Peru power of attorney (poder notarial) at a US consulate

A Peruvian consulate in the US can give someone in Peru — your apoderado — legal authority to act for you, but it does so through two different instruments with very different fees and reach. The simple poder fuera de registro costs US$25 at the Washington DC consulate, lasts 1 year and covers administrative errands only. A poder por escritura pública (power granted by public deed) is what property, bank accounts and larger sums require; the Paterson consulate puts it at about US$180 to US$200, it needs a lawyer’s draft, and 12 US consulates appear on gob.pe’s list for filing it electronically with SUNARP, Peru’s public registry (official pages read October 3, 2026).

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The two instruments compared

Poder fuera de registroPoder por escritura pública
Used forAdministrative errands, pensions, cashing checks, sums up to 3 UITBuying, selling, renting or mortgaging property; bank operations; sums over 3 UIT; court cases
Fee publishedUS$25 (US$10 for pension collection only) — Washington DCabout US$180-200, cash — Paterson FAQ
Validity1 year (Washington DC)No set term unless stipulated or revoked (gob.pe)
Lawyer’s draft (minuta)Not requiredRequired at Paterson; recommended at Washington DC
Registered at SUNARPNo — gob.pe: «no se puede inscribir en los Registros Públicos»Yes — Washington DC: «requieren ser inscritos en los registros públicos»

Poder fuera de registro (simple power)

What the Washington DC consulate’s page and gob.pe (last changed September 8, 2025) say:

  • Scope: administrative errands in Peru and collecting certain sums. gob.pe lists requesting documents, cashing checks, municipal procedures and collecting retirement, widow or severance pensions, and collecting sums above half a UIT (S/ 2,750.00) up to 3 UIT (S/ 16,500.00) at banks, AFP or ONP.
  • What it cannot do: Washington DC states that with a poder fuera de registro you cannot open or close accounts at Peruvian banks, get a Banco de la Nación debit or credit card, or buy, sell, rent or donate movable or real property (houses, land, vehicles); those need a power by public deed.
  • Check first: both pages recommend confirming with the Peruvian entity where the power will be used that it will accept it.
  • Requirements (Washington DC): the grantor must be in full use of their faculties; a DNI if Peruvian, or a passport or state ID if foreign; and the names, surnames and DNI number of the apoderado plus the specific information of the power.
  • Fee (Washington DC): «Pagar US$ 25 dólares». Only when the power is to collect retirement pensions: US$10.
  • Validity: «El poder fuera de registro tiene una vigencia de 1 año».
  • In person: the procedure cannot be delegated to a third party; an appointment is recommended.

Poder por escritura pública (power by public deed)

The Washington DC consulate’s deeds page says a public deed is the instrument when sums over 3 UIT are involved, when acts of disposition over movable or real property are involved (sale, rental, guarantees, banking operations of every kind), or when the law requires it. gob.pe (last changed January 29, 2026) adds court cases, selling shares, forming companies and correcting birth records.

The lawyer’s draft (minuta). The Paterson FAQ requires a minuta with the text of the power, «sellada y suscrita por el abogado», sent as a scanned PDF and as a Word file, plus the lawyer’s habilitación certificate for the current year and the lawyer’s DNI number. Washington DC «recomienda consultar con un abogado» and posts some model minutas. The Paterson FAQ says the consulate cannot refer private lawyers or notaries.

Extra documents by subject (Washington DC):

  • Real estate: the ficha or partida registral from the Peruvian public registry, no more than 30 days old, showing you as owner.
  • Vehicle: the tarjeta de propiedad.
  • Money in a bank: the bank’s name and the account number, type and currency.
  • Extending or revoking an earlier deed: the vigencia del poder inscrito (certificate that the registered power is in force).
  • Powers granted by companies: the partners’ meeting minutes or a sworn statement of the legal representative, notarized and certified by the County Clerk, plus the certificate of incorporation or good standing.

How Paterson runs it (Paterson FAQ):

  1. Start by email to poderes@conpernj.org with the minuta and the lawyer’s documents; email is the only channel to begin.
  2. «El trámite demora en promedio 10 días»; there is no appointment until the deed text exists.
  3. At the appointment you sign the deed and have a personal interview with the consul, bringing your DNI physically valid (the latest one in RENIEC’s system); foreigners bring a valid passport. The deed cannot be modified that day.
  4. Cost: «entre 180 y 200 dólares aproximadamente dependiendo el número de hojas. El pago es en efectivo el día de la cita.»

