Removals to Peru from the UK
Shipping to Peru
Fast Secure Road & Sea
Full and part load
How do removals to Peru from the UK work?
Removals to Peru from the UK go by sea, in a full container or a part load sharing space with other households. We survey, pack and wrap everything, handle the export side here, and a Peruvian agent clears the shipment at Callao under a notarised power of attorney from you.
Peru runs to a tighter timetable than most South American destinations, with a window either side of your own arrival that the shipment has to land inside. Planning the sailing around your flights is the whole job.
One coordinator runs the move throughout, and the inventory built at the survey is what the clearance runs on.
How long do removals to Peru take?
Your transit time is confirmed in writing on your quote, because it depends on the sailing schedule and whether you book a full container or a part load. A shared container waits until it is full before it sails, so it always takes longer than a container of your own.
What matters more here is the arrival window. Guidance indicates your shipment should not arrive before roughly a month ahead of your first entry into Peru, and must land within a few months after it. Sailing too early is as much of a problem as sailing too late.
Do I pay duty on my belongings going into Peru?
Relief depends on evidencing that you genuinely lived abroad. Published guidance indicates you need to show residence outside Peru for at least thirteen consecutive months before your last entry, and you or a family member must be in the country for clearance to begin.
Peru also runs a separate incentive scheme for returning Peruvian nationals who have been abroad for several years, with its own allowances and its own certification process through the tax authority. That route takes weeks rather than days to arrange, so it is worth starting early if it applies to you.
Where relief does not apply, duties are assessed on the value customs determines at inspection rather than on what you write down, so a realistic inventory is in your own interest.
Sources differ on the exact arrival window and on duty rates, and several are a few years old, so we do not publish a rate here. Your coordinator has our Peruvian agent confirm the current position before anything is loaded.
What documents do I need for removals to Peru?
You will need your original passport showing entries and departures, a notarised power of attorney for the customs agent, two original transport documents, and a detailed packing list naming brands and serial numbers for electronics. Family passport copies are needed where their goods are included.
One requirement catches families out: where surnames differ between the people in the shipment, marriage or birth certificates are commonly requested to establish the relationship. That is far easier to gather before you leave than once you are in Lima.
Cartons marked as packed by the owner are not accepted, so everything has to be professionally packed and itemised. It is the same rule Vietnam applies, and it is the most common reason a self-packed shipment runs into difficulty.
Which Peruvian port will my shipment arrive at?
Almost all household shipments from the UK arrive at Callao, the port serving Lima, which handles the overwhelming majority of Peru’s container traffic. The inland leg to Arequipa, Cusco or Trujillo is handled by road from there.
The inland geography is worth taking seriously. Cusco sits at well over three thousand metres and the road from the coast climbs steeply, so a delivery there is a longer and more demanding run than the distance on a map suggests.
Tell your coordinator the destination city and the access at the other end and the routing is planned around it.
Can I send a part load to Peru?
Yes. A part load means you pay for the space your belongings actually take inside a shared container rather than hiring a whole one, which suits anything smaller than a full house and is the common choice on this route.
The care is identical. The difference is the schedule, because a shared container sails once it is full, so the date moves with the other households in it.
Because Peru has a window either side of your arrival, your coordinator will say plainly whether a shared load fits your dates. There is more on our part load removals page.
Which parts of Peru do you deliver to?
We deliver across Peru, including Lima, Callao, Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Cusco, Piura, Iquitos and Huancayo, as well as towns reached by road from those cities. Altitude and terrain shape the inland legs more than distance does.
Lima deliveries are usually apartment deliveries with the familiar lift and access questions. Highland destinations such as Cusco and Huancayo add a long climb, and Iquitos is not reachable by road at all, which changes the plan entirely.
Where a full-size lorry cannot reach the property, the final leg transfers to a smaller vehicle, which is planned into the quote.
What sets the price of removals to Peru?
How much you are sending, whether you book a full container or a part load, how far inland and how high your delivery is, and how much packing you want us to do. Because owner-packed cartons are not accepted, professional packing is effectively part of the job here.
Sea freight is priced on the space your belongings occupy rather than their weight, which is why the survey matters more than a guess over the phone.
We quote in writing with the inclusions listed, and anything excluded says so.
Moving elsewhere in the region? We also run removals to Chile, Brazil and Argentina, and every route is listed on our Americas destinations page. Sending less than a full household? Part load removals explains shared containers.
Why people trust us with a move
These are not our words. They are our customers, on a review site we do not control.
- 4.6 out of 5 from 110 reviews on Trustpilot, rated Excellent
- Over 10,000 moves completed
- Typically replies within 24 hours, as shown on the Trustpilot profile
- Our own yard and storage at Riverside Industrial Estate, Fazeley, Tamworth
- Members of Approved Movers in the UK, and we only work with overseas agents who are members of BAR or FIDI
- Reviewing since October 2020, and still collecting them every month
From contact to collection everything has been really smooth. All emails were answered promptly. The three guys that came and collected our things were super friendly, helpful and extremely careful with our belongings.
Vanessa, May 2026 – verified Trustpilot review
Removals to Peru: frequently asked questions
How long must I have lived outside Peru?
Published guidance indicates at least thirteen consecutive months before your last entry, evidenced from your passport. It is one of the first things your coordinator checks, because it decides whether relief is available at all.
Can my shipment arrive before I do?
Only just. Guidance indicates it should not land more than about a month before your first entry, and it must arrive within a few months after it. Sailing too early causes as many problems as sailing too late, which is why we plan around your flights.
Why can I not pack my own boxes?
Peruvian clearance does not accept cartons marked as packed by the owner, so everything needs professional packing and itemising. It is the same rule Vietnam applies and it is worth knowing before you start wrapping things yourself.
Why might I need a marriage or birth certificate?
Where surnames differ between people whose belongings are in the shipment, Peruvian customs commonly asks for documents establishing the relationship. Gather them before you leave rather than trying to obtain them from Lima.
I am a returning Peruvian national. Is it different?
Yes. There is a separate incentive scheme with its own allowances and a certification process through the tax authority that takes several weeks. If it applies to you, start it early rather than treating it as paperwork for later.
Can you deliver to Cusco or Iquitos?
Cusco yes, by road, though the climb from the coast makes it a longer run than the map suggests. Iquitos is not connected to the national road network, so it is planned differently. Tell your coordinator the destination at the survey.
Is my shipment insured?
Cover is arranged against the value you declare, and the level of cover depends on that declaration and the terms in our agreement. Our guide to removals insurance explains it in full.