Moving from Portugal to Peru (2026): Complete Guide

Relocating from Portugal to Peru means managing two very different administrative systems: Portugal’s EU-based tax and customs framework on the way out, and Peru’s South American customs and immigration rules on the way in. This guide is written for a resident of Portugal — Portuguese national or foreign resident registered there — planning a permanent or long-term move to Peru, and covers both halves of the corridor: closing out your Portuguese tax residency and export formalities, and clearing your household goods, pets and vehicle through Peruvian customs and immigration on arrival. A short section at the end covers the reverse move, Peru to Portugal.

Key takeaways

• Peru’s favourable "menaje de casa" (household goods) regime charges a flat 12% duty on customs value, but only if you can prove at least 13 consecutive months living abroad and have not used the benefit in the previous two years — SUNAT.
• Your shipment must arrive in Peru as cargo within a fixed window: one month before to six months after your personal arrival date — SUNAT Asistente Aduanero.
• In Portugal, you have 60 days to notify the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT) of your change of address/fiscal residence through the Portal das Finanças — Portal das Finanças.
• Moving your tax residence to a country outside the EU/EEA normally requires appointing a tax representative in Portugal, unless you enrol in AT’s digital notification channel — Portal das Finanças.
• Carrying cash out of the EU at or above €10,000 (or into/out of Peru above US$10,000) must be declared to customs; Peru caps undeclared-plus-declared cash movement at US$30,000 — Your Europe, SUNAT.
• Pets need an official veterinary export health certificate to leave Portugal for a non-EU country, and Peru’s SENASA requires that same country-of-origin sanitary certificate plus proof of core vaccinations on arrival — DGAV, SENASA.
• Used-vehicle import age limits in Peru depend on engine type: diesel/semi-diesel vehicles can be at most 2 years old, petrol and other engines up to 5 years — both alongside a left-hand-drive requirement — gob.pe / SUNAT-MTC.
• The 12% menaje de casa duty only applies once you hold an approved resident visa category ("calidad migratoria residente") and the carné de extranjería issued on that basis — Migraciones, Migraciones.

1. Your Peruvian immigration status decides your customs treatment

Peru does not give every arriving foreigner the same customs deal. The concessionary "régimen de equipaje y menaje de casa" — a single flat 12% duty on the customs value of your used household goods, instead of the full ordinary import taxes a commercial shipment would face — is reserved for people who qualify as returning residents or newly arriving residents, not tourists. To use it you must document at least 13 consecutive months of residence abroad immediately before arrival (brief trips home of up to 30 days a year don’t break this), and you must not have used the benefit in the two years prior — SUNAT.

Practically, this means your resident visa timeline drives your shipping timeline. Peru’s Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones issues resident status ("calidad migratoria residente") in categories such as worker, rentista (pensioner/income-based), family, investor and others, each with its own document set — Migraciones. Once your resident status is approved, you register at Migraciones for the carné de extranjería, the ID card that proves your resident status for everyday life and for customs purposes — Migraciones. Because your menaje de casa shipment must be declared within one month before to six months after your arrival date, it’s worth having your resident visa approved, or at least well underway, before your container leaves Portugal — arriving in Peru as a tourist and converting status later can complicate the customs timeline.

2. The Portugal export side: deregistering with AT and closing out your tax residency

Portugal’s tax and customs authority is the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT), reached through the Portal das Finanças. There is no separate national population registry to "deregister" from as in some other EU countries; residence and address information is managed through your fiscal domicile record with AT, tied to your Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF).

When you move your habitual residence abroad, you must update your morada fiscal (fiscal address) with AT within 60 days of the change. This is done online via the Portal das Finanças e-balcão ("Registo Contribuinte > Identific > Alteração Morada/Singulares"), or in person at a Finanças office; foreign citizens without a Cartão de Cidadão can also update it this way — Portal das Finanças FAQ, Portal das Finanças – guidance for foreign citizens (PDF). Changing your status from resident to non-resident, specifically, generally also requires designating a tax representative in Portugal — unless you sign up for AT’s dematerialised notification channel, which exempts third-country residents from that requirement — Portal das Finanças.

