What is Paraguay's Residencia Temporal (Ley N° 6984/2022)?

Almost everyone. This is the front door to Paraguay for any nationality outside the MERCOSUR agreement, whatever you intend to do here — take a job, run a business, work remotely, retire or study. Under the 2022 migration law it is also a compulsory first stage: permanent residence is reached by converting this, not by applying for it directly. It lasts up to two years, extendable once for the same period through a separate Prórroga de Residencia Temporal (Gs 1,287,847). The DNM states plainly that temporary residence is a precondition of permanent residence. Yes, and the timing is unforgiving. The change of category must be filed in the THREE MONTHS BEFORE the temporary carnet expires. Miss that and you have one month after expiry, with a fine. Miss that and the permanent conversion is gone — you can only ask for an extension, and only up to six months past expiry, again with a fine.

What is Paraguay's Residencia Permanente — cambio de categoría?

Temporary residents at the end of their two years who intend to settle. This is the stage at which Paraguay finally asks how you support yourself — and the answer is documentary, not financial. It lasts indefinite. The carnet itself is renewed every ten years (Gs 468,308). This IS the permanent grant. It unlocks a Paraguayan cédula de identidad valid for ten years. Naturalisation is a separate, judicial matter — the DNM handles no naturalisation trámite at all, and its remit ends with the carnet.

What is Paraguay's Residencia MERCOSUR (temporaria, then permanente)?

Nationals of the states the DNM currently lists as party to the MERCOSUR Residence Agreement: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Note that this list is shorter than the one published by some neighbours — Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname are not on Paraguay's. It lasts two years, and — this is the trap — NOT extendable. The permanent application must be filed from ninety days before the temporary MERCOSUR carnet expires. Yes, but only through that ninety-day window. The DNM says in terms that if you let the temporary MERCOSUR carnet lapse without applying, you lose the right to document yourself under the agreement at all and must start again under the ordinary Ley N° 6984/22 regime. Permanent MERCOSUR residence is indefinite, with the carnet renewed every ten years.

What is Paraguay's Remote workers and digital nomads?

People employed by, or invoicing, companies outside Paraguay who want to live here. Paraguay recognises you — but not with a visa of your own. It lasts two years as a temporary resident, then indefinite once converted. There is no separate nomad permit with its own clock. Yes — it is the ordinary path. Remote work is one of the twelve ways of proving economic solvency at the change of category, not a parallel scheme.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Tonga to Paraguay

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Tonga

ParaguayShort stay

Visa required

Tonga passport holders need a visa arranged in advance to enter Paraguay, usually through an embassy, consulate or accredited visa centre.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Paraguay — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Paraguay's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Paraguay

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia Temporal (Ley N° 6984/2022)

Almost everyone. This is the front door to Paraguay for any nationality outside the MERCOSUR agreement, whatever you intend to do here — take a job, run a business, work remotely, retire or study. Under the 2022 migration law it is also a compulsory first stage: permanent residence is reached by converting this, not by applying for it directly.

What you need

Valid identity document from your country of origin — cédula, national ID or passport
A consular visa, verified by Paraguay's Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, WHERE ONE IS REQUIRED — check the DNM's visa table under 'residencia o realización de actividades lucrativas', not the tourist column
Proof of legal entry — the stamped boleta migratoria or the entry stamp in your passport
Birth certificate, apostilled or legalised, plus a marriage certificate, divorce decree or death certificate where your civil status calls for one
Police or criminal-record certificate from your country of origin, or from any country you have lived in during the last three years, apostilled or legalised
INTERPOL certificate, and a Certificado de Antecedentes para Extranjeros from the Policía Nacional's Departamento de Informática (both from age 14)
Two sworn declarations produced by the DNM's own system when you file: one undertaking to respect the Constitution and the laws, one stating your profession and your Paraguayan address

How long it lasts: Up to two years, extendable once for the same period through a separate Prórroga de Residencia Temporal (Gs 1,287,847). The DNM states plainly that temporary residence is a precondition of permanent residence.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, and the timing is unforgiving. The change of category must be filed in the THREE MONTHS BEFORE the temporary carnet expires. Miss that and you have one month after expiry, with a fine. Miss that and the permanent conversion is gone — you can only ask for an extension, and only up to six months past expiry, again with a fine.
Cost: Gs 2,926,925 (about USD 490), which is 25 jornales mínimos and covers the precarious residence and the change of category. Paying by debit or credit card costs more than cash — Gs 2,991,317 and Gs 3,023,514 respectively. Add apostilles, sworn translations and the Paraguayan police certificates.
Processing time: Weeks to a few months, and materially faster than the region's reputation would suggest. The filing itself is a single in-person appointment at the Sede Central in Asunción or at a regional admission office.

