Paraguay Residency 2026: Temporary First, Cédula, and What Territorial Tax Really Means

What changed in 2022: temporary first, then permanent

On 18 October 2022 the new migration law, Ley 6984/2022, came into force and fully replaced the 1996 law. The key change for foreigners without a Mercosur passport: permanent residency is no longer granted directly. First comes temporary residency, and only once that period has run can permanent residency be requested.

The key facts according to the DNM:

• Temporary residency: valid for up to two years, extendable once for the same period. It is a precondition for permanent residency.
• Residente precario: while the application is pending you hold a provisional status that lets you leave, re-enter, work and study.
• Permanent residency: for people who want to settle for good after the temporary stage. The card is renewed every ten years.
• Exception: anyone who proves an investment under investment law 4986/2013 (the SUACE route, more below) skips the temporary stage.

This is where many guides got stuck. The once popular route of getting permanent residency straight away with a bank deposit of around 5,000 dollars no longer exists in that form. Anyone starting today should plan for at least two years of temporary residency.

Temporary residency: documents, cost, appearing in person

In May 2026 the DNM republished the requirements for temporary residency under the general procedure. You need:

• a valid identity document from your home country, in practice your passport
• your birth certificate
• proof of entry into Paraguay
• a civil status certificate where relevant, such as a marriage certificate
• a criminal record certificate from your home country or your most recent country of residence
• an Interpol certificate and a certificate for foreigners issued by Paraguay's National Police
• sworn statements on compliance with the law, your intended activity and your address in the country

All foreign documents must be apostilled or legalised, and documents in other languages need an official Spanish translation. The DNM lists the fee for the general procedure as 2,787,550 guaraníes, plus the cost of certifications, translations and any fines.

More important than the list is one line at the end of the DNM notice: the procedure is personal and in person. You have to travel to Paraguay to file, and it makes sense to plan the trip so that local documents such as the police certificate in Asunción are handled on the same visit. Residency "with no time on the ground" does not exist, however some providers phrase it.

The step to permanent residency, and why it got harder in 2026

Getting the temporary card is comparatively easy. Converting it to permanent residency is the real bottleneck since 2026. On 28 May 2026 the DNM signed Resolution 407/2026, which applies to applications filed from 6 July 2026. It consolidates several older rules on economic solvency and sets twelve categories through which you prove it, including employees, self-employed people, remote workers, property owners, shareholders, retirees and dependents.

The direction is clear. A university degree or a declared profession alone is no longer enough. You need current, verifiable proof of real income or available resources that matches the activity you declared for temporary residency. According to specialist outlets such as IMI Daily, the rule that you may not have been absent for more than one year in a row during the temporary stage is now strictly enforced. Everything you submit counts as a sworn statement, and false statements can be prosecuted.

The resolution does not set a fixed income threshold. How the check works at the counter will only become clear in practice. If you plan with the permanent stage in mind, declare an activity from the start that you can later document, not the most convenient one.

The investor route through SUACE

The only regular way around the temporary stage is investment. Through Resolution 283/2026 the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has redefined the requirements for the foreign investor certificate (Certificado de Inversor Extranjero), issued through the SUACE business portal. The press calls it the "Investor Pass". There are four categories:

• Productive investment: at least 70,000 US dollars, with a pre-approved business plan in industry, commerce or services and at least five formal jobs.
• Financial instruments: at least 200,000 US dollars, held for at least two years, with annual reporting.
• Real estate: at least 200,000 US dollars in property that generates income or is developed. Your own home explicitly does not count.
• Tourism: at least 150,000 US dollars, also with an approved business plan.

So the often quoted 70,000 dollars is correct, but it is not the price of a card. It is a real business investment with five employees in Paraguay. If you have no operating business planned there, you land at 200,000 dollars. According to Fragomen, family members are not included; they apply separately for temporary residency and can be sponsored after two years. For most readers the ordinary temporary route is the more realistic one.

Cédula: the real value of the process

Under the new law, temporary residents can also obtain the Paraguayan Cédula de Identidad, valid for as long as their residency card. Previously it was reserved for permanent residents. In daily life the cédula matters more than the residency card itself: it is the gateway to the RUC tax number, to a full bank account and to almost every contract in the country.

Citizens of Mercosur states follow a separate procedure with its own rules. For Europeans it does not apply.

