Getting in and visas for Peru

Visas

Tourists from North America, Australia, Japan and the European Union (and many others, see link below) receive a visa upon arrival for up to 90 days. When entering the country, you need to pass the immigration office (imigracion). There you get a stamp in your passport that states the number of days you are allowed to stay (usually 90 days). You can get an extension at immigration offices in any major city for 20US$ per month plus 26 soles administration fee. Make sure to take your time, don't expect things to be ready within less than an hour or even a day. The maximum extension allows you to stay for up to 180 days in total. When those 180 days are up and you would like to stay for longer, it's possible to cross the border to a neighbouring country (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia or Chile) and return the next day and obtain another 180 days. Of course you can also leave the country before your first 90 days are over. Furthermore, you will receive an extra official paper to be kept in the passport (make sure you don't lose it!). When leaving, you need to visit the emigration office (migracion), where you get the exit stamp. Imigracion and migracion are found on all border crossing-points. Extensions of the time to stay are no problem. Traveling to and from neighboring countries by land is no problem.

By plane

The capital city of Lima has the Jorge Chávez International Airport with frequent flights all over the world. Main airlines are American Airlines, Delta, Lan, Lan Peru, Continental, Iberia, Copa, Taca and others. There are non-stop flights to Lima from Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, and New York City in the United States. There is also a non-stop flight to Toronto, Canada with Air Canada. There are five different airlines that offer non-stop service to Europe. In the future there may be non-stop flights from Oceania or Asia but for now travelers usually connect through Los Angeles. For example, Iberia flies directly from Madrid to Lima, the trip lasting around 13 hours but it is not recommended. KLM Flights are much better in quality. When leaving the country on an international flight you have to pay a departure tax. The amount changes, but expect it to be US$25-$30 or the equivalent in soles. This has to be paid in cash before entering the departure area. There is also an internal flight tax, around 6 USD, same conditions as the international one. The city of Iquitos has flights to Leticia, Colombia with AviaSelva. The city of Cuzco has flights to La Paz, Bolivia with Lloyd Aero Boliviano. They both have a $10 departure tax.

By boat

The city of Iquitos in the Amazonas region has connections by boat [1] to Leticia in Colombia and Tabatinga in Brazil (about 10 hours).