After seeing numerous posts on different expat groups and getting a bunch of emails about the Peru visa requirements, it’s a no-brainer that a lot of things are ambiguous. There is a lot of confusion about who gets how many days, and what would happen afterwards. Would you be at the mercy of a moody border official when leaving? Grease tax anyone? Would you be able to come back once you leave? How about the extensions? It’s a never-ending list actually.
In this Peru Visa guide, I will try to address all the questions you might have.
Who Needs a Tourist Visa for Peru?
Before we delve into the anything else, it’s important to know who needs to apply for a visa before entering Peru and who is visa exempt. This is a deciding factor in a lot of rules and regulations. You can check whether or not you need a visa on the website of Peru’s ministry of foreign affairs. Although the country names and details are in Spanish, it’s easy to figure it out.
Are you visa exempt for Peru?
There are many nationalities who are visa exempt for Peru. This means that you simply showed up at the border or landed at the airport, filled in the TAM or Tarjeta Andina (the simple entry/exit card given to tourists upon arrival in Peru). You didn’t have to show any hotel reservations or anything else.
- You didn’t get a sticker on your passport.
- You just got the TAM and an entry stamp on your passport. As simple as that.
- You probably got 90 or lesser number of days, which you can extend later.
Nationals of EU, USA, Australia, Canada would fall into this category.
Do you need a tourist visa for Peru?
If you are from one of the countries marked in grey in the map, you need to apply for a Peru tourist visa at a Peruvian consulate, and you can enter Peru only if you get that visa. That means you need to submit the application form and provide the following documents as per the Peru visa requirements.
- Roundtrip flight tickets
- Hotel reservations
- Bank statements for financial means
- Travel insurance
If you want to know more about that, head to my first-hand experience on how to get a Peru visa from a Peru consulate.
Most Asian and African countries would fall into this category.
So, yeah, calling the TAM card as a tourist visa, is just plain bullshit. This is what a sticker visa for Peru looks like. It surely is not a TAM card.
How Long Can You Stay in Peru as a Tourist?
The longest you can stay in Peru is 183 days in a Calendar year. Period. It’s the same for people entering on a tourist visa and for people who are visa exempt. It can be a continuous stay or various visits during the period of one calendar year.
Now, coming to the complicated part: a calendar year starts for you when you enter Peru. That means if you enter Peru for the first time, on 20th March 2020, your Calendar year or 365 days starts from 20th March 2020. So before, 20th March 2021, you get 183 days in Peru. You can consume those in one go including the extensions. Or you can enter multiple times during that period as long as the total number of days you accumulate, doesn’t exceed 183.
Your calendar will not reset on 1st January 2020.
Once you have been outside of Peru for 183 days or 6 months roughly, your new calendar year will start.
Now, there are people who have been able to come back to Peru despite not being outside of Peru for 183 days. Be it your lucky day or a tired and miscalculating border official, these things happen. However, it’s a toss up. You might very well be denied entry and be deported. So it’s not really worth the risk.
How Long Can Americans Stay in Peru as Tourist?
A document on Peru government’s website says that now some nationalities including Americans and Canadians could only stay for 90 days in Peru. This has been like an icing on the cake of all confusions.
However, in practice, the 183 day rule applies to everyone. A lot of Americans have been able to extend their TAM entry for 90 days in the recent past online as well as in an immigration office.
Peru Tourist Visa Extension
When you enter Peru on as visa exempt, you might get something from 30-90 days. This totally depends on the number of times you have entered in Peru in a calendar year and the mood of the border official. If it’s your first time, you can count on getting 90 days with a 90% probability.
Once you are inside, if you want to get a Peru visa extension, there are two ways to go about it.
- Peru visa extension online
This is the easier route. You can pay the 11.70 soles for the extension on pagalo.pe or at a Banco de la Nacion branch, extend it on the official immigration website.
Here is the article on Peru visa extension online with all the detailed steps and tricks. - Peru visa extension in an immigration office
If the online extension doesn’t work out for you, you can find the nearest Peruvian immigration office , and get an appointment. You need to show up with your passport and a payment receipt, and get the extension done.
If this is your case, then jump to the step by step process to extend the Peru visa in an immigration office.
Overstaying Your Peru Tourist Visa
Peru is easygoing with the overstayers. That’s the word on the street. The overstay fee is S/ 4.05 per day. I personally know people who have overstayed for up to 6 months and paid the fine while leaving the country. And they have successfully re-entered without any repercussions.
All that being said, I would never recommend anyone to overstay. It’s always a slippery slope. You never know how and when it can come and bit you.
Things to See in Peru
If you have read so far, and know how long you could stay in Peru, you probably have a plan to visit some places. You have already seen those photos Llamas ruminating around Machu Pichu, and I know you are going there. If you want to look beyond Machu Pichu, here is a nice guide to visiting Cusco and Lima.
I hope I have been able to address all the questions about Peru visa requirements in this guide. The bottom line is that the visa rules in Peru are always changing. I will keep on updating the Peru tourist visa guide whenever I come across any new information. Till then stay posted.
The post A Complete Guide to Peru Visa Requirements, Application and Extension appeared first on The Visa Project.
