Paraguay
Standard temp residency + Investor Pass; see full guide.
Updated May 2026 · LATAM second-residency comparison
Last reviewed: Fact-checked against official sources
Paraguay vs Colombia
a quiet tax base measured against the most fashionable address in LATAM.
Colombia is Latin America's most fashionable destination for digital nomads and remote workers in 2026 — Medellín's Poblado district is functionally a North-American expat neighborhood, and the country shipped a proper digital-nomad visa in 2023. Paraguay is the much quieter alternative: less hype, less rent inflation, smaller community, and a structurally better tax setup. The fundamental difference: Colombia taxes you on worldwide income; Paraguay does not.
At a glance
| Parameter | Paraguay | Colombia | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residency cost (gov fees) | ~US$ 460 | ~US$ 550–1,200 + legal fees | Paraguay |
| Investment / income threshold | None for standard route | US$ 684/mo proof for Migrante; US$ 980/mo for Digital Nomad M-Visa | Paraguay |
| Time to permanent residency | Direct PR via Investor Pass; standard 2-yr conversion | Migrante visa 1–3 yrs → R-Visa (PR) after 5 yrs | Paraguay |
| Foreign-income tax | 0% (territorial) | Worldwide income (resident); up to 39% | Paraguay |
| Wealth tax | None | Patrimonio: 0.5–1.5% on net worth above ~US$ 750K | Paraguay |
| Minimum stay to keep residency | None for PR | Cannot leave Colombia >2 yrs continuously | Paraguay |
| Citizenship clock | 3 yrs PR | 5 yrs of legal residence | Paraguay |
| Cost of living (Asunción vs Medellín) | ~US$ 1,082/mo single | ~US$ 1,650/mo single (Poblado) | Paraguay |
| Digital-nomad community | Small but growing | Largest in mainland LATAM | Colombia |
What does each residency actually require?
What does each residency actually require?
Colombia has a wider menu of visa categories. Paraguay has a simpler one.
Colombia
Migrante visa (M) — work or rentista, requires US$ 684/month income proof (1× minimum wage) for rentista. Digital Nomad M-Visa (V) — introduced 2023: 2-year initial, US$ 980/month income proof, must be remote work. Inversionista (M) for real-estate or business investment from ~US$ 90,000. R-Visa (permanent residency) after 5 years of legal residence in Colombia.
How is foreign income taxed in each?
How is foreign income taxed in each?
Colombia switched to worldwide-income taxation in 2017. Paraguay never did.
Paraguay
Territorial. Foreign-source income permanently outside the IRP base.
Colombia
Worldwide income for tax residents. Tax residency triggers at 183 days/year of presence in any 365-day window. Income up to ~US$ 30,000 untaxed; brackets up to 39% marginal. Wealth tax (Impuesto al Patrimonio) on global net assets above ~US$ 750,000. Colombia signed CRS in 2017 and exchanges info with 100+ countries. Tax-residency optimisation in Colombia requires either staying under 183 days/year OR establishing residence in a tax-friendly jurisdiction (which is what many digital nomads using Colombia for Medellín do).
Cost of living — what daily life costs
Cost of living — what daily life costs
Medellín's Poblado has gentrified hard in the last 4 years. Asunción remains in the cheapest LATAM bracket.
Paraguay
Asunción ~US$ 1,082/month single all-in.
Colombia
Medellín Poblado ~US$ 1,650/month single all-in (1-bed US$ 1,000–1,400 furnished in Poblado; meals US$ 40; transit US$ 30; utilities US$ 80). Outside Poblado/Laureles substantially cheaper (US$ 900–1,200/month range) but most expats end up in Poblado anyway. Bogotá similar; Cartagena tourist-priced; Cali cheaper.
How long until a passport?
How long until a passport?
Colombia's 5-year clock is standard LATAM; Paraguay's 3-year is the regional best for non-Mercosur nationals.
Paraguay
3 years of PR + Spanish/Guaraní + Supreme Court.
Colombia
5 years of legal residence (R-Visa or accumulated M-Visa years). Spanish-language test, basic civics. Latino-Iberoamerican nationals: 2 years.
Which one fits your situation?
Which one fits your situation?
Colombia for the city; Paraguay for the structure. If you want to be inside Medellín's expat scene, you accept worldwide-income taxation as the price of admission. If you want clean territorial tax and a faster citizenship clock, Asunción is the better trade.
Pick Paraguay
You want clean tax structure (territorial, no worldwide tax, no wealth tax) more than you want urban-life amenities. You don't need the digital-nomad community that Medellín offers. You value the lower cost and the no-minimum-stay flexibility.
Pick Colombia
You want to live in Medellín or Bogotá and value the city itself enough to absorb the worldwide-income tax (or you have a plan to stay under 183 days/year). You're 25–40, single or in a couple, and the digital-nomad social scene is part of the appeal. You're fine with the wealth-tax exposure or are below the threshold.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked
Does the Colombian Digital Nomad Visa avoid worldwide-income taxation?
It does not, and this trips people up constantly. The visa is a residency permit, not a tax-residency exemption. Spend 183 or more days a year in Colombia on it and you become tax-resident, at which point your worldwide income is in scope. Plenty of nomads deliberately stay under that line on the M-Visa, which works — but it also means they can't really live there full-time. Paraguay's territorial system is the cleaner option if full-time relocation is the actual goal.
What's the citizenship-by-marriage path in Colombia?
Marriage to a Colombian + 1 year of physical presence + R-Visa conversion → citizenship eligible. Colombia is one of the easier LATAM citizenship paths for Iberoamerican nationals (2-year clock) but standard for everyone else (5 years).
How does Colombia's wealth tax actually work?
Annual return based on global net worth above ~US$ 750,000 at progressive 0.5–1.5%. Excludes primary residence in Colombia and some pension assets. Bigger constraint for HNW: combined income + wealth tax can run >40% effective for high-asset relocators.
Is Medellín or Asunción safer?
Asunción, on the current numbers. Paraguay's national homicide rate sits around 7–8 per 100k (2024–25); Colombia's national figure is roughly 25 per 100k. Medellín itself runs near 15 per 100k — much better than its country average, but still about double Asunción. Day to day, an expat in Poblado feels about as safe as one in Asunción's Villa Morra; the difference is in the base rates underneath, not the street-level experience in the nice neighbourhoods.
Next steps
Next steps
Confirm Paraguay is your fit on the eligibility quiz, see the actual numbers on the cost calculator, then walk the full process on the residency guide.