How do you apostille a document in Peru, and how much does it cost?

What an apostille is and who issues it

An apostille is a certificate from Peru’s Foreign Ministry (known as the Cancillería, or MRE) confirming the signature and position of the Peruvian official who signed a document, so that the document is valid in another country that is party to the 1961 Hague Convention. The Legalization and Apostille Regulation (D.S. 005-2021-RE, art. 2.b) defines it as the procedure by which the Ministry certifies Peruvian public documents presented in a State party to the Convention.

Three rules come from the official page:

• The Foreign Ministry apostilles only documents from Peruvian public authorities. A private document must first go through a notary (see the table below).
• It only apostilles originals or certified copies whose signing authority is already registered with the Ministry.
• An apostille does not validate the content. If the document has an error, the apostille does not fix it.

Peru approved the Convention through Legislative Resolution No. 29445, as the regulation itself notes. According to the official Hague Conference status table, Peru acceded on 13 January 2010 and the Convention has applied to Peru since 30 September 2010.

The prior signature: the chain of certifications

The Foreign Ministry cannot recognize a signature it does not have on file, and its official document says keeping that signature registered and current is the issuing body’s responsibility, not yours. These are the most common cases in the chain of certifications (cadena de certificaciones) published in March 2025:

For civil records, the document suggests they be no more than three months old. If your document is not in the table, look it up in the full chain of certifications.

Cost and processing time

• In person: S/ 31.00, according to the gob.pe page updated on 4 April 2025. You pay at the Foreign Ministry office, at Banco de la Nación or Interbank, or through Págalo.pe if you pre-register online.
• Online: S/ 18.00, according to the gob.pe page updated on 22 June 2026. It only works for digitally signed PDFs with a QR code or verification link, and the signing official must be registered. It takes one document per request, and once you pay you cannot cancel.
• Free: degrees, diplomas and study certificates issued to Peruvians.
• Time: five business days in either mode (D.S. 005-2021-RE, art. 8.1).

The online page says you must check beforehand with the receiving authority in the destination country whether it accepts a digital apostille or legalization. Do this before paying, because you cannot cancel once paid.

If you live outside Peru

The regulation places in-person apostilles at Foreign Ministry premises in Lima, Callao, its regional offices and MAC centers, and digital apostilles on its online platform (art. 11). It does not include consulates. From abroad you have two options:

1. The digital apostille, if your Peruvian document is digitally signed and has a verification mechanism.
2. Have someone in Peru do the in-person procedure. The regulation requires the applicant to be an adult with ID; it does not require them to be the document’s holder.

Foreign documents for use in Peru

Here the other country issues the apostille, not Peru. The Foreign Ministry’s page on foreign academic documents sums it up:

• If the country of origin is party to the Hague Convention, the document needs that country’s apostille. For that case the page does not require a further legalization at Peru’s Foreign Ministry, though it notes that, depending on the type of studies, other procedures may be needed to give them validity.
• If it is not a party, you legalize it at that country’s foreign ministry and at the nearest Peruvian consulate, then legalize it at Peru’s Foreign Ministry once you arrive. For foreigners this costs S/ 31.00; for Peruvians it is free if the documents are original study certificates, degrees or diplomas.

Translations: two official pages that disagree

The Foreign Ministry’s translation page, updated on 3 September 2026, says that for any procedure before the Peruvian public administration you can file a simple translation by an identified translator, under Legislative Decree 1272. An official translation (by a traductor público juramentado, a sworn public translator appointed by the Ministry, or a certified member of the Colegio de Traductores) is needed when the translation itself will be apostilled or legalized.

The page on legalizing foreign academic documents, updated on 26 January 2024, still requires documents not written in Spanish to be translated by a sworn public translator or a certified member of the Colegio de Traductores.

We do not choose between them. Before paying for a translation, ask the authority that will receive the document which one it accepts.