Paraguay: 10 popular questions

Paraguay is one of the few countries left where a genuine second citizenship and residency are still realistically attainable, while taxes and the cost of living stay among the lowest in Latin America. Here are honest answers to the 10 questions we get asked most often.

How do I get Paraguayan citizenship?

There's no straight "buy a passport" scheme in Paraguay the way there is on some Caribbean islands - citizenship is granted through naturalization, and the law requires a defined period of residency first. The Constitution (Art. 148, 151) and Migration Law No. 6984/2022 set out two practical routes. The standard one: temporary residency, then permanent residency (typically after 1-2 years), then a further 3 years of residency before you can apply to naturalize. The investment route runs through the SUACE program: an investor is granted permanent residency directly, skipping the temporary-residency stage - which in practice shortens the path to citizenship to roughly 3 years from the date permanent residency is granted.

There's no formal language exam, and the interview and background checks are, in practice, considerably lighter than in most European naturalization programs. You'll need to be an adult, have a clean criminal record, and be able to show residence and genuine ties to the country. Separately, Paraguay recognizes honorary citizenship (ciudadanía honoraria) for exceptional contributions to the country - this is a discretionary parliamentary award, not something you apply for through a standard process.

The exact route and timeline for your case depend on whether you go through investment or ordinary residency, and on your personal circumstances - we work through the specifics during a consultation.

How much does Paraguayan residency and citizenship actually cost?

The fastest, most predictable path is the SUACE investment program: you set up a Paraguayan company with capital of at least $70,000 and create a handful of formal jobs (current requirements call for around five). Importantly, the full amount doesn't need to be paid upfront - investors submit a business plan showing how the capital will be deployed over up to 10 years, so it's more of a commitment to invest in the local economy than a one-time payment to the state. In return, you receive permanent residency and a local ID card (cédula) right away.

There's also a non-investment route - ordinary residency based on employment, income, family ties, or study - where official fees are lower, but the process is slower (temporary residency first, then permanent) and requires more physical presence and documentation of legal income or means of support.

Beyond the core investment or fees, budget for company registration, notary and translation costs, government residency and cédula fees, and legal support. The final number depends heavily on which route you take and your personal situation - we put together an actual budget during a consultation.

Do I need to actually live in Paraguay to get and keep my status?

No - and this is one of the biggest differences from European residency programs that require 183+ days a year in-country. Paraguay has no minimum-stay rule for keeping resident status. Temporary residents generally just need to visit the country at least once a year to avoid being treated as having abandoned their status; permanent residents have even more room - absences of several years between visits are workable in practice.

This makes Paraguay a genuinely low-maintenance "plan B" residency: you can set it up and maintain it with infrequent visits. That said, keeping formal resident status is a different question from building a naturalization case - if your actual goal is the passport after 3 years, it's worth establishing a real footprint (housing, tax registration, local bank accounts) so your citizenship application isn't questioned for lack of genuine ties.

How the formal minimums line up with your specific goals - a backup residency, tax residency, or the passport itself - is exactly what we map out on a consultation.

How long does the whole process take, from application to passport?

On the investment route, permanent residency and the cédula take 3-9 months from filing a complete set of documents.

Then comes the mandatory period: three years of living in the country as a permanent resident. The standard route takes longer because temporary residency of up to two years comes first. The naturalization court case takes 9 months to 2 years, and the paperwork after the judgment another 1-3 months.

All told, a realistic horizon from the first step to the passport is four and a half to six years. We walk through the timeline for your specific case on a consultation, accounting for current processing loads.

What are the taxes in Paraguay, and is it really true foreign income isn't taxed?

Paraguay runs one of the few genuinely territorial tax systems left, with a flat 10% rate across the board - personal income tax (IRP), corporate income tax (IRE), and VAT (IVA, though a reduced 5% rate applies to certain goods). The core feature is that only Paraguayan-source income is taxed. Income earned abroad - from a foreign business, foreign investments, foreign real estate, or a salary from a remote employer overseas - falls outside Paraguayan taxation entirely, as do foreign capital gains and worldwide assets in general.

In practice, benefiting from this legally requires actually establishing tax residency: getting your cédula, registering with the tax authority (RUC), and being able to document that your income genuinely originates abroad - holding resident status on paper alone isn't enough. There's no nationwide wealth or net-worth tax, and no requirement to declare worldwide assets the way more heavily regulated jurisdictions demand.

How to structure your income and document its foreign origin correctly for the Paraguayan tax authority is case-specific - we go through it based on your actual income sources during a consultation.

Can I hold dual citizenship? Do I have to give up my current passport?

