Delays in Issuance of Identification Cards Causing Payroll Issues

The situation

According to an internal government announcement, there are currently at least three to four-week delays in the issuance of local identification cards in Peru.

A closer look

• Affected foreign nationals. Foreign nationals with pending or soon-to-be filed resident or permanent visa applications and their dependents are affected by the delays.
• Workaround for exiting Peru. Although foreign nationals are usually not allowed to exit Peru until their local identification card is issued, immigration officials are temporarily allowing foreign nationals who started their change of migratory status process in Peru (known as cambio de calidad migratoria) to exit with only their registration form (known as Inscripción en el Registro Central de Extranjería - IRCE in Peru), which is issued prior to the local identification card.

Impact

Employees cannot start work in Peru until they have a local identification card and are enrolled in local payroll.

The government has not yet stated if permanent residents can travel with the permanent visa registration form or if they will need to wait until identification cards are being issued to travel outside Peru.

Looking ahead

Fragomen expects the National Superintendence of Immigration in Peru to notify the public when the delays are resolved, at which time Fragomen will issue another alert.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to limainfo@fragomen-mfn.com.