Peru Citizenship by Marriage: Requirements and Timeline

Peru citizenship by marriage is available today after two years of marriage to a Peruvian and two years of legal residence in Peru, filed with Migraciones for a government fee of S/ 204.40. A new nationality law, Ley 32421, will double the marriage requirement to four continuous years and add a Spanish and civics test the day after its regulation is published, and when we checked in early November 2026 that regulation still hadn’t appeared in El Peruano.

That gap matters more than anything else in this guide. The new law says applications filed before it takes effect are decided under the old rules. If you already qualify, or will qualify soon, you’re racing a regulation nobody can date.

Most English-language pages on this topic still describe the old rules as if nothing had changed, or describe the new ones as if they were already in force. Our own guide to citizenship in Peru needs the same correction. What follows is what the law and Migraciones actually say right now.

Who Qualifies for Peru Citizenship by Marriage Today?

You qualify for Peru citizenship by marriage today if you’ve been married to a Peruvian for at least two years, have lived in Peru for those same two years on a valid carné de extranjería, and have no criminal, police or judicial record in Peru or abroad. Migraciones grants it, and the government fee is S/ 204.40.

Those are the conditions Migraciones itself set out through El Peruano, the state gazette, in April 2026. The legal basis is still the 1996 Ley de Nacionalidad (Ley 26574), which treats a foreign spouse as someone who “opts” for Peruvian nationality. That’s why the procedure is technically called nacionalidad por opción, and why it sits with Migraciones instead of the President’s office like ordinary naturalisation.

Two clocks have to run together. Two years married, and two years of residence. A couple who married abroad five years ago and moved to Lima last year doesn’t qualify yet, because the residence clock has only run for one. It’s the most common timing error we see: people count from the wedding photos and file a year early.

The spouse’s own status matters too. The Peruvian partner can be Peruvian by birth or by naturalisation; if they naturalised, you swap their birth certificate for their nationality title. Their DNI has to show the same address you declare as yours, which Migraciones uses as its first test of whether you actually live together.

Ley 32421: How Peru Citizenship by Marriage Changes

Ley 32421, the Nueva Ley de Nacionalidad, raises Peru citizenship by marriage to four continuous years of marriage immediately before you apply, on top of resident status, Spanish, a general-knowledge assessment and proof of lawful income. It was promulgated on 14 August 2025 and published in El Peruano on 15 August 2025, but it only takes effect the day after its regulation is published.

The law gave the executive 180 business days to write that regulation. The deadline came and went in 2026. Until the regulation appears, the old Ley 26574 rules apply and Ley 32421 is a law on paper only.

Read the marriage row twice. Four years, continuous, and immediately before the application. A couple who were married for four years, divorced and remarried wouldn’t meet it on the wording of Article 19.

The transitional provision is the part to act on. Procedures started before the law takes effect continue under the rules in force when they were filed. If you hit the two-and-two mark under the current rules, filing promptly locks those rules in. Wait for the regulation and you could find your eligibility date pushed back by two years overnight. The clock is ticking, and nobody in Lima has published the date it stops.

The same law also hits ordinary naturalisation. Article 17 asks for five continuous years of residence and income of 10 UIT a year from a formally taxed activity, which is why we wrote that fast two-year citizenship is no longer possible in Peru. For a spouse, marriage remains the shorter road even after the change.

Peru Citizenship by Marriage Requirements and Documents

The Peru citizenship by marriage requirements under the current procedure are a completed Form PA, a RENIEC-registered marriage certificate no older than 30 days, your spouse’s birth certificate and DNI, a copy of your passport, a valid carné de extranjería, proof of household income, sworn statements, an INTERPOL card and the S/ 204.40 payment receipt.

Two of these trip people up more than the rest. The marriage certificate has a 30-day shelf life, so order it last. And the INTERPOL card is only good for six months, which sounds generous until a document from abroad stalls in an apostille queue.

If you married outside Peru, the marriage has to be registered in Peru before RENIEC can issue the certificate Migraciones asks for. Foreign documents need an apostille (or consular legalisation for countries outside the Hague Convention) and a certified Spanish translation. We see this step take longer than the Migraciones file itself, especially when the original record comes from a slow civil registry.

How to Apply for Peru Citizenship by Marriage: Step by Step

The current procedure lists around 30 business days for a decision, subject to checks with other public and private bodies. Treat that as the floor. The checks are where files sit.

Peru Dual Citizenship: Do You Keep Your Passport?

Yes. Peru doesn’t require a foreign spouse to renounce their original nationality, so Peru dual citizenship is the normal result of a marriage application. Ley 32421 even asks you to show the foreign nationality you entered with on a valid passport. Whether you keep your first citizenship is decided by your home country’s law, which Peru doesn’t control.

Check that home-country rule before you file. Most Western passports survive a voluntary second nationality, but a handful of countries still strip citizenship automatically when you take another one. Our list of countries that cancel your citizenship automatically is the place to start.

What does the Peruvian passport buy you? Liberty Mundo’s Passport Freedom Index counts 141 visa-free destinations for Peru, including the Schengen area, and scores Peru as a country that permits dual nationality and rarely revokes it. For clients already living in South America, the passport also removes the residence renewals and carné fees for good.

What Happens to Peruvian Nationality by Marriage After Divorce or Death?

Peruvian nationality by marriage isn’t lost if the marriage later ends in divorce or the Peruvian spouse dies. Ley 32421 writes this down expressly, with one exception: nationality can be taken away if it’s proven the foreign spouse took part in the Peruvian spouse’s death. If the spouse dies while the application is pending, the file can still be completed.

Under the new law, Peruvian nationality is only lost by express renunciation. That’s a strong position for a naturalised citizen, and it’s one reason Peru scores well on citizenship security.

The scrutiny happens before approval instead. Migraciones checks cohabitation, the shared address on the DNI and the sworn statements signed by both spouses.

Does Peru Citizenship Make You a Peruvian Tax Resident?

Citizenship alone doesn’t decide it. SUNAT treats a Peruvian national as domiciled if they have their domicile in Peru, and anyone loses domiciled status after more than 183 calendar days abroad in any 12-month period. Domiciled taxpayers are taxed on worldwide income, so where you actually live matters far more than the passport you hold.

Foreigners become domiciled after more than 183 days in Peru in any 12-month period. Since the marriage route requires two years of residence, almost every applicant will already be a Peruvian tax resident by the time they file. That’s worth planning for: foreign investment income, pensions and business profits can all fall into the Peruvian net while you’re building the residence period.

Once you hold the passport, you can live elsewhere and keep it. If you’re weighing where to be tax resident, our piece on whether you can be a resident of two countries explains how the overlap rules work.

Common Mistakes That Delay Peru Citizenship by Marriage

• Counting from the wedding instead of the carné. The residence clock is separate. Both have to reach two years.
• Letting the carné lapse. A gap in resident status breaks continuity and resets the conversation with Migraciones.
• Ordering documents too early. The marriage certificate expires after 30 days and the INTERPOL card after six months.
• Mismatched addresses. Your declared address and your spouse’s DNI address must match. Update RENIEC first.
• Waiting for “clarity” on Ley 32421. If you qualify now, the safest move is to file now. The new law protects files already in progress.
• Using a fixer. The procedure is personal under both the current practice and Ley 32421. Advisers can prepare and check the file; nobody can sign or appear for you.

Let’s be blunt about the last point. We prepare files, chase apostilles and translations, and time the expiring documents for clients, but the application itself goes in under your name, from your account, and you turn up to the ceremony in person.

Peru vs Other South American Citizenship by Marriage Routes

Peru’s current two-year rule is in line with its neighbours. That changes once Ley 32421 takes effect. Here’s how the routes we’ve covered compare.

If you aren’t married to a Peruvian, marriage obviously isn’t your route. Argentina’s two-year naturalisation and Paraguay’s three-year path are covered in our second citizenship hub, and our list of the easiest countries to get citizenship ranks the rest.

Peru Citizenship by Marriage: FAQ

Final Thoughts

Peru citizenship by marriage is still a two-year route, and a reasonable one, for a little longer. The new law is written, signed and published; only the regulation stands between today’s rules and a four-year wait with a language test attached. If your two years are up, or close, get the file ready now.

For the bigger picture on what a second nationality can do for you, read our complete guide to second citizenship.