Temporary and permanent residency · Ley N° 6984/2022
Residency in Paraguay, on the authority’s own terms
Everything you have read about residency in Paraguay disagrees with itself: deadlines, deposits, days of presence. Here is the text of the law and the text of the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, article by article, and what each one means for your file.
Everything you have read disagrees
One question, put to an AI assistant in seven languages on the same day, received answers that cannot all be true. Here is one question, what gets answered, and what the text says.
- “You must enter the country at least once a year as a temporary resident, and once every three years as a permanent one.”
- “One day every three years.”
- “No more than twelve months away during the two years of temporary residency.”
- “An absence of up to three years.”
- “There is no minimum stay.”
The law fixes a maximum unjustified absence and no minimum presence. Ley N° 6984/2022, Art. 55, num. 2: “Ausencia injustificada del país por más de 3 (tres) años corridos para el caso de un residente permanente o por más de 1 (un) año si se tratara de un residente temporal, salvo casos en que mediara autorización de la Dirección Nacional de Migraciones.”
There is no count of days and no compulsory entry per period. The word that does the work is “injustificada”, unjustified. What justifies an absence is a question we answer by reading your case, not on a page.
Which of the two routes is yours
Before any requirement, one question: your nationality. Eight nationalities have a route of their own under the Mercosur agreement; every other one follows the general route of Ley N° 6984/2022. A Brazilian or an Argentine reading a page written for the general route is reading requirements that are not theirs.
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, per the DNM’s requirements sheet of 1 January 2026.
The Mercosur route
It also starts with a temporary residency, two years and not extendable, and it also requires proof of means: solvency is the fourth of its four requirements and points to the same annex of twelve categories. What it does not require are the Paraguayan cédula and the record certificates of the general route. The change to permanent is requested “dentro de los 90 (noventa) días anteriores al vencimiento de la misma”, within the 90 days before it expires, Ley N° 3565/2008, Acuerdo, Art. 5; after that window the agreement route is lost and the file returns to Ley N° 6984/2022.
Three of the eight nationalities appear on the DNM’s sheet and not in the law that approved the agreement; we point it out because the sheet is what is applied at the counter.
Any other nationality, under Ley N° 6984/2022.
The general route
Two stages: a temporary residency of up to two years, extendable, and then the permanent one. The DNM’s requirements sheet lists ten items for the first stage and nine for the second. The law lists twelve and eleven, and the sheet is what is applied at the counter. In the second, proof of solvency through one of twelve categories. The rest of this page follows this route; where the Mercosur route differs, we say so.
Know which route is yours before you gather a single document.
Ask us, at no costTemporary first, permanent after
The law does not offer one residency: it offers two, in order, with two exceptions. Each grants something different from the first day.
Up to two years, extendable by an equal period
Temporary residency
Ley N° 6984/2022, Art. 46: “Será otorgada por un plazo de hasta 2 (dos) años, prorrogables por igual período y será requisito previo al otorgamiento de la Residencia Permanente.” Granted for up to two years, extendable by the same period, and a prior requirement for permanent residency. While the DNM processes your application you are a “residente precario”. The DNM’s own sheet says what that means: “dicho estatus lo habilita a salir y reingresar del país, estudiar y trabajar por el período de duración de la misma”. The status lets you leave and re-enter the country, study and work for as long as it lasts.
With temporary residency you obtain the Paraguayan identity card for the same period.
Indefinite; the card is renewed every ten years
Permanent residency
Ley N° 6984/2022, Art. 47: the authorization to reside indefinitely, for the foreigner who meets the conditions “y luego de haber cumplido el plazo de Residencia Temporal”, and after completing the temporary residency’s term. No article fixes how many months of temporary residency are needed: the only number in the law is the maximum of Art. 46.
Two exceptions, and only two, in the 109 articles of Ley N° 6984/2022. The first is whoever proves an investment under Ley N° 4986/2013, Art. 46. It is the subject of our page on residency by investment. The second is the family of a repatriated national. Their spouse, children and grandchildren under eighteen “accederán directamente a la Residencia Permanente”, accede directly to permanent residency, Art. 48.
The dates that cost the most
We promise no timelines: nobody fixes them. We publish the dates the DNM does fix for moving from temporary to permanent, because missing them is the most expensive mistake made by people who get this far.
Three months before the temporary card expires
The change of category is filed “dentro de los 3 (tres) meses anteriores al vencimiento del carnet de admisión temporaria”, within the three months before the temporary admission card expires.
Up to one month after expiry
The change of category can still be filed, “debiendo abonar la multa por vencimiento del plazo de permanencia”, on payment of the overstay fine.
After that month
Only an extension of the temporary residency can be requested, for an equal period and “hasta 6 (seis) meses posteriores al vencimiento del carnet”, again with the fine. That is up to six months after the card expired.
These three dates are DNM practice, the sheet of 1 July 2026, not the text of the law: Ley N° 6984/2022 fixes no deadline for the change of category, and the Art. 43 sometimes cited for it governs the tourist’s transitory stay, not the resident’s card.
