Moving from Peru to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Peru to France (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Plan the pet before everything else. Peru is not an EU-listed third country, so a dog or cat needs a rabies antibody titration test (blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, result of at least 0.5 IU/ml) and then a three-month wait before EU entry. It is the longest-lead task in the move.
• French Customs (Douane) grant the franchise de déménagement — duty- and tax-free import of used personal property — if you have lived outside the EU for at least 12 months, are transferring your main residence to France, and import within 12 months. You file CERFA form 10070 plus a dated, signed inventory in duplicate.
• Validate your long-stay visa (VLS-TS) on the ANEF portal within three months of arrival, or it stops working as a residence permit.
• Sea freight from Callao to Le Havre takes roughly five to eight weeks door to door; there is no direct Pacific-to-Atlantic-Europe liner, so cargo routes via Panama or transships.
• Goods admitted duty-free may not be sold, rented or lent for 12 months after import.

1. Leaving Peru: what to close out

A Peru-to-France move is an intercontinental, non-EU relocation, with substantial paperwork at each end. Allow three to four months, and build the timeline backwards from your pet’s rabies-titre schedule (section 5), because that clock cannot be compressed.

Before leaving Peru, settle your civil and tax affairs. Clear any balance with SUNAT, keep proof of your Peruvian address history, and collect originals and certified copies of birth, marriage and academic documents. Papers you will present to French consular, prefecture or OFII officials should carry a Hague apostille (Peru is a member) and a sworn translation into French where required. It is far easier to arrange apostilles and translations in Lima before you fly than to chase them from France.

Household goods leave under a Simplified Export Declaration for luggage and household effects (menaje de casa). Per SUNAT’s customs assistant, a natural person exporting menaje de casa presents a simplified export declaration (free format), a passport, a sworn statement listing the contents and confirming there is no cultural heritage or prohibited merchandise, and a copy of the carrier’s transport document; no export tax is charged. The cultural-heritage clause is important in Peru — pre-Columbian artefacts, colonial art and certain antiques can require Ministry of Culture clearance, and exporting protected items without authorisation is an offence. Your remover handles the declaration, but you sign the sworn inventory.

Handle exit admin for people too: check passports have at least six months’ validity, confirm your French long-stay visa (VLS-TS) is issued before departure, and cancel Peruvian utilities, insurance and subscriptions only once the shipment has left and your arrival plan is set.

2. How your household goods ship to France

Peru’s main deep-sea port is the Port of Callao, next to Lima, and your goods will normally sail from there. France’s principal container gateway for the region is the Port of Le Havre on the Atlantic coast (Marseille-Fos serves Mediterranean routing). There is no direct liner service between the Peruvian Pacific coast and Atlantic Europe, so containers are routed through the Panama Canal into the Atlantic and often transshipped at a hub before the final leg. Realistic door-to-door transit is therefore about five to eight weeks, and longer if a transshipment connection slips. Treat any promise of a fixed short ocean transit with caution.

Three service levels cover most relocations:

• Full-container load (FCL) — your own 20ft or 40ft container. Best value for a larger home, least handling, lower damage risk.
• Shared container (LCL / groupage) — you pay only for the volume you use. Cheaper for a flat, but slower, as the container waits to fill and is deconsolidated on arrival.
• Air freight — for a small, urgent shipment. Days rather than weeks, but far dearer per cubic metre, so most people fly only essentials and ship the rest by sea.

Pack a “first weeks” bag or air box: chargers, seasonal clothing, medication and your document folder (passport, visa, titre result, pet certificate, inventory). Insure on an all-risk, itemised basis with agreed values, and photograph valuables before they are wrapped.

3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief

Bringing used personal property from Peru into France normally qualifies for the franchise de déménagement (transfer-of-residence relief), which waives customs duty and import VAT. French Customs set three core conditions: you must have lived in a non-EU country for at least 12 months; you must be transferring your main residence to France; and you must import the goods within 12 months of settling. The property itself must have been used privately for at least six months before the move. Goods admitted duty-free may not be sold, rented or lent for 12 months after import.

The paperwork is specific. You must submit the completed and signed CERFA form No. 10070 (“Déclaration d’entrée en franchise de biens personnels en provenance de pays tiers de l’U.E.”), together with a detailed, dated and signed inventory in two copies and documents proving you held residence in a non-EU country and are settling in France (for example, Peruvian address registration, a rental or work contract in France, and your visa). Vehicles and valuables are itemised on the CERFA.

Use an international mover experienced with French clearance so the CERFA 10070, the dual-copy inventory and the supporting evidence are presented correctly to Douane at Le Havre. A precise, valued inventory prepared in Peru is your best defence against delays and queries.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Validate your visa first. As a Peruvian (third-country) national, you will usually arrive on a long-stay visa serving as a residence permit (VLS-TS). You must validate it within three months of arrival on the ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr), paying the applicable tax stamp. If you do not validate in time, the visa stops functioning as a residence permit. After validation, OFII (the French office for immigration and integration) may summon you for a medical check and integration steps. Toward the end of the VLS-TS, you apply online through ANEF (or at the prefecture) for the follow-on residence permit (titre de séjour).