If you keep your Portuguese fiscal domicile unchanged, AT continues to treat you as a Portuguese tax resident and expects your full worldwide income declared under IRS regardless of where you actually live — so this update, plus your final Portuguese IRS return for the year you leave, is not optional paperwork but the mechanism that ends your Portuguese tax liability. To later prove Peruvian tax residency for double-taxation purposes you’d need a residency certificate from Peru’s tax authority (SUNAT); note that Portugal’s official list of double-taxation conventions should be checked directly, as coverage varies by country and changes over time — Portal das Finanças – convenções.

On the goods side: used personal belongings shipped because of a genuine change of residence to a non-EU country are not subject to Portuguese export duty, but the shipment leaving EU customs territory still needs to be covered by a customs export declaration lodged through the EU’s Automated Export System — your moving company or customs broker normally files this on your behalf as part of organising the freight — Your Europe – customs procedures for exports. Separately, if you or your shipment are carrying €10,000 or more in cash or bearer instruments out of the EU, this must be declared to AT before departure — Your Europe – carrying cash.

3. Ports and transit: from Portugal to Peru

Portugal’s two main container gateways are the Porto de Lisboa, run by the Administração do Porto de Lisboa (APL) — gov.pt — and the deep-water Porto de Sines, run by the Administração dos Portos de Sines e do Algarve (APS) — gov.pt. Air freight typically routes through Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport. On the Peruvian side, the great majority of ocean freight lands at the Puerto del Callao, overseen nationally by the Autoridad Portuaria Nacional (APN) — APN — which serves Lima.

These transit times are freight-industry estimates, not figures published by any port or customs authority, and vary with carrier, routing and season:

• Sea freight (FCL/LCL container, Lisbon or Sines to Callao): roughly 30–45 days door-to-port, since there is no direct Portugal–Peru service and cargo typically transships via a European or North/Central American hub.
• Air freight (Lisbon to Lima): roughly 3–7 days door-to-door including customs clearance, usually with one transatlantic connection.

Given the long sea transit and the strict one-month-before/six-month-after arrival window for the menaje de casa benefit, most people book ocean freight to leave Portugal shortly before or around their own travel date, rather than waiting until after they land in Peru.

4. The Peru import side: SUNAT and the menaje de casa process

Peru’s customs and tax authority, the Superintendencia Nacional de Aduanas y de Administración Tributaria (SUNAT), administers household-goods imports under the Reglamento de Equipaje y Menaje de Casa, most recently governed by Supreme Decree No. 182-2013-EF — SUNAT normativa. "Menaje de casa" covers new or used furniture and household items belonging to the traveller and immediate family (spouse/partner, parents, children under 18) — gob.pe.

The core requirements: 13+ consecutive months’ residence abroad prior to arrival; the goods travel as cargo within one month before to six months after your arrival; a single flat duty of 12% applies to the SUNAT-assessed customs value (FOB value plus international freight and insurance); and the benefit cannot be used again within two years of a prior use — SUNAT Asistente Aduanero. Formally, the shipment is cleared through a Declaración Simplificada de Importación, with duty calculated as of the date that declaration is numbered — SUNAT. Motor vehicles, motorcycles, trailers, vessels and aircraft (and their parts) are explicitly excluded from this special regime and must go through ordinary vehicle-import procedures instead — SUNAT.

5. Pets: DGAV on the way out, SENASA on the way in

Leaving Portugal for Peru: because Peru is outside the EU, your pet needs an official veterinary export health certificate rather than the standard EU pet passport alone. Portugal’s Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV) issues this through its Certific@+ system: your vet completes the Mod. 1452/DGAV statement according to Peru’s specific entry conditions, and you collect the physical certificate from a DGAV service point before travel — DGAV. Start this process well in advance, since requirements are set by the destination country and certificate issuance takes time.

Arriving in Peru: the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria (SENASA) requires an original sanitary export certificate issued by the official authority of the country of origin (Portugal/DGAV) — not a transit country, if you route through one. For dogs the certificate must show vaccination against canine parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and rabies; for cats, feline panleukopenia and rabies. Rabies vaccination is mandatory for pets over three months old, and internal/external deworming must have been done within 15 days of travel. On arrival, SENASA inspects the animal and charges an inspection/entry-document fee — SENASA.