Twelve ways to prove solvency, and one of them is you
Economic solvency is a requirement of the permanent stage, not of the temporary one. It is item 9 of the DNM’s requirements sheet of 1 July 2026: “⟪Acreditación de solvencia económica mediante documentación idónea, suficiente y comprobable⟫”, proof of economic solvency through suitable, sufficient and verifiable documents. Its annex sets it out in twelve categories. Pick yours and you will see exactly what the DNM asks of that person.
DNM practice, not the text of the law: the word “solvencia” does not appear in Ley N° 6984/2022. The requirement enters through Art. 52, num. 10, “Los demás requisitos fijados por la presente Ley y sus reglamentaciones.”, the other requirements fixed by this law and its regulations. We draw the line because the sheet is what is applied at the counter, and because a page that says “the law requires” something that practice requires is not being precise with you.
01 · Professionals
A university degree registered and stamped by the MEC, plus proof of actually practicing: an IPS insured certificate, IPS being the social security institute, an employment contract stamped by the Ministry of Labor, or IVA returns for the last three months or IRP for the last year with the tax-compliance certificate.
A degree is not an income. The annex says so in its own words: “La sola posesión del título de profesional no constituirá prueba suficiente de solvencia económica.” Holding a professional title alone is not sufficient proof of solvency.
02 · Technicians
A technical qualification registered and stamped by the MEC, plus the same three proofs of activity.
03 · Employees
An IPS insured certificate, IPS being the social security institute, or an employment contract stamped and registered.
04 · Self-employed workers
The taxpayer’s Constancia de Persona Física from the DNIT, the tax authority, and IVA returns for the last three months or IRP for the last year, with the tax-compliance certificate.
05 · Remote workers and digital nomads
A work certificate evidencing the relationship and stating the income received and the means by which it is received; foreign documents legalized or apostilled and translated.
06 · Property owners
A property title registered in your name for at least two years; the DNM may also ask for proof of the income the property produces.
07 · Shareholders and partners
The company’s registered constitution naming you as shareholder or partner, or the registered shareholders’ book or an electronic certificate naming you; for an EAS, the DGPEJBF certificate.
08 · Farmers and ranchers
The registered title of the productive property, with the tax-compliance and Persona Física certificates, or proof of sale or a registered brand for the production with the tax-compliance certificate.
09 · Religious
The MEC’s certificate of the congregation’s registration and a note from it certifying the role and assuming the costs of the stay.
10 · Retirees and pensioners
A pension certificate stating the amount received and the financial means by which it is received; documents legalized or apostilled.
11 · Dependants
Spouse: an apostilled marriage certificate and the Paraguayan document or the residence card of the person supporting you. Parents or grandparents supported by children or grandchildren: proof of the link and the supporter’s document. A person with a disability supported by a relative: a SENADIS certificate or its apostilled equivalent, the link and the supporter’s document.
Dependants do not prove solvency: the economic responsibility is assumed by the person supporting them.
12 · Students
Over eighteen, in school or higher education, in person or at a distance: a certificate of regular student status, proof of academic continuity and receipts for enrollment or fees covering the two years of the temporary residency.
Nor is being a student: “La sola condición de estudiante no constituirá por sí misma prueba suficiente de solvencia económica”, student status alone is not sufficient proof either; an income of your own or a documented family provider is needed.
What you would actually file
The ten general requirements of temporary residency, per the DNM’s sheet of 1 July 2026, with who issues each document and what it needs in order to be accepted. It is the table that decides whether a file moves or bounces, and nobody in this market publishes it.
| # | Document | Who issues it | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Identity document from your country of origin, valid | Your country | Original and certified copy; identity card, national ID or passport |
| 02 | Consular visa and its verification by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores | Paraguayan consulate and the MRE | Only where your nationality requires one |
| 03 | Proof of entry into the country | DNM, at the border control post | Stamped migration slip or entry stamp in the passport |
| 04 | Birth certificate | Authority of your country | Stamped and legalized or apostilled; translated if not in Spanish |
| 05 | Civil-status certificate, where applicable | Authority of your country | Marriage, divorce decree or the spouse’s death certificate; legalized or apostilled |
| 06 | Criminal or police record certificate, valid | Your country of origin, or the country where you lived | From age fourteen; legalized or apostilled; see the three-year rule |
| 07 | INTERPOL record certificate | INTERPOL, in Paraguay | From age fourteen |
| 08 | Foreigners’ record certificate | National Police, IT Department | From age fourteen |
| 09 | Sworn declaration of respect for the Constitution and the laws | The DNM’s system, when the application is entered | Cannot be prepared in advance |
| 10 | Sworn declaration of profession or occupation and of address in the country | The DNM’s system, when the application is entered | Cannot be prepared in advance |
The three-year rule, where most files fail: if you lived for more than a year in a country other than your country of origin during the last three, the record certificate must come from that country, legalized or apostilled, with a document proving that residence. Whoever has been in Paraguay for more than three years files the Judiciary’s certificate and a sworn declaration, and if they do not appear in the migratory-movement register, a witness statement from the Juzgado de Paz of their address.
