Due to the serious humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is going through due to the government of Nicolas Maduro, captured this Saturday, January 3, by United States military forcesalmost eight million people have been forced to leave their country in recent years, according to figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Of these, more than a million were destined for Peru. Just over 30% maintain a regular immigration status in our country, according to official information from the National Superintendency of Migrations.
According to a document that Migrations sent to The Commercethere were 1,247,942 Venezuelans in the country until December 10, 2025.
56.8% of these (708,716 people) have an irregular immigration status; that is, he remains in Peru even though “their term of permanence expired” either “entered the country without having completed immigration control”.
There is an important detail: in Peru, according to official records, 1,083,422 foreign citizens from 194 countries in the world are in an irregular immigration situation. Of them, 65.4% (708,716 people) come from Venezuela.
On the other hand, 383,861 (30.8%) Venezuelan citizens reside in Peru with all documents in order, while 155,365 (12.4%) are in the process of regularizing their immigration status.
In 2015, 226 people from Venezuela entered the country. A year later, in 2016, the number of migrants from that country reached 7,392. In 2017, the number rose to 59,811 Venezuelan citizens in Peru.
2018 is a key year in the Venezuelan immigration process. “There is an intensification of emigration, producing a diaspora of millions of Venezuelans for economic reasons”explains the book “The Aragua train and organized crime in Latin America” (Pérez Guadalupe, Nuñovero and Coronado), published in 2025.
That year, according to Migrations, 487,912 Venezuelans resided in Peru: the increase amounts to more than 700% compared to 2017. In 2019, the number of migrants reached a new record: 821,290.
The rise did not stop during the COVID–19 period, when the pandemic paralyzed the world. In 2020, the number of people from Venezuela in Peru reached 990,598 and in 2021 it was 1,068,839.
Since then, growth has been sustained, but at a much slower rate.
Hours after the military operation in Venezuela, Trump shared a photo of Maduro when he was transferred to the United States. (Photo: @realDonaldTrump)
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Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured this morning in Caracas by United States military forces. Subsequently, they were transferred on a military ship to the North American country.
“We will run the country until we can make a safe, appropriate and sensible transition. Therefore, we do not want to get involved with the arrival of another person and have us have the same situation that we have had for the last few years”Trump said in a press conference from his private residence in Mar-a-Lago (Florida).
Hours later, the President José Jerí spoke about the fall of the ruler of Venezuela. “Venezuela begins a new era in democracy and freedom. May internal order soon be recovered with its legitimate president and those who fought for this moment”Jerí wrote on social networks.
“From today, many families will be able to reunite in their country. Therefore, we will provide the facilities for their immediate return, regardless of their immigration status. Likewise, we will further reinforce the presence at our border to guarantee tranquility and respect for procedures,” concluded the head of state.
On Saturday, January 3, the Ministry of the Interior announced that they will take “new immigration measures due to the events in Venezuela”.
“Through Migrations and in coordination with the National Police of Peru, new immigration measures linked to foreigners of Venezuelan nationality who are related to the regime of Nicolás Maduro will be implemented as of today.”detailed in a statement posted on social networks.
In the document, he added that Peru will adopt measures to restrict entry into the country. “in accordance with the free exercise of our sovereignty in favor of internal order and national security, with respect to the people who have been sanctioned, in order to prevent them from using Peru to evade justice”.
