Peru – Why does Shopify only offer a dropdown for “Department” but not for “Province” and “District” in the checkout?

Shopify Discussion
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1

Hi, I run a store in Peru and in the Shopify checkout there is only a dropdown for Department.
But Province and District must be typed manually by the customer, and the options are not even in any logical or alphabetical order.

In Peru we have official government codes (UBIGEO) for Departments, Provinces and Districts, so the expected structure should be:

  • Department (dropdown)

  • Province (dropdown filtered by Department)

  • District (dropdown filtered by Province)

Right now this causes several issues:

  • Customers type province/district names with typos or variations.

  • It’s hard to organize and filter orders by location.

  • Shipping carriers often reject or delay packages because the written address doesn’t match their official lists.

My questions are:

  1. Why does Shopify only provide Department as a dropdown for Peru, even though official UBIGEO codes exist for all levels?

  2. Is there any native way (Checkout Extensibility, address configuration, etc.) to turn Province and District into dependent dropdown fields?

  3. If it’s not possible natively, what is the recommended workaround?
    Any supported method or app that allows importing official UBIGEO codes into the checkout without breaking future updates?

Screenshot of how my checkout looks (Lima Metropolitana / Lima Departamento) is attached.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

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2

Shopify only exposes Department because Peru’s full UBIGEO hierarchy isn’t implemented in its address schema. No native dependent dropdowns exist in Checkout Extensibility yet. Best workaround is a Checkout UI extension or an address-validation app; Shopify’s address rules are documented here.

3

Hi @ImToru
This is a very valid concern. The lack of structured UBIGEO fields (Department → Province → District) affects not only checkout UX but also order accuracy, filtering, shipping validation and logistics tracking as you mentioned.

From what I’ve seen, there are currently no native Shopify features to handle full UBIGEO dependencies without custom work. However, there are three approaches that some Shopify brands are using in similar situations:

:check_mark: Option 1 – Custom Checkout Extensibility (requires development)

Using Shopify’s new Checkout Extensibility, a developer can create dependent dropdowns with UBIGEO codes. It’s the most accurate method but needs custom work.

:check_mark: Option 2 – Third Party App + AI Autofill

Some stores use apps plus AI validation to help buyers type correctly.
For example, we use AI workflows in CatWalkCraft AI to help apparel brands detect region, autofill address and even adapt visuals based on location.
This avoids user typos and keeps orders compatible with shipping carriers.

:check_mark: Option 3 – AI Validation Layer (no custom coding)

A workaround is detecting wrong province/district inputs before they hit the order list.
AI can validate UBIGEO format and tag orders with errors or auto-correct based on closest match.
This prevents shipping issues without touching the Checkout structure.

If it helps, I can share a simple workflow we use for Shopify stores in LATAM
that includes:
:black_medium_small_square: Address validation with UBIGEO format
:black_medium_small_square: AI correction suggestions
:black_medium_small_square: Region based product content (optional)

Would that be useful for your case?