Can you get a mortgage in Peru as a foreigner?

The answer depends on what the word "foreigner" covers in your case. Nothing in Peruvian law reserves mortgage lending for nationals, and nothing prevents a foreigner from buying in Lima: article 71 of the Constitution places foreigners in the same condition as Peruvians in matters of property, subject only to a 50-kilometre strip along the borders, which has no bearing on Lima.

But a bank does not lend to a nationality. It lends to a file it can verify, in a country where it can enforce. That is where the situations diverge.

Behind the word "foreigner", four banking situations

Profile	Access to a Peruvian mortgage
Foreigner legally resident in Peru (Carné de Extranjería)	Major banks explicitly accept the carné as the applicant's identity document. Access exists; approval then depends on the assessment of the file.
Peruvian living abroad	A profile recognised by the regulations and by certain banking products, usually anchored to a close relative resident in Peru.
Non-resident foreigner, without Peruvian nationality	No standard product identified at the four major banks. No legal prohibition, but published conditions that do not match this profile.
Binational couple (Peruvian spouse)	The application can be carried by the Peruvian spouse. Residence and the source of income remain decisive.

The foreigner resident in Peru

The conditions published by Peruvian banks concern the identity document, not nationality. BCP lists as documentation "DNI or Carné de extranjería". Interbank requires "a DNI or a carné de extranjería", a minimum income of S/ 1,000 a month and six months of continuous employment. BBVA mentions no nationality requirement: over 18 years of age and net income from S/ 1,500 or the equivalent in dollars.

It would nonetheless be inaccurate to conclude "exactly the same conditions as a Peruvian". The application is admissible, which already matters; everything after that is a matter for the bank's judgement, including how long the residence permit has been held and how long it still runs.

The Peruvian living abroad

This profile is explicitly provided for in the regulations. The Nuevo Crédito MIVIVIENDA credit rules define the beneficiary as "a natural person resident in Peru or a Peruvian resident abroad", wording repeated on the official programme page published on gob.pe.

On the banking side, the existing mechanisms rest on an anchor in Peru. Interbank publishes "Ahorro Casa con Apoyo del Exterior": a direct relative (spouse, parents, children, siblings) receives regular remittances for six months, which serve to demonstrate repayment capacity, before access to a mortgage or a MIVIVIENDA loan financing up to 90 % of a home worth no more than USD 100,000, over up to 20 years. The bank states that the person sending the funds from abroad must hold Peruvian nationality: that is the entry point of the scheme. Conversely, some products exclude this profile, such as Scotiabank's Crédito Hipotecario Familiar, which "does not apply to non-resident Peruvians".

The binational couple

The case is common: a Swiss national lives in Geneva, his partner is Peruvian, and the couple wants to buy in Lima. What the spouse's Peruvian nationality changes is straightforward: the application can be carried by someone who falls within the categories set out in the regulations and in certain products, which is true of neither party in a couple of non-resident foreigners. It settles nothing else: if the Peruvian spouse also lives in Switzerland, she remains a non-resident, with income in francs and often no credit history in Peru.

Being eligible is not the same as getting the loan

This is the most useful distinction in the whole guide.

Being eligible means falling into the category of clients the bank agrees to process and for which it has a product. A foreigner resident in Peru with a valid carné is eligible at BCP or Interbank: the application will be examined.

Getting the loan means passing the risk assessment: level and stability of income, debt ratio, payment behaviour recorded in the credit bureaus supervised by the SBS, source and currency of income, residence status, personal contribution, quality of the property offered as security, and the bank's internal policy at the time.

One figure illustrates the gap. BCP publishes a maximum TEA of 13.99 % in soles and 11.99 % in dollars, while the average rate actually applied by the same bank over the last thirty business days was 7.74 % in soles as at 25 August 2026. Between those two values there is nothing but the individual assessment of each file.

MIVIVIENDA: who is the programme actually for?

The Fondo MIVIVIENDA is a public fund that refinances housing loans distributed by intermediary financial institutions (IFI). It does not lend to individuals: the bank grants the loan, sets the rate and carries the risk.

