Countries › Peru › Guide › 16. What is normal abroad but not here › Foreign staff are capped at 20 percent of headcount and 30 percent of payroll

Foreign staff are capped at 20 percent of headcount and 30 percent of payroll

Last verified: 2026-10-29 · Status: Stable

Abroad a company can usually hire as many foreigners as it can get visas for; in Peru employers must prefer nationals and may employ foreign staff only up to 20 percent of headcount, with their pay capped at 30 percent of payroll. Foreign employment contracts must be written, fixed term for up to three years renewable, include a commitment to train Peruvian staff and be approved by the labor authority. Many foreigners fall outside the quota, including those with a Peruvian spouse or close relatives, immigrants, nationals of countries with reciprocity agreements and investors with at least 5 UIT invested.

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 amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 set by Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited in SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026/SUNAT. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Foreign staff cap, share of headcount	20 %DL 689 art. 4, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Foreign staff cap, share of payroll	30 %DL 689 art. 4, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Maximum term of a foreign worker contract (renewable)	3 yearsDL 689 art. 5, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Investor exemption, minimum permanent investment	5 UITDL 689 art. 3 g), as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Employers of any activity or nationality must give preference to hiring national workers. Hiring foreign workers is subject to the private labor regime and to the limits of the law, and the employment contract and its amendments must be approved by the labor authority.
Cost to do it: Approval procedure for each contract.
Example: A Lima company hiring a foreign engineer files the written contract with the labor authority before the work permit and visa process.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Ley para la Contratación de Trabajadores Extranjeros (El Peruano 5 November 1991), Art. 1 and 2, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

2. National or foreign companies may employ foreign personnel up to 20 percent of their total staff, and the pay of foreign personnel may not exceed 30 percent of total payroll.
Cost to do it: No fee; a hard hiring limit.
Example: A company with 50 employees and a monthly payroll of S/ 300,000 may employ up to 10 foreigners under the quota, with combined pay up to S/ 90,000 a month. / Payroll of about US$86,906 a month and a foreign pay cap of about US$26,072.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Art. 4, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

3. Contracts with foreign workers must be in writing, for a fixed term of up to three years, renewable for equal periods, and must include a commitment to train national staff in the same occupation.
Cost to do it: Contract drafting and renewal every three years at most.
Example: A three year contract signed in January 2027 must be renewed or ended by January 2030.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, art. 5 as amended by Ley Nº 26196 (10 June 1993), Art. 5, 1993-06-10 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. Outside the limits, and outside the approval procedure, are among others: foreigners with a Peruvian spouse, ascendants, descendants or siblings; foreigners with an immigrant visa; nationals of countries with a labor reciprocity or dual nationality agreement; staff of foreign international transport companies; staff working in Peru under bilateral or multilateral agreements; and foreign investors whose investment stays at no less than 5 UIT during the contract.
Cost to do it: Investor exemption threshold of 5 UIT.
Example: An investor who keeps at least 5 UIT, S/ 27,500 in 2026, invested in the company is not counted in the quota. / About US$7,966.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Art. 3, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

5. Employers may request an exemption from the percentage limits for specialised professional or technical staff, management of a new business activity or business conversion, teachers in higher education, foreign private schools and language schools, staff of companies under contracts with the public sector, and other cases set by supreme decree.
Cost to do it: Exemption request, case by case.
Example: A mining contractor bringing in specialised engineers beyond 20 percent of headcount requests an exemption for those positions.Decreto Legislativo Nº 689, Art. 6, 1991-11-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

Test	Limit	Maximum in this company	USD
Headcount	20%	10 foreign workers
Payroll	30%	S/ 90,000 a month	US$26,072

Quota check for a company with 50 staff and S/ 300,000 monthly payroll (USD at S/ 3.452)

Worked example

Two expatriates on S/ 50,000 a month each in a company with 15 staff and a S/ 200,000 payroll: headcount share 13 percent is within 20 percent, but their pay of S/ 100,000 is 50 percent of payroll, above the S/ 60,000 cap (about US$17,381). The company needs an exemption under art. 6 or an exception under art. 3 for at least one of them.

Step by step

Check whether each foreign hire falls under an art. 3 exception (family ties, immigrant status, agreements, investor).
Run both quota tests, headcount and payroll, before signing.
Draft a written fixed term contract of up to three years with a training commitment and file it for approval.
Request an art. 6 exemption where a specialist or a new business manager would breach the limits.
Coordinate with the immigration process for the work residence.

Common traps

Highly paid expatriates often breach the 30 percent payroll cap long before the 20 percent headcount cap.
Small start ups with few local staff hit the limits immediately.
Exceptions under art. 3 also remove the approval step; exemptions under art. 6 do not.
Contracts must be renewed at least every three years; a lapsed term creates both labor and immigration problems.

Sources

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