6. Vehicles, money and what people forget

Vehicles: don’t plan to bring your Portuguese car. Peru’s used-vehicle age limit depends on engine type: diesel and semi-diesel vehicles can be at most 2 years old (from year of manufacture), while petrol and other engines are allowed up to 5 years — both on top of left-hand-drive, mileage, accident-history and emissions requirements — gob.pe / SUNAT-MTC. Vehicles (along with motorcycles, trailers, vessels and aircraft) are also explicitly excluded from the menaje de casa regime, so importing one means a separate, full commercial-style import process. Most relocators sell their car in Portugal and buy in Peru instead.

Money: if you’re carrying €10,000 or more out of the EU, declare it to AT before departure — Your Europe. On entry to or exit from Peru, cash or negotiable instruments over US$10,000 must be declared to SUNAT at the airport or border post, and total cash movement is capped at US$30,000 without going through the financial system — SUNAT.

Things people forget: updating your Portuguese morada fiscal is the step that actually stops your Portuguese IRS liability — many people move but never file the change and keep getting taxed as residents. On the Peru side, people often ship their container before their resident visa is approved, then miss the 13-month-abroad or arrival-window tests and lose the 12% flat-duty benefit, facing ordinary import taxation instead.

How Flyto handles your Portugal to Peru move

Flyto runs its own offices, warehouses, crews and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, which is where we handle your packing, export documentation and freight booking out of Lisbon or Sines directly. For the ocean leg and customs clearance into Peru, we work through a carefully vetted network of partner carriers and subcontractors, plus trusted local partners on the ground in Lima who handle SUNAT clearance, SENASA formalities for pets, and final delivery — so you get in-house control at origin and locally accountable expertise at destination.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a resident visa before shipping my belongings to Peru?
Not strictly before shipping, but you need it in place, or close to approval, to use the 12% menaje de casa duty rate — the benefit requires an approved resident category and 13 months’ prior residence abroad, and your goods must arrive within a fixed window around your own arrival date — SUNAT.

How long do I have to tell Portugal I’m leaving?
60 days from the change of residence, updating your morada fiscal with AT via the Portal das Finanças — Portal das Finanças.

Can I bring my car from Portugal to Peru?
Generally not economically — Peru caps used-vehicle imports at 2 years old for diesel/semi-diesel engines and 5 years for petrol and other engines, on top of left-hand-drive and emissions rules, and vehicles are excluded from the household-goods duty regime entirely — gob.pe / SUNAT-MTC.

What’s the duty rate on my household goods in Peru?
A flat 12% on the SUNAT-assessed customs value, provided you meet the residence-abroad and shipping-window conditions — SUNAT.

Do I need a special certificate for my dog or cat?
Yes — an official veterinary export health certificate from DGAV in Portugal (via Certific@+), and on arrival SENASA requires that same certificate showing rabies and other core vaccinations plus recent deworming — DGAV, SENASA.

What about moving back, from Peru to Portugal?
The logic mirrors the outbound move: you’d need Peruvian exit/customs formalities for any vehicle (which faces separate rules) and pet export health certification from SENASA, then declare arrival in Portugal, register your new address and reinstate Portuguese tax residency with AT, and — if returning from outside the EU — your personal belongings may qualify for EU relief on import as goods of a person transferring normal residence, subject to AT’s conditions on prior use and length of foreign residence. Confirm current conditions directly with AT and SENASA before planning the return leg.

Sources

• gov.pt – Mudar de casa
• Portal das Finanças – Alteração de Morada (FAQ)
• Portal das Finanças – Alteração de morada para cidadãos estrangeiros (PDF)
• Portal das Finanças – Convenções para evitar a dupla tributação
• Your Europe (EU) – Customs duties and procedures for exports
• Your Europe (EU) – Carrying cash
• DGAV – Sair de Portugal para um país fora da UE (animais de companhia)
• gov.pt – Administração do Porto de Lisboa
• gov.pt – Administração dos Portos de Sines e Algarve
• SUNAT (gob.pe) – Ingresar menaje de casa al país
• SUNAT Asistente Aduanero – El menaje de casa
• SUNAT – Régimen especial de equipaje y menaje de casa (norma GJA-00.06)
• SUNAT – Bienvenido al Perú: Ingreso y salida de dinero en efectivo
• Migraciones (gob.pe) – Carné de extranjería
• Migraciones (gob.pe) – Solicitud de visa para residentes según calidad migratoria
• SENASA – Requisitos para la salida e ingreso de mascotas al país
• SUNAT/MTC (gob.pe) – Requisitos y documentos para importar vehículos usados
• Autoridad Portuaria Nacional – Callao