Paraguay residency visa types, compared

If you read nothing else

Which route fits you in one line

• Just want to live here cheaply? Take the standard administrative residency under Ley 6984/2022 — roughly Gs. 3 million in government fees (about US$ 460–490 at current rates), no investment, no language test, no minimum income.
• Bringing capital? The Investor Pass (SUACE) skips temporary residency and gives you direct permanent residency — under Resolución MIC Nº 283/2026 the investor certificate must be issued within 5 business days of a complete application.
• Citizen of a MERCOSUR or associated country? You get a simplified route — often your national ID instead of a passport, and less paperwork.
• Looking for a 'rentista' or 'pensionado' visa? It no longer exists as a separate category — Paraguay folded those into the single administrative residency in 2022. Anyone telling you otherwise is quoting a dead law.
• Whichever route you pick, the tax outcome is the same: 0% on foreign income, citizenship after 3 years of permanent residency.

The decision table

The four pathways, side by side

There are three routes you can actually use in 2026, plus the historical framing people still search for. Find the row that describes you, then jump to the matching deep guide. All figures are government fees or statutory minimums, not agency markups — see the full cost breakdown for what living here actually costs.

The standard route was historically the cheapest in Latin America. It still is — no income proof, no investment, no language test.

The default choice

Standard administrative residency — Ley 6984/2022

This is the route the overwhelming majority of movers take, and the reason Paraguay built its reputation. Since the 2022 migration law, residency is granted by the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) as an administrative process — not a judicial one — so there is no judge, no court file, and no lawyer strictly required. There is no investment minimum, no language test, and no minimum-income requirement on this route. The core government fees are set in guaraníes: the temporary residency arancel is Gs. 2,787,550 plus a radicación certificate of Gs. 223,004 (DNM tariff under Decreto 4122/2025 and Resolución 513/2025, in force since 1 July 2025) — together about US$ 460–490, though the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate. You apply for temporary residency first (valid up to 2 years, renewable), then change category to permanent, and receive your cédula at the end.

• No money in the bank to prove, no pension statement, no job offer.
• Core documents: birth certificate and a criminal-background certificate (INTERPOL plus your home police), each apostilled, then sworn-translated into Spanish by a translator matriculated with Paraguay's Supreme Court.
• Issued by the DNM — see how the no-background-check framing actually works before you assume you need a clean Interpol sheet.
• Full document list and order of operations: the document checklist and the realistic timeline.

Honest caveat: "administrative, not judicial" does not mean instant. The temporary-to-permanent path still takes months of processing and at least one in-person trip to Asunción. Anyone promising a same-week cédula on this route is selling you the Investor Pass under a different name.

The fast, expensive lane

Investor Pass — direct permanent residency via SUACE

Launched under Resolución MIC Nº 283/2026 (effective April 2026) and administered through SUACE, the Investor Pass is the one route that skips temporary residency entirely and grants direct permanent residency. It works by issuing a Certificado de Inversionista Extranjero (CIE), which the resolution requires to be issued within 5 business days of a complete application. There are four investment tiers, and unlike the older SUACE business route, most no longer require you to create local jobs. The headline figure — the US$ 200,000 real-estate route — is real, but read the conditions: acquisitions for personal or family use are expressly excluded; the property must be income-producing.

• Direct permanent residency — no 2-year temporary phase.
• Source-of-funds documentation is required; confirm the exact validity window and AML declaration with SUACE, as practice can change.
• Full breakdown of tiers, conditions and the visit schedule: the Investor Pass guide.
• Thinking about a company rather than passive investment? Compare with opening a company and doing business in Paraguay.

Honest caveat: the Investor Pass buys speed and a permanent card, not a tax advantage — your foreign-income tax outcome is the same as the standard route. Don't invest US$ 200K to save tax you'd save anyway.

For regional citizens

MERCOSUR-nationality residency

If you hold citizenship of a MERCOSUR member or associated state — Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia or Ecuador — you qualify for a simplified route under the Acuerdo de Residencia del MERCOSUR, built on regional free-movement rather than the general migration framework. In practice you can often use your national ID card instead of a passport both to enter and to apply, the paperwork is lighter, and the route runs through its own DNM channel. You take a 2-year temporary residency and then convert to permanent.

• National ID frequently accepted in place of a passport.
• Documents still apostilled/legalized: passport or ID, birth certificate, and criminal-record certificates from your home country and any country lived in over the last 3 years.
• The 2-year MERCOSUR temporary card is the step before permanent — you apply to convert before it expires.
• Same destination as everyone else — see your rights at each residency status for what temporary vs permanent actually unlocks.

Clearing up the myth

The rentista / pensionado visa no longer exists

This is the single most common piece of outdated advice online. Before 2022, Paraguay had separate rentista (proof-of-income) and pensionado (retiree pension) visa categories, often citing a multi-thousand-dollar bank deposit. Ley 6984/2022 replaced all of that with one administrative residency. There is no current "rentista visa" with an income threshold to meet, and no separate "pensionado visa" for retirees — retirees and people living on passive income simply use the standard route described above, with no income proof required. If a provider quotes you a fixed deposit or pension minimum as a legal requirement, they are quoting a repealed law (or padding their fee).

Honest caveat: some banks may still want to see funds to open an account — that's a banking requirement, not a residency one. See banking in Paraguay.

After you've chosen

What's the same no matter which route you take

The route changes your cost and speed. It does not change the outcome. Every pathway lands you in the same territorial tax system under Ley 6380/2019: 0% on foreign-source income, with local personal income (IRP) taxed on a progressive 8–10% scale, corporate (IRE) at 10%, and VAT (IVA) at 10%. Paraguay is generally treated as a tax-residency base once you spend enough time in-country (183 days is the commonly used threshold). And from any route, citizenship becomes available after 3 years of permanent residency (Constitución Art. 148–149).

• Foreign-source income is untaxed across all routes — see taxes and tax residency.
• Citizenship clock runs from permanent residency, not from your first day — see the path to citizenship.
• Still unsure? Run the quiz or model your numbers in the calculator.

Common questions

Choosing a Paraguay residency route