Status as of 10 October 2026: based on Migration Law 6984/22, DNM Resolutions 081/2026 and 407/2026 and MIC Resolution 283/2026 (Paraguay Investor Pass). Paraguay has changed these rules three times since 2022. We will update this guide when they change again.

This is episode 2 of our series on a second residence outside the European Union. In episode 1 we looked at Mexico, a large country with a clear, income-based path. Paraguay is a very different proposition: smaller, quieter, landlocked in the heart of South America, and for years the name that came up first whenever people talked about a Plan B.

The reason is simple. A person whose passport, bank account and right to live somewhere all depend on one state has handed that state a great deal of power. A second, lawful residence spreads that power a little. It is not an escape plan. It is an extra door, built calmly, while nothing is on fire.

The problem with Paraguay is that most of what you will read about it is out of date. The famous "deposit USD 5,000 and get permanent residence in a few months" route ended in 2022. This guide describes what actually applies in 2026.

Why Paraguay keeps coming up

Paraguay has a few qualities that are rare in combination.

• A modest tax state. Paraguay taxes mainly income from Paraguayan sources. Personal income tax on income from personal services runs at 8%, 9% and 10% by bracket, and capital gains in personal income tax are taxed at 8%. For anyone who believes, as we do, that money earned belongs first to the person who earned it, a state that asks for little is a quality, not a loophole.

• A residence system with a direct investor route. Since April 2026 there is a formal shortcut to permanent residence for investors, described below.

• A society that still runs on family, faith and community. Paraguay is a deeply Catholic country where family life sits at the centre of things. Its landscape carries that history openly: the Jesuit missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue, shown on the cover, are UNESCO World Heritage sites. In the Chaco, Mennonite settlers who arrived from the late 1920s built farming cooperatives that still thrive today. Order in Paraguay has often grown from the bottom up, from families, parishes and cooperatives, with the state arriving later.

• Low costs by European standards in many areas, with Asunción as a growing regional business city.

None of this makes Paraguay right for everyone. It does explain why it belongs in a serious Plan B conversation.

The standard route since 2022: temporary first, permanent later

Migration Law 6984/22 replaced the old 1996 law. Its central change for foreigners: permanent residence is no longer the first step. The general route now has two stages.

1. Temporary residence. A card valid for up to two years, renewable once for the same period. It gives you a Paraguayan identity card (cédula) for the same period.

2. Permanent residence. After the temporary period, you apply to change category. The window opens three months before your temporary card expires and closes one month after expiry, with a fine in that last month. The permanent card is valid for ten years.

As a citizen of Romania or Germany you can enter Paraguay without a visa for stays of up to 90 days and file the temporary residence application in the country, before that stay runs out. The file is opened in person at the National Migration Directorate (DNM).

What the temporary file contains

The document list is long, and every foreign document must be apostilled and translated into Spanish by a registered public translator. In practice it includes:

• your valid passport or national identity document;

• birth certificate and civil status certificate (for example a marriage certificate);

• a criminal record certificate from your country of origin, or from the country where you lived during the last three years;

• an Interpol certificate and the Paraguayan police certificate for foreigners, both obtained in Paraguay;

• sworn declarations before the DNM: that you will respect Paraguay's constitution and laws, and stating the profession or activity you will pursue and your address in Paraguay;

• payment of the DNM fee.

The 2026 change on financial means for permanent residence

DNM Resolution 407/2026, applied to permanent residence applications filed from 6 July 2026, replaced loose practice with twelve defined categories, each with its own evidence. They include employees, independent professionals, company shareholders, property owners, retirees and, for the first time, remote workers and digital nomads as a category of their own. The logic is no longer "deposit a fixed amount". It is "show, with documents that fit your category, real income or real resources and the activity you declared".

This matters because the activity you declare on day one has to match what you show two years later.

The 2026 change on presence

DNM Resolution 081/2026, dated 26 January 2026, added a check when you move from temporary to permanent. You now file a migration movement report showing every entry and exit, proof of the profession or activity you declared, and an electronic address for notices. If the report shows you were out of Paraguay for more than one year during the temporary period, the DNM does not move you straight to permanent residence: you first extend the temporary residence for the same period.

