VisaPeru’s permission to sign contracts does not authorise paid work
Foreign applicants should distinguish signing permission, the employer’s contract registration and the immigration status that allows the proposed employment.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Obtain signing permission where the existing status requires it
Peru’s National Migration Superintendency says tourists and temporary students who need to sign commercial, financial, private or public documents can request special permission through its Digital Agency. The service expressly says this permission does not authorise income-generating activity as an employee or independently. This current guide, checked on 2 November, explains that distinction; it does not announce a new right to work.
The applicant must be inside Peru and properly identified through the applicable travel and migration documents. The published procedure is free: enter personal foreign-national details in the agency, choose the contract-signing permission, complete the form and attach the required PDF documents. The service page says the resulting permission is emailed within a maximum of five working days. Use that page and its application link before signing where permission is required, while separately establishing the route that will allow employment.
The employer must select the appropriate contract register
The Labour Ministry’s migrant-recruitment information booklet distinguishes SIVICE, the national foreign-worker contract register, from SIVITMA, the register for Andean migrant workers. SIVICE handles applications for approval, extensions and amendments of foreign employment contracts through the labour authority for the region of work. It also has a module for personnel excepted under Article 3 of Legislative Decree 689. The resulting document records either contract approval or presentation under an applicable exception.
SIVITMA is described for Bolivian, Colombian and Ecuadorian workers covered by Andean Decision 545. Employers should identify which framework applies before uploading a contract. The booklet explains that employers use their SUNAT RUC and SOL credentials, supply the contract and applicable supporting material, and obtain the electronic record through the relevant system. For SIVICE it says the administrative amount depends on the regional labour authority, so there is no single verified national price quoted here. Use the booklet’s ministry-system directions to obtain the appropriate record; a registration receipt should not be assumed to establish every separate immigration requirement.
Check whether the ordinary resident-worker route fits the contract
Migration’s resident-worker service describes a 365-day renewable stay. For dependent employment it asks for a labour-authority-approved contract at least one year long and no more than 30 calendar days old. It says contracts with a probation period or a term below one year instead belong to the temporary-worker application. An applicant should therefore ask the employer to check the actual contract terms before selecting resident-worker status.
The checklist includes the application, valid passport copy, an Interpol exchange record issued within six months, the required five-year criminal-background evidence and the employer representative’s declaration. Additional evidence depends on dependent, administrative or independent work. The published service lists S/161.40 under payment code 07568 and a 30-working-day decision period. After filing through the Digital Agency, use the electronic migration mailbox to monitor observations and notifications. Confirm the applicable charge before payment and respond to requests within the period actually notified. Use this worker-service page for the immigration file rather than simply reusing the employer’s contract-registration documents.
Andean nationals should assess the separate residence option
Migration’s Andean Migration Statute guidance identifies a separate temporary-residence option for eligible nationals of Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador and their qualifying family members. It describes two years of residence, including the ability to work, study and undertake economic activity. This may change which immigration application is appropriate, even when the employer still needs to use the relevant labour-registration procedure. Nationality should therefore be checked at the start, alongside the intended activity and existing permission.
The published temporary-residence checklist includes a travel document with at least six months remaining, the relevant police, judicial or criminal-background certificate and a letter explaining the intention to reside. Applicants already in Peru use the Digital Agency; the guidance directs those outside the country to Peruvian consulates. It also describes a later permanent Andean application within the 90 days before temporary residence expires, requiring evidence of lawful means of livelihood. Use this dedicated guidance to assess the alternative and its supporting requirements. Do not treat a tourist entry, a contract-signing permission or nationality alone as proof that the residence application has already been granted.
