CE (Foreign Resident Card) in Peru

Updated 11 January 2017

 ***Be sure you ask at immigrations about your visa as rules and fees seem to change often. You now need an appointment in order to go to immigration. Make the "derecho de tramite" payment in order to schedule your appointment right away.***

***While on a retirement or student visa, legally you are NOT allowed to earn money in Peru. You CAN earn money while on a marriage / spousal / family visa.***

The CE
The Foreign Resident Card is called different things: CE, carne de extranjeria, carnet de extranjeria, carne, carnet, and resident card. All of these mean the same thing, it's a ID card that proves that you have resident and allows foreigners to live legally in Peru.

Power of Attorney
It's not necessary for you to submit the paperwork, renew your CE, or pay the foreigner's tax yourself. You can go to a notary and ask for a "carta poder". This is a Power of Attorney that you give to someone to act on your behalf. The only thing that you will have to do personally is go to Immigrations when they need to fingerprint you and take your photo and INTERPOL for fingerprinting, dental exam, and photos.

Where to Go
I know that most people get their CEs in Lima. Here's a list of offices in Lima. The main immigration office is located in Brena in Lima. However, there are other smaller immigration offices around Peru that might also allow you to get your CE there, ex. Cusco. The best thing to do is and ask.

Residency
Peru is a wonderful country with so many sites to see! Make sure you take advantage of living in a foreign country and travel! Peruvian residency consists of two parts. First, you get the resident visa in your passport. Then, you get your CE. You don't have to renew the visa; you have to renew the CE and pay the yearly foreigner's tax.

You can find the following information below:
1. INTERPOL
2. Getting Your CE
3. Permission to travel while your paperwork is in process
4. Paying the Foreigner's Tax
5. Renewing your CE
6. Getting a Duplicate CE
7. Updating Your Data
8. Expired CE
9. Losing Residency
10. Cancelling Residency


1. INTERPOL
You should probably go to INTERPOL right after you apply for your resident visa. Don't wait until all the paperwork has been processed for your resident visa. I would suggest that while you are waiting for your visa, go and start the process because it can take a couple of days for them to get the results. Interpol has moved (thanks to quirquinchu for this info), they are no longer at Velasco Astete and Caminos del Inca. They are now located in the (police station) Comisaría Monterrico, Cuadra 6 de Manuel Olguin, behind the Hipódromo, between Javier Prado and Av. Derby. It's probably best to take a taxi there. You need to walk through to the back courtyard for the Interpol section. As usual, early birds served first, though "Provincias" (outside Lima) or "Adulto Mayor" could advance you a bit. Provincias assumes you caught a long distance bus and really can't afford a night in Lima, Adulto Mayor (over 65) have legal privileges. The staff there are pretty friendly.. You need to bring:

• Receipt from the Banco de la Nacion for the fee
• Your passport
• Receipts from immigrations
• An envelope (just in case they run out, as they often do)
• Paperwork you have from the immigration office
• Photocopies of everything else
• Make sure you know your height in meters and weight in kilos.

They now take photos at INTERPOL, so there's no need to bring any. You'll have to pay for the photos. Don't lose the receipt you will receive from the INTERPOL office. They will fingerprint you and look at your teeth, then put the information in the envelope you bring, and you will go mail it to the address they give you.

2. Getting your CE 
In order to get your CE you first have to have a resident visa. Work and Family / Marriage visas are the most common. Student and Retirement visas are also possible. There are other possibilities as well, check Migraciones for a complete list.

Once you have your resident visa, you will need to get your carne de extranjeria, which you have 30 days to get it after you get your resident visa. Immigration SHOULD let you know (either by phone or email) that your paperwork is ready.

Their new system is that you email them after 15 days with your ticket number and other information. Then they respond and tell you when to come in. However, if you don't hear from them in a couple of weeks, call them.

While you are waiting for your visa, go to INTERPOL and start the process. That way when you get your visa, you will already have the INTERPOL documents that you need and you can go straight to immigrations.