There is no single national town-hall population register in France as there is in the Nordics or the Netherlands. Instead, your administrative footprint builds through the visa validation, your tax registration, social-security enrolment and utility contracts. Keep proof of your French address (a rental contract and a recent utility bill, the justificatif de domicile) — it is requested constantly.

Healthcare. Legal residents can join France’s public health system (PUMA — protection universelle maladie) after a qualifying period, applying through the local CPAM (health insurance fund). Until your cover is active, keep private health insurance in place; it is also typically required for the visa. Many residents add a mutuelle (top-up insurance) to cover the portion the state does not.

Driving. France exchanges some non-EU licences on a reciprocity basis, but this depends on the issuing country and category; where no exchange applies, you must pass the French tests. Check the official ANTS/service-public guidance for the current position for Peruvian licences, and act within the exchange window, which is time-limited from your date of residence.

5. Pets

Begin here — before any other part of the move. Peru is not on the EU’s list of approved third countries, so a dog or cat faces the strictest entry route. The mandatory order is:

1. Microchip (ISO 11784/11785), read before or at the moment of vaccination.
2. Rabies vaccination, given after the microchip. A vaccination that predates the chip does not count.
3. Rabies antibody titration test. Blood drawn by an authorised vet at least 30 days after vaccination and tested at an EU-approved laboratory, with a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
4. Three-month wait. You must wait three months (90 days) from the successful blood-sample date before the animal enters the EU. (Waived only for a pet re-entering the EU whose passport already shows a valid pre-departure titre.)
5. EU animal health certificate from an official vet shortly before travel, plus the SENASA export certificate to leave Peru.

Added together, the pet timeline runs to roughly four to five months from first vaccination to lawful EU entry — longer than the sea freight itself. If the rabies vaccination is already current and documented, you may not need to re-vaccinate, but the titre and 90-day wait still apply in full.

On the Peruvian side, SENASA (the national agricultural health service) issues the export health certificate. Apply at a SENASA office (in Lima, centres are at Callao, Ate Vitarte and Lurín, with offices across the regions) around 72 hours before travel. SENASA requires current vaccinations — including rabies from three months of age — and internal and external deworming within 15 days of travel. Your pet must enter the EU through a designated traveller entry point, and airlines apply their own crate and booking rules for live animals, so confirm the pet’s flight when you confirm yours.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

Opening a French bank account is easier once you have a French address and your validated visa; banks ask for proof of identity, proof of address (justificatif de domicile) and often your visa or residence document. France has a legal right-to-an-account procedure (droit au compte) via the Banque de France if a bank refuses, which can help newcomers. Some digital banks let you start before full documentation is in place, bridging the first weeks.

On tax, France taxes residents on worldwide income, and you generally become tax-resident when your home, main stay or economic centre is in France. Because you are moving from a non-EU country, take advice in your first year on the treatment of any Peruvian income, assets or pensions to avoid double taxation and to time the move well. Keep your Peruvian exit documents and your CERFA/inventory copies; together with your visa validation they help establish when your French residence began. Note the French tax year and reporting obligations for foreign accounts, which are strict.

How Flyto handles your Peru to France move

Flyto Relocation manages the corridor end to end: SUNAT export clearance and the menaje de casa declaration in Callao, ocean freight to Le Havre, and the franchise de déménagement filed with French Customs — CERFA 10070 plus the dual-copy inventory and proof of 12 months outside the EU. We sequence the pet pathway around the titre-and-90-day rule so nothing slips, and we prepare you for the VLS-TS validation on ANEF within three months and the OFII steps before you land. With our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, one team stays accountable from Lima to your French home. Get a quote and we will build the plan backwards from your pet’s blood-test date.

Frequently asked questions

Does my dog or cat need a rabies titre test?
Yes. Peru is not an EU-listed country, so a rabies antibody titration test is required: blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml, then a three-month wait before entry. See the European Commission on bringing a pet from a non-EU country.

How long should I allow for the pet process?
About four to five months. The microchip, vaccination, 30-day wait, titre test and mandatory 90-day wait must all finish before the pre-travel health certificate is issued. Start it before any other step in your move.

Which form do I need for French customs relief?
CERFA form No. 10070, plus a detailed dated and signed inventory in two copies and proof you lived outside the EU, per French Customs (Douane).

How soon must I validate my visa in France?
Within three months of arrival, online via the ANEF portal, or the VLS-TS stops working as a residence permit. See France-Visas.

How long is the shipment at sea from Callao to Le Havre?
Roughly five to eight weeks door to door, because there is no direct Pacific-to-Atlantic-Europe service and cargo routes via Panama or transships.

Can I keep using my Peruvian driving licence?
For a limited period, yes; whether you can exchange it depends on reciprocity, otherwise you must pass the French tests. Check service-public.fr for the current rules for Peruvian licences.

Sources

• French Customs (Douane) — Deductibles when transferring your main residence to France
• Service-Public.fr — Moving to France from outside the EU: customs franchise
• France-Visas — Long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
• ANEF — Digital administration for foreigners in France (visa validation)
• European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• European Commission — Designated rabies antibody titration laboratories
• SUNAT (Peru) — El menaje de casa
• SENASA (Peru) — Requisitos sanitarios para viajar con tu mascota