In plain words: the temporary stage expects a real link with the country. The law itself goes further than the resolution: a temporary resident who stays away for more than one year without DNM authorisation can have the residence cancelled (Law 6984/22, art. 55). Plan at least one entry every twelve months. The sworn declarations count too: the activity you declare and the Paraguayan address you give must be true, and the address should be one you actually use on your visits. A false declaration can cancel the residence at any time, however long you have held it. A card obtained once and never used will not simply turn into permanent residence.

The investor shortcut: direct permanent residence

The law allows one exception to "temporary first": foreign investors who hold an Investment Certificate (Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero) issued by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce through its SUACE single window. MIC Resolution 283/2026, signed in April 2026 and presented as the Paraguay Investor Pass, set out four tracks:

• Productive investment: from USD 70,000, with a business plan and at least five formal jobs.

• Financial instruments: from USD 200,000, held for at least two years, with no jobs or business plan required.

• Real estate: from USD 200,000, for economic use and not as your own or your family's home, with at least 30% paid when you apply.

• Tourism: from USD 150,000, with a business plan and technical follow-up.

The ministry issues the certificate within five business days of a complete file. The residence itself is then decided by the DNM, which takes longer. The ministry also highlighted dividend tax: dividends from Paraguayan companies are taxed at 8% for a recipient who is tax resident in Paraguay and 15% for a non-resident. That is the general rule of the 2019 tax law, not a special investor rate, and it follows your tax residence, not your card. According to the ministry, the process is mostly electronic and physical presence is needed mainly to issue the identity card. The absence rules described below still apply.

Two cautions. First, "productive investment" now means real assets such as equipment, buildings or works; rent and salaries do not count. Second, all four tracks require a sworn declaration on the lawful origin of your funds, and the investment must actually exist.

Keeping permanent residence

Once you hold permanent residence, Paraguay does not ask for a minimum number of days per year. The law sets the limit: a permanent resident who stays away for more than three years in a row without justifying the absence to the DNM loses the status (Law 6984/22, arts. 54 and 55). In practice that means at least one entry into Paraguay every three years, and the ten-year card has to be renewed. A diary entry with both dates is one of the cheapest insurance policies you will ever buy.

What the Paraguayan card does and does not do

It is a real, state-issued right to live in Paraguay and comes with a Paraguayan identity card for residents.

It does not decide your tax residence. Paraguay treats an individual as tax resident after more than 120 days in a year in the country. Your current country applies its own tests. A Romanian who keeps the centre of vital interests in Romania, or a German who keeps a home in Germany, normally stays taxable there, whatever card is in the wallet. Paraguay also has only six tax treaties in force (Chile, Taiwan, the UAE, Uruguay, Qatar and Spain), so there is no treaty with Romania, Germany or Cyprus to settle conflicts. Declare your real tax residence on every bank and CRS form.

It is not a passport. Paraguay's constitution allows naturalisation after three years of residence, among other conditions, but accepts multiple nationality only where a treaty provides for it. Treat citizenship as a separate question with its own costs.

Nobody but the Paraguayan authorities can approve it. No adviser can promise the outcome.

A worked example (illustrative, not a client)

Ana, 38, runs a software company from Cyprus, where she is tax resident and registered as Non-Dom. She wants a lawful second residence outside the EU for herself and her husband.

• Standard route: she enters Paraguay, files for temporary residence under the remote-work or shareholder category, and returns at least once a year. Three short trips over two years keep her well under 120 days in Paraguay and well clear of a year's absence. In month 21 to 24 she files the change to permanent residence.

• Investor route: she could instead buy a USD 200,000 commercial property in Asunción for rental use and apply directly for permanent residence. She would pay more, travel less (at least one entry every three years still applies) and take on a property she has to manage. The rent is taxed in Paraguay and declared in Cyprus as well.

• What stays the same: Cyprus remains her home, her tax residence and the place where her company is managed. Paraguay is the second door, not the new base.

Who Paraguay suits

• People who want a lawful second residence outside the EU and are willing to build it over two years;

• families who value a conservative, family-centred culture and a slower pace;

• investors with a genuine reason to put capital into Paraguay, for whom the Investor Pass turns that investment into direct permanent residence;

• German speakers curious about the Mennonite colonies, and Catholics who feel at home in a country shaped by its missions.