Worth knowing

The temporary application does not test your money at all. Read the requirement list again: identity, entry, birth, civil status, police records, two declarations. There is no income threshold, no bank statement, no deposit and no solvency certificate. Every agency page quoting a figure for this stage is quoting the repealed regime.
From the moment your file is admitted you hold 'residente precario' status, which the DNM says lets you leave and re-enter the country, study and work while the decision is pending. You are not stuck waiting.
Temporary residence gets you a Paraguayan cédula de identidad, issued by the Policía Nacional's Departamento de Identificaciones and valid for exactly as long as your residence. Note the inversion against the MERCOSUR track below, where the temporary stage gets you no cédula at all.
Visa-free entry is about tourism. The DNM publishes three columns per country — the bilateral agreement, the tourist visa, and the visa for extending a stay, residing or carrying out gainful activity — and the third can read REQUIERE VISA while the second reads NO REQUIERE VISA. It does for the United States, Germany, Spain and France. Sort this out at a Paraguayan consulate before you fly, not at the counter in Asunción.
The US waiver in particular is a dated instrument rather than a permanent state of affairs: Ley N° 7314 of 13 August 2024, expressed as valid until 13 August 2027.
Documents in Portuguese issued by Brazil are exempt from translation. Everything else in a foreign language needs a sworn translation by a translator registered in Paraguay, or a foreign sworn translation that is itself apostilled.
The trámite is personal and in person. A lawyer can follow the file afterwards, but somebody has to be at the counter with you, and the DNM says explicitly that accepting your documents is not a grant of residence.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Temporal (Ley N° 6984/2022)DNM — Prórroga de Residencia Temporal DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)DNM — Información sobre visas (acuerdos de supresión)DNM — Ley N° 6984/22 de Migraciones

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia Permanente — cambio de categoría

Temporary residents at the end of their two years who intend to settle. This is the stage at which Paraguay finally asks how you support yourself — and the answer is documentary, not financial.

What you need

A valid (or recently expired, within the deadlines) Carnet de Residencia Temporal
Valid identity document from your country of origin, and your Paraguayan cédula
Certificado de Antecedentes para Extranjeros and Certificado de Antecedentes de Buena Conducta, both from the Policía Nacional
Certificado de Antecedentes Judiciales
INTERPOL certificate
Documentation of any change of civil status, profession, name or other personal data since the temporary grant
Acreditación de solvencia económica under one of the twelve annex categories — see the caveats; there is no deposit and no single threshold

How long it lasts: Indefinite. The carnet itself is renewed every ten years (Gs 468,308).
Path to permanent residence: This IS the permanent grant. It unlocks a Paraguayan cédula de identidad valid for ten years. Naturalisation is a separate, judicial matter — the DNM handles no naturalisation trámite at all, and its remit ends with the carnet.
Cost: Gs 2,926,925 (about USD 490) — again 25 jornales — plus Gs 234,154 for the Certificado de Radicación and Gs 234,154 for a change of information if any of your details moved. A late filing adds the Art. 87 fine of Gs 702,462.
Processing time: Months. Files flagged for further analysis go to the DNM's Dirección de Asesoría Jurídica, which can demand more documents.

Worth knowing

The solvency annex is the whole substance of this route and it is worth reading before you choose a category. The twelve are: professionals, technicians, employees, independent traders and service providers, REMOTE WORKERS AND DIGITAL NOMADS, property owners, company shareholders or partners, farmers and ranchers, religious workers, pensioners, dependants, and students. What each one asks for is evidence of real economic activity — an IPS insurance certificate, a labour contract stamped by the Ministerio de Trabajo, three months of IVA returns or a year's IRP with a tax-compliance certificate, a pension statement, a registered title deed.
No amount of money in a bank satisfies this on its own, and no amount is specified. That is the reform: the old certificate of economic solvency backed by a bank deposit is gone, replaced by proof that you actually earn or hold something. It is easier for someone with a job or a business and harder for someone with only savings.
Two categories carry an explicit warning on the DNM's own page. A professional or technical qualification is NOT by itself proof of solvency — you must show you practise. And being a student is NOT by itself proof either; a student must additionally evidence their own income or documented, traceable support from a relative within the defined degrees of kinship.
Property owners need a title registered at least two years earlier, at the Dirección General de los Registros Públicos — now the Registro Unificado Nacional (RUN). Buying a house the month before you file does not work.
Children and adolescents aged 0–17 sit in their own category, 'NNA', and are exempt from proving solvency because the legal guardian carries it.
One quiet administrative trap: anyone who declared their profession as 'Ama de Casa' on the temporary residence will be reclassified by the DNM to 'Dependiente' automatically and at no cost, and must then produce the dependant documents at the permanent stage.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Permanente por cambio de categoría DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)DNM — Residencias

