Paraguay Residency SA
Juan de Salazar 1790
esquina Republica Dominicana
Asunción
Paraguay
mobile +595 981 259 192
email jeronimo@finestragroup.com
To receive an email with full details of our residency services, please complete the form below.
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Thank you for contacting Paraguay Residency.
We are pleased to provide you with the details of our services. If you have any questions, please contact us.
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FIRST STEPS
The first step in your residency application is preparing the following documentation.
Birth Certificate either appostilled by the government that issued the document if your country is part of the appostille system or legalized by the Paraguayan Embassy (or a Paraguayan Consulate) in the country in which you were born if that country is not part of the apostille system.
Marriage Certificate / Divorce Certificate / Widower’s Certificate if you are married, divorced, or widowed. If one or more of these certificates applies to you, it/they must be issued by the country in which you were married, divorced, or widowed, and either appostilled by the government that issued the document if your country is part of the appostille system or legalized by the Paraguayan Embassy (or a Paraguayan Consulate) in that country if the country is not part of the apostille system.
Police Report from your country of citizenship or, if you have lived outside your country of citizenship for five or more years, a Police Report from that country. US citizens require an FBI Report to satisfy this requirement. A Police Report must be either appostilled by the government that issued the document if your country is part of the appostille system or legalized by the Paraguayan Embassy (or a Paraguayan Consulate) in that country if the country is not part of the apostille system. An FBI Report must be apostilled by the US Government.
A visa to enter Paraguay. Citizens of some countries can get a visa on arrival in Paraguay, for example the USA, Canada, Australia. To find out if you can get a visa on arrival or if you must get one before you arrive in Paraguay, check on the internet or contact us.
We recommend that you send us scans of your documents so that we can make sure everything is correct before you travel to Paraguay. This is much easier than finding out there’s a problem after you arrive here.
TRAVEL TO PARAGUAY: ONCE OR TWICE?
The residency process falls into two parts.
First, your application for residency.
Second, your application for a cédula after your residency has been granted.
Because it takes a minimum of three months for the Migration Department to process a residency application, many of our clients leave Paraguay and return to apply for their cédula. If you’re able to stay here for a few months, you only need to make one trip. However, for many people the whole process involves travelling to Paraguay twice.
TIME NEEDED HERE
For your residency application you will need to be in Asunción for five to seven working days.
For your cédula application you will need to be in Asunción for four to six working days.
When you’re planning your travel, please check if there are any Paraguayan public holidays during the period you intend to be here, and extend your visit accordingly. The long summer holiday in Paraguay is after Christmas and New Year, during January and early February, and it takes longer to get things done at that time.
WHAT WE DO IN ASUNCIÓN
After you arrive in Paraguay we manage all of the following steps for you.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs checks the validity of your visa and legalizes the documentation that you have brought with you if legalization is required. If your documents have been apostilled there is no need to have them legalized again here.
You open a bank account at the Banco Nacional de Fomento into which you must deposit a minimum of US$5,200 in Guaranies, the currency of Paraguay. In the case of a family, a deposit equivalent to US$5,200 covers the whole family.
You obtain a medical certificate from a certified doctor confirming you are in good health and have no infectious diseases (this requires you to undergo blood tests).
You obtain an affidavit from a Paraguayan notary by swearing before the notary that you will abide by Paraguayan law.
You obtain an Interpol Certificate, issued by the Interpol office in Asunción.
Your original documents are translated into Spanish by Paraguayan Government-certified translators.
We lodge your completed residency application at the Migration Department. If they don’t find any problems with your paperwork they will grant you residency after a minimum of three months, sometimes a little longer, and issue your Residency Card. We follow your case at the Migration Department until your residency is granted
Now you can apply for your Cédula de Identidad (ID card). If you left Paraguay while the Migration Department was processing your residency application you must return because you can’t apply for a cédula from outside the country. However, although you must be here to make the application, you can leave again before it’s issued and we’ll pick it up and send it to you.
We assist you to renew some of the documents you used for your residency application as required for a cédula application (Interpol Certificate, Life and Residency Certificate, a local Paraguayan Police Record for Foreigners, and a resident’s card) and we re-use some of the same documents that were lodged for your residency application.
Together, we file your cédula application at the Office of Identifications and you’re photographed and finger-printed. Your cédula will be issued in about two to four weeks. If you can’t stay here that long, we’ll pick it up for you. We follow your case at the Office of Identifications until your cédula is issued.
Your residency process is now complete and you’re free to live in Paraguay.
COSTS OF MAKING YOUR RESIDENCY AND CÉDULA APPLICATIONS
1. The charges you incur obtaining and apostilling or legalizing your documents in your country of birth and any other country of residence vary greatly between countries. We don’t try to provide an estimate here.
2. For your residency application, official fees and expenses in Paraguay are approximately US$ 900 but remember that you pay these charges in Paraguayan currency (Guaranies) so their cost in US dollars varies with the exchange rate. Costs will be at the upper end of the range if you’re married, divorced, or widowed because of the need to translate the extra certificate and legalize the translation.
These fees and expenses cover legalization of your birth certificate and Police Report or FBI report at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, document translation by a certified translator, Life and Residency Certificate, doctor’s consultation, laboratory tests, Interpol Certificate, Police Report from the Paraguayan Police, a sworn declaration before a Paraguayan notary, and lodgement of your residency application at the Migration Department. If you would like more detail, ask us and we’ll provide you with the current cost of each of these.
3. For your cédula application, official fees and expenses in Paraguay are approximately US$ 200. This covers obtaining a Foreigner’s Card (Carnet de Extranjeros) and the renewal of the following documents you obtained for your residency: Life and Residency Certificate, Police Report from the Paraguayan Police, and Interpol Certificate. If you left Paraguay while your residency application was processed you must obtain a new Police Report from your country of residence (FBI Report in the case of US residents). If you remained in Paraguay while your residency application was processed there’s no need for a new Police Report (or FBI Report) from your home country when you apply for a cédula.
4. Please contact us to discuss the fee for our service at Paraguay Residency.
CITIZENSHIP
If you wish to become a Paraguayan citizen, you may apply for citizenship three years after becoming a resident. The citizenship process is very different from the residency process and we don’t go into any detail about it here, although we can give you general advice about it if it’s something you’d like to pursue once you’re qualified to do so.