Once you get your CE, you can't be out of the country for more than 6 months in a year or you'll lose residency. If you want to keep residency, you'll have to come to Peru every six months. There is a way around this, and that's if you let immigrations know beforehand. See the "losing residency" section below for specific information and links.

1. Go to the Banco de la Nacion and pay for the F004, which is for you to change your status to residency and F007A, which is for you to be put in the foreigner's registry.
2. Make copies of everything. Take the receipts, the forms, carta de garantia from your spouse or work (go to Letters for Immigration), your Tarjeta Andina (some people have had to turn in their Tarjeta Andina when they got their resident visa, if that's the case, just bring a photocopy. If you don't have a photocopy, then just tell immigrations that you already handed your Tarjeta Andina over to them), your receipts / money order from INTERPOL, and your passport. Leave the originals at the Mesa de Partes at Immigrations. They'll stamp your copies. Come back when they tell you to.
3. Get fingerprinted and photographed at Immigrations and then you’ll get your carne.
4. Now that you have your CE, don't forget that every year you have to pay the foreigner's tax (between Jan and Mar) and renew it every year. See below for more info. If you get an immigrant visa, then you no longer have to renew it, but you still have to pay the foreigner's tax.

3. Travelling while your CE is in process
If you've started the CE process but have to leave Peru before you actually get your CE, you need to get special permission to do so. This is for those that need to leave for business or family reasons. They'll be gone a short time, but plan on coming back to Peru.

This is for those who don't have IRCE (Inscripcion Registro Central de Extranjeria / Registered in the Foreigners' Registry) or CCM (Cambio de Clase Migratorio / Change of Migratory Status). If you plan on leaving Peru forever, then go to immigrations and ask what you need to do.

You need the following. It might be processed right then and there, but could also take up to 2 take up to two days to process.

• Form F-007
• Pay the fee at the Banco de la Nacion
• The original ticket that shows that you're going to be leaving Peru
• A copy of the ticket that shows that you're going to be leaving Peru

4. Paying the Foreigner's Tax or Getting the Exoneracion
You can do this in any immigration office in the country (offices in Lima and smaller immigration offices). Don’t forget that you have to pay the foreigner’s tax between January and March. If you pay late you’ll have to pay a late fee. If you are in the provinces and want to pay your TAE (tasa anual de extranjeria / annual foreigner's tax), you can do it at any Banco de la Nacion. Be sure to tell them the code: 2690. When you're in Lima just pick up your voucher. They've stopped giving stickers. If you need to pay the tax, go to the Banco de la Nacion. Save your receipt. You'll need 3 things

• Proof you've paid the tax $20 from the Banco de la Nacion
• Your CE
• 1 copy of your CE

At immigrations they will give you a ticket with a number on it. You need to go to the 3rd floor. It's usually hectic and the people working there seem to never be happy. Only one person deals with the tax. You'll need one copy of your CE. They've stopped giving you stickers and will just give you a voucher that says you've paid.  If you're married to a Peruvian, you can get the exoneracion and pay a bit less, but it's easier and faster to just pay the tax.

OR

If you are married to a Peruvian (or fall into the no tax category, such as those here on religious visas, you don't have to pay the tax. You can get exonerated from the tax, however, you have to pay a fee in order not to pay the tax. Honestly this takes more time, effort, money and patience and is not really worth it, but here's the info anyways). You can find information at Migraciones. It's called "exoneracion del pago de la tasa anual de extranjeria". You need the following.

• Form F007 
• To pay the fee at the Banco de la Nacion to process F007.
• Your legalised partida de matrimonio issued in the current year
• A notarised letter from your spouse. For letters and documents for immigrations, go to Letters for Immigration.

1. Make a copy of F007 with the ticket of your payment attached. Leave the documents at the Mesa de Partes (ground floor) at Migraciones. Keep the copy you made. Come back in two days.
2. Return to immigrations and go to the 3rd floor. Go to the counter and give them the copy of F007. Wait a bit and then you will get a voucher saying you've paid the tax.

