Moving from Peru to the Netherlands (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Peru to the Netherlands (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Start with your pet. 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) followed by a strict three-month wait before EU entry. It is the single longest-lead task in the whole move.
• Transfer-of-residence relief exists. Dutch Customs (Douane) grant the verhuisboedelvrijstelling on used household goods if you have lived outside the EU for 12 consecutive months and owned and used the items for at least six. Your remover files the declaration; you cannot do it yourself.
• Sea freight from Callao to Rotterdam takes roughly five to eight weeks door to door, because there is no direct Pacific-to-North-Sea liner service and cargo transships via Panama or a hub port.
• Register at your gemeente within five days of arrival to receive your BSN (citizen service number); it unlocks banking, healthcare, work and almost everything else.
• Non-EU nationals need a residence permit from the IND (usually an MVV entry visa first) before municipal registration.

1. Leaving Peru: what to close out

A move from Peru to the Netherlands is an intercontinental, non-EU relocation, so the paperwork is heavier at both ends than an intra-European move. Give yourself three to four months of runway, and build the timeline backwards from your pet’s rabies-titre schedule (see section 5) because that clock is the one you cannot compress.

On the Peruvian side, tidy up your civil and tax affairs before you go. Settle any outstanding balances with SUNAT (the tax authority), keep evidence of your Peruvian address history, and gather originals plus certified copies of birth, marriage and academic documents. Documents you will present to Dutch or IND officials should carry an apostille under the Hague Convention (Peru is a member) and, where needed, a sworn Spanish-to-Dutch or Spanish-to-English translation. Sorting apostilles in Lima before departure is far easier than arranging them from abroad.

For your household goods, the export route is a Simplified Export Declaration for luggage and household effects (menaje de casa). According to 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 are no cultural-heritage or prohibited items, and a copy of the transport document from the carrier. No export tax is charged. The cultural-patrimony point matters in Peru: antiques, colonial-era pieces, pre-Columbian artefacts and some artwork can require clearance from the Ministry of Culture, and exporting protected heritage without authorisation is an offence. Your international remover handles the declaration mechanics, but you must sign the sworn inventory honestly.

Do not overlook exit admin for people: check that passports have at least six months’ validity, confirm your Dutch entry visa (MVV) or permit status before you fly, and cancel or transfer Peruvian utilities, insurance and subscriptions only once your shipment has left and you have a firm arrival plan.

2. How your household goods ship to the Netherlands

Peru’s main deep-sea gateway is the Port of Callao, next to Lima, and your goods will almost always leave from there. The Netherlands’ gateway is the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest. There is no single direct liner service between the Peruvian Pacific coast and the North Sea, so containers are routed either eastbound through the Panama Canal into the Atlantic, or transshipped at a Caribbean or European hub. That routing is why realistic door-to-door transit is around five to eight weeks, occasionally longer when sailings are missed at the transshipment port. Treat any quote promising a fixed three-week ocean transit with caution.

You have three main service levels:

• Full-container load (FCL) — a dedicated 20ft or 40ft container. Best value for a three-bedroom-plus home and the least handling, so lower damage risk.
• Shared container (LCL / groupage) — you pay for the volume you use. Cheaper for a flat or partial move, but slower because the container waits to fill and is deconsolidated at destination.
• Air freight — for a small, urgent shipment (a few boxes, work equipment). Days rather than weeks, but multiples of the sea-freight cost per cubic metre, so most people air-freight only essentials and send the rest by sea.

Pack a personal “first weeks” suitcase or air-freight box: chargers, a change of clothing per season, essential medication, and the document folder (passport, permit, titre result, pet certificate, inventory). Insure the shipment on an all-risk, itemised basis with agreed values, and photograph high-value items before they are wrapped.

3. Netherlands customs & transfer-of-residence relief

Bringing used personal effects from Peru into the Netherlands qualifies, in most genuine relocations, for the transfer-of-residence relief (verhuisboedelvrijstelling), which waives import duty and VAT. Dutch Customs set clear conditions. You must be moving your normal place of residence from a non-EU country to the EU; you must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months; you must have owned and used the goods for at least six months and intend to keep using them; and you must import the goods within 12 months of establishing residence. You also may not lend, pledge, hire out or sell the goods within 12 months of import.

Some categories are excluded from the relief: alcohol and tobacco products, commercial vehicles, and non-portable equipment used for a trade or profession. Those follow normal import rules.

Critically, you cannot file this declaration yourself. Dutch Customs require the removal company to lodge the declaration through the customs system using the correct relief code. This is one reason to use an established international mover with Dutch clearance experience rather than a purely Peruvian-side forwarder. Prepare a detailed valued inventory and be ready to evidence your 12-months-outside-the-EU condition (for example, Peruvian address registration, employment records or utility bills).

