How to Obtain Residency in Paraguay
Why seek to obtain residency in Paraguay?
There are many benefits of having a second residency in Paraguay:
- Perfect Plan B far away from war and government oppression.
- Geographic location – same time zone as North America. It’s fantastic for remote workers.
- With proper structuring, 0% taxes on money earned outside of Paraguay
- Many international schools.
- Affordable healthcare.
- Good infrastructure.
- Political neutrality in an increasingly bifurcated world
- Net food exporter and strong water security
What are the Residency options in Paraguay?
- Two-year temporary residency followed by permanent residency
- Residency by Investment: Permanent residency from day one
1. Two year residency followed by permanent residency in Paraguay
Pretty much anyone from a developed country can obtain residency in Paraguay. You just need to show up with a few documents and you will be granted temporary residency. After two years of temporary residency you can apply for permanent residency.
Obtaining permanent residency this way will take between two and three trips to Paraguay. One trip to apply for residency; another after a year to show presence; and the final trip a few weeks before the two year deadline to apply for permanent residency.
To apply for residency you will need the following documents.
- Criminal Background Check from back home with apostille or proper certification
- Birth Certificate with apostille or proper certification
- Marriage Certificate with apostille or proper certification (if applicable);
- Application Form (to be done by Aleksandr)
- Fingerprints (to be done at the police station, organized by Aleksandr)
- A special immigrant visa for Paraguay which you can easily do in Argentina across the border, which Aleksandr will also set up for you
2. How to obtain permanent residency from day one in Paraguay
This one is quite complicated. You need to demonstrate that you will invest at least $70,000 in a local business and will create at least five local jobs. And they come check to ensure that you are actually implementing your commitment.
As a citizen of an OECD or Western country, this path does not make sense. It only makes sense for people from developing countries far away as they routinely get their temporary residency applications rejected.
Who can apply for the two year temporary residency followed by permanent residency in Paraguay?
The first residency option works only for North Americans, Europeans, other Latin Americans, people from developed Asian countries and South Africans. People from developing countries outside of Latin America, Europe, and South Africa will get rejected by the immigration authorities. Paraguay only wants a certain type of immigration.
People from those other emerging markets must go fo the $70,000 investment option, which is tough as it typically requires them to even get a visa before going to Paraguay.
What are the requirements to keep the permanent residency active?
Once you are a permanent resident of Paraguay, you just need to set foot in the country once every three years for 24h to keep your residency active.
Aleksandr will be happy to assist you to obtain residency in Paraguay
Aleksandr (green shirt) is Paraguayan and has been helping foreigners obtain residency and invest in real estate in Paraguay for a number of years. He graduated from university in Spain and can help you both in English and Spanish. He helped me obtain residency in Paraguay (blue shirt). Aleksandr can also help you obtain a local driver’s license.
Do I need an agent or lawyer to apply for residency in Paraguay?
Some people will try to convince you that you need an agent to apply for residency in Paraguay.
You don’t.
You can do it by yourself, and save a few hundred dollars in the process. The immigration department has all the information on their website.
When applying for residency in Paraguay there are a number requirements and if you make a single mistake, then you are back to zero and have to pay the government fees all over again. A good agent will save you a lot of time, stress, and money by helping you avoid making mistakes.
Be careful not to get scammed when applying for Residency in Paraguay
I heard countless stories of people getting scammed in Paraguay, including by actual lawyers. Here is an actual quote from an expat forum on one of the well-known lawyers Asuncion:
“Hey crew, For anyone looking for an agent in Paraguay AVOID L***** ******A. Short version is she is a criminal. She runs off with solvency deposits, fees, forges official documents, etc. She had a POA to receive my bank debit cards and a credit card and ran my credit card up in excess of 20,000,00.00 PYG and put me into collections. You can DM for longer version or if youve been burned and might want a lawyer.”
The good thing about Aleksandr is that he gets the job done. He not only helped me obtain residency in Paraguay, but helped many of my clients as well.
To be clear, we don’t mention such matters for all the other residency options we offer, but for Paraguay we have to highlight it because it is so endemic. I won’t publish the name of this particular lawyer which keeps popping up, but such people rank well on google as service providers.
Other services in Paraguay:
Articles on Paraguay:
Transcript of “How to Obtain Residency in Paraguay”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice from thewanderinginvestor.com. So today, I’m in Paraguay with my agent, Aleksandr. Aleksandr, how are you?
ALEKSANDR: Fine. And you?
LADISLAS MAURICE: Good, good. So Aleksandr is helping me obtain residency here in Paraguay, and the process has changed versus last year. So there was a lot of kind of fear going on online about the changes that were to happen here in Paraguay in terms of immigration. At the end of the day, it’s not that bad. So we’re going to go through what the old program was, and what now the program actually is, and how to obtain residency from now on here in this country.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
The old permanent residency program in Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: So Aleksandr, can you elaborate on what the program was before, roughly, and what the changes are?