Every foreign document must be valid, legalized or apostilled, and translated into Spanish by a traductor público matriculado, a translator registered in Paraguay, Ley N° 6984/2022, Art. 52. We tell you exactly which documents to gather and guide you through each one.
Your list, with its issuers and its conditions, in the first conversation.
Tell us about your situationWhat the texts do not say
Four things stated everywhere that no instrument we hold says. When the law is silent, we tell you, because an invented answer costs you more than an open question.
A legal deadline for moving to permanent
There is none. The 31 time expressions of Ley N° 6984/2022 have been enumerated and not one refers to the change of category. The dates are the DNM’s, and that is what we call them.
A minimum stay
There is none. Art. 55 fixes a maximum unjustified absence, three years for a permanent resident and one for a temporary one, and no minimum presence. “There is no minimum stay” is the only one of the circulating answers that matches the text.
A bank deposit
It is in no law. Ley N° 6984/2022 mentions no deposit in any currency, and neither did the Ley N° 978/1996 it repealed. An amount repeated online lived in a regulation we do not hold in the corpus; until we read it, we assert neither that it exists nor that it was abolished.
What happens after three years away
Two articles say two things. Art. 54 says permanent residents “perderán esta calidad si se ausentaren del territorio nacional por más de 3 (tres) años sin justificar su ausencia ante la Dirección Nacional de Migraciones”, lose that status after more than three years’ unjustified absence. Art. 55 says the DNM “podrá cancelar la residencia que hubiese otorgado”, may cancel the residency it granted. Automatic loss or discretionary cancellation: which governs is a question of law, and we settle it by reading your file.
One price, with everything included
The DNM’s fees, the escribano público, the sworn translations and our work are all in one figure. Nothing is paid before you arrive in Paraguay.
Your price
Preparing and filing your residency file
USD 2,350–3,170
You pay when you sign in Paraguay, by card, bank transfer or cash against an invoice.
Where you fall in the band depends on the route, your solvency category and the documents you already hold. The first conversation is free and produces a fixed price, in writing, before you commit to anything.
Tell us about your case, and you get your exact figure.
Ask for the quoteWho decides
One authority, one decision. The Dirección Nacional de Migraciones grants temporary and permanent residency, and it is not us.
Dirección Nacional de Migraciones
Grants temporary and permanent residency, Ley N° 6984/2022, Arts. 46 and 47, and decides at its discretion. It publishes the dates for the change of category; it publishes no deadline for its decision.
The decision belongs to the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, not to us. We prepare the file so it decides on a complete record, and we promise no outcome, because it is not ours to promise.
How we work your file
Four steps, each with what we do and what we need from you. No promised dates: the DNM decides, and you watch every step from the portal.
We read your case and tell you your route and your category
We
We identify whether the Mercosur route or the general one applies to you, which solvency category you fit, and which record certificate you will be asked for depending on where you lived. If Paraguay is not right for you, we say so before you spend.
You
Your passport, where you lived in the last three years, and how you support yourself.
No legal clock: it is a reading of your case, and it ends when you know your route and your category.
We build the list and check every document before you travel
We
We hand you the exact list for your route and your category, with issuer, legalization and translation, and we check each document as it arrives, so that you land in Paraguay with a file that does not bounce.
You
The documents from your country: certificates, degrees, contracts, apostilled where required.
In your hands and in those of whoever issues each document, apostille and translation included; each issuer sets the pace.
We file the application and accompany you to every office
We
Your Paraguayan lawyer files your application with the DNM and accompanies you to INTERPOL, the National Police and Identifications; the two sworn declarations are issued by the DNM’s system that day.
You
Your presence in Asunción for the steps that require the person: fingerprints, signature, the identity card.
One trip for what requires you in person; what takes time is the offices’ schedule, not a written deadline.
We follow the decision and mark your dates for the permanent stage
We
We follow the file to its decision, upload every document to the portal, and warn you ahead of the three months in which the change of category is requested, so that no date takes you by surprise.
You
Nothing more than watching the portal and our notices.
The clock is the DNM’s: no text we hold sets a deadline for its decision. The dates it does set, for the change of category, we mark for you.
Why us
Every statement on this page can be checked. So can these.
A platform built by a French expat and a Paraguayan lawyer
One made the same move you are weighing; his partner is the Paraguayan lawyer who takes it from there. European standards of process, and Paraguayan law applied by someone who practices it.
You can hold us to every line.
Your Paraguayan lawyer signs every filing
Your Paraguayan lawyer, matriculated before the Corte Suprema, prepares and files your file; an escribano público, the officer who certifies documents and deeds in Paraguay, steps in where the law requires one.
Every legal statement cites its article
We hold the instruments in full, and where a DNM sheet requires something the law does not say, we point it out as practice.
An honest reading of your case, not a sale
The first conversation ends with an honest reading of your case, not with a sale.
No residency application your lawyer has filed has been refused
No track record assures a future application, which depends on an authority outside the firm’s control.
An honest reading of your case, before you spend
Tell us what you want to do in Paraguay. Your Paraguayan lawyer reads your consultation, and the first exchange has no fee.