Venezuelan Nationals Can No Longer Enter Peru Under Previous Visa Rules
June 7, 2019
At a Glance
The issue
According to a rule published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Peru, starting June 15, 2019, Venezuelan nationals seeking to enter Peru will need to obtain a consular Tourist Visa, Business Visa or Humanitarian Visa prior to entry. Entry under a Visa-on-Arrival or with only Venezuelan identification documents will no longer be allowed.
Impact
Employers seeking to hire Venezuelan nationals will need their future employees to obtain a visa prior to entry, which can take up to 15 calendar days, with delays likely. Venezuelan nationals will no longer be able to enter as a Tourist simply by presenting their immigration documentation upon entry, as is currently the practice.
Background
- Temporary concessions in Latin America. Many Latin American countries have created temporary policies to handle the influx of Venezuelan nationals during the humanitarian crisis. Due to passport issuance problems in Venezuela, many Latin American countries are still accepting a passport stamp as proof of a valid passport extension at ports of entry and for visa processes. Some countries are recognizing the Venezuelan identification card, cedula, as a valid travel document to enter the country and for visa processes.
- Peru cancelled concessions. Peru is eliminating some concessions it previously granted to Venezuelan nationals due to the large numbers of entrants and the government’s intention to improve tracking efforts. As another example of Peru’s response to the mass influx of Venezuelan nationals, in October 2018, Peru moved up the closure of the entry period for the temporary residence permit for Venezuelan nationals that it created earlier that year.
- Humanitarian visa. Peru created a Humanitarian Visa for Venezuelan nationals in 2017. Candidates must submit an application at a Peruvian consulate and wait for the visa to be issued to enter Peru. The government has not published further details on the visa.
Looking ahead
The Peruvian government is expected to continue to eliminate other concessions it granted Venezuelan nationals over the past year in order to handle the influx of 800,000 Venezuelan nationals since the second half of 2016 into 2017. Fragomen will report on other immigration policy changes in Peru and other Latin American countries as the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela continues.
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 [email protected].
