Paraguay residency & tax 2026: how to apply, cost & timeline

How residency in Paraguay works

Residency is governed by the 2022 Migration Law (Law 6984, promulgated 17 October 2022, which repealed the 1996 law) and run by the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM). The path is sequential: temporary residency for up to two years (renewable for the same period), then permanent residency, and only after three years as a permanent resident can you ask the Supreme Court for citizenship. The only statutory way to skip the temporary stage is the investor route.

Routes to residency

Most people take the standard route: temporary residency first, then permanent. Two shortcuts exist. Investors can use the Investor Pass (Resolution MIC 0283/2026, signed 21 April 2026): a Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero (CIE), issued to a natural person by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce through SUACE, lets you start the permanent-residency procedure without holding temporary residency. See the investor section below. MERCOSUR nationals have their own temporary and permanent categories (file for permanent residency up to 90 days before the temporary card expires or you lose that route), and close family of Paraguayans have simplified routes.

The investor route and company owners

The Investor Pass has four modalities, each with a minimum paid in US dollars or the guaraní equivalent at the official rate on the day of the application. Each co-investor must reach the minimum individually.

The CIE is issued at SUACE in person within at most 5 business days of a complete file (the clock stops while it asks for more). It exists only to obtain permanent residency from the DNM, which then has its own special file for investors; the DNM publishes no processing time for it. The investment may already be made or still in progress, if the commitment is documented. After the CIE, SUACE follows your plan, and the status itself is lost only through the 3-year absence rule that applies to every permanent resident. One thing we could not confirm is whether the new 2026 income-proof rule also applies to investors: the DNM investor list we could read predates it and shows no solvency item. The Ministry's web page still shows the older single US$70,000 route, so rely on the resolution and ask SUACE.

If you already run a company abroad

• In our reading, an existing foreign company does not count as an investment by itself. The resolution speaks of investment "in the country" and the business plan must say whether the company is new or already incorporated; it does not say Paraguayan or foreign, so confirm with SUACE. A foreign company's bank statements can serve as proof of means to fund the plan.
• To use the Investor Pass you would typically put capital into a company in Paraguay. A vehicle that suits a foreign owner is the EAS (Empresa por Acciones Simplificadas, Law 6480/2020): it is opened online through SUACE, a foreigner without Paraguayan residency can be a shareholder with a passport but cannot sit in the administration body, and the law text sets no minimum capital (cash above 1,200 minimum salaries needs a 20% guarantee deposit).
• Without investing, the standard route stays open. At the permanent stage the 2026 annex has categories for shareholders or partners (registered incorporation deed or shareholder books naming you), independent workers in commerce or services (taxpayer registration plus 3 months of VAT returns or the last annual return with a compliance certificate) and remote workers (a work certificate stating income and how it is paid). None sets a numeric income.

Tax on the company

• A Paraguayan company pays the corporate tax (IRE) of 10% on net Paraguay-source profit. Dividends it pays are taxed under the IDU at 8% for a resident recipient or 15% for a non-resident, withheld by the company.
• Services that a foreign person or company invoices to Paraguayan clients are taxed at 15% (INR) when linked to income the Paraguayan payer is taxed on. VAT is 10% on services rendered in Paraguay or used there.
• Corporate tax residence follows incorporation or registered domicile: we found no place-of-effective-management test in the law.
• We could not confirm whether a company run from Paraguay by a resident owner creates permanent-establishment exposure, or how VAT treats exported services (the exemption list we read names only goods exports). Ask a Paraguayan accountant before structuring.

Expectat is not a law firm or a tax adviser: the investor rules are new and the Ministry's own pages disagree with the resolution, so verify with SUACE, the DNM and a Paraguayan lawyer before you commit capital.

Before you fly: the consulate step

The consulate does not decide your residency; the DNM in Asunción does. What the Paraguayan consulate in your country of residence can do for you is two things. (1) Legalise documents. The DNM accepts foreign documents either legalised (consulate, then the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry) or carrying an apostille. Paraguay has been party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 30 August 2014, and Germany, Austria and Spain are parties too, so for you the apostille is the normal route and consular legalisation only matters for documents from non-Hague countries. (2) Issue a residence visa where one is required. Per the DNM/Foreign Ministry visa table (updated January 2026), citizens of all EU states, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can enter as tourists without a visa for up to 90 days (the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand under Law 7314, valid until 13 August 2027). The same table says that to extend a stay or apply for residence most of those nationals, including Germans, need a visa from the consulate; Spaniards get it free; the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are exempt. We could not confirm the Austrian entry, so ask your consulate. The 2023 consular fee figure we found (about US$100 for most nationalities) is a law-firm note, not an official schedule: ask your consulate for the current fee and processing time (reported at up to 15 business days).