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia MERCOSUR (temporaria, then permanente)

Nationals of the states the DNM currently lists as party to the MERCOSUR Residence Agreement: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Note that this list is shorter than the one published by some neighbours — Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname are not on Paraguay's.

What you need

Proof of nationality of a listed state — cédula, DNI or passport
Birth certificate, apostilled or legalised if issued abroad
Police or criminal-record certificate valid nationally, from the issuing authority or its consulate in Paraguay
Certificado de Antecedentes para Extranjeros from the Policía Nacional
Civil-status certificate where relevant
Sworn declaration of no international criminal record, supplied by Migraciones at filing
Proof of entry — a stamped boleta, a passport stamp, a DNM sworn declaration, or any other document evidencing your presence

How long it lasts: Two years, and — this is the trap — NOT extendable. The permanent application must be filed from ninety days before the temporary MERCOSUR carnet expires.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, but only through that ninety-day window. The DNM says in terms that if you let the temporary MERCOSUR carnet lapse without applying, you lose the right to document yourself under the agreement at all and must start again under the ordinary Ley N° 6984/22 regime. Permanent MERCOSUR residence is indefinite, with the carnet renewed every ten years.
Cost: Gs 2,341,540 for the temporary stage (about USD 395) — 20 jornales, the cheapest residence category Paraguay has. The permanent stage is charged at the ordinary permanent rate.
Processing time: Weeks to a few months. The file is lighter than the ordinary route: nationality is proved, not argued, and no solvency is tested at either stage.

Worth knowing

The MERCOSUR track does NOT give you a Paraguayan cédula at the temporary stage. The DNM states that the cédula comes only with permanent residence under the same regime. That is the opposite of the ordinary Ley 6984 route, where the temporary carnet already carries a matching cédula — so a Brazilian and a Canadian arriving the same week end up with very different documents in their pocket for the first two years.
Two years, no extension, and a ninety-day window that opens once. This is the single most consequential deadline in the Paraguayan system and it has no equivalent in the ordinary route, which allows a late filing with a fine.
It is a genuine residence with full work authorisation, not a light-touch permit.
Paraguay separately runs special procedures for Ecuadorian and Uruguayan nationals under 'Trámites Especiales'; check those before assuming the MERCOSUR route is the right one for you.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Temporaria MERCOSUR DNM — Residencia Permanente MERCOSUR DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)

Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Remote workers and digital nomads

People employed by, or invoicing, companies outside Paraguay who want to live here. Paraguay recognises you — but not with a visa of your own.

What you need

The ordinary Residencia Temporal file, unchanged: identity, entry, birth certificate, civil status, police and INTERPOL certificates, the two DNM declarations
At the PERMANENT stage, category 5 of the solvency annex: a work certificate or employment confirmation evidencing the relationship, stating what you are paid and the channel through which you receive salary or fees
That certificate apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish, since it will have been issued abroad

How long it lasts: Two years as a temporary resident, then indefinite once converted. There is no separate nomad permit with its own clock.
Path to permanent residence: Yes — it is the ordinary path. Remote work is one of the twelve ways of proving economic solvency at the change of category, not a parallel scheme.
Cost: Identical to the ordinary route: Gs 2,926,925 at each of the two stages.
Processing time: As for the ordinary Residencia Temporal.

