UK to Peru
Removals to Peru
The most demanding schedule on this site, because two slow processes can land on the same shipment: consular certification of the inventory, and a permit for any protected material inside it. Neither can be hurried and both must finish before departure.
Two long lead times that run in parallel if you start early and in series if you do not.
Who moves this way
- People relocating to Lima for work, in mining, energy, development or professional services.
- Academics and researchers on fixed-term appointments, frequently in Cusco and Arequipa.
- Returning Peruvian households bringing a UK home back, with their own document set.
How the goods travel
By sea in a container to Callao, or by air for a small urgent consignment. The crossing is long and unremarkable. The file that has to be complete before it begins is the whole of the planning.
From Callao, Lima is immediate. Arequipa, Cusco and the sierra are substantial inland journeys with real altitude gain, planned and quoted as movements in their own right.
Where we deliver
Customs, and who obtains what
Peru grants relief on used household effects for a person taking up residence, claimed against an inventory certified through the Peruvian consular route before departure. Where the shipment contains protected material, a permit under the relevant international convention is required as well — and the two processes are independent of each other.
The file, split in two
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed valued inventory in Spanish | Us | Prepared and translated here. It is the document the certification attaches to. |
| Consular certification of the inventory | You | Obtained through the Peruvian consular route before departure. It sets the sailing date. |
| Permit for any protected material | You | Applied for through the proper authority. We identify likely items; we hold and issue nothing. |
| Residence documentation | You | The visa or carné under which you are taking up residence. |
| Proof of the Peruvian address | You | Lease or purchase documentation in your name. |
| Export and import entries | Us | Lodged by us or our appointed agent against the certified inventory. |
Rows marked You attach to you as a person, or must be obtained from an authority. We hold no permits and issue none. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory taken at the survey.
Two slow processes, and how to keep them parallel
Consular certification means the inventory is finalised, translated, submitted and returned before a container is booked. A permit for protected material means an application to the proper authority, assessed on its own timescale. Neither is unusual. What makes this route distinctive is that both can apply to the same household.
Started early they run in parallel and the move proceeds normally. Started late they run in series, because the inventory cannot be certified while it is still changing, and the permit question changes it.
Which is why the survey here looks hard at instruments, antique furniture and decorative objects before anything else. A piano with ivory keys or a cabinet with tortoiseshell inlay is not a rare find in a British house, and on this route it determines the order in which everything else happens.
Once the file is complete, the rest is ordinary. Lima delivery is short from Callao and runs on building administration, booked lifts and defined windows. Arequipa and Cusco are long inland legs with real altitude gain and narrow colonial streets at the end, where a shuttle from a level standing point is frequently the plan.
We identify likely protected material and say so plainly. We do not hold permits, apply for them or advise on whether one will be granted — that is for the proper authority, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
the UK to Peru
Questions on this route
- Why are there two slow processes?
- Consular certification of the inventory applies to every household shipment, and a permit applies additionally where protected material is present. They are independent and both must finish before departure.
- How do we keep them parallel?
- Survey early and settle the protected-material question first, because the inventory cannot be certified while it is still changing and the permit question changes it.
- What counts as protected material?
- Most often a component of something ordinary — ivory piano keys, rosewood in an instrument, tortoiseshell inlay in Victorian furniture. We identify likely items at survey.
- Do you obtain the permit?
- No. We hold none and issue none. It is applied for through the proper authority and nothing we say about it is legal advice.
- How long is the leg to Cusco?
- Substantial, with real altitude gain, and it is a movement in its own right rather than a delivery. It is planned and quoted as part of the job.
- What is access like in the old quarters?
- Narrow colonial streets where a full-size vehicle frequently does not enter. A shuttle from a level standing point is the plan, settled by photographs in advance.
Moving to Peru?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and anything that might need a declaration, a licence or a permit. We will tell you which rungs apply here.