money order at any BCP branch. Unfortunately, this is not true. Some branches seem completely unaware of the service, while others are only willing to issue it to BCP clients with US Dollar accounts.
Since the money order is no longer required at the Interpol office in Lima, you will likely struggle to find a BCP branch there that still issues one.
In Cusco, one reader was able to obtain the money order at the BCP branch on Av. del Sol.
In Trujillo, you should be able to get the money order at the BCP on Av. Larco, in front of UCV, but you must be accompanied by someone who has a BCP account.
As regulations may change quickly without prior notice and depend on your nationality, procedures in your home country and the visa type you are applying for in Peru, we highly recommend confirming the above requirements and amounts with the Interpol office or online shortly before your visit.
As with all administrative procedures in Peru, before you can book an appointment and submit your application, you must first pay the corresponding fee — either in person at any Banco de la Nación branch or online via the pagalo.pe website from a computer or through the pagalo.pe app on a smartphone or tablet.
You can find detailed instructions on how to make the payment, what to watch out for, how to register on the online payment platform, and how to locate the correct fee in our article “Paying administration charges and processing fees in Peru.”
For paying the Ficha de Canje Internacional (Interpol) you need the code 08141 (on págalo.pe you can find it under Policia Nacional del Peru); costs are S/ 31.50 (2025).
Once the payment is done, keep the receipt safe. You will need it when making the appointment.
Once you have paid the application fee at a Banco de la Nación branch or on pagalo.pe, you must book an appointment on the Interpol website. It's no longer possible to simply show up at an Interpol office or make an appointment in person.
If the page won’t load or freezes, try reloading it. Be aware that any information you had already entered may be lost, and you may need to start over. It can also help to use a different browser and/or clear your cache.
Please note that the Interpol appointment page generally only works if you are physically in Peru. So, if you are in Peru but using a VPN set to another country, turn it off. If you are outside Peru and want to book your appointment before arriving, try using a VPN set to Peru. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t.
To avoid additional system errors, we also recommend not using automatic translation tools that translate the page from Spanish into another language, and turning off any ad blockers or incognito/private browsing modes you may be using.
That covers the general technical issues of the Interpol appointment page.
Interpol office in Lima
Be aware that it can be difficult or sometimes even impossible to get an appointment at the Interpol office in Lima. For quite some time now, Interpol has been releasing new appointments for the Lima office only on Saturday mornings. As demand is high and capacity is limited, this means that, in practice, you can only snag an appointment on Saturdays between 08.00 am and 12.00 pm. This has been causing complete chaos for months and puts people who need to apply for residency as soon as possible, for example, because their stay as a tourist is running out, under significant time pressure.
Technically, if not all appointments for Lima are taken by Saturday at 12.00 pm, you can still book after that or even on the following days. However, over the past months this has almost never happened, as appointments are taken quickly.
So, if you are in Lima and need an Interpol appointment, get up early on Saturday and spend a few hours in front of your computer to hopefully secure one.
And here’s a helpful tip from our reader Phil: "If you're on the page where you need to select your sede [so the Interpol office] and appointment time and it doesn't load, just reselect the sede or the date and wait, if the spinner stops or you see an error it probably didn't work and you can reselect. You don't need to press F5 to reload the page, doing so will lose all the input data from your comprobante."
Interpol offices in the provinces
For the Interpol offices in the provinces, new appointments are released on the 30th of each month, and these can be booked for the following month. Since appointments at the provincial Interpol offices are usually not in such high demand and are readily available, you are not restricted to booking exactly on the 30th; you can generally book an appointment on almost any day.
So, if you cannot get an appointment at the Lima office in a timely manner, consider taking a trip to one of the provincial Interpol offices in Arequipa, Chiclayo, Cusco, Piura, or Trujillo to obtain your Ficha de Canje.
To schedule an appointment go to the Interpol website, where you will arrive at the following page.
Just click on Registre su cita and you are directed to this page.
Now just fill in required fields:
Then click on Ingresar and you get to the Datos Personales page.
Fill in required fields:
As soon as you have filled in all the required fields, check that your personal data is 100% correct. Then click on Siguiente and you get to this page.
Now enter your current address in Peru, best exactly as on the "recibo" (water or electricity bill) you should bring with you just to make sure you have it in case the Interpol officer is asking for it.
Below enter the last address in your home country.
Once you are finished click on Siguiente and you get to the Programar Cita page.
Here under Comprobante first choose where you paid the fee (at a branch or on pagalo.pe) and then enter the required numbers from you pagalo.pe or Banco de la Nacion receipt.