Worth knowing

Do not go looking for a 'Paraguay digital nomad visa'. There isn't one, and the countries that do have one — Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia — have set up something structurally different: a short, cheap, online permit that leads nowhere. Paraguay has done the opposite, folding remote workers into the ordinary residence track that ends in a permanent carnet and a ten-year cédula.
Which makes the practical bar the paperwork, not the income. The annex asks for a certificate that names your income and the channel it arrives through. A freelancer with a dozen small clients and no single employer to write that letter will find this harder than a salaried remote employee — the independent-worker category, which wants Paraguayan tax registration and IVA returns, may fit better by then.
Nothing here says anything about your tax position. Paraguay taxes on a territorial basis, but where your income is sourced is a legal characterisation and your home country has its own rules. Get advice rather than assuming.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Permanente por cambio de categoría DNM — Residencia Temporal (Ley N° 6984/2022)

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Permanent residence for foreign investors (SUACE)

Foreign nationals coming to Paraguay to set up a business who register through SUACE — the Sistema Unificado de Apertura y Cierre de Empresas, the one-stop window run across several public institutions for opening and formalising a company.

What you need

A Constancia or Certificado de INVERSIONISTA issued by the Viceministerio de Industria y Comercio, recording that you are proceeding under the SUACE regime
Valid identity document from your country of origin, in original plus two certified copies
Consular visa and its verification by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, where required
Proof of entry to the country
Birth certificate and civil-status certificate, apostilled or legalised
Police or criminal-record certificate and INTERPOL certificate

How long it lasts: Indefinite from the grant; the carnet is renewed every ten years.
Path to permanent residence: This route goes straight to permanent residence — it is the main exception to the two-stage rule, alongside the family route below. It also opens the Paraguayan cédula and the other documents you need to actually incorporate.
Cost: Gs 2,926,925 in DNM fees (about USD 490), plus the Art. 87 fine of Gs 702,462 if your stay has run over and Gs 234,154 for the Certificado de Radicación. The investment itself sits with SUACE and the Viceministerio, not with Migraciones.
Processing time: Months, and gated by SUACE rather than by the DNM — the investor certificate is the long pole.

Worth knowing

Migraciones does not publish a minimum investment for this route, because it does not set one. The qualifying decision is made upstream by the Viceministerio de Industria y Comercio when it issues the investor certificate, so any figure you see quoted needs to be confirmed with them and not with the DNM. Treat a confident number on an agency page as unsourced.
It has its own counter. The SUACE office sits at Tte. Bliloff esq. Teniente Teófilo del Puerto in Asunción and opens 07:00–15:00, half an hour later than the DNM's main residence desks.
Everything here is asked for in original plus TWO certified copies, where the ordinary route asks for one. A small thing that sends people back to the notary.

Sources:DNM — Trámite especial para inversionistas extranjeros (SUACE)DNM — Oficinas de Admisión de Extranjeros DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)

FamilyHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Spouses and children of Paraguayans (Ley N° 2193/2003)

Foreign spouses of Paraguayan citizens, and foreign children of a Paraguayan father and/or mother. A distinct statutory route that runs partly outside Migraciones.

What you need

A Certificado de Repatriación from SEDERREC, the state secretariat for repatriated nationals and refugees — optional in law, but it is what makes the process free
The legajo assembled at the Policía Nacional's Departamento de Identificaciones for your Paraguayan cédula, certified by that department and forwarded by it to Migraciones
Your Paraguayan cédula de identidad, or a police report if it has been lost
The Certificado de Repatriación itself, in original plus a certified copy

How long it lasts: Indefinite; the carnet is renewed every ten years.
Path to permanent residence: It IS permanent residence, granted with no prior temporary stage — the DNM lists that as the headline benefit. It also inverts the usual order: you get the cédula FIRST, at the Policía Nacional, and only then open the residence file at Migraciones.
Cost: Free with a Certificado de Repatriación. Without one, Gs 2,926,925. There is a real exclusion here: spouses who married a Paraguayan INSIDE Paraguay are outside the fee exemption and pay in full; the waiver covers children of Paraguayans and spouses who married abroad.
Processing time: Three steps in a fixed order — SEDERREC, then Identificaciones, then Migraciones — and each has its own queue.

Worth knowing

There is a ninety-day clock that catches people. From the date your Paraguayan cédula is issued you have at most ninety days to open the residence file at Migraciones; miss it and you are exposed to sanctions.
The order of operations is genuinely counter-intuitive, and it is the reverse of every other route: cédula first, carnet second. Do not turn up at Migraciones with an apostilled marriage certificate expecting to start there.
The Certificado de Repatriación is worth getting even though it is optional, because the exemption it carries extends beyond Migraciones to consulates, the foreign ministry and other public bodies.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Permanente para hijos y cónyuges de paraguayos (Ley N° 2193/2003)DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)

Freelance / self-employedHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Residencia Espontánea u Ocasional

People coming for defined, time-limited professional work rather than to settle: performers, people invited by a public or private body for their art or profession, interns, academics, researchers, scientists, journalists, athletes, and directors, managers or administrative staff transferred in to cover a specific post.

