The South American country of Peru has announced plans to introduce a digital nomad visa to enable remote workers to stay in the country for 365 days, with the possibility to extend.
According to news reports, the ministry also aims for visitors to remain in the country while pursuing business ventures by upgrading to an investor visa.
The statement says that this scheme comes as a new move to attract international professionals to Peru to boost the country’s economy through tourism and services while supporting cultural exchange.
Reports suggest Peru’s new digital nomad visa will be available to remote workers employed by companies outside of the country. They will therefore not need to obtain a separate work visa. The visa will be made available once upcoming changes to Peru’s Migration Law have been regulated and published.
The government announced in November that it hopes the extended stay will give nomads time to explore the country’s touristic, gastronomic and cultural offerings while remote working.
Peru has a growing digital nomad scene. According to crowd-sourced online database Numbeo, consumer prices including rent are 87 pc higher in Italy compared with Peru, 112 pc higher in France and 120 pc higher in the UK.
The country’s ancient cultural attractions have been major tourist magnets, drawing visitors all round the year, from world-famous Machu Picchu to the biodiverse Amazon rainforest and the Cordillera Huayhuash peaks.
With this, Peru joins a raft of South American countries jumping on the remote work visa trend.
In Argentina, as of last year digital nomads can stay for 180 days with the option to renew. Brazil also introduced a remote work visa in 2022 allowing extendable stays of one year, followed by Ecuador, which allows two-year stays.
This year, Colombia launched a two-year digital nomad visa, while Uruguay introduced an extendable 180-day visa.