Working in Peru: the calidad trabajador, the quotas and your diploma
If you are going to work for an employer in Peru, you need the calidad migratoria trabajador, based on a contract approved by the Ministry of Labour. An employer may have at most 20% foreigners on the staff, with at most 30% of the payroll. You have a university degree recognised by SUNEDU.
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You work for a Peruvian employer with the calidad migratoria trabajador. Under the migration law you get it on the basis of an employment contract approved in advance by the Ministry of Labour. The limit at the source you need to know is in Decreto Legislativo 689: an employer may have at most 20% of its staff made up of foreigners, and their wages may not exceed 30% of the total payroll. The contract runs for at most three years, renewable each time.
| What | The rule | Term or amount |
|---|---|---|
| Staff quota | at most 20% foreigners | DL 689, art. 4 |
| Wage quota | at most 30% of the payroll | same |
| Contract | in writing, fixed term | at most 3 years at a time |
| Contract approval | by the Ministry of Labour or the region | approved if there is no decision after 3 days |
| Calidad trabajador | contract of at least one year, application from outside Peru | S/ 58.80; decision within 30 calendar days |
| Residence | 365 days | renew every year |
| Diploma recognition | SUNEDU | within 30 working days |
How does the calidad trabajador work?
You apply online at Migraciones while you are outside Peru. You provide the contract, no more than thirty days old and approved by the Ministry of Labour, with a duration of at least one year. If the contract is shorter or has a probation period, Migraciones assesses it as a temporary status. Your employer signs a declaration and must be registered with SUNAT as an active company. You pay S/ 58.80 and get an answer within thirty calendar days.
With the status you may work as an employee or self-employed, for the government or a company. You then collect your carné de extranjería in Peru. After three years of uninterrupted residence you can apply for permanent status; see the residence routes.
What are the quotas, and who falls outside them?
The employer applies for approval of your contract at the Ministry of Labour or the regional government, with a declaration that it stays within the quotas. The contract also states that it trains Peruvian staff in your trade. The ministry gives an approval without an end date; if there is no decision within three days, the contract counts as approved.
An employer can ask for exemption from the quotas for, among others, highly specialised professionals, managers for a new activity and teachers in higher education, at private foreign schools or in language teaching.
Article 3 of the law does not count some foreigners, and for them the contract does not need approval either. Among them: anyone with a Peruvian spouse, parent, child, brother or sister, and a foreign investor with at least 5 UIT permanently invested.
May you work with another visa?
Not as a tourist: the law states explicitly for the tourist that work and paid activities are not allowed. The familiar de residente does allow work, employed or self-employed. Anyone with self-employed income in Peru also registers with SUNAT for a RUC.
Watch the rate in your first period. As long as you are not a tax resident, under article 54 of the tax law you pay a flat rate of 30% on your Peruvian wages. You become a resident after more than 183 days, and the status counts from 1 January of the following year; only then does the progressive rate apply. See AOW, pension and tax.
Your employer also pays 9% of your wages to EsSalud, the health insurance for employees; see healthcare in Peru.
How do you get your diploma recognised?
You have a university degree recognised by SUNEDU. It recognises a degree if the institution is in the top 500 of one of four rankings (QS, ARWU, Times Higher Education or Scimago), or if a treaty of Peru provides for recognition. Since an amendment in June 2026 SUNEDU publishes the list of institutions it counts every year in the third quarter.
You send the application by email, with the diploma that SUNEDU can check in a database or with an apostille, and with a translation if it is not in Spanish. SUNEDU replies within thirty working days. For technical and teaching qualifications MINEDU lists a separate registration at the ministry. When to arrange the contract and the recognition is in the route to Peru.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Peru or go straight to step 2.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Migraciones — applying for the calidad migratoria trabajador from abroad (S/ 58.80) — gob.pe
- Decreto Legislativo 689 — the law on hiring foreigners (20%, 30%, three years, exceptions) — migraciones.gob.pe
- El Peruano — the limits and exemptions for foreign employees at a glance (2026) — elperuano.pe
- Gob.pe — approval of a foreign employee's employment contract — gob.pe
- MTPE — approval by tacit consent after three days — gob.pe
- Decreto Legislativo 1350 and its regulation — what the trabajador and familiar de residente statuses allow — cdn.www.gob.pe
- Regulation of DL 689 (Decreto Supremo 014-92-TR) — the declaration that the contract stays within the quotas — migraciones.gob.pe
- MINEDU — which recognition you need for each type of foreign education — gob.pe
- SUNEDU — recognition of foreign university degrees (rankings or treaty, 30 working days) — gob.pe
- SUNEDU — the updated regulation for recognition (June 2026) — gob.pe
- Ley del Impuesto a la Renta, chapter VII — 30% on wages for those not yet resident (art. 54) — sunat.gob.pe
- EsSalud — 9% of wages, paid by the employer — gob.pe
- SUNAT — registering in the RUC for those going to work independently — gob.pe
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