Who can benefit. The beneficiary is "a natural person resident in Peru or a Peruvian resident abroad". Nationality is therefore not required of a resident: a foreigner legally settled in Peru falls within the definition. A non-resident foreigner without Peruvian nationality, however, falls into neither category.

The other conditions. The applicant must have been assessed as creditworthy by the IFI; neither the applicant, nor their spouse or legally recognised partner, nor their minor children may own another home in Peru; the initial contribution cannot be less than 7.5 % of the value of the property. The sworn declaration annexed to the rules adds, for residents abroad, that they do not own another home abroad: a Peruvian who owns a flat in Geneva is caught by that clause.

The use of the property, the decisive point. The fund's resources are used to acquire, improve or build homes "intended as casa-habitación", occupied by the borrower and their family. The rules state that they cannot finance homes for commercial or profit-making purposes, and that if it is established, within the first three years after disbursement, that the property is not used as a casa-habitación, the loan is reversed (extorno). For Peruvians abroad, the home may be occupied by a family member of either spouse up to the second degree.

Practical conclusion: a flat bought through MIVIVIENDA is not a rental investment vehicle. Letting it out immediately, and short-term letting in particular, runs directly against the use set out in the rules. It is a housing scheme, not a yield scheme; our guide on long-term letting versus Airbnb in Lima starts from different assumptions.

A ceiling that matters. Supreme Decree No. 011-2026-VIVIENDA of 20 June 2026 raised the Bono del Buen Pagador, a direct non-repayable grant that increases the initial contribution and reduces the amount financed: from 27,800 soles for homes between 69,900 and 99,600 soles, down to 7,900 soles for those up to 367,600 soles. That last figure is the ceiling on the value of an eligible property, about USD 108,000 at the average interbank rate for July 2026 (3.40 soles per dollar, BCRP). In the districts where most of our clients buy, very few properties fall within that limit.

What does a Peruvian mortgage cost today?

The SBS publishes daily the average rates actually applied by each bank, calculated on transactions over the last thirty business days. It is the only basis that allows a clean comparison, since every institution is measured the same way.

Residential mortgage loans, average annual rates as at 25 August 2026:

Bank	Loans in soles (PEN)	Loans in dollars (USD)
BBVA	7.59 %	6.90 %
BCP (Banco de Crédito)	7.74 %	6.78 %
Interbank	7.64 %	6.39 %
Scotiabank	7.59 %	6.42 %
Banking system average	7.73 %	6.69 %

TEA and TCEA. The TEA (tasa efectiva anual) is the annual interest rate on the loan. The TCEA (tasa de costo efectivo anual) adds commissions, fees and compulsory insurance, in particular death and disability cover and building insurance. The TCEA is therefore always higher than the TEA, and it is the one that reflects the real cost: BBVA calculates a reference TCEA from a given TEA, stating that it includes commissions and insurance. The SBS averages above are interest rates, not TCEAs.

Comparing with Switzerland, carefully. As at 26 August 2026, Banque Migros published 1.650 % for a five-year fixed-rate mortgage and 1.960 % for ten years. The gap is real, but a direct comparison means little: the two debts are neither in the same currency nor under the same inflation and monetary policy regime. Another useful benchmark: since 1 January 2026, the legal maximum rate for a consumer credit in Switzerland is 10 % for cash credits, which is above the average Peruvian mortgage rate in soles. The question is not which country has "the best rates", but what the chosen financing costs in total and what it leaves in net yield.

Borrowing in soles or dollars when you earn Swiss francs

Contrary to a widespread belief, Peruvian mortgages are not all in soles. The major banks lend in both currencies: BBVA from S/ 15,000 or USD 5,000, BCP from S/ 32,000 or USD 10,000, Scotiabank from USD 10,000 or the equivalent in soles. SBS data in fact shows lower average rates in dollars than in soles.

A lower rate does not mean a lower cost. The real issue lies elsewhere: the currency of the debt is not the currency of your income.

The same reasoning applies to a loan in dollars: it shifts the currency risk without removing it. The question is not "which currency is best", but "can I absorb an unfavourable move for the whole term of the loan".

In practice, for a non-resident European?

This is the profile most often presented to us: a Swiss national living in Geneva, salaried in francs, without a Carné de Extranjería, without Peruvian nationality, who wants to buy in Lima. Five notions are regularly confused here.

