Paraguay · Residency
Residency in Paraguay through investment: what you get, and what you don't
If you invest USD 200,000 in real estate in Paraguay, you can be granted permanent residency there. This page explains how that permit works, what the tax residency certificate is, which taxes you pay, and what neither of them will get you.
USD200,000
Per applicant, invested in real estate, for permanent residency
4 to 9months
Until you hold your Paraguayan ID card, from start to finish
6 to 12months
For the tax residency certificate, a separate and optional service
3years
Living as a permanent resident before you can apply for citizenship
Why Paraguay
What Paraguay offers investors
Residency
Permanent residency, straight away
Foreigners normally spend two years on a temporary permit first. Qualifying investors are granted permanent residency directly.
Taxes
Only income earned in Paraguay is taxed
Income you earn outside Paraguay is not taxed there. This is called a territorial tax system.
Presence
No minimum number of days
The law does not require you to spend a set number of days in Paraguay to hold the tax residency certificate. It does require genuine ties to the country.
Three procedures
Residency, tax residency and citizenship are not the same
They are three separate procedures, handled by three separate authorities.
The right to live there
Legal term: permanent residency. Granted by: the immigration authority (DNM).
It lets you live in Paraguay as a resident. You receive a residency ID card.
- AIM Global prepares and files your application. The DNM decides whether to grant it.
- If you invest, it is granted straight away, without two years on a temporary permit.
- On its own, it does not make you a tax resident of Paraguay.
Where you pay tax
Legal term: tax residency. Certified by: the tax authority (DNIT).
A certificate stating that, for tax purposes, you are a resident of Paraguay. It is optional.
- You can only apply once you already have the right to live there.
- It has to be backed by genuine ties to the country, such as a bank account or property there.
Citizenship and passport
Legal term: naturalization. Decided by: the Supreme Court of Justice.
Becoming a Paraguayan citizen. You cannot buy it: it is a court process, not an immigration filing, and no investment grants it.
- You apply after three uninterrupted years of permanent residency.
- You take an exam in Spanish or Guaraní on basic language, history and civics.
- The court process usually takes another 1 to 2 years.
If your family, your home and your work stay in your home country, you will normally keep paying tax there, even with a Paraguayan certificate. That is decided by your home country's law, not by Paraguay.
AIM Global handles the legal work in Paraguay. We do not advise on your tax position in your home country: for that you need an adviser there.
Service 1 · Permanent residency
How to get permanent residency by investing in real estate
This investor route is known as the Investor Pass. The rules in force today date from April 2026. You can take this service on its own and stop there, or add the tax residency certificate later.
The main rule
USD 200,000 in real estate in Paraguay
- It is per applicant. If you and your partner both want residency, that is USD 400,000 in total.
- It has to be an investment. The property must be held for economic return: to rent out, develop or resell. A home for you or your family does not qualify.
- You don't have to pay it all up front. You can file with 30% paid and the balance documented in a contract, for example on a property still under construction.
What it doesn't require
No business plan, no hiring
The productive and tourism routes require a business plan. Real estate requires neither a business plan nor job creation. AIM Global's service is built for this route.
You will, however, sign a sworn statement explaining where your money comes from. It is coordinated with Paraguay's anti-money-laundering authority (SEPRELAD).
The steps, in order
Choose the property
We help you find one that qualifies and gather its paperwork.
Apply for the investor certificate
A document that proves your investment. It is issued by SUACE, a government office. With a complete file, it has 5 business days to issue it.
Apply to the immigration authority
With the certificate in hand, the immigration authority processes your permanent residency. This takes roughly 4 to 10 weeks.
Travel for your ID card
In Paraguay your biometric data is recorded. You then return to collect the card.
From start to finish, until you hold the card: roughly 4 to 9 months.
You need to be in Paraguay in person at a few points: typically to file or confirm the application, and to request and later collect the ID card.
Documents you will be asked for
"Apostilled" means certified so it can be used in Paraguay without further legalization.
- A valid passport or ID card.
- Proof that you entered Paraguay: the stamp in your passport or the entry card you get on arrival.
- An apostilled criminal record certificate from the country where you live. If you have lived in another country for the last three years, from that country, with proof that you lived there.
- A criminal record certificate from Interpol Paraguay.
- The sworn statement on the source of your funds.
- Your apostilled birth certificate.
- Your apostilled marital status certificate.
- Three more documents obtained in Paraguay during the process: a foreigner's criminal record certificate, a certificate of life and residence, and a foreigner registration card.
What AIM Global does for you
- Checks whether you qualify and whether real estate is the best route for you.
- Helps you find a qualifying property and document it.
- Prepares and files the investor certificate application.
- Coordinates your sworn statement on the source of funds with SEPRELAD's requirements.
- Follows the file until the certificate is issued and files your residency application with the immigration authority.
- Accompanies you through the biometric capture and until you receive your ID card.
