Countries › Peru
Using a U.S. document in Peru
Step by step
- Get a certified copy of the document from the issuing office (for birth registration, the Peruvian Consulate in New York asks for the original, updated long-form birth certificate).
- Get an apostille from the competent authority of the U.S. state where the document was issued (generally the Secretary of State); federal documents (e.g., FBI background check) are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications.
- With the apostille, no further legalization by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is needed.
- If the document is not in Spanish, have it translated by a Traductor Público Juramentado appointed by Peru's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or by a certified translator of the Colegio de Traductores del Perú (whose translation must be authenticated by the Colegio's Dean).
Translation
Peru's official gob.pe page on foreign academic documents states that a document not in Spanish must be translated by a Traductor Público Juramentado appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or by a Traductor Colegiado Certificado registered with the Colegio de Traductores del Perú, whose translation must be authenticated by the Colegio's Dean. The New York consulate's birth and marriage registration checklists do not list a translation requirement for New York certificates.
Common uses
- Use U.S. academic documents in Peru to continue studying or to work
- Register the birth of a child born in the U.S. to a Peruvian parent (Peruvian nationality)
- Register a marriage celebrated before U.S. authorities
Important
Peru's consulates in the U.S. include New York, Paterson, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle, among others; each publishes its own checklist on gob.pe. For registering a birth or marriage at the New York consulate, the checklist asks for the original New York certificate (kept by the consulate) and does not list an apostille. Registration of the birth and the first copy are free.
Which state issued your document?
Apostille fee and processing time in that state.
Sources
See the official sources (7)
- https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41
- https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/notifications/?csid=1059&disp=type
- https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353
- https://www.gob.pe/668-legalizar-documentos-academicos-extranjeros-para-uso-en-peru
- https://www.gob.pe/78634-registrar-el-nacimiento-de-peruanos-menores-de-edad-nacidos-en-el-extranjero?child=112500
- https://www.gob.pe/35967-registrar-matrimonios-de-peruanos-celebrados-en-el-exterior?child=112717
- https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html
Editor's note
HCCH: accession, in force 2010-09-30, marked A** (objection). The objections were by Germany (withdrawn, in force between them 2014-01-01) and Greece (withdrawn, in force 2024-07-26); the United States did not object, so the Convention applies between the U.S. and Peru. Apostille issuers in the U.S. come from the HCCH U.S. competent-authority page. The translation rule comes from the gob.pe page on academic documents; no general gob.pe rule for every type of document was confirmed (the general page gob.pe/37288 could not be retrieved). The New York consulate checklists cover only that consulate; other Peruvian consulates in the U.S. were not checked individually. No official list of 'common uses' beyond these pages was found.