• Legal prohibition: there is none. No text prevents a Peruvian bank from lending to a non-resident foreigner, just as no text prevents that foreigner from buying.
• Absence of a suitable product: the four major banks require a Peruvian identity document or a residence carné, income that can be evidenced in local formats, and verifiable employment continuity. None publishes an offer aimed at a non-resident foreigner.
• Conditions that are hard to meet: even if examined as an exception, the file runs into the absence of any record in the Peruvian credit bureaus and income that is earned, taxed and denominated abroad.
• Theoretical possibility: it exists, as for any bespoke transaction, particularly for a client already banking with a group present in both countries. We have identified no documented public scheme.
• Real possibility: it remains very limited.

In other words: for a non-resident foreigner without Peruvian nationality, access to a Peruvian mortgage is very limited in practice, without any law prohibiting financing as such. If your situation has particular features (a long-standing banking relationship in Peru, local income, a residence plan), the only useful step is to approach the institutions directly.

Financing the purchase from Switzerland or Europe

This section is descriptive and recommends no strategy: each of these mechanisms has its own consequences, which call for individual review with your usual advisers.

Own funds. Buying without a Peruvian bank loan removes the risk tied to obtaining local financing, but ties up the capital.

Increasing an existing mortgage on a Swiss property. Available only to those who already own in Switzerland: it means increasing the debt secured on the Swiss property to release liquidity. The security remains the Swiss property, not the Peruvian flat, and the bank assesses your borrowing capacity under its own rules.

Lombard loan. A loan secured by the pledge of a securities portfolio or other financial assets, not by the Peruvian property. The amount available depends on an advance rate applied to the market value of the securities, which varies with their nature and quality. If that value falls, the lender may require additional collateral or repayment, and may sell the securities under the contractual terms. Banque Migros, for example, indicates an amount from CHF 25,000, with no fixed term.

Personal loan. Amounts, terms and costs bear no relation to those of a mortgage. The legal maximum rate in Switzerland is 10 % for a cash credit since 1 January 2026.

Family or private loan. A possible mechanism, which requires rigorous documentation: a written contract, traceable flows, and consistency with reporting obligations.

Developer payment schedule. In the Lima market, developers commonly agree to split the initial contribution into monthly instalments during construction, for an off-plan purchase. It is a spreading of the deposit before delivery, not a long-term loan: the balance remains due on completion. Covered in our guide on buying off-plan in Lima.

What the absence of local credit changes in a transaction

We have no reliable statistic on the share of foreign buyers who pay cash in Lima, and we would rather not invent one. The effect of the financing method on how a transaction unfolds, however, is observable.

Having the funds available before making an offer changes three things. The timetable: signing no longer depends on a bank's processing time, which matters when several buyers are interested in the same property. The risk: there is no financing condition that could derail the deal after several weeks. The budget: the amount available is known from the outset.

On negotiation, let us stay factual: a file with no financing condition is easier for a seller to read, which can carry weight in a discussion, but it guarantees no price reduction. Our guide on negotiating a price in Lima sets out what actually counts.

Fees and transferring the funds

A purchase financed from Europe involves an international transfer, with its own costs: bank charges, the exchange spread, timing, and compliance requirements on the source of funds. These come on top of the Peruvian acquisition costs. They are covered in our guides on sending funds from Switzerland to Peru and on the total cost of buying property in Lima.

Conclusion

Buying a flat in Peru as a foreigner is possible, and the law places no particular obstacle in the way. Financing it with a Peruvian bank is a markedly more complex question, whose answer depends on your residence status, your nationality, and where your income is earned and documented.

A foreigner legally resident in Peru can file an application and will be assessed like any other. A Peruvian living abroad has routes provided for in the regulations and in certain banking products, under precise conditions. A non-resident foreigner without Peruvian nationality runs into the absence of a product matching that profile rather than a prohibition.

None of these situations is settled by a general rule: two similar files can receive different answers, and bank policies change. The only reliable step is to have your case checked directly with the institutions concerned, with your actual documents, before committing to any property. See also our guides on buying a flat in Lima as a foreigner and on the pitfalls of buying property in Lima.