180 Day Peru Visa For Indians & Anyone Else – From India or South America

If you wanted to visit Peru so much, why couldn’t you get a Peru visa from India?”– Peruvian consulate in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Off the bat, when a friend (who spoke Spanish) called them to enquire about Peru visa for Indians while in Bolivia, it seemed like she had mistakenly asked them for a kidney. It stung.

Hey you didn’t apply for it in India. Sorry, you missed your chance. Go back.

Even so, I decided to try my luck with the consulate of Peru in La Paz. When my friend called the consulate of Peru in La Paz, Bolivia, they didn’t seem too happy about the fact that I hadn’t applied for it in India either.

However, they didn’t dismiss me right off. Instead, they guided me through the process and the list of documents and told me that they would consider my case. And they did.

But before we delve into the process of getting the visa, how about a little tour of Peru?

Things to Do in Peru

For those who don’t know much about Peru except for Machu Pichu, I can tell you this. It’s such a diverse country with so much to do and see.

You can just chill in the UNESCO heritage town of Cuzco and explore the architecture. There are so many things to do in Cuzco.

You do the Inca trail to go to Machu Pichu, take a helicopter ride to visit the Nazca lines, see the floating islands of Puno in the Lake Titicaca, wander in the Amazon and whatnot.

But for me, the two highlights of Peru were its amazing, mouth-watering food, and the llamas who were cute and quirky and photogenic. You would come across llamas and Alpacas everywhere in Peru.

By the way, if you wanna check, here is an article that explains the difference between llamas and alpacas.

Getting a Peru visa for Indians or citizens of any other country isn’t all that troublesome at all. Here is the whole process, but before that let’s see whether you need a visa for Peru or not.

Do You Need a Visa to Travel to Peru?

Citizens of many countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, EU etc. are visa-exempt for Peru. It means you have an awesome passport. You entered Peru without a visa sticker on your passport, and got an entry stamp with 90 days or less at the border.

In that case, you can head to one of these two articles.

1. How to extend tourist stay for Peru online?
2. How to extend Peru stay at an immigration office?

Now citizens of many countries like India, Nigeria, China, Sri Lanka etc. need a visa for Peru. You can check whether you need one or not and the visa types on this comprehensive guide on visas for Peru.

1. Apply for the Peru Visa at a Consulate

The thing to know here is that there is no online process to apply for a tourist visa for Peru yet, although you can apply for a tourist stay extension for Peru online.

At the consulate, I filled out an application form called DGC-005. It’s a one-page form which asks for some basic details. They gave me a printout of the form in the consulate. You can print it from the website of consulate of Peru as well and carry it with you.

Depending on your country, find out if Peru has a consulate there. If not, find out which is the closest one and whether you can apply for a visa there. If you are apply for a Peru visa from India, you can find the details on the Peru visa for Indians section of the consulate of Peru in India.

2. Peru Tourist Visa Requirements

You were waiting for this part, weren’t you? Well, with documents, comes the visa (Spiderman fans, anyone?).

Here is the list for the Peru tourist visa.

• Application form for Peru Visa
• Passport with a minimum validity of six months after the expected date of arrival to Peru.
• Round Trip ticket to Peru (ticket, electronic ticket, or reservation).
• Hotel booking; or tour package booking; or invitation letter legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru (any of these documents);
• Three passport size color photographs with white background.
• Recent bank account statements and/or credit card statements/ photocopies.

If you already know how to get all documents for Peru visit visa, that’s awesome. But for the ones who might not, I will go into the details.

Fill in the Peru visa application form

Make Hotel Reservations using Booking.com and print them in Spanish

Booking.com gives you the option of printing out hotel reservations in Spanish. This makes your life easier when applying for a Peruvian visa.

In total, I booked for 3 weeks in Cuzco and then one more week in Lima.

Show Proof of Funds for Peru Visa

This is where you have to be awesome. Show them the bank account statements and credit card statements, and whatever else you can come up with.

Just so you know, depending on the country you are applying from, you could be asked to provided original bank statements attested by the bank. My fellow Indians, I am looking at you.

I simply printed out the statements from HDFC bank in India for the last three months, and these were definitely not original bank statements. I had another bank account in the USA at that time and printed out the statements from that one as well.

In all, I showed somewhere close to  $7000 I believe. Add a couple of credit cards to that.

Buy Refundable Roundtrip flights

You can buy refundable flight tickets. You can also rent a flight ticket for a visa.

I booked a flight from La Paz to Cuzco with a date two weeks after the date of my visa application and a return flight to Delhi from Lima 80 days after that. Both the flights were refundable. I used Orbitz.

You can also rent tickets for 15 days on Visa Reservations.

Travel Itinerary Letter for Peru Visa

Yeah, they want to know where you are gonna be but they don’t grill you like the Schengen countries.