Other ways to invest
There are four ways of investing that grant permanent residency straight away. Our service is built for real estate. We review the others with you on a call.
| Route | Minimum per applicant | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate (the one we handle) | USD 200,000 | A property held as an investment, not your home. You can start with 30% paid |
| Productive (a business) | USD 70,000 | A business plan and roughly 5 formal local jobs |
| Tourism | USD 150,000 | A business plan and progress reports every 6 months |
| Financial instruments | USD 200,000 | Hold the investment for at least 2 years, issued by an entity regulated by Paraguay's securities authority |
The three years you need before applying for citizenship start on the day you receive permanent residency. Then comes the court process before the Supreme Court, which usually takes 1 to 2 years. In total, roughly 4 to 5 years from investment to passport.
To apply, you must show ties to Paraguay, such as property, a business or a documented occupation. That application is a separate, later service.
Can you hold two nationalities? It is only guaranteed by law if you are from Spain or Italy, which have a reciprocity treaty with Paraguay. For everyone else it is tolerated in practice, but not guaranteed by law.
- This service handles your application for the right to live in Paraguay. The immigration authority (DNM) decides it. It does not include the tax residency certificate: that is a separate service.
- The USD 200,000 is per applicant, not per family.
- Having residency in Paraguay does not decide your tax position at home. What happens there is your responsibility, and you should check it with an independent tax adviser there.
Service 2 · Optional
The tax residency certificate
A document from Paraguay's tax authority stating that you are a resident of Paraguay for tax purposes. You can only apply if you already have the right to live in Paraguay, through our service or another route.
What you need
Genuine ties to Paraguay
- The right to live in Paraguay.
- A RUC: your taxpayer number in Paraguay. AIM Global registers it for you with the tax authority, a few weeks after you get residency.
- Up-to-date tax filings: the tax returns you file in Paraguay. You need at least one full filing period before applying for the certificate.
- Something concrete that ties you to the country: a bank account, a property or a declared activity there.
What it doesn't require
No minimum number of days in the country
The law does not require you to spend a set number of days in Paraguay to hold the certificate.
- If you also spend real time in Paraguay, that strengthens your file when a bank reviews it, or in a review under the CRS.
How long it takes
| Step | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Right to live there | 4 to 10 weeks by investing, with a complete file. Roughly 60 to 90 days through the standard route |
| RUC | A few weeks, once you have residency |
| Certificate | 6 to 12 months. Before applying, you must have filed taxes in Paraguay for at least one full period |
Even if residency comes through quickly, the certificate does not speed up: the wait is set by the filing period the tax authority requires.
- The certificate shows you are a tax resident of Paraguay. It does not decide whether you stop paying tax in your home country.
- To keep your right to live there, which is the basis for the certificate: enter Paraguay at least once a year if your permit is temporary, or once every 3 years if it is permanent. And do not spend more than a year abroad without justification or prior authorization from the immigration authority.
- Paraguay reports under the CRS. The certificate must be used consistently with your real circumstances, not as a bank self-certification disconnected from the facts.
- What happens with your taxes at home is your responsibility. You should check it with an independent tax adviser there.
It is a tax status, not an immigration one. The three years toward citizenship count from your permanent residency. Holding the certificate neither shortens them nor is required.
Taxes
Which taxes you pay in Paraguay
The rule is simple: Paraguay only taxes what you earn inside Paraguay. What you earn abroad is not taxed there, and you don't have to declare it there. This is called a territorial tax system.
| If you... | You pay in Paraguay |
|---|---|
| Work or provide services inside Paraguay | Between 8% and 10% of what you earn after expenses, once that income goes above about 80 million guaraníes a year (PYG, Paraguay's currency), around USD 13,000. This is the personal income tax (IRP) |
| Sell something located in Paraguay at a gain, such as your property | 8%. It is calculated under specific rules for each type of sale |
| Buy or sell goods and services in Paraguay | VAT (IVA) at 10%, or 5% in some cases. You must register for VAT to complete your RUC, even with no other income in Paraguay |
| Earn money outside Paraguay: a salary, a business, investments or accounts abroad | Nothing. And you don't have to declare it in Paraguay |
What you earn outside Paraguay may still be taxed in your home country, if you are still a tax resident there.
Quick check
Is Paraguay right for you? Four questions
Answer them and we will tell you which Paraguay route fits you and what to check. This is guidance, not advice.
Your result
Answer the four questions
We will then tell you which Paraguay route fits you and what to check.
If you hold a Chinese passport
Paraguay and China have no diplomatic relations
Paraguay recognizes the Republic of China (Taiwan), not the People's Republic of China. It is the only country in South America to do so. Neither country has an embassy or consulate in the other. This does not prevent the process, but it makes it less predictable in three ways.
Money
It goes through a third country
There is no direct banking relationship between the two countries. Funds usually pass through a bank elsewhere, commonly Hong Kong, the United States or Brazil. That adds time, cost and more paperwork to trace your money back to its source. Prepare it from the start.
Entry
You need a visa first
You need a visa before applying for residency. It is processed by Paraguay's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with an invitation letter from a sponsor in Paraguay, usually a company, which also submits its own documents. Local counsel usually bills this step separately.
Documents
Coordinated at a distance
Both countries are part of the Apostille Convention, so a properly apostilled Chinese document should be accepted. But with no Paraguayan mission in mainland China, anything that would be done in person at a consulate has to be coordinated from afar, and takes longer.
