We give sufficient conditions for a diffeomorphism in the plane to be analytically conjugate to a shift in a complex neighborhood of a segment of an invariant curve. For a family of functions close to the identity uniform estimates are established. As a consequence an exponential upper estimate for splitting of separatrices is established for diffeomorphisms of the plane close to the identity. The constant in the exponent is related to the width of the analyticity domain of the limit flow separatrix....