5. Renewing Your Carne de Extranjeria
(The information below is for those married to a Peruvian. If you're not married to a Peruvian, you still have to go through a similar process. Except instead of your marriage cert, a letter from your spouse, and your spouse's DNI you will need your work contract, a letter from your boss, and your boss's DNI.) You can find information at Migraciones. It's called "Prorroga de residencia". You need the following.

• Formulario F007.
• Pay the fee at the Banco de Nacion for Form F007.
• Legalised letter from your spouse that requests the prorroga. For letters and documents for immigrations, go to Letters for Immigration.
• Wedding certificate legalised by RENIEC (If you got married out of Peru, it has to be apostillised first; see Peru and the Hague Agreement for more info. Then legally translated by an official translator and legalised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry (RREE) for more information.
• Copy of your spouse's DNI (They may ask for the original so you might want to bring it as well.)
• Your original CE
• Your original passport

1. Make a copy of all the documents.
2. Go the window number 3 or 4 on the 3rd floor and handed in the documents. If that doesn't work, leave the documents at the Mesa de Partes (ground floor) at immigrations.Then come back two days later. When you return to Migraciones go to the 3rd floor. Go to the Prorroga de Residencia counters (window 3 or 4) and give them the copy of F007 and then you will get your carne with its new sticker.

6. Getting a Duplicate CE
If you've lost or had your CE stolen, you will need to get a new one. You can find information at Migraciones. It's called "duplicado de carne de extranjeria".

• Formulario F007.
• Pay the fee for a replacement CE  at the Banco de la Nacion.
• Re-pay the foreigner's tax.

1. Go to the police station and tell them why you don't have your CE. File a police report.
2. Get a copy of the police report by going to the BCP (Banco de Credito del Peru) and paying the fee.
3. Go to Migraciones with the BCP receipts, police report and formulario and hand over your documents at the Mesa de Partes.
4. Wait two days and pick up your new CE.

7. Updating Your Data
If you've changed your name, civil status or address, you're supposed to update your data. You will have to pay for two things: changing your data and getting a new card. You MUST do both of these steps at once. You can find information at Migraciones. It's called "modificacion de datos en la ficha de inscripcion del registro central de extranjeria". You'll need the following in order to change the data. Anything not in Spanish or any document from abroad MUST be apostillised and translated.

• Formulario F007.
• Pay the fee at the Banco de la Nacion.
• Present at least one, or a combination of the following: original marriage cert, original death cert of your spouse, original divorce papers, legalised change of nationality papers, original passport with old name, original passport with new name, sworn statement saying that you have changed your address.

In order to get a new CE with the new data, you need to get the following and make copies of everything.

• Formulario F007.
• Pay the fee for a replacement CE at the Banco de la Nacion.
• Re-pay the foreigner's tax.

1. Make copies of everything.
2. Present documents at the Mesa de Parte at immigrations.
3. Come back when they tell you to, usually in 2 working days.

8. Expired CE
You are supposed to renew your CE every year. If you don't renew on time, you will have to pay a fine. Though if you are only a couple of days late, they might waive the fine. However, if you renew too late, or were out of the country, you may lose your residency. See "losing residency" below for more information.

9. Losing Residency
There are two possible ways to lose residency.

1. Not renewing on time.
2. Being outside of Peru for too long.

I'm not sure exactly how long you can have an expired CE before losing residency. I'm guessing that it's six months. Actually, I'm not sure if not renewing your CE can cause you to lose residency. However, it's not worth the risk. Peru often changes immigration laws. The best thing is prevention. Don't let your CE expire.

It's been said that if you're outside of Peru for six months or more in a row, then you lose residency. When you enter Peru after being away for more than 6 months, they will stamp your passport as a tourist. Supposedly, if you know that you will be gone for more than six months, you CAN keep your residency, but only if you let immigrations know and file the necessary paperwork. Look at cusco's post in this thread.

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.

10. Cancelling Residency
If you're going to be leaving Peru, you should cancel your CE. After cancelling your CE, you need to leave Peru within 10 days. (Steps can be found here to cancel your CE.) Some people say that there's no need to cancel it if you're leaving. Others say that you should cancel it because if you leave and come back after six months you'll have to cancel the first one, then wait 72 hours before you can apply for a new one.