During the first five months of 2015, 27,673 foreign citizens entered Peru under the “Migrant worker” status, a growth of 15.1% compared to the same period last year, Peruvian representative to the Andean Parliament Alberto Adrianzen affirmed.
Throughout 2014, 23,495 immigrants arrived in the country, according to National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI).
Foreigners, who arrived for work purposes, came from: Colombia (17.4% of the total), Chile (14.4%), Spain (13.6%), Argentina (9.7%), Brazil (6.6%), Ecuador (5.3%), United States (5.2%) and Bolivia (4%).
“[…] foreign arrivals are still increasing. Nonetheless, our bureaucratic Law on Foreigners must be replaced by a more flexible one, so aliens are allowed to easily comply with the requirements, which ease them the access to settle or renew their stay in the country", he added.
He indicated that his bureau, the Ombudsman Office and the Andean Commission of Jurists worked on a legislative proposal aimed at creating a new Immigration Law. It was submitted to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Multisectoral group. The said is in charge of designing a new regulation on the matter.
According to the current law, the foreign citizen must leave Peruvian territory to have the migratory status renewed or changed (e.g. from tourist to resident). In this sense, the proposal -if approved- would allow the foreigner to remain in the country throughout the entire process.
The project also suggests, amongst other new things, Peruvian citizens' foreign live-in partners to enjoy the same rights as those who are legally married.
"We have developed this project together with institutions specialized in this field and this new regulation intends to eliminate bureaucratic rules […]", he underlined.
(END) NDP/SMA/ASH/MVB