Pick the pieces you actually need and see the real cost — official government fees and document handling, itemized to the guaraní. No bundles, no sales pitch. Just the numbers most agencies won't show you.
Temporary residency + cédula is the bare-minimum package. You can take residency without the cédula, but in practice almost everyone does both together. The cédula on its own is possible too, though uncommon — it assumes you already hold temporary residency.
These are standard-timeline costs. Faster processing is possible at additional cost, quoted case by case. Figures are official fees plus the document work the process requires — not an agency price.
A lot of what you'd pay an agency isn't government cost at all — the RUC tax ID, for instance, is a token official fee. This tool separates the two, so you know exactly what's unavoidable and what's service.
Aranceles, the carnet, sellos, certificates. The fees every applicant pays to Paraguayan authorities, shown at face value.
Interpol clearance, translations, authentications, notary. Real costs — but distinct from official fees, so you see where the money goes.
Costs are set by the government in guaraníes. We show both currencies and fetch the day's mid-market rate automatically — and you can override it.
Short, sourced answers. The rules shifted in 2025–2026, so everything below was last verified in June 2026.
Official government fees plus document handling for temporary residency run ₲2,875,044 (≈ $470) for Mercosur nationals and ₲3,747,554 (≈ $610) for everyone else; the cédula (national ID) adds ₲955,500 (≈ $155). Practitioners report a realistic do-it-yourself all-in of about $850 over roughly 7 months and three trips, while full-service agencies quote $1,500–$5,000+. The difference between those quotes and the official fees is service and convenience, not government cost — which is exactly what this calculator itemizes.
No. That route died in October 2022, when the current migration law (Ley 6984/2022, Art. 107) repealed the old Ley 978/1996 that allowed instant permanent residency against a refundable ~$5,000 deposit. Any site or consultant still advertising it is working from stale information — it's the single most persistent piece of misinformation about Paraguay residency.
There is no minimum stay. Temporary residents must avoid absences longer than 12 consecutive months — effectively one visit per year, historically lax but actively enforced since 2026 through automated border logs. Permanent residents only need to visit once every 3 years (Ley 6984/2022, Arts. 54–55).
No — this is the most common misconception. Immigration residency is granted by Migraciones; tax residency is a separate status with the tax authority (DNIT) that requires economic activity in Paraguay, typically a personal RUC with regular filings. That's why the RUC and the Tax Residency Certificate are separate line items in this calculator.
Paraguay taxes territorially (Ley 6380/2019): foreign-sourced income is permanently outside the net, and local rates are a flat 10% for personal income, corporate income and VAT. But "foreign-source" is narrower than the marketing — work physically performed in Paraguay, or services billed to Paraguayan taxpayers, count as local income. This is general information, not tax advice.
From abroad: an apostilled birth certificate (from your country of birth), an apostilled police clearance no older than 6 months (from your country of residence if you've lived abroad 3+ years), and an apostilled marriage certificate if applicable. Everything else — the Interpol certificate, the background check for foreigners, the certificado de vida y residencia — is issued inside Paraguay, and that in-country document work is what the handling fees in this calculator cover.
With a full-service agency: about 4 business days in the country, with the residency card and cédula couriered roughly 2 months later. Doing it yourself: around 7.5 months and three separate trips. Since late 2025, cédula issuance queries your home country's judicial records, so timing is country-dependent — Mercosur nationals see days, US/EU applicants 1–3 months.
The cédula is Paraguay's national ID card — it's what unlocks banking, the RUC and daily life. You can technically hold residency without it, but nearly everyone obtains both in the same trip, which is why this calculator bundles them as the smallest realistic package.
Since April 2026 (MIC Resolution 0283/2026) Paraguay offers direct-to-permanent investment routes: $70,000 via the classic SUACE company, $150,000 for tourism projects, or $200,000 in real estate or Paraguayan financial instruments. This calculator covers the standard non-investment path, which remains the route roughly 80% of applicants take.
Sources: Ley 6984/2022 (migration law) · Ley 6380/2019 (tax law) · MIC Resolution 0283/2026 (Investor Pass) · DNM Resolution 407/2026 · MTESS wage schedules · practitioner reports. Last cross-checked 11 June 2026. Rules in this area change quickly — verify before acting.