How to apply, step by step

1. At home: gather your passport, full birth certificate (and civil-status certificate if relevant) and your police record, each apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish by a Paraguayan sworn translator (or a foreign translator whose translation is itself apostilled). The police look-back is 3 years: your home-country record, or that of the country where you lived the last 3 years.
2. Check with your consulate whether you need a residence visa (see above) and get it before you travel if so.
3. Travel to Paraguay and file in person at the DNM in Asunción (the filing is personal; a representative can only follow up). Your sworn declarations are generated by the DNM system. Pay the official fee.
4. While your file is processed you receive a one-time precarious card (90 days) that lets you stay, leave and re-enter, work and study. It is not a promise of approval.
5. When the file is complete, collect your temporary-residency card, valid up to two years.
6. Apply for your Paraguayan cédula at the National Police Identification Department. It has the same validity as your residency and unlocks the RUC (tax ID) and, in practice, banking.
7. Register for the RUC with DNIT (your RUC number is your cédula number). From here your tax life in Paraguay can start.
8. In the last 3 months before the temporary card expires (and up to 1 month after, with a fine), file for permanent residency, now with proof of documented income.
9. After 3 years as a permanent resident you may ask the Supreme Court for naturalisation.

What you'll need

• A valid passport and proof of entry (the entry stamp or migration slip).
• Birth certificate, plus civil-status certificate if applicable: apostilled or legalised, translated, with a notarised copy (the DNM returns originals only against notarised copies).
• Police record from your home country (or the country you lived in for the last 3 years), from age 14, apostilled or legalised and translated.
• A consular residence visa, if your nationality needs one.
• Documents you obtain in Paraguay itself: the INTERPOL certificate and the National Police "Certificado de Antecedentes para Extranjeros" (both from age 14, original plus notarised copy), and sworn translations from a Paraguayan registered public translator (documents in Brazilian Portuguese need no translation).
• Your address: the DNM system generates your sworn declaration of address and activity, so the current list asks for no separate proof of address document.
• For permanent residency: your valid cédula, your temporary card, the police and INTERPOL certificates again, and the documented-income proof for your category.
• For the Investor Pass: the CIE from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the evidence of the investment.

Document lists and fees change: confirm the current requirements with the DNM (linked below) before you travel.

Cost

Step-by-step timeline: consulate to tax certificate

The DNM publishes no processing times, and 2026 is a record year: 33,243 applications and 29,765 residencies granted in the first half of 2026 (applications +62%, grants +81% on the first half of 2025), after 47,687 applications in 2025 (+63%). The DNM has a contingency plan with longer hours and shifts on non-working days. The ranges below are therefore reported figures, not guarantees, and the total is our estimate from them.

How long should your first trip be?

The law sets no minimum number of days you must spend in Paraguay to hold residency, and the precarious card lets you leave and re-enter while your file is processed. That leaves two sensible plans. These are our general considerations, not advice for your case.

Leaving your current tax home

Generic principles: end your home residence in fact (dwelling, registration, family and economic ties), keep dated evidence of where you live, check exit taxes on shareholdings, and read the double-tax treaty if there is one. Paraguay's own definition of an individual tax resident is a holder of permanent residency (Decree 3181/2019), and we found no income-tax treaty with Germany or Austria (a treaty with Spain has applied since 2025, with a tie-breaker order of permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality). Paraguay is also in the OECD peer review on tax information exchange, so assume your home tax office can learn what you hold there. Open a checklist for your country:

How your income is taxed

Paraguay is territorial: only Paraguay-source income is taxed (Law 6380/2019). Services you perform abroad still count as Paraguayan-source when you render them to a Paraguayan taxpayer, a trap for remote workers with local clients. The personal income tax (IRP) is not a flat 10%:

