Congress opens U.S. work visas to Peru—if Peru reciprocates
H.R. 5335 — PERU Act of 2025 · Filed by Nellie Pou (D-NJ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 11, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill adds Peru to the list of countries whose citizens can obtain E-1 (treaty trader) and E-2 (treaty investor) visas to work and invest in the United States, but only if Peru grants the same visa privileges to American citizens. The bill creates a reciprocal trade-visa arrangement between the two countries.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to add Peru to the list of countries eligible for E-1/E-2 nonimmigrant status, contingent on reciprocal treatment. This is a straightforward bilateral trade-visa arrangement with no hidden provisions or riders.
What the text implies
- E-1/E-2 visa holders are not subject to the same labor-market testing or wage requirements as H-1B visa holders, potentially allowing Peruvian nationals to undercut prevailing wages in certain professional and trading roles without formal attestation.
- The reciprocity condition is self-executing but unenforceable within the bill itself — if Peru fails to reciprocate, the U.S. has no automatic remedy; enforcement would require separate diplomatic or legislative action.
- Expansion of E-visa categories may increase visa demand and processing backlogs at USCIS, indirectly affecting other visa categories and consular operations.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
U.S. workers and small businesses may face increased competition from Peruvian visa holders in certain sectors (particularly trade and investment roles), while U.S. exporters, investors, and consumers may benefit from expanded trade access and lower-cost goods/services. The reciprocal condition protects against one-sided disadvantage, but the net effect on ordinary workers is ambiguous.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. exporters and traders seeking Peruvian market access
- U.S. investment firms with Peruvian operations
- Peruvian exporters and traders seeking U.S. market access
- Peruvian investment firms with U.S. operations
Named in the bill
Peru, United States, Government of Peru, USCIS, Department of State, Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Section 101(a)(15)(E)
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Sep 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $690,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 83 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Nellie Pou, the sponsor, reported $1,053,955 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees — $690,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (430 characters) on Aug 18, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress opens U.S. work visas to Peru—if Peru reciprocates” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr5335 Report an error
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