Territorial taxation: what tax-free really means

Paraguay taxes on a territorial basis. What is taxable is Paraguayan-source income, meaning income from activities in the country and from assets located or used there. According to PwC's tax summary, income from services is taxed progressively at 8, 9 and 10 percent, and capital gains at a flat 8 percent. Tax residency follows a simple rule: more than 120 days in the country in a year.

That gets turned into "in Paraguay you pay zero percent". It is inaccurate in three places.

• It only applies to foreign income. If you work in Paraguay, serve local clients or rent out property there, you pay tax. Services performed from abroad for Paraguayan taxpayers also count as domestic income.
• It does not decide your home country's claim. Whether you remain taxable in Germany, the UK or anywhere else depends entirely on that country's law: a home you keep, the days you spend, your centre of life. Paraguayan residency ends none of that. Keep your home and you stay fully taxable there.
• Treaty coverage is thin. Paraguay has few double tax treaties. Germany, for example, has only a 1983 agreement on international air transport, no general income tax treaty. Without a treaty there is no tie-breaker rule that gives Paraguay priority. On top of that come exit rules in many countries, such as Germany's exit tax on shareholdings and its extended limited tax liability for people moving to low-tax countries.

How this plays out depends on your individual case and belongs with a tax adviser who knows both sides before you move.

The tax residency certificate: often oversold

The second selling point after residency is the Certificado de Residencia Fiscal. Agencies sell it as a document that proves to your home tax office, your bank or your broker that you are a "tax resident of Paraguay". The legal basis is more sober.

The certificate is governed by General Resolution 65/20 of the tax authority, today the DNIT. It exists explicitly for applying double tax treaties. Registered taxpayers in the RUC need a valid cédula and must be up to date on their tax obligations. Non-taxpayers submit their cédula plus a record of their entries and exits for the year in question.

What that means in practice:

• Without a treaty it has no treaty effect. Where there is no double tax agreement to invoke, as with Germany, the certificate cannot override anything. Your home tax office applies its own residency rules.
• Banks and brokers can use it to document a change of tax residency. Whether they accept it is their call, and many also ask for a real address and evidence that you have given up the old residence.
• It does not prove you are not taxable anywhere else. It only confirms that Paraguay treats you as resident. Dual tax residency without a treaty is a real risk, not a theoretical one.

The certificate is a useful building block if you actually live in Paraguay or are building a genuine centre of life there. As a substitute for properly leaving your home country it is worthless.

Banking in Paraguay

The Paraguayan bank account is the part many guides skip, and according to local business press the most common complaint among newcomers. Banks operate under strict anti-money-laundering rules, and without a cédula and RUC a full personal account is usually out of reach. There is no uniform rule for foreigners; each bank decides for itself, and the requirements change.

For planning purposes:

• The order is fixed: temporary residency, then cédula, then RUC, then bank. Expecting the account on your first visit leads to disappointment.
• Source of funds: larger transfers from abroad trigger questions. Keep statements, tax assessments and contracts at hand.
• Company accounts are a separate route: a company incorporated and registered in Paraguay with an active RUC can open an account even if its manager is a foreigner.
• Not a hiding place: Paraguay has announced it will implement the OECD standard for automatic exchange of financial account information. Planning on an invisible account means planning on an expiring assumption.

An account in Paraguay makes sense for life on the ground. For diversifying your money internationally it is rarely the first choice; the routes for that are covered in the article on bank accounts outside the EU and the banking ladder from fintech to private bank.

What the common promises get wrong

Many residency comparison sites list Paraguay with three numbers: around 1,300 dollars of monthly income as proof, a card valid for "10+ years", and a "fast-track" approval. Some add that no time on the ground is needed. Measured against today's rules:

• 1,300 dollars a month: neither the law nor Resolution 407/2026 sets a fixed threshold like that. What is required is documented proof of real income or real resources matching your declared activity. Whether a given amount is enough is decided case by case.
• A card for 10+ years: only the permanent residency card is valid for ten years, and it must be renewed. You start with temporary residency of up to two years.
• Fast-track: the only shortcut is the investor route from 70,000 dollars with five jobs, or from 150,000 to 200,000 dollars. In the ordinary procedure it takes at least two years to reach permanent residency, and the conversion has been stricter since July 2026.
• No time on the ground: filing is in person. And if you were away for more than one year in a row before converting, you have a problem.