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

Residence permit first. As a Peruvian (third-country) national, you generally need authorisation to live in the Netherlands before you settle. Most long-stay categories require an entry visa (MVV) and a residence permit from the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service). Your sponsor — an employer, university or partner — usually starts the IND process while you are still in Peru. Do not book the container’s final delivery until your entry route is confirmed.

Register at the gemeente within five days. Dutch law requires anyone staying longer than four months to register in the Personal Records Database (BRP) at their municipality (gemeente) within five days of arrival. Registration issues your BSN (citizen service number) automatically. Without a BSN you cannot open a bank account, start a job, take out health insurance or arrange most contracts, so book the appointment before you land. Bring your passport, residence permit or IND proof, your rental contract or proof of address, and apostilled/translated birth and marriage certificates.

Healthcare. Dutch residents who work or live in the country are generally obliged to take out basic health insurance (basisverzekering) from a private insurer, usually within four months of becoming insurable, with cover backdated to arrival. Register with a local GP (huisarts) as your first point of contact.

Driving. A Peruvian licence can be used for a short period after registration, but non-EU licences generally cannot simply be swapped — most newcomers must sit Dutch theory and practical tests unless they qualify under a specific exemption. Check the RDW (the Dutch driving authority) for the current position for Peruvian licence holders and act early, because the grace period is short.

5. Pets

This is the part to plan first. Peru is not on the EU’s list of approved third countries for pet movement, which triggers the strictest entry pathway for a dog or cat. In order, your pet needs:

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

Add these together and the pet timeline is easily four to five months from first vaccination to legal EU entry — longer than the shipping itself. If your rabies vaccination is already current and documented, you may skip re-vaccinating, but the titre-plus-90-day sequence still applies.

On the Peru side, SENASA (the national agricultural health service) issues the export health certificate. Apply at a SENASA office (Lima has centres in Callao, Ate Vitarte and Lurín, with offices across the regions) with about 72 hours’ notice before travel. SENASA requires current vaccinations — including rabies from three months of age — and internal and external deworming carried out within 15 days of travel. Dogs and cats must arrive in the EU through a designated traveller entry point, and most airlines have their own crate and booking rules for live animals, so confirm the pet’s flight at the same time as yours.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

You cannot open a mainstream Dutch bank account without a BSN, so registration at the gemeente is the gate to your financial setup. Once you have a BSN and a Dutch address, opening a current account is straightforward. Some digital banks let you start before your BSN arrives, which can bridge the first weeks.

On tax, the Netherlands taxes residents on worldwide income, and you become a Dutch tax resident broadly when your life is centred there. Highly skilled migrants may qualify for the 30%-ruling equivalent (a partial tax facility for incoming employees) — check the current rules and thresholds, as they have been tightened in recent years. Because you are moving from a non-EU country, take advice on the tax treatment of any Peruvian income, assets or pensions in your first year to avoid double taxation and to time the move sensibly. Keep your Peruvian exit documents; they help prove when your Dutch residence began.

How Flyto handles your Peru to the Netherlands move

Flyto Relocation manages the whole corridor end to end: SUNAT export clearance and the menaje de casa declaration in Callao, ocean freight to Rotterdam, and the verhuisboedel transfer-of-residence declaration filed with Dutch Customs on your behalf, since you cannot file it yourself. We coordinate the pet pathway around the titre-and-90-day rule so nothing slips, and we brief you on gemeente registration, the BSN and health insurance before you land. With our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, we keep one team accountable from Lima to your Dutch front door. Get a quote and we will build your timeline backwards from your pet’s blood-test date.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need a rabies titre test for my dog or cat?
Yes. Peru is not an EU-listed country, so a rabies antibody titration test is mandatory: 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 does the whole pet process take?
Plan four to five months. The microchip, vaccination, 30-day wait, titre test and mandatory 90-day wait stack up before the pre-travel health certificate can even be issued. Start it before anything else in your move.

Can I file the Dutch customs relief myself to save money?
No. Dutch Customs require your removal company to lodge the verhuisboedel declaration through the customs system with the relief code, per Dutch Customs.

How long is the shipment at sea from Callao?
Expect roughly five to eight weeks door to door. There is no direct Pacific-to-North-Sea service, so cargo is routed via Panama or transshipped, which adds time.

When must I register in the Netherlands?
Within five days of arrival if you are staying longer than four months. Registration at the gemeente issues your BSN, per the IND.

What proves I lived outside the EU for 12 months?
Peruvian address registration, employment records, tax records or utility bills covering the period. Dutch Customs may ask for evidence of the 12-consecutive-months condition.

Sources

• Dutch Customs (Douane) — Moving to the Netherlands from a non-EU country
• IND — Living in the Netherlands with a residence permit
• Business.gov.nl — Residence permit for the Netherlands
• 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
• Gob.pe / SUNAT — Sacar del país equipaje no acompañado y menaje de casa
• SENASA (Peru) — Requisitos sanitarios para viajar con tu mascota