108 Comments
· 26/11/2022
Thank you for your excellent advice. Can I ask about the rule, that you have to stay a minimum of 183 days a year in peru with a retirement visa. Is this a calendar year Jan 1st to Dec 31st? What happens if you have to exit for some family emergency? is there a way to obtain temporary exemption.
Also when I last entered Peru, I struggled to get the full 90 days, I had to reel of a long list of tourism sites before they said I could have it but it was the last time this year? Not sure what she meant as I was exiting in Nov 22, so not much of the year left anyway.
- This commment is unpublished.
· 26/11/2022@Malcolm Hello Malcom,
Yes, if you live in Peru on a retirement visa, you have to be in Peru for 183 days, so half year, in a year. And no, it’s not per calendar year, it’s counted from the day you receive your retirement visa.
You can leave the country whenever you want. But if you stay outside Peru for longer than half a year in a year, you lose your residency. However, if you must leave Peru for emergencies or due to force majeure for more than half a year, you can apply for a special permit, the so-called “Permiso de estadía fuera del país por 183 días calendario”. For many years, you had to submit the application for this permit before (!) you left the country. But, according to the new TUPA (page 23), you now must apply before the 183 days you are allowed to stay outside Peru are over. If you are still in Peru, you can apply for the permit on the Agencia Digital. How it works if you are already outside the country is unclear.
Over the past weeks, I heard from quite a number of frequent Peru travelers that immigrations at the airport is extremely strict counting (and sometimes miscalculating to the detriment of the foreigner) every single day stayed before in the country and only giving the absolute minimum. Anyway, the rules are quite clear. Most foreign nationals, who don’t have to apply for a tourist visa before coming to Peru, can stay in the country as a tourist for up to (!) 90 days in a 180-day period (so up to 3 months in Peru and at least 3 months out of Peru) and a maximum of 183 days in a 365-day period (so half a year in a year). However, it’s always at the discretion of the immigration officer you have to face how many days he/she is giving you.And here as well the 180-day period isn't per half year from January to June or July to December and the 365-day period isn’t from January to December, but calculated from your first entry.So, if you entered, for example, on March 1 and got 90 days, you must have left by May 30. Your 180-day period ends on August 28. So, you shouldn't re-enter Peru before that day. Then you entered again let's say on September 1, got 90 days and must leave by November 30. You now had the maximum allowed days as a tourist per year and shouldn't re-enter before March 1 the next year.GreetingsEva - This commment is unpublished.
· 27/11/2022@Sunflower Thanks Eva,Just one more related question if I may. While in Peru, our neighbour who holds a Polish passport was saying he is given 180 days rather than the maximum 90. He said there are rules for different countries, but I've never managed to find out where this list exists. The only reason I ask, is that I am from the UK, and have only been given 90 days maximum. However, the UK has just opened up visa free days to Peruvian nationals for up to 6 month stays in the UK, so was wondering if Peru now operate a reciprocate agreement to UK nationals? - This commment is unpublished. · 28/11/2022@Malcolm Hello Malcom,
Yes, your neighbor is right, it depends on your nationality on how many days you can stay in Peru as a tourist. But, most nationalities, who can travel to Peru visa-free, are allowed 90 days in a 180-day period and a max of 183 days in a year. Polish nationals aren’t an exemption.
You can find the list showing if you need a tourist visa to enter Peru or not and, if you can travel to Peru visa-free, how long you can stay on the Peruvian government website. The list was last updated in June 2022. I don’t have any information about an agreement between the UK and Peru and how this might affect the allowed days you can stay as a UK national in Peru. Probably check with Migraciones or the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Anyway, on page 4 of the list under “Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte” (or on the screenshot I attached) you see that UK nationals do not need a visa, but as the list was first introduced when the UK was about to leave the EU and back then no agreement between Peru and UK was in place, no number of days are written there. But, over the past year, travelers reported that UK nationals get as nearly everyone else 90 days in a 180-day period.
And the same applies to Polish nationals and all other EU nationals. There you even explicitly find 90/180, meaning 90 days in a 180-day period. So, while from 2019 (when the list was first introduced) to mid-2021 you could easily still get the full 180 days, since August 2021 immigration officers most times strictly enforce the 90 days in a 180 day-period and a max of 183 days in a year rule. So, I would really love to see the entry stamp of your Polish neighbor showing that he got 180 days when he entered Peru this (!) year.
Greetings
Eva