The Washington DC consulate links an appointment request from its deeds page («Entre AQUI para solicitar su cita») and accepts cash or Visa/Mastercard, but only cash on the last business day of the month.

Fees in the consular tariff

Peru’s Tarifa Consular (undated PDF, read October 3, 2026), in soles consulares, where 1 sol consular = US$1.00:

Item (tariff 12 and 13: general or special power by deed)Amount
Fixed fee for the deed45.00
Each grantor (poderdante), in addition10.00
Each agent (apoderado), in addition10.00
Revocation, modification, extension, substitution or correction45.00 each
Receipt (boleta)4.00
Poder fuera de registro (tariff 15)25.00 (10.00 for pension collection)

The tariff lines are only part of the bill: the Paterson consulate’s all-in figure for a deed is about US$180-200, and the SUNARP registry fee in Peru is paid separately.

How the deed reaches Peru: electronic filing with SUNARP

gob.pe’s page on granting powers by public deed from abroad (last changed September 19, 2025) says consular copies (partes) of powers can be submitted electronically to the public registries through the Sistema de Intermediación Digital (SID-Sunarp). The US consulates on its list are Miami, Atlanta, Paterson, Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Hartford and Houston. The page notes that electronic submission applies only to a general or special power, and that consulates join the system progressively.

The steps gob.pe describes:

  1. Send the draft power to the consulate for your place of residence for review and an appointment.
  2. Sign the deed before the consular officer; the consulate sends the partes to SUNARP.
  3. You receive an email with a link (a QR code) to pay the registry fee from an electronic wallet.

What the other official sources add:

  • Registry fee: «El monto de la tasa registral para la inscripción del poder es de S/ 26.40 por cada apoderado designado» (SUNARP, August 18, 2026). SUNARP adds that revocation, extension, substitution and correction of powers can now also be filed digitally, and that 45,797 documents have been processed this way in 108 consulates, 19,322 of them from the United States.
  • No foreign-ministry legalization: SUNARP (February 2, 2024) quotes the consular regulation: digitally filed partes «no requieren de legalización por parte del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores».
  • Paterson’s deadline: since February 1, 2024 you give the consular officer a personal email; the digitized registry parte is sent within 48 business hours, and you (through your apoderado) must pay SUNARP in Peru within 15 business days, or pay for a second parte.

If your consulate is not on the gob.pe list, ask it how the parte will reach SUNARP. The foreign ministry’s apostille and legalization guidance on gob.pe (last changed April 4, 2025) says its legalization process also validates the signature of a Peruvian consular official for use in Peru.

Apostille does not apply to consular documents

The Washington DC consulate’s apostille page states that the apostille does not apply «a los documentos extendidos por funcionarios diplomáticos o consulares» and that Peruvian consular offices do not apostille documents. The same page says the Apostille Convention entered into force for Peru on September 30, 2010, so a US-issued document going to Peru (a US birth or marriage certificate, a US court document) goes through the apostille process.

Witnesses, interpreters and special cases (Paterson FAQ)

  • Physical disability: if the grantor cannot sign as on their DNI, a witness signs the deed.
  • Language: a grantor who does not speak, read and understand Spanish must bring an interpreter, identified with DNI or passport, who signs the deed.
  • Age over 74: at the consul’s discretion, a medical certificate stating the grantor is in full use of their mental faculties.
  • Dual nationals: present the ID you want recorded in the deed; for a property sale it depends on the ID used when the property was registered — the FAQ suggests asking your Peruvian lawyer.
  • Death of a party: the power ceases to be valid when a grantor or agent dies.

Revoking or changing a power

A revocation is its own public deed: the consular tariff charges 45.00 for a revocation, and the Washington DC consulate asks for the vigencia del poder inscrito when revoking or extending powers granted by deed. SUNARP (August 18, 2026) says consulates now file revocations digitally as well. A poder fuera de registro expires on its own after 1 year (Washington DC).

Official sources

Last verified: 2026-10-03. General procedural information for educational purposes. Power-of-attorney requirements, fees and filing channels differ between Peruvian consulates and change periodically. Verify directly with your Peru consulate and, for a public deed, consult a Peruvian lawyer. Not legal advice.