Coming back into Peru to marry my Peruvian boyfriend and find work
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Hello,
My name is Jenna and I am Canadian. My boyfriend is Peruvian and lives near Lima. I entered Peru last year on June 3, 2022 and left to go back to Canada on August 21, 2022. I returned in October 5, 2022 to spend the holidays with my boyfriend and his family. I was told I had 11 more days upon entering and that if I stayed longer I would have to pay a fine.
I left on January 12 and paid my fine for the extra days. I visited Migraciones prior to leaving because I want to come back as soon as possible (long distance sucks) and I want to stay in Peru with my future husband. I was told that I would be ok to return after June 3 of 2023 as that would be a year since I first entered last year. I just purchased my flight for June 13, 2023 and the plan is to get married right away and change my visa as soon as possible.
Here are my questions:
- Is there a chance they deny me from entering? If so, what steps could I take to prevent this from happening?
- Is it easy to find work in Peru and get a work visa in country? I teach ESL English and have my TEFL Certificate.
- Would it be easier to stay through getting a family visa once married?
- Are there any other ways that will allow me to stay with my future husband?
Thank you so much!
Hello jennahurtubise,
Welcome to ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ
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
½ûÂþÌìÌà 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 ½ûÂþÌìÌà ...
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.Â
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.
Regards.
@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,
²¹±è´Ç²õ³Ù¾±±ô±ô±ð»å.¨
  -- 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 ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ
@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 ³Ù°ùá³¾¾±³Ù±ð²õÌý 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 ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ...
¨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 VidalÂ
@jennahurtubise
You need to legalise all documents. As true, Canada is not a part of the Hague agreement and you can not apostille, you need to legalise. In that case, you should ask for the Peruvian consulte in Canada.
I repeat you don't need to pay anyone to do that. Only ask to the peruvian consulate about legalization of Canadian documents (they must be translated, they will explain everything), and as soon you have all documents like the government website I linked before you can travel, get married and apply for your residence in Migraciones. You can also get married in Canada and get the documents.
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