Opening a Business / Getting an Investor's Visa in Peru

Updated 10 August 2016


Although there's a lot of red tape involved with any business, it's possible to open a business here and get an investor's visa. Doing Business in Peru.org is a good place to start looking for what you need. You should also read up on how to do business in Peru and Peruvian culture.

Do your research ahead of time, here's some practical advice about starting your own business. 

If you want to keep residency, you'll have to come to Peru every six months. If you spend more than 6 months outside of Peru and want to keep your residency, you will have to get permission from immigration. Here is what you will have to do if you want to leave for more than 183 days. You can read more info about this in Chris' blog. More first hand experience can be read in this thread.

FYI: You cannot simply invest money, never live in Peru, and get a passport. They don't have a quick and easy investment option for people who don't spend time in Peru.  

Requirements for an investor's visa.

• Check with Immigrations does not have the the information about what is needed to get an investor's visa on their website. You're going to have to visit or call them. I got the information below from various forums and Facebook groups.  I also highly suggest you get a lawyer to help you out. 
• Money's the first thing you will need. As of 2013, you'll need $30,000. 
• You'll also need to hire 5 Peruvians. A Peruvian is a person with Peruvian citizenship who has agreed to be treated as a Peruvian. Let me explain. If a person holds more than one passport and they enter Peru on a foreign passport, they would not be considered a Peruvian. They'd have to enter Peru on a Peruvian passport. 
• You'll also have to pay the minimum wage. I'm sure there are ways around it, such as commission, etc. I'm not sure if they can be contract employees or if they have to be permanent.

Another option: create your own company with you as the main shareholder
There's also another option at Peru this Week that explains how to create your own job by creating a company in which you are the main shareholder, for example in an SAC.  You should look at this step-by-step process for a SAC.

Getting help
You can also consider joining Expat Entrepreneurs in Lima. These guys organize regular face-to-face meetings where entrepreneurs share their experience and network.

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