Rentista Visa (Permanent Residence for people with passive income) (Peru): Requirements
Peru residence route
Rentista Visa (Permanent Residence for people with passive income)
Retirees with a pension or other permanent passive income.
- Income threshold
- $1,000 / month
- Minimum age
- None
- Validity
- Permanent residence, with the foreigner identity card renewed periodically.
- Permanent residence
- Immediate.
- Processing
- 3 to 8 months
The financial test in detail
A permanent income of at least 1,000 U.S. dollars per month from a foreign source, plus 500 dollars per month for each dependant included.
Savings
None.
What the status gives you
- Renewal
- The carné de extranjería is renewed but the status is permanent.
- Work rights
- The rentista category is aimed at people living on foreign income; separate authorisation is needed for local employment.
- How much time you must spend there
- You should not be absent for more than 183 consecutive days without a re-entry permit.
- Citizenship
- Two years of residence for naturalisation, which is among the shortest anywhere, with Spanish language and Peruvian history examinations.
- Government fees
- Visa: 300 USD. Residence permit: 120 USD.
- 1 Apostille and translate documents FBI check authenticated federally, vital records apostilled by the issuing state, then translated into Spanish by an official translator recognised in Peru.
- 2 File with Migraciones The application is filed with the Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones, commonly with a Peruvian attorney.
- 3 Obtain the carné de extranjería The foreigner identity card, which is what you use for banking, healthcare and daily administration.
Your action Documents and authentication Government processing
Your document checklist for this route
9 documents in total, of which 5 need authentication: 2 through the U.S. Department of State and 3 through a Secretary of State. All authenticated documents also need certified translation into Spanish.
- U.S. passport Identity and the physical book the visa is placed in. Lead time: Routine renewal takes weeks; check current published times
- Passport-format photographs Every application. Specifications differ by country and are enforced strictly. Lead time: Same day
- National long-stay visa application form The core filing. Almost always country-specific and often only valid if printed from the consulate portal. Lead time: Same day
- FBI Identity History Summary (background check) U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications (federal) Apostille Almost every retirement and long-stay residence visa requires a national-level police clearance. For Americans that means the FBI Identity History Summary, not a local police letter, because consulates want a federal record covering all 50 states. Lead time: 1 to 10 days to obtain, then federal authentication
- Certified birth certificate Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Proves identity, nationality and, where relevant, family relationships for dependants. Lead time: 3 to 20 days depending on state
- Certified marriage certificate Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Required whenever a spouse is included as a dependant, and to prove joint income or joint savings. Lead time: 3 to 20 days
- Social Security benefit verification letter U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications (federal) Apostille The single most-used proof of "guaranteed lifetime pension" for pensionado-style visas. Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador all key on it. Lead time: Same day online
- Private pension, annuity or 401(k)/IRA income letter Secretary of State for the issuing state Apostille Used where Social Security alone does not meet the threshold, or where the visa requires a lifetime guaranteed payment. Lead time: 5 to 20 days
- Certified translation of the authenticated set Non-English-speaking destinations require the document and its apostille translated by a translator they recognise. Lead time: 2 to 7 days
Why applications on this route fail
- The income must be genuinely permanent. Peru wants evidence the payment continues indefinitely, which favours Social Security and defined-benefit pensions.
- Migraciones processing can stall and following up in person or through an attorney is often necessary.
Apply here
- Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones Residence categories, filing and the carné de extranjería.
- Peruvian consulates in the United States Consular network and document requirements.
- 1 Obtain the record Order certified copies from the issuing authority. Do not use photocopies, scans or hospital souvenir certificates.
- 2 Notarise if required Letters and affidavits need a notary acknowledgement before any state can authenticate them. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk (some states) A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Federal documents go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or legalise Hague Convention destination: an apostille finishes the chain. Non-Hague destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate for legalisation. For Peru the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille. Translating first means paying twice.
- 7 File with the consulate Book the appointment at the consulate with jurisdiction over your state of residence and bring originals plus copies.
The expensive mistake: translating before the document is authenticated. The apostille or legalisation certificate is itself part of what the receiving government reads, so it has to be inside the translation. Do it the other way round and you pay for the same translation twice.
Rentista Visa (Permanent Residence for people with passive income): common questions
How much income do I need for the Rentista Visa (Permanent Residence for people with passive income)?
The published threshold is about $1,000 a month for a single applicant. A permanent income of at least 1,000 U.S. dollars per month from a foreign source, plus 500 dollars per month for each dependant included.
Do I need savings as well as income?
None.
Can I work on this visa?
The rentista category is aimed at people living on foreign income; separate authorisation is needed for local employment. This is the field applicants most often misread, and in several countries remote work for a U.S. employer counts as work performed locally.
What documents need an apostille?
For this route we count 5 documents needing authentication: 2 federal, through the U.S. Department of State, and 3 state-issued, through the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Peru is a Hague Convention country, so an apostille completes the chain.
How long does it take?
3 to 8 months
How much time must I spend in the country?
You should not be absent for more than 183 consecutive days without a re-entry permit.
Does it lead to permanent residence?
Permanent residence: Immediate.. Citizenship: Two years of residence for naturalisation, which is among the shortest anywhere, with Spanish language and Peruvian history examinations..
Verified Sep 7, 2026
Email this to yourself
We will send your plan and document checklist as a plain-text email you can forward to a spouse or an attorney. No account, no drip sequence.
This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