• Personal services (employed or independent): banded on net income: 8% up to ₲50m, 9% from ₲50m to ₲150m, 10% above ₲150m. Below ₲80m of gross services income in a year (about US$14,000) there is no IRP to pay, though you must register within 30 business days of passing it.
• Capital income and capital gains (rent, most interest, sale of property or shares): a flat 8% under IRP. Interest on deposits at Paraguayan banks is exempt.
• Dividends from Paraguayan companies fall under a separate tax (IDU): 8% for resident individuals, 15% for non-residents, withheld by the payer.
• A business is taxed differently (IRE, 10% on net income) and VAT is 10% (5% on some goods and residential rent).
• Foreign dividends and foreign interest are not listed among the taxable items, so foreign-source income of a resident is outside IRP by the law's wording. Have an adviser confirm your case.
• New for 2026: residents who move more than US$5,000 a year in crypto-assets on foreign platforms must file an annual information return (DNIT General Resolution 47/2026). It is a reporting duty, not a new tax.

To benefit you must also become genuinely tax resident here and stop being tax resident where you are now. Paraguay's regulation defines an individual tax resident as a holder of permanent residency; we could not confirm whether DNIT certifies temporary residents, so ask DNIT or a local adviser before you plan around the certificate. Our walk-through covers the 183-day rule, centre of vital interests and the paperwork that makes the switch stick: how to establish tax residency abroad.

Citizenship and the passport

Naturalisation is Constitution Art. 148: adult, at least 3 years of residence, a regular occupation and good conduct. The Supreme Court (not the executive) decides, and it counts the 3 years from your permanent-residency resolution, so realistically plan for about 5 years from arrival (up to 2 temporary plus 3 permanent). Applicants sit an elementary exam in an official language, history and geography, must have a real domicile in Paraguay, and are refused if they were away more than 3 months a year in each of the 3 preceding years. Dual nationality is unsettled for foreign applicants: the Constitution admits multiple nationality only through a treaty with reciprocity (Art. 149) and says a naturalised Paraguayan who voluntarily acquires another nationality can lose theirs (Art. 150), but it does not say a foreign applicant must renounce. Ask the Court and your home country before you apply. A bill to regulate naturalisation is in committee and is not law. Filing at the Court went fully electronic on 12 October 2026.

The upside: why people choose Paraguay

• No fixed minimum income, deposit or property purchase at the entry stage.
• Territorial tax: foreign-source income of a resident is generally outside the personal income tax, and Paraguay-source income is taxed at 8% to 10%.
• A clear, law-based path from temporary to permanent residency, and on to citizenship.
• No statutory minimum number of days you must spend in the country to keep residency, though long unjustified absences (over 1 year for temporary, over 3 for permanent) can end it.
• A stable, low-cost economy in South America, with MERCOSUR mobility.
• The cédula unlocks local banking, contracts and starting a business.

Common challenges to plan for

• The DNM is overloaded in 2026 and publishes no processing times: plan for delays.
• It is bureaucratic and in Spanish: apostilles, sworn translations, notarised copies, and most steps in person.
• Residency is not tax residency: you must actually move your tax home, and your former country can challenge it.
• Permanent residency now needs documented income, and everything you submit is a sworn declaration: a false document can end your application.
• Opening a bank account is the top complaint of newly arrived residents (anti-money-laundering rules). A government and banking working group formed in June 2026 to ease it, but we found no rule saying a cédula and RUC are enough: ask the bank first.
• Rules are changing quickly: reconfirm every figure and document list with the authorities before you start.

Who it suits

Best for nomads, entrepreneurs and investors who want a durable second residency and territorial taxation without a large capital commitment, who can document real income for the permanent stage, and who are willing to spend real time on the ground to make the tax move genuine.

How Expectat helps

Paraguay is doable on your own, and if that is your plan the steps above are the plan. If you would rather not decode DNM forms in Spanish, we can map your route, connect you with vetted local specialists, and make sure the residency delivers the tax outcome you want, not just a card in a drawer. Expectat is not a law firm or a tax adviser: the rules above are in flux, so verify before you apply. Book a strategy call and we will plan it with you.

Where it fits in a borderless plan

Residency is one flag of several. Most people pair a base like Paraguay with a deliberate capital structure and a self-custody plan for their Bitcoin, so their life, companies and savings each sit in the right jurisdiction. For the wider map of low- and zero-tax bases, see countries with no income tax in 2026.