ALEKSANDR: Basically, before the new law, you could apply for the permanent residency directly only by showing bank deposit of $5,000 or university diploma. And then you will get that residency in five, six, up to seven months. Now, after the new law, you cannot apply directly for the permanent residency. You can apply only, first way is for temporary residency, which they will give you for two years. And then, after the temporary residency, you apply for the permanent.
The new residency program in Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: So now, essentially, you do not need the $5,000 deposit anymore?
ALEKSANDR: Now you don’t need, for the temporary residency.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So essentially, it’s, in many ways, even easier than before, but the difference being that you don’t get permanent residency immediately?
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Does this change the amount of trips that people need to take to get permanent residency? Because before, essentially, you needed to take two trips, one trip to apply, one trip to actually receive your Cédula, your card.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: What about now?
ALEKSANDR: Now it’s three trips. First, is to apply for the temporary residency. Then, by law, you need to come back in one year. And then, after two years, you need to come back again to apply for the permanent residency.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay.
ALEKSANDR: So basically, it’s minimum three, maximum four.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. And after one year, you need to come back to check into the country, that’s by law. I don’t know, I’ve heard of people not doing it and getting away with it. I can’t recommend it because these things change. But essentially, officially, you need to take three trips as opposed to two before.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
Physical presence requirements for permanent residents of Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay. And once you receive permanent residency in Paraguay, what are the requirements to keep the permanent residency?
ALEKSANDR: You need to be in the country once every three years.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, so once every three years you just come for a day and that’s–
ALEKSANDR: Yeah. Yeah, for a couple days, you just make a check-in, and then you leave the country.
How long is permanent residency valid for in Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: Clear. And let’s say, I mean you’re going to help me get to the permanent residency stage, because I’m applying through the new process, so I’m going to get my temporary residency in a few months. And in two years from now, two-and-a-half years from now, Aleksandr will help me obtain my permanent residency. So once I obtain my permanent residency, how long is it valid for?
ALEKSANDR: Ten years.
LADISLAS MAURICE: What happens after the 10 years? Do I have to apply again?
ALEKSANDR: No, you need to just renew your ID, Cédula. You don’t need to show again your birth certificate or stuff like that. You just need to give them new police record document from Paraguay, and then you just renew your Cédula, and that’s it.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. So really, you’re a permanent resident, you just need to just renew your card.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah. And the card of, like you need to renew your both cards. One from immigration, the permanent residency, and the second is the ID from police department.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay.
ALEKSANDR: You need to renew both of them.
What documents are required to apply for residency in Paraguay
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay, clear. And what documents, so now that I don’t have to essentially deposit $5,000, what documents do people need to give for the application?
ALEKSANDR: Police record from the country that you were born or from the country of your passport, then your birth certificate, and a marriage certificate, if you have that social status. And three of those documents should be apostilled, and have to apostilled on the original document, not on the copy. Even if notarized, doesn’t matter, have to be on the original one. And the police record have a validity for three months here, if you apply for the temporary. Then, if you apply for the ID, for the Cédula, they can accept your police record even if it’s six months.
How to obtain permanent residency in Paraguay immediately
LADISLAS MAURICE: So that’s why it’s important to recruit an agent that can help you with these things. I mean, you can do it on your own, for sure, but it’s going to be time-consuming, you’re going to make mistakes, and it’s just, at the end of the day, it’s going to cost you more. So it’s just better to just hire someone and get it done and focus on other things, really. So there’s also a way to obtain permanent residency immediately, so there’s still a way. Can you elaborate on it?
ALEKSANDR: Yeah. To apply directly, you need to build a company here, hiring five people, like local people who are born here or resident in Paraguay. And then you need to make an investment of $70,000 for each investor. So if it’s a family, then each adult investor show that amount of investment. Not showing, they need to promise. You will promise that you will spend that money during a limited period, like one year, six months, two years, depending on the ministry. And your kids, if you have a family, will have to apply for the temporary. It only work for adults.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. So essentially, if you want residency in Paraguay, don’t even bother with that special investment one, unless you actually want to start a business here. If not, just do like everyone else, get your temporary residency, come back two years later, and then apply for your permanent residency, I think, for sure. It’s not worth it.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah, because they have the right, if, for example, you will try to cheat them, they have the right to remove the permanent residency in the future.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Just yeah, like just not worth it.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. At least this is clear. So essentially, obtaining residency in Paraguay is still very easy. You just need to come here with the right documents and to be willing to come here two to three times. And then you essentially get, after two, two-and-a-half years, you will get your permanent residency which is valid for life, essentially. So a big really interesting Plan B, especially taking into account, also, the taxes here that are very low, 10% tax on local income and nothing on income stemming from outside of Paraguay, if you structure things properly. Fantastic. So if you are interested in obtaining residency here in Paraguay, do get in touch with Aleksandr. There is his email below. There’s also a link, you can get in touch with him, and then he’ll send you a brochure with all his pricing and the process in greater detail.
ALEKSANDR: Yeah.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Aleksandr, thank you very much.
ALEKSANDR: Thank you.