Who it does not suit

• Anyone looking for a card without visits. The temporary stage now checks your movements.

• Anyone hoping the card ends tax residence at home. It does not, and there is no treaty to fall back on.

• Anyone who needs a passport soon. Residence is not citizenship, and dual nationality is limited.

• Anyone who wants a large international city and Spanish-free daily life. Spanish and Guaraní are the languages of daily life.

How it fits a European base

For most of our readers the main base stays in Europe. If that base is Cyprus, the order there does not change: housing, company, Yellow Slip, TIC (tax number), GESY, bank and, last, Non-Dom. Our guide to relocating to Cyprus walks through it. Paraguay then sits beside it as a quiet reserve, much like the Mexican card in episode 1, and our piece on asset protection and privacy explains why a coherent file is itself a form of protection. If you are weighing a passport rather than a residence, our analysis of Argentina's citizenship by investment covers the other end of the scale. All English articles are in the blog.

FAQ

Can I still get permanent residence in Paraguay with a USD 5,000 deposit?

No. That route ended with Law 6984/22 in 2022. Today you start with temporary residence, unless you qualify for the investor route.

How long until permanent residence on the standard route?

Temporary residence lasts up to two years. You apply to change to permanent residence in the three months before the card expires, so the standard route takes about two years.

What is the minimum for direct permanent residence by investment?

USD 70,000 in a productive project with a business plan and five formal jobs, or USD 150,000 in tourism, or USD 200,000 in real estate for economic use or in financial instruments.

Do I have to live in Paraguay?

During temporary residence, plan at least one entry every twelve months: an absence of more than one year can cancel the residence under the law and blocks the direct move to permanent residence. With permanent residence, the law sets the limit at more than three years of unjustified absence, so plan at least one entry every three years.

Does Paraguayan residence make me tax resident there?

Not by itself. Paraguay looks at more than 120 days in the country in a year, and your current country applies its own rules.

Sources

• Migration Law 6984/22, arts. 46, 50, 54, 55: https://www.bacn.gov.py/leyes-paraguayas/10973/ley-n-6984-de-migraciones

• DNM Resolution 081/2026: https://migraciones.gov.py/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Resolucion-DNM-N%C2%B0081-260126.pdf

• DNM on Resolution 407/2026: https://migraciones.gov.py/migraciones-actualiza-el-regimen-de-acreditacion-de-solvencia-economica-para-extranjeros/

• DNIT, dividend tax (IDU): https://www.dnit.gov.py/web/portal-institucional/idu

• Migration Law 6984/22 (DNM page on temporary residence): https://migraciones.gov.py/residencia-temporal/

• DNM, change from temporary to permanent residence: https://migraciones.gov.py/residencia-permanente-para-el-cambio-de-categoria-de-residente-temporal/

• DNM Resolution 081/2026, summary by a registered migration agent (5 Jul 2026): https://vfparaguaygestiones.com.py/blog/resolucion-dnm-081-2026-residencia-permanente/

• DNM Resolution 407/2026, financial means categories (Global N&Co, 30 Jul 2026): https://globalnco.com/en/insights/permanent-residency-paraguay-2026/

• MIC, Paraguay Investor Pass and Resolution 283/2026: https://www.mic.gov.py/paraguay-fortalece-la-atraccion-de-inversiones-extranjeras-con-el-nuevo-investor-pass/ and https://www.mic.gov.py/mic-y-migraciones-lanzan-el-paraguay-investor-pass-para-facilitar-la-residencia-permanente-a-inversionistas-extranjeros/

• DNM on the Investor Pass (21 Apr 2026): https://migraciones.gov.py/paraguay-investor-pass-nueva-herramienta-para-facilitar-la-inversion-extranjera-en-el-pais/

• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Paraguay, personal income and residence (reviewed 7 Feb 2026): https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/paraguay/individual/taxes-on-personal-income

• DNIT, double tax treaties in force: https://ekuatia.set.gov.py/web/portal-institucional/cdi-%7C-convenios-de-doble-imposici%C3%B3n

• UNESCO, Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/648/

If you would like a second pair of eyes on how a Plan B residence fits your situation, you can write to us.

General information, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Paraguay's authorities decide every application.

Cover photo: P. Hughes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped.