Countries › Peru › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Hiring foreign workers in Peru: the 20 percent headcount and 30 percent payroll caps, exemptions and approval of the written contract

Hiring foreign workers in Peru: the 20 percent headcount and 30 percent payroll caps, exemptions and approval of the written contract

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Employers must prefer Peruvian workers: foreigners can be at most 20 percent of headcount and earn at most 30 percent of the payroll, unless they fall in an excepted group or the employer obtains an exemption for specialists, managers of a new business or teachers. Foreign staff contracts must be written, for a fixed term of up to three years renewable, include a commitment to train Peruvians, and be filed with the labor authority, which treats them as approved on filing subject to later checks. Foreigners with a Peruvian spouse or close relative, immigrant visa holders, nationals of countries with labor reciprocity agreements and investors with at least 5 UIT invested are outside the caps.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026, from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. UIT based amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 (Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited by SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Foreign workers as share of headcount	20 %DL 689 art. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Foreign workers' pay as share of payroll	30 %DL 689 art. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum term of each foreign staff contract (renewable)	3 yearsDL 689 art. 5 (Ley 26196), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Minimum investment for the foreign investor exception	5 UITDL 689 art. 3 g), as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Minimum investment for the foreign investor exception (2026)	27500 PENDL 689 art. 3 g); DS 301-2025-EF UIT, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Contract approval	Deemed approved on filing, subject to inspection ruleDL 689 art. 7; DS 014-92-TR art. 12, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Employers of any activity or nationality must give preference to hiring Peruvian workers. Foreign workers are under the private sector labor regime and the limits of this law, and their employment contract and changes to it must be authorised by the labor authority.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros, Art. 1 and 2, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Domestic or foreign companies may hire foreign staff up to 20 percent of their total workforce, and their pay cannot exceed 30 percent of the total payroll. Headcount counts all workers on the payroll, national and foreign, permanent and fixed term; the payroll test uses the previous month's total pay, converting foreign currency pay at the SBS selling rate on the filing date. Excepted foreigners count as nationals for these percentages.
Cost to do it: No fee in the law text; the cost is staying within the caps or preparing an exemption request.
Example: A company with 30 workers and a monthly payroll of S/ 150,000.00 can have up to 6 foreign workers earning together up to S/ 45,000.00 a month. / Foreign pay cap about US$13,035.92 a month on a payroll of about US$43,453.07.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros; Reglamento de la Ley de Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros (Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-TR) as amended by Decreto Supremo Nº 008-2018-TR, DL 689 art. 4; DS 014-92-TR art. 7, 8 and 10, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. The caps and the approval procedure do not apply to foreigners with a Peruvian spouse, parents, children or siblings; immigrant visa holders; nationals of countries with a labor reciprocity or dual nationality agreement with Peru; crews of international transport companies; staff of multinational service companies or banks under their special rules; staff under bilateral or multilateral agreements; foreign investors whose investment stays at least 5 UIT during the contract; and artists and athletes performing for up to three months a year.
Cost to do it: Investor exception threshold: 5 UIT, S/ 27,500.00 in 2026 (about US$7,966.40).Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros, Art. 3, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Employers can request exemption from the caps for specialised professional or technical staff, management staff of a new business or a business reconversion, teachers in higher education, foreign private schools or language teaching, staff of companies with public sector contracts, and other cases set by supreme decree. Exemptions are processed by automatic approval through the virtual system for foreign staff contracts; an exemption for a new activity or reconversion lasts three years, renewable once.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros; Reglamento de la Ley de Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros (Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-TR) as amended by Decreto Supremo Nº 008-2018-TR, DL 689 art. 6; DS 014-92-TR art. 18 and 20, 2018-09-13 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Foreign staff contracts must be written and for a fixed term of up to three years, renewable successively for equal periods, and include a commitment to train Peruvian staff in the same occupation. The contract must also state that work cannot start until the worker has the proper immigration status, and the employer's commitment to pay the return trip of the worker and listed family members when the contract ends. The contract and a sworn statement that the hire meets the law are filed with the labor authority where the workplace is located; the contract is deemed approved on filing, subject to inspection. Extensions and changes are also approved automatically through the virtual system.
Cost to do it: Filing fee set in the competent labor authority's procedures text (TUPA); not quantified here.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros as amended by Ley Nº 26196 and Decreto Legislativo Nº 1246; Reglamento de la Ley de Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros (Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-TR) as amended by Decreto Supremo Nº 008-2018-TR, DL 689 art. 5, 7 and 8; DS 014-92-TR art. 11, 12, 14 and 21, 2018-09-13 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. Foreign staff cannot receive pay, rights or benefits below those of the private sector labor regime. If the employer ends the contract unilaterally without cause, it must pay the pay the worker would have earned until the end of the contract, which replaces the dismissal indemnity. Fines apply for not filing, false statements, breaching the contract, using it for other purposes or not training Peruvian staff.
Example: A foreign engineer on a three year contract at S/ 15,000 a month dismissed without cause after 12 months is owed 24 months of pay, S/ 360,000. / About US$104,287.37.Reglamento de la Ley de Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros (Decreto Supremo Nº 014-92-TR) as amended by Decreto Supremo Nº 008-2018-TR; Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros, DS 014-92-TR art. 23 and 24; DL 689 art. 9, 1992-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-28

7. The procedure is available online and, outside Lima, before the regional government where the company is based; the approval has indefinite validity. The Ministry of Labor's own procedure sheet lists positive administrative silence with a three day term.Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción del Empleo procedure sheets on gob.pe, Procedure 22867 and 37654, 2023-03-20 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Worked example

An Argentine agritech company sets up a Lima S.A.C. with 30 workers and a monthly payroll of S/ 150,000.00 (about US$43,453.07).
It can hire up to 6 foreign workers earning up to S/ 45,000.00 a month together (DL 689 art. 4).
Its Argentine founder invested more than S/ 27,500.00 in the company and is outside the caps as an investor (art. 3 g).
For a Brazilian agronomist it files a written three year contract with a training commitment and the return trip clause through the virtual system; the contract is deemed approved on filing, and work starts once immigration grants the work status (art. 5 and 7; DS 014-92-TR art. 12).

Step by step

Check whether the foreigner falls in an excepted group, such as a Peruvian spouse, immigrant visa, reciprocity agreement or investor (DL 689 art. 3).
If not, compute the 20 percent headcount and 30 percent payroll tests using last month's payroll (DS 014-92-TR art. 7 and 8).
If the caps are exceeded, request an exemption for a specialist, new business manager or other listed case (DL 689 art. 6).
Draft a written fixed term contract of up to three years with the training commitment, the immigration clause and the return trip clause (art. 5; DS 014-92-TR art. 12 and 14).
File the contract and sworn statement online with the labor authority, then process the work visa or residence with immigration (art. 7 and 8).
Renew or amend through the same virtual system before the contract ends (DS 014-92-TR art. 21).

Common traps

Foreign staff cannot start work on contract approval alone; they need the proper immigration status first (DS 014-92-TR art. 12).
Ending a foreign worker's fixed term contract without cause costs all pay until the end date, which can exceed the 12 salary cap that applies to Peruvian staff (DS 014-92-TR art. 24).
Excepted foreigners count as nationals for the percentages, which can free up room under the caps (DS 014-92-TR art. 10).
Not filing the contract, or false statements in the sworn statement, are fined (DL 689 art. 9).

Sources

← Outsourcing and temporary staffing in Peru: specialised outsourcing under Ley 29245, staffing agencies, the 20 percent cap and joint liabilityRemote work in Peru: Ley 31572 on telework, equipment and expense compensation, and the right to digital disconnection →

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