Then choose where and when you want your appointment:
Then click on Generar cita. I
If you are lucky, everything goes smoothly and you secure your appointment. Download the appointment confirmation, print it (!), and keep it safe.
When selecting the Interpol office in Lima, it is unfortunately common to see the message that no appointments are available at the moment or that the spinner just stops and the page freezes. The only thing you can do is try again by reselecting the sede and/or the date and hope it works.
As already explained in detail above Interpol releases new appointments on Saturday mornings for the Lima office and on the 30th of each month for the provincial offices.
So, if you want to get your Ficha de Canje at the Lima office, you may need to spend a few hours between 08.00 am and 12.00 pm at your computer trying to snag an appointment. Good luck. When time is an issue and you can’t get an appointment in Lima, another option is to obtain your Ficha at one of the Interpol offices in the provinces, where appointments are generally much easier to secure.
On the day of your Interpol appointment, arrive at the office 15 to 30 minutes early with all required documents and without accompanying persons (only individuals with disabilities may enter with one adult for assistance).
Especially in Lima, the situation in front of the office can sometimes appear chaotic. However, the staff is usually friendly and helpful; some English is spoken; the process is fairly well organized.
When you arrive at the Interpol office, go straight to the gate, where a guard will check your appointment confirmation and hand you a form to fill out. You will then be directed to the waiting area. In Lima (the process in the provinces may differ), simply take the first available seat and move forward one seat each time the person at the front proceeds to an officer. Once it’s your turn, hand over your documents.
The officer will quickly review your paperwork and then send you to have your photo taken. After that, you’ll undergo a brief visual check of your teeth, and then your fingerprints will be taken. That’s it.
For many months, the background check performed by Interpol before issuing the Ficha de Canje Internacional took an hour or more, and you had to return later that same day to pick it up. Now, however, the Ficha is issued immediately, so no more waiting or returning.
US, Canadian and Austrialian passport holders Be aware that in some provincial Interpol offices you may be sent to the nearby post office during your appointment to send your documentation for an additional check to the US, Canada, or Australia, and then return with the receipt before receiving your Ficha. However, if you already present a copy of your criminal record check from your home country with Apostille and translation, some Interpol offices accept this instead, meaning you may no longer need the money order or the additional mailing step.
With the Ficha in hand, you now can start your temporary or resident visa application process.
Please note: Since July 2024, US Americans, Canadians, and Australians are no longer required to present the money order at certain Interpol offices (confirmed for Lima and Arequipa) if they can show the original and leave a copy of their criminal record check from their home country with Apostille and official translation (which is needed for the visa application anyway). That’s one major headache less. Hopefully, this practice will soon be adopted by all Interpol offices.
As the money order is still listed as an official requirement for US Americans, Canadians, and Australians and not all offices are accepting a current criminal record check in place of the money order we are keeping the explanation for the additional criminal record check below:
If you are a citizen of the US, Canada, or Australia, an additional criminal record check from the federal police authority of your home country (for example, the FBI) is required. For this, the international money order mentioned above is needed. This check is not related to issuing the Ficha de canje required for your visa application at Migraciones or to the approval of your visa. Instead, if something serious appears on your record, it will be flagged, and you could be detained when leaving the country.
Be aware, that Interpol asks you to send an envelope with your documents to the FBI (for US citizens), the RCMP (for Canadian citizens) or the AFP (for Australian citizens). A few of our readers, who applied for the Ficha at an Interpol office in the provinces, were sent to the postal office nearby during the appointment and had to return with the receipt before getting their Ficha.
Additionally, receiving the results can take many weeks or even months, and the criminal record check you receive does not meet the requirements set by Migraciones. It does not come with an Apostille either. Therefore, waiting for this document and trying to use it as the “Antecedentes” required for a residence visa application is not recommended and usually counterproductive, as you will most likely run out of time on your tourist stay before the document is issued, apostilled abroad, and returned to Peru.
It is therefore best to come to Peru already prepared, bringing your criminal record check with Apostille from home or - if you are already in Peru - apply for it independently. You can find more information about the required criminal record check and how to obtain it in our article “International document corresponding to the Antecedentes policiales, penales y judiciales in Peru.”
Please note: We from LimaEasy are not a Peruvian government agency, a public authority or (immigration) lawyers. All information is published to our best knowledge and should be seen as general guidance introducing you to Peruvian regulations and procedures. All information is subject to change, as regulations, requirements, and processes can change quickly without prior notice!
And if you find something wrong on this page, please help us to keep this guide as up to date as possible and contact us either below with a comment or use our contact form. Thank you!
In loving memory of "Jack" & "Lola"
