Overstaying and Peru Visa Matters

A participant in the Peru forum sent me some PM messages today .. and seems to be having trouble finding visa information.  That's not surprising as Expat arrivals in Peru have slowed in the covid era .. and participation in the Peru forum has been spotty, making reliable updates rare.

In order that more members possibly benefit, I am responding to that member on this new thread.

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When I last entered Peru, where I spent most of 2019, I came in on the usual tourist stamp at the Lima airport, good for 90 days.  The immigration officer told me they had just changed the rules .. and 180 days for a tourist stamp was no longer available.  (Technically, the free tourist stamp is not a visa.)

I overstayed the 90 permitted días, knowing that Peru is lenient about overstays.  When I departed Peru by air, there was an easy procedure at the airport to pay a couple hundred dollars U.S. (under $2 per overstayed day) and no penalty other than the cash payment.

Legally, I could have renewed at much less cost at the 90-day mark, but for personal reasons, I did not.  I ended up exceeding the 180 days total anyway.

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I have never sought a long-term visa for Peru, so I'm no expert on that.  Should I ever seek a visa for Peru, I would have a visa specialist advise me and get me through the process for a few hundred dollars.  If you can't or won't pay such a fee in order to succeed at such an important transaction, you should possibly consider getting a visa in Cuenca, Ecuador, where they historically have been staffed with bilinguals to assist Expats.  Of course, that puts you in Ecuador, not Peru.

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In several trips to Peru totaling well over a year, staying in Miraflores, Lima, I was never approached on the street by police or immigration officers checking my status or legality.  This was in marked contrast to my stays in Colombia, where cops and officers questioning me (usually in a friendly manner) did happen from time to time in multiple cities.  Part of my time in Colombia I had my Ecuador-plated car with me, so that drew some of the police stops.

cccmedia