Paraguay Permanent Residency Requirements Update 2026

 

Almost everyone who moves to Asunción starts on temporary residency. It lasts two years. After that you apply for permanent residency, and in 2026 the rules for that second step changed.

 

If you're learning Spanish here because you plan to stay, read this now rather than in month 23. A lot of what makes the permanent application easy or painful happens during those first two years, usually before people realise it matters.

 

 

On 28 May 2026 the National Migration Directorate (DNM) signed Resolution 407. It covers permanent residency applications filed from 6 July 2026.

 

The resolution takes rules that used to be scattered across several older resolutions and puts them into a single list of twelve categories. Each one spells out which documents prove you can support yourself in Paraguay. Migraciones calls this economic solvency.

 

The bigger change is for professionals and technicians. A degree or technical title used to be enough. Now it isn't. You also have to show that you actually work in that field and earn from it, through IPS (social security) registration, a registered employment contract, or tax returns that show real activity.

 

Temporary residency hasn't changed. Solvency only comes into it when you apply for permanent.

 

 

If you work remotely, you'll need a certificate from your employer or clients stating your income and how it reaches you. Like any foreign document, it needs an apostille and a Spanish translation.

 

Retirees need a pension certificate showing the amount and the bank or financial channel it's paid into, also apostilled.

 

If you're self-employed here, it's your taxpayer registration plus either your last three months of IVA returns or last year's IRP return, along with a tax compliance certificate.

 

Company owners need registered company documents that list them as a shareholder.

 

One thing you won't find in the resolution: local agencies report that Migraciones expects your RUC (tax registration) to have been active for about four months before you apply on the self-employed route. That's simply how long it takes to file three usable monthly IVA returns. So if this is your plan, open the RUC early. A few weeks before your deadline is too late.

 

 

Your story has to line up. The documents for permanent residency must match the activity you declared when you applied for temporary residency. If you came in as a remote worker and now run a local business, that can work, but you need paperwork showing the change. Don't count on the officer connecting the dots for you.

 

Time away counts. Under Law 6984/2022, temporary residency can be cancelled if you're out of Paraguay for more than a year in a row without a valid reason. Plan long trips home with that in mind.

 

And everything you hand in is a sworn declaration. False or missing information can be passed on to the public prosecutor, and officials can simply refuse an application when solvency isn't clearly proven.

 

Then there's the fee. Since 1 July 2026 the permanent residency application costs Gs 2,926,925 (around $490), paid in cash. That's the same as for temporary residency. Fees are pegged to the minimum daily wage, so expect them to go up whenever the minimum wage does.

 

 

Choose your permanent residency category early. Two of the routes, an active RUC with tax filings or a registered company, take months to build, and you can't rush them at the end.

 

Keep your paperwork in line with what you declared when you arrived.

 

Start collecting documents well before the two years are up. Pension and income certificates from abroad need an apostille and a sworn translation, and between the two that can take weeks.

 

 

Every foreign document you submit has to be translated into Spanish, and everything you sign at Migraciones is in Spanish too. You don't need to be fluent. But you should know what you're signing, and you should be able to answer a simple question at the counter.

 

So if you're already taking classes, spend some of that time on paperwork Spanish: dates, your address, your profession, where your money comes from. Those are the things you'll actually get asked, and handling them yourself makes the appointment a lot less stressful.

 

The full text of Resolution 407 is on the Migraciones website if you'd like to read it yourself.

 

This article is wrttien by John Rutter. John is the founder of Paraguay Compass, a relocation service in Asunción for Dutch, German and English-speaking newcomers.