Coming back into Peru to marry my Peruvian boyfriend and find work

Hello jennahurtubise,

Welcome to Expat.com

Thank you for the introduction and also for asking your questions here.

I really hope you will be able to gather some information and that some members will be able to share their personal experiences with you.

For now, I invite you to read the Living in Peru guide for expats.

All the best,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

Hi.

You can visit Peru for the number of days the migration inspector writtes in your passport, you can exit and enter again before the expiration date. You should ask for the maximum time, 183 days and appeal if they dennied it and you disagree, but it os going to be a little tricky for you.

The best choice for you is to obtain a residente as a spouse or partner of a Peruvian. You need to do this procedure and make your application before your deadline to leave the country:

"Cambio de calidad migratoria por la de Familiar Residente"

You have two options: as a spouse or as a partner.

-As a spouse: you need to marry before (obvious), you can marry anytime. You need to do it in the same district your boyfriend lives as is indicated in its ID document.

-As a partner: you need to inscribe your partnership in public registry institution -SUNARP

After you have the proof of marriage por partnership, you can make your application.

Dear Jenna,

Welcome to the Peru forums of Expat.com ...

You are on the right path by thinking about how to

stay in Peru on an actual visa, not on a 90-day

tourist stamp.

Here are steps you can take...

(1) Contact a visa specialist or immigration attorney

in Lima while you are still in Canada.  Get advice on

what class of visa you should be applying for.

(2) Get clarity on whether you should initiate the

visa process from Canada via your nearest

consulate or the Peruvian embassy in Canada.

If the visa is based on marriage, you may have to

apply for a visa when you are in Peru.

(3) Contact the consulate or embassy and enlist

their assistance with paperwork and preparation

and guidance.

(4) Get clear about what paperwork and timing are

involved in preparing to obtain a Peruvian

drivers license, which you would apply for in Lima.

(5) Obtain any police background checks and other

document(s) that may be required.

cccmedia

Jenna, I see that new member Borja López Lasala posted

61 seconds before my earlier post.

I mention this upfront as I believe that there is incorrect

information contained in BLL's post.

Years ago, including my first visits to Peru circa 2016 and

2017, I recall that Peru allowed North Americans to visit

on tourist stamps for up to 180 days.

However, this number was later reduced to 90 days (with an

in-country extension available).

--

Based on common sense, the limited time you have

spent with your SO in Peru and the reason you are waiting

until June to return to Peru, it is evident that the spouse or

partner-based visa option is not available in Canada. 

cccmedia

Jenna, you asked the following question...

Is there a chance they could deny me from entering?

--

Since an immigration officer told you that you may

re-enter Peru in June of this year and you are

waiting to do so until then, I suggest you proceed

on that basis unless an attorney or consular official

tells you otherwise.  While 'anything is possible',

it seems unlikely in the extreme that you would

be denied re-entry given that you are following

the rules and waiting for the full year to elapse.

--

As for obtaining work in Lima, while nobody can

assure you of a positive result, there should be

ample opportunities to apply for English-teacher

positions.  This is one of the few jobs where

non-Peruvian natives do not have the advantage

as job applicants.  As a major city and international

capital, Lima is the ideal place to apply for the

position you seek.

cccmedia

Correction.

The next-to-last sentence in my previous post

should read...

¨This is one of the few jobs where Peruvian natives

do not have the advantage as job applicants.¨

Jenna, don't listen to those who tell you that you have to hire someone from Canada, you don't need somebody to make money off foreigners. I live in Peru for 7 years and I have even processed my Peruvian nationality, I know about immigration procedures.

If you are going to get married or become a common-law partner of a Peruvian in Peru, you must first arrive in Peru and enter as a tourist. Ask at the airport to have your passport stamped with the maximum (183 days) and say that you are going to marry your boyfriend who is Peruvian, have his contact information just in case.

Once in Peru, you can choose to get married or register as a domestic partnership. Keep in mind that in Peru common-law couples have community property, if you want to separate property it can only be with marriage. The marriage is carried out by a municipality where at least one of the two must reside legally, then it is registered in RENIEC. The common-law couple, on the other hand, registers with SUNARP. Tell your boyfriend to find out about that and the requirements.

Once you are married and your period of stay as a tourist is still valid, you apply to the National Superintendence of Migrations for the procedure "Change of migratory quality for that of a resident family member". I leave you the link with the requirements and documents that they ask for. The process is presented through its website. You have to bring from Canada a certificate of not having a criminal, police or judicial record, apostilled.

https://www.gob.pe/12932-cambiar-calida … -residente

Regards.

@Borja Lopez Lasala

thank you for your help!!

@Borja Lopez Lasala

should i get all the documents in Canada translated in Peru or should I do that in Peru? I know I need a letter stating I am single and a background check.

¨You have to bring from Canada a certificate

of not having a criminal, police or judicial record,

apostilled.¨

   -- Borja López Lasala

----

As you may know, this refers to a process for

authenticating documents in a foreign country.

Canada was not a signatory to the 1961

Apostille convention at The Hague, so a

process equivalent to apostilling is

offered in Ottawa, the Canadian capital,

by an agency to which the appropriate process

was assigned.

For more information, consult the website

on which this post is based...

     legalizationservicecentre.ca

-- cccmedia,

      member of experts team of Expat.com

@cccmedia

Thank you! So getting documents legalized and translated here will work in Peru then correct?

Jenna

Yes, Jenna, in the case of the apostille-substitute

process.  That's in Ottawa, although you may be

able to avoid an actual trip to the national capital city

(by hiring an agent or paying extra for expedited

long-distance service).

Translation may have to be done in Peru to be

considered valid, as is required in Ecuador for

Ecuador-related documents.

Ideally, an immigration attorney or a visa specialist

who deals with these trámites  on a daily basis

would be supervising your entire process.

As a rough estimate, about 90 percent of Expats

who are visa applicants should be hiring a specialist

or an attorney.  The other ten percent are mostly

nerds and savants who love the challenge of

dealing with South American bureaucracy .. and

are up to facing the challenge on their own.

cccmedia

@cccmedia

Do you have any recommendations for places where I can hire an attorney in Peru from Canada? I agree that it would the smarter way to go. Peru's government and laws are confusing at times.

Jenna

Last April, a Dutch Expat in Peru posted

as follows on the Immigration Facilitator

or Attorney thread of Expat.com...

¨I am not a lawyer but I help Expats

with some enquiries about immigration...

I can refer you to a lawyer.¨

Send PM or private message to...

Catalina Torres Vidal