Countries › Peru › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Foreign ownership of property in Peru: national treatment, the 50 km border ban, indirect holdings, inheritance and the supreme decree exception

Foreign ownership of property in Peru: national treatment, the 50 km border ban, indirect holdings, inheritance and the supreme decree exception

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

Foreign individuals and companies own Peruvian property on the same terms as Peruvians and cannot claim diplomatic protection for it. Within 50 km of any border, however, foreigners may not acquire or possess land, mines, forests, waters, fuels or energy sources by any title, directly or through companies, on pain of losing the asset to the State. The Constitutional Court applies the ban to urban lots and inheritance too, SUNARP refuses to register such transfers, and the only way in is a supreme decree approved by the Council of Ministers declaring a public necessity.

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 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 ownership of urban property outside border zones	Allowed, same as nationals textConstitución 1993 art. 71, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Foreign ownership of rural land outside border zones	Allowed, same as nationals textLey 26505 art. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Border zone where foreigners may not acquire land, mines, forests, waters, fuels or energy sources	50 kmConstitución 1993 art. 71, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Sanction for acquiring inside the border zone without a decree	Loss of the right to the State textConstitución 1993 art. 71, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Exception to the border ban	Supreme decree approved by the Council of Ministers declaring public necessity textConstitución 1993 art. 71, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. In matters of property, foreigners, whether individuals or legal entities, are in the same position as Peruvians and may not in any case invoke exceptions or diplomatic protection. Within fifty kilometres of the borders, foreigners may not acquire or possess, by any title, mines, land, forests, waters, fuels or energy sources, directly or indirectly, individually or in partnership, under penalty of losing the right so acquired to the State. The exception is a case of public necessity expressly declared by supreme decree approved by the Council of Ministers in accordance with law.Constitución Política del Perú de 1993 (published 30 December 1993), Art. 71, 1993-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Only a law, and only for national security reasons, may temporarily set specific restrictions and prohibitions on acquiring, possessing, exploiting and transferring particular assets. Outside the border zone there is no nationality based limit on owning urban or rural land.Constitución Política del Perú de 1993, Art. 72, 1993-12-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. The land investment law guarantees every person, Peruvian or foreign, individual or company, free access to ownership of land, and states that for foreigners the ownership of land located in the border zone is subject to art. 71 of the Constitution. No limits on land ownership other than those in that law may be imposed.Ley Nº 26505, Ley de la inversión privada en el desarrollo de las actividades económicas en las tierras del territorio nacional y de las comunidades campesinas y nativas (promulgated 17 July 1995), Art. 3 and art. 4, 1995-07-17 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. The Constitutional Court held that the border ban covers any property, rural or urban, including built urban lots, because the words by any title exclude every form of transmission that would make a foreigner an owner or possessor in the zone; holding through companies or a nominee is excluded as simulation and constitutional fraud. It upheld SUNARP's refusal to register an inheritance by a foreign heir of an urban property in Tacna inside the 50 km zone, even though the deceased had been registered as owner.Sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional, Exp. Nº 04966-2008-PA/TC (13 April 2009), Fundamentos 5 to 9, 2009-04-13 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. SUNARP's Registry Tribunal treats as foreign any individual or legal entity subject to a sovereignty other than Peru's. Where a property in an intestate succession may be within 50 km of the border, the registrar sends the title to the cadastre area for a technical report; if the property is inside the zone, the transfer can still be registered for the Peruvian heirs, with their percentage shares, if the application is partly withdrawn as to the foreign heir.Resolución del Tribunal Registral Nº 3882-2022-SUNARP-TR (29 September 2022), Sumilla and considerandos 8 to 10, 2022-09-29 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. The supreme decree exception is granted case by case. For example, a Peruvian company 99.99 percent owned by a Canadian investor was authorized to acquire nine mining rights in Piura in the northern border zone by a supreme decree approved by the Council of Ministers, which declared the private investment a public necessity and relied on the favourable opinion of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces.
Cost to do it: No fee schedule for the decree was found; the cost is mainly the time and advisory work to obtain the Armed Forces opinion and Council of Ministers approval.Decreto Supremo Nº 026-2017-EM (El Peruano 10 September 2017), Art. 1 and art. 2 and recitals, 2017-09-10 official text · verified 2026-10-28

Asset and location	Foreign individual or company	Source
Apartment or house more than 50 km from any border	Yes, same as a Peruvian	Constitution art. 71
Farm land more than 50 km from any border	Yes, same as a Peruvian	Ley 26505 art. 4
Urban lot or house within 50 km of a border	No, unless a supreme decree authorizes it	Constitution art. 71; TC Exp. 04966-2008-PA/TC
Same property held through a Peruvian company with foreign shareholders	No, indirect holding is caught	Constitution art. 71; TC Exp. 04966-2008-PA/TC
Inheritance of a property within 50 km of a border	No registration for the foreign heir; Peruvian heirs may register their shares	TR Res. 3882-2022-SUNARP-TR
Mining rights within 50 km of a border	Only with a supreme decree	DS 026-2017-EM

Can a foreign buyer hold this asset in Peru?

Worked example

A Chilean company plans a logistics warehouse in Tacna. In the 2009 court case and the 2022 registry case, the Tacna properties were found to lie inside the 50 km southern border zone, so a foreign company should expect the same result unless the cadastre shows otherwise. Setting up a Peruvian subsidiary does not help because indirect holdings are banned, and since the Constitution bans possessing as well as acquiring, even a long lease needs local advice before signing.
A foreign retiree buys a S/ 690,400 apartment in Miraflores, Lima (about US$200,000). Lima is far from any border, so no authorization is needed and the purchase follows the same steps and taxes as for a Peruvian buyer.

Step by step

Map the property against the border line before any offer. Ask the SUNARP cadastre area whether the plot falls within 50 km; the registrar will check in any case and refuse registration if it does.
If the buyer, a shareholder up the chain or a future heir is foreign and the property is inside the zone, take local advice before signing anything (the ban covers possession and indirect holdings), and if the project must go ahead, apply for a supreme decree.
For a decree, the sponsoring ministry prepares the file, the Joint Command of the Armed Forces gives its opinion, and the Council of Ministers approves; plan for many months, since the 2017 mining decree cites Armed Forces letters from 2015.
In estate planning, remember that a foreign heir will not be registered as owner of property inside the zone; Peruvian heirs can register their shares if the foreign heir's part is withdrawn from the application.

Common traps

The ban is not limited to rural land: the Constitutional Court applied it to an urban house in Tacna.
Holding through a Peruvian company, a nominee or a partnership is expressly caught (directly or indirectly, individually or in partnership), and the sanction is loss of the asset to the State.
A prior registration in a foreigner's name does not cure the defect; the court said it does not affect the validity of the ban.
Waters and energy sources are also covered, so water rights and power projects near borders need the same analysis.

Sources

← Buying and owning property in Peru: foreign ownership and the 50 km border zone, how title passes and is registered with SUNARP, alcabala and property tax, and the tax on sellingTitle registration and due diligence in Peru: SUNARP certificates and fees, registry priority, the 1 UIT bank payment rule, notary checks, mortgages and prescription →

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