Colombia or Peru
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Colombia | Peru | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 10 years | 2 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | difficult | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | 10 | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 744 · estimate | $ 846 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 24,9 | $ 25,9 |
| Life expectancy | 77.91 | 77.94 |
| Homicides/100k | 24.35 | 8.6 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 6.5 | 6.4 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Colombia — 20, Peru — 41. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment, talent, retirement and working holiday. Colombia adds: remote work and repatriation.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Colombia: fees range from 51 to 408 USD. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes with a published decision deadline: 20; the shortest is 30 days. Peru: fees range from 19.1 to 162.5 PEN. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 4; the lowest is 1,000 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 29; the shortest is 5 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Colombia after 5 years, Peru after 3 years. Citizenship: Colombia after 10 years, Peru after 2 years. Both allow a second citizenship.
Colombia in brief
Colombia offers an unusually detailed set of grounds — nine categories, from an employment contract to digital nomad and person of independent means — and a decision on a family visa is taken within 30 days. The main constraint is family-related: a beneficiary visa carries no right to work, so the second spouse remains without employment, and parents cannot be brought in at all — the list of beneficiaries is closed.
Peru in brief
What makes Peru interesting is the wait for citizenship: two years of legal residence, one of the shortest in this guide, with no renunciation of the previous passport and permanent residence after three years. That is exactly what is changing. Law No. 32421, published on 14 August 2025, raises the period to five years and adds proof of annual income of at least 10 tax units and a broader exam. It is not in force: commencement is tied to publication of its regulation, and the regulation has not appeared. So the country runs on the old rule, which could switch at any moment, and planning a move around the two-year figure is a bet on how fast your own case moves. The second thing that defines Peru is nature: earthquakes 9.6 out of 10 and tsunamis 9.1 on the INFORM scale, with El Niño flooding added along the northern coast. The cost of living outside Lima is low: rent in Chiclayo and Piura is a third of the capital's.
Other comparisons
Colombia or… Panama · Costa Rica · Ecuador · Trinidad and Tobago · El Salvador · Cuba · Guyana · Honduras
Peru or… Nicaragua · Belize · Bolivia · Greenland · Jamaica · Bahamas · Guatemala · Dominican Republic
More on each: Colombia · Peru. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.