I jotted down the 6 different places that I planned to visit for the duration of my trip, the number of days I would stay there and which one comes after which, and printed it out.

After I submitted the documents the next day, I got to know that they would send the documents to the foreign ministry in Peru for review.

Depending on where you are applying from, the documents you need to come up with might differ.

For example, if you are applying for a tourist visa for Peru from India, you would need to show a non-objection certificate from your employer if you are employed and IT return if applicable.

Peru Visa Sponsorship- What’s Needed?

That’s real good news. Here is what’s needed.

• Sponsor in Peru/ the country you are applying from has to present a guarantee letter attesting that he or she will be responsible to bear some or all costs of boarding and lodging of the applicant, or repatriation, if needed.
• Sponsor has to present a valid Id- Peruvian DNI, Passport or any other valid national identification document.
• Proof of financial solvency of the sponsor- bank statements, fixed deposit.

3. Peru Visa Interview

My interview was done the same day I submitted the application. The consular official there was really nice, and she spoke in English for a change!

The consular official asked me why I am going to Peru. To travel of course, I said. What places are you planning to visit, she asked next. I told her that I was planning to visit Puno, Arequipa, Cuzco, Lima and Trujillo.

There was a flood situation in Trujillo at the time and it had been raining for days, and she jokingly asked if I would still go there. Although I wasn’t sure if I would really go to Trujillo, I told her that I come from a country which has an official rainy season.

She smiled at this and took the papers from me. When I explained that I wanted a 3 months(almost) visa in Peru, she told me I could even get it for 6 months.

4. Peru Visa Approval and Payment

I received an approval email from the consulate after 3 days. They gave me the account details of the consulate and I paid the 30$ in Banco de Credito and presented the original receipt in the consulate. They asked me to leave the passport and pick it up the next day.

5. Getting the Peru Embassy Visa

The next day, I went to the consulate at 3 pm to pick up my passport. (They had asked me to come any time in between 2.30-4 pm). I had to sign a couple of forms, and leave my finger print impressions on the same forms (Nothing digital there). And, I was done.

Even though I applied for 80 days, I got it for 183 days. That too a multiple entry visa valid for 1 year. I could very well give a bear hug to the consul officer, but then I just had to limit myself to a big smile and to the words: muchas gracias. Hasta luego. (Thank you very much. Until tomorrow.)

One great thing about Peru visa is that you don’t have to pay the fees before your application is accepted. The last thing you want is to get a NO and also lose your money.

6. Time for Fiesta

This is the most important part coz’, every visa calls for a little fiesta. So, get some friends over and have Pisco at your favorite bar, and tell them what they would miss for not accompanying you to Peru. Or if you are an introvert, listen to some Andean music.

Immigration in Peru

I crossed the land border from Copacabana in Bolivia to Puno in Peru on a bus. You receive an entry/exit card at the immigration (Tarjeta Andina de Migración) with an entry stamp. Make sure to keep it safe and present it when you leave Peru.

Extending Your Peru Visitor Visa

You can extend your tourist visa for up to 90 days and up to the maximum allowed 183 days within a 365 days period. You can extend your tourist visa for Peru online .

If the online extension doesn’t work, you can extend a Peru tourist visa in an immigration office as well.

Peru Visa F.A.Q.S

Is it Possible to Apply for a Tourist Visa for Peru Online?

The application process for a tourist visa for Peru involves presenting the physical documents. There is no automated online processing as of now.

Do I have to Show a Yellow Fever Certificate when Entering Peru?

No, Peru does not require travellers to hold a valid yellow fever certificate.

How to Get Peru Visa as a Sri Lankan Citizen?

As the embassy of Peru in New Delhi is also affiliated to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, citizens of those countries can apply for a tourist visa for Peru in the consulate of Peru in India. But they will have to to furnish a police clearance certificate.

How Long Can I Stay in Peru on a Visa?

If you are entering Peru with a Peru visitor visa, it means the number of days mentioned in the visa are what you get. The thing to know here is you can stay at max 183 days out of a Calendar year of 365 days. Often people, who are visa exempt get 90 days or 60 days when entering Peru.

Peru is a traveler’s paradise. It has a lot more to offer than Machu Pichu. And the food is just out of the world. So if you get a chance, do drop by.

The Visa Project’s Comprehensive Visa Series: Guides & Experiences

Visa requirements are always changing. Here on The Visa Project, they are kept up-to-date and should answer most visa questions.

And not just guides and tips, we also rely on real people’s experiences on visas, coz’ we know how much visas change based on your nationality, financial status, age, ethnicity, etc.

South America Visa Series: Experiences

South America Visa Series: Complete Guides

Have you tried obtaining a tourist visa for Peru?

If you have tried obtaining a visa for Peru, let us know in the comments. The visa process is constantly changing and it will help me update the article if there is any change. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have.