Chinese nationals obtain these residencies today. But the timelines are less predictable, so plan for more than the shortest estimate.
The Paraguayan certificate does not decide whether you stop being a tax resident of China either. Only Chinese law decides that: whether you are domiciled in China, or spend 183 days or more there in a calendar year.
Is it for you?
When it makes sense, and when it doesn't
It works for you if
- You want permanent residency abroad and can invest USD 200,000 per person in real estate.
- You want tax residency in a country that doesn't tax foreign income, and you will build genuine ties in Paraguay.
- Your life is no longer in your home country, or soon won't be.
- You want the three-year clock toward citizenship to start as soon as possible.
Look at another option if
- You want a passport soon. In Paraguay it takes roughly 4 to 5 years from investment.
- You expect to stop paying tax at home while your life stays there.
- You want to buy your own home and use it for the application. It doesn't qualify.
- You can't travel to Paraguay. Some steps must be done in person.
- You need dual citizenship guaranteed by law and you are not from Spain or Italy.
Glossary
Terms you will hear
The acronyms and terms that come up in the process.
- Permanent residency (residencia permanente)
- The right to live in Paraguay that follows the temporary stage, or comes straight away if you invest. To keep it, you must enter the country at least once every 3 years and not spend more than a year abroad without authorization.
- Temporary residency (residencia temporal)
- The two-year stage of the standard route, before permanent residency. Qualifying investors skip it.
- Investor Pass
- The name by which the investor route that grants permanent residency straight away is known.
- Investor certificate (CIE)
- Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero. The document proving you made a qualifying investment. You use it to apply for permanent residency.
- SUACE
- The Paraguayan government office that receives the application and issues the investor certificate.
- DNM
- Paraguay's immigration authority. It grants permanent residency and the ID card.
- Apostille
- A certification that lets a document from one country be used in another without further legalization.
- SEPRELAD
- Paraguay's anti-money-laundering authority. It is why you sign a sworn statement on where your money comes from.
- DNIT
- Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios, Paraguay's tax authority. It used to be called SET.
- RUC
- Your taxpayer number in Paraguay. It is issued by the DNIT.
- Territorial tax system
- A tax system that only taxes income earned inside the country. Paraguay's is one.
- IRP
- Personal income tax. It applies to services provided inside Paraguay and to gains from selling assets located in Paraguay.
- IVA
- Value added tax (VAT) on goods and services. In Paraguay it is 10%, or 5% in some cases.
- Naturalization
- The court process by which a foreigner becomes a Paraguayan citizen. The Supreme Court decides it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
No. Investing makes you eligible for permanent residency. Citizenship is requested after three years of permanent residency, and the Supreme Court decides it in a court process.
First, three years of permanent residency. Then the court process before the Supreme Court usually takes 1 to 2 years. In total, roughly 4 to 5 years from investment.
Not quite. Paraguay does not tax what you earn abroad. But what you earn inside the country is taxed: 8% to 10% on services, 8% on gains from selling assets located in Paraguay, and 10% VAT. And your home country may still tax you.
No. It is per applicant. For both of you, it is USD 400,000.
No. The property has to be an investment held for economic return: to rent out, develop or resell. A home for you or your family does not qualify.
Not necessarily. You can file with 30% paid and the balance documented in a contract, for example on a property under construction.
Yes, at a few points: typically to file or confirm the application, and to request and later collect the ID card.
For the tax certificate, the law sets no minimum number of days. But to keep your residency you must enter the country periodically and not spend more than a year abroad without authorization from the immigration authority.
Not necessarily. Your home country's law decides that, based on where you really live, where your family and work are, and how much time you spend there. A certificate from another country does not change that on its own.
Yes. Not the other way round: to apply for the tax certificate you first need the right to live in Paraguay.
Because before applying you need a RUC, genuine ties to the country, and at least one full period of tax filings in Paraguay.
It is only guaranteed by law if you are from Spain or Italy, which have a reciprocity treaty with Paraguay. For everyone else it is tolerated in practice, but not guaranteed by law.
The published timelines are the same, but in practice they are less predictable. Money transfers and the visa step need extra coordination, because Paraguay and China have no diplomatic relations. Plan for more than the shortest estimate. See the details.
Before you invest, check whether Paraguay is right for you
Leave your email and we will write to you to assess your eligibility and confirm which route fits your case.
If you used the quick check above, your answers come with your email, so you don't have to repeat them.
WhatsApp: +56 9 5836 0431
Important. This page sets out AIM Global's own reading of the routes to migratory residency and tax residency in Paraguay, as at 1 October 2026. It is general information: it is not legal, tax or investment advice, it does not create an advisory relationship, and nothing in it is a promise of outcome. Thresholds, timelines and the way Paraguay's authorities apply them can change. Each case is assessed individually.
Laws and authorities
- Resolution No. 0283/2026 of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC): Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero
- Migration Law No. 6984/2022, Article 46
- Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay, Article 148: naturalization
- Law No. 6.380/2019: territorial tax system, IRP and IVA
- Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios (DNIT), successor to the SET: RUC and tax residency certificate
- SUACE, DNM and SEPRELAD