No, you don't need to give up your existing citizenship - Paraguay recognizes dual and multiple citizenship and doesn't require you to renounce anything, either at the residency stage or at naturalization. A Paraguayan passport is added to what you already hold, not a replacement for it.

Russian citizens are eligible for Paraguayan citizenship and residency - the program applies no nationality-based restrictions. One thing worth keeping in mind separately: Russian law itself requires citizens to notify the authorities (MVD) when they acquire a second citizenship or a foreign residence permit - that's an obligation under Russian law, not a condition set by Paraguay. The current details of that notification requirement, and the consequences of not complying, are confirmed by Murblz specialists together with partners in Russian law, and we coordinate both tracks.

How strong is the Paraguayan passport - where can I travel visa-free?

Different indices give somewhat different numbers (rankings get recalculated several times a year and methodologies vary), but broadly the Paraguayan passport sits around the top 30 globally and offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to roughly 140-150 countries and territories - including the entire Schengen area, the UK, Singapore, and Japan. For context, that's noticeably stronger than most South American passports, with the possible exception of Argentina's and Chile's.

A practical bonus is Paraguay's MERCOSUR membership: it gives citizens the right to live, work, and study in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and other bloc members under a simplified regime, without a standard immigration process. And for anyone with US ambitions, Paraguay has a bilateral treaty with the United States giving access to the E-2 investor visa - a Paraguayan citizen investing in a US business can obtain an E-2 work visa, an option simply unavailable to holders of passports from most other countries. On top of that, Paraguayan passport holders commonly obtain long-validity (10-year) US B1/B2 tourist visas.

How do I open a bank account in Paraguay?

Without a local ID card (cédula), opening an account at a Paraguayan bank is practically impossible - there's no formal legal bar for non-residents, but in practice banks routinely turn away tourists and short-term visitors without resident status. Everything changes once you actually hold a cédula (issued during the residency process, often on the temporary resident card already): traditional banks like Itaú, GNB, or Banco Familiar will open accounts, though they ask for a fair amount of paperwork and in-person presence.

The much smoother route is through digital banks - Ueno or Eko, for example - where an account opens through the app in minutes, requiring just your cédula and a local phone number, and comes with a full debit/credit card and online banking. If you're going through the SUACE investment route, you'll also need to open a separate account for the company itself - this is normally handled in parallel with the residency process.

We typically fold account opening into the overall residency process so you're not making a separate trip just for banking.

What's the cost of living in Paraguay - is it actually worth moving there?

By our estimates and available cost-of-living data, a family of four can live comfortably at a middle-class standard in Asunción on roughly $2,000 a month, rent included - noticeably cheaper than Europe or the US, and cheaper than neighboring Argentina or Uruguay too. That figure typically covers rent in a good area, groceries, utilities, transport, and everyday expenses; outside the capital, costs drop further.

On the upside: low cost of living, flat low taxes, a calmer day-to-day environment than some neighboring capitals, a growing expat and digital-nomad community, and MERCOSUR access. Honestly, on the downside: the economy and infrastructure are noticeably more modest than Buenos Aires or Miami - less choice in premium housing, dining, and Western-style services, summers are genuinely hot, Spanish (and Guaraní in more rural areas) is genuinely needed for everyday life, and bureaucracy, despite recent reforms, can still move slowly in places.

Whether it's worth it for you comes down to your goals - a backup plan, tax optimization, or a full relocation - and your personal lifestyle preferences. We'd recommend at least a scouting trip before committing, and we're happy to help plan one.

Are there nationality restrictions for Paraguayan citizenship or residency?

No. Paraguay remains one of the most open jurisdictions, Russian citizens included: neither the SUACE program nor the standard residency-and-naturalization route applies any nationality-based restrictions. That sets Paraguay apart from a number of European residency/citizenship-by-investment programs that have paused applications from Russian citizens or added extra scrutiny since 2022.

In practice, the main friction for Russian applicants usually isn't the Paraguayan program itself but the surrounding logistics: banks - both Paraguayan and the international ones handling the investment transfer - may apply heightened compliance checks to payments originating from Russia or Russian banks, so it's worth planning the funding route and source-of-funds documentation well in advance. As noted above, Russian citizens also have a separate obligation under Russian law to report a second citizenship or foreign residence permit.

We regularly handle exactly these cases and know how to structure the payments and paperwork so compliance doesn't hold things up - happy to go through your specific situation on a consultation.

This is a general overview, not legal advice - every case has its own nuances: existing citizenship, family status, income source, and your actual goals for moving. Book a consultation with Murblz and we'll map out your specific case, realistic timeline, and budget.

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