What you need

Valid identity document from your country of origin
Consular visa and its MRE verification, where required
Proof of legal entry to the country
A sworn declaration to the DNM of the activity you will carry out and your temporary address in Paraguay

How long it lasts: Up to 90 days, extendable once by the same period within the year.
Path to permanent residence: None. It authorises a specific lawful activity for a fixed period and builds nothing. If you decide to stay, you file for Residencia Temporal in the ordinary way.
Cost: Gs 936,616 (about USD 157) — 8 jornales, comfortably the cheapest thing the DNM issues. The Art. 87 overstay fine is Gs 702,462.
Processing time: Short. The file is four items long, which is why this is the route for a contract that ends.

Worth knowing

This is the honest answer for a season of work, a research placement or a tour, and it is far lighter than dragging a two-year residence file through for a three-month job.
The permitted activity is what you declared. The authorisation is tied to it, not to your presence generally.
Ninety plus ninety within the year is the ceiling. Beyond that you are in the ordinary residence system.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Espontánea u Ocasional DNM — Aranceles migratorios (vigentes desde 01/07/2026)

StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Students

People over 18 enrolled in Paraguayan schooling or higher education — and, unusually, people resident in Paraguay studying by distance or online, including with an institution abroad.

What you need

The ordinary Residencia Temporal file
At the PERMANENT stage, category 12 of the solvency annex: a certificate of regular student status from the institution, evidence of academic continuity, and receipts for enrolment or fees covering the two years of temporary residence
For distance or virtual study, a certificate saying so expressly, apostilled and translated if issued abroad
Separately, evidence of means: your own income, or documented support from a relative within the defined degrees of kinship, with proof the money actually moves — transfers, deposits, remittances

How long it lasts: Two years as a temporary resident, extendable once, then convertible.
Path to permanent residence: Yes, through the ordinary change of category — study is a solvency category, not a dead-end permit.
Cost: The ordinary DNM fees: Gs 2,926,925 per stage.
Processing time: As for the ordinary Residencia Temporal.

Worth knowing

The DNM says it in bold on its own page: being a student is not by itself sufficient proof of economic solvency. This is the commonest reason a student's change of category stalls, and it is entirely avoidable if the supporting relative's transfers are documented from the start rather than reconstructed at the end.
Recognising distance and virtual study for residence purposes is genuinely unusual and is a real option for someone enrolled with a foreign university who wants to live in Paraguay. The paperwork asked for is the same: enrolment, continuity, receipts.
Keep every enrolment receipt and fee payment for the whole two years. The annex asks for proof of continuity across the period, not a snapshot.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Permanente por cambio de categoría DNM — Residencia Temporal (Ley N° 6984/2022)

RetirementMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Retirees and pensioners

People living on a retirement pension from abroad. Paraguay has no dedicated retirement visa; pensioners use the ordinary route and prove solvency as pensioners.

What you need

The ordinary Residencia Temporal file
At the PERMANENT stage, category 10 of the solvency annex: a pension or retirement certificate stating the amount received and the financial channel it is paid through
That certificate duly legalised or apostilled

How long it lasts: Two years as a temporary resident, then indefinite once converted.
Path to permanent residence: Yes — the ordinary change of category.
Cost: The ordinary DNM fees: Gs 2,926,925 per stage, plus legalisation.
Processing time: As for the ordinary Residencia Temporal.

Worth knowing

The DNM publishes no minimum pension. The annex asks that the certificate state the amount and the payment channel, and leaves the assessment to the authority. That is genuinely more permissive than Panama's USD 1,000 lifetime-pension test or Uruguay's USD 1,500 under Ley 16.340 — but it is also less predictable, and a low pension is not guaranteed to satisfy an official who is exercising judgement rather than applying a threshold.
There is no statutory discount scheme attached, unlike Panama's pensionado. The attraction here is cost of living and a low, territorial tax system, not legislated concessions.
Naming the financial channel matters. The annex asks specifically how the pension reaches you, so a pension paid into a foreign account you draw on by card is a weaker file than one credited somewhere traceable.

Sources:DNM — Residencia Permanente por cambio de categoría Dirección Nacional de Migraciones

On the ground