Residency, in plain terms.
Two roles, kept separate. I handle the property and explain the system: whether a purchase actually qualifies, what it costs on top of the price, what the timelines look like in practice. The filing itself is done by a Paraguayan migration lawyer. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
Permanent residency, without the temporary stage.
Live since April 2026, under Article 46 of Migration Law 6984/2022. A qualifying investment takes you straight to permanent residency. The temporary phase is waived.
The application is individual.
USD 200,000 buys permanent residency for one person. A couple who both want it need USD 400,000, each investment held in their own name. This is the single most common planning error, and it is usually discovered after the money has moved.
- 30% ruleYou can apply once 30% is paid, with the balance contractually committed. Off-plan qualifies.
- AggregationSeveral properties can be added together to reach the threshold.
- 180 daysDeal documents must be less than 180 days old at the time of application.
- 5 business daysSUACE issues the investor certificate (CIE) within five business days of a complete file.
- Under 2 monthsAbout three weeks to residency approval, and about three weeks more for the cédula, when the file is complete. Published estimates run to six months; those assume a file that keeps going back.
- 1 day / 3 yearsPresence needed to keep permanent residency. The cédula is valid for ten years.
The other routes
USD 70,000 productive investment (business plan plus five jobs) · USD 150,000 tourism (business plan) · USD 200,000 in financial instruments.
What I will not tell you
Government and legal fees are quoted case by case. Anyone giving you a flat number online is guessing. The filing goes through a migration lawyer. My part is the property: I will tell you before you commit whether the one you like actually qualifies.
The routes side by side.
| Route | Timeline | Indicative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary residency | ~90 days | USD 2,000 – 3,500 | Spouse and children can apply. Permanent after about two years. |
| Permanent residency | ~2 years in | varies | The standard route, after the temporary stage. |
| Investor Pass | ~6 weeks | USD 200,000 + | Direct to permanent. Temporary stage waived. |
Citizenship is decided by the Supreme Court and requires genuine ties to Paraguay: real presence, not a postbox. Treat any naturalisation timeline you read online as an estimate, including mine. Costs above are indicative and change; confirm with the lawyer before you budget.
Temporary does not roll over into permanent.
Two years of temporary residency does not become permanent residency by itself. You file a fresh application, and it is a harder file than the one that got you in.
- A 90-day windowThe change of category must be filed in the three months before your temporary card expires. Let it lapse and you have one month to file late with a surcharge. Past that, you can only extend the temporary residency, and the clock starts again.
- Four separate police certificatesAntecedentes para Extranjeros, Antecedentes de Buena Conducta, Antecedentes Judiciales from the Supreme Court, and an INTERPOL certificate from the Asunción office: four bodies, four documents, each with its own validity. Anything issued abroad must be apostilled or legalised, and translated.
- You have to prove you were actually hereYour file includes a migration movement report from the DNM. Practitioners read the rule as no absence longer than a year across the two years of temporary residency. This route is not compatible with getting the card and leaving.
- Economic solvency, proven and specificThe requirement is documentation that is "idónea, suficiente y comprobable", matched to how you actually earn: a degree for a professional, tax compliance for a merchant. A bank balance on its own is not the answer.
- Government fee Gs. 2,926,925That is the state fee for the permanent residency with change of category, at the published 2026 rate. It does not include your lawyer, translations, apostilles or the certificates themselves.
This is the honest reason the Investor Pass is worth what it costs: it skips the two-year wait, the presence test and this entire second filing, and lands you on permanent residency directly. Requirements above are from the Dirección General de Migraciones as published in 2026. Confirm the current list with the migration lawyer before you plan around it.
Found a property and want to know if it qualifies?
Send me the listing. I will tell you before you commit, and I will tell you if the answer is no.
Ask on WhatsAppI handle the property and I explain the system. The filing itself goes through a Paraguayan migration lawyer I work with. I am a real estate agent, not a lawyer, and mixing those two is how people get hurt.