{"id":340,"date":"2026-09-01T11:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/?p=340"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:35:50","slug":"paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/","title":{"rendered":"Paraguay&#8217;s C\u00e9dula: What the State Actually Charges, and What It Opens at a Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"bs-article\"><p class=\"bs-dek\">There are two numbers in circulation for Paraguayan residency, and they are not two estimates of the same thing. One is printed on a government fee schedule. The other is the price of a service that stands between you and it.<\/p> <p>The round figure that travels with Paraguay is five thousand dollars. <strong>The Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones publishes its own price for permanent residence, and on 1 September 2026 it was 2,926,925 guaran\u00edes in cash, about 495 dollars.<\/strong> The Polic\u00eda Nacional publishes a separate price for the c\u00e9dula that permanent residence entitles you to, and that one is 8,500 guaran\u00edes, about a dollar and a half. Add the residence certificate the c\u00e9dula application requires and the state&#8217;s own line items come to roughly 3,169,579 guaran\u00edes, about 536 dollars, read on the two agencies&#8217; own pages on 1 September 2026.<\/p> <p>That is not the whole cost of getting there, and this article does not pretend it is. Apostilles, sworn translations, notarised copies and plane tickets are real and are not on any government tariff. <strong>What the tariff settles is a narrower question that gets answered wrongly a lot: how much of the five thousand is the state, and how much is the seller.<\/strong><\/p> <div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#What_the_Paraguayan_state_publishes_as_its_own_price\" >What the Paraguayan state publishes as its own price<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#The_cedula_costs_8500_guaranies_and_takes_90_business_days\" >The c\u00e9dula costs 8,500 guaran\u00edes and takes 90 business days<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#What_sellers_publish_next_to_the_same_fee\" >What sellers publish next to the same fee<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#Where_the_five-thousand-dollar_number_lives_now\" >Where the five-thousand-dollar number lives now<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#What_the_published_rules_require_you_to_prove_and_the_number_that_is_not_in_them\" >What the published rules require you to prove, and the number that is not in them<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#The_timing_rule_that_costs_money_if_you_miss_it\" >The timing rule that costs money if you miss it<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#How_much_time_you_have_to_spend_in_Paraguay_to_get_it_and_to_keep_it\" >How much time you have to spend in Paraguay, to get it and to keep it<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#Whether_a_lawyer_is_a_legal_obligation_or_a_convenience\" >Whether a lawyer is a legal obligation or a convenience<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#What_the_cedula_actually_opens_at_a_bank_counter\" >What the c\u00e9dula actually opens at a bank counter<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#The_ceiling_is_lifted_by_documents_you_can_only_generate_locally\" >The ceiling is lifted by documents you can only generate locally<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#The_order_the_documents_come_in\" >The order the documents come in<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/paraguay-permanent-residency-cost-cedula\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_the_Paraguayan_state_publishes_as_its_own_price\"><\/span>What the Paraguayan state publishes as its own price<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>Migraciones publishes a single page headed <em>&#8220;Aplicaci\u00f3n de la escala de aranceles seg\u00fan la Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones&#8221;<\/em>, self-dated <strong>&#8220;Vigente desde el 01\/07\/2026 &#8211; Decreto N\u00b06225\/2026 &#8211; Resoluci\u00f3n DNM N\u00b0478\/2026&#8221;<\/strong>. Fees are expressed in <em>jornales<\/em>, daily minimum wage units, and the same page publishes the unit it uses: a minimum wage of 3,044,000 guaran\u00edes and a <em>jornal m\u00ednimo<\/em> of 117,077 guaran\u00edes.<\/p> <div class=\"bs-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Published concept<\/th><th>Jornales<\/th><th>Cash, Gs.<\/th><th>\u2248 USD<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody> <tr><th>Residencia Permanente (including change of category)<\/th><td>25<\/td><td>2,926,925<\/td><td>495<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Residencia Temporaria under Ley 6984\/2022 (including precarious residence and change of category)<\/th><td>25<\/td><td>2,926,925<\/td><td>495<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Residencia Temporaria under the Mercosur agreement (including change of category)<\/th><td>20<\/td><td>2,341,540<\/td><td>396<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n<\/th><td>2<\/td><td>234,154<\/td><td>40<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Pr\u00f3rroga de Residencia Temporaria<\/th><td>11<\/td><td>1,287,847<\/td><td>218<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Renovaci\u00f3n de Carnet de Residente Permanente<\/th><td>4<\/td><td>468,308<\/td><td>79<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Reposici\u00f3n de Carnet de Residente<\/th><td>5<\/td><td>585,385<\/td><td>99<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Cambio de Informaci\u00f3n<\/th><td>2<\/td><td>234,154<\/td><td>40<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Multa for overstaying an authorised transitory stay (Art. 87)<\/th><td>6<\/td><td>702,462<\/td><td>119<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>C\u00e9dula de identidad, first issue to a foreign resident<\/th><td>not expressed in jornales<\/td><td>8,500<\/td><td>1.44<\/td><\/tr> <\/tbody><\/table><\/div> <p class=\"bs-table-foot\">Migraciones rows read on <strong>migraciones.gov.py\/aranceles-migratorios<\/strong> on 1 September 2026; the c\u00e9dula row is not a Migraciones fee and was read the same day on <strong>policianacional.gov.py<\/strong>, where the Departamento de Identificaciones publishes it as <em>&#8220;Tarifa: Gs. 8.500.-&#8220;<\/em> under Resoluci\u00f3n N\u00b0 717\/26 de la Comandancia de la Polic\u00eda Nacional. Dollar figures are ours, converted at the Banco Central del Paraguay&#8217;s floating-market closing sell rate of 5,912.90 guaran\u00edes for 31 August 2026, read on bcp.gov.py on 1 September 2026; they move when the rate moves. The same Migraciones page publishes higher figures for card payment: 2,991,317 by debit and 3,023,514 by credit for the permanent residence line, and it states that cash is accepted only in guaran\u00edes and that card and online payments carry a surcharge from the payment provider. The table reproduces the published schedule and ranks nothing.<\/p> <p><strong>The cheapest line on that list is the document you will actually carry.<\/strong> The residency decision costs 25 jornales; the plastic card that proves it costs 8,500 guaran\u00edes, and that gap is the first sign that the price of Paraguayan residency is not really about the card.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_cedula_costs_8500_guaranies_and_takes_90_business_days\"><\/span>The c\u00e9dula costs 8,500 guaran\u00edes and takes 90 business days<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>The c\u00e9dula de identidad for foreign residents is not issued by Migraciones. It is issued by the <strong>Departamento de Identificaciones de la Polic\u00eda Nacional<\/strong>, under Resoluci\u00f3n N\u00b0 717\/26 of the Comandancia de la Polic\u00eda Nacional, articles 24 and 25. Its published page states two numbers plainly: <em>&#8220;Tarifa: Gs. 8.500.-&#8220;<\/em> and <em>&#8220;Tiempo de Entrega: 90 d\u00edas h\u00e1biles.&#8221;<\/em><\/p> <p>Ninety business days is roughly four and a half months of calendar time, and it starts after everything else is finished, because the same page lists what has to exist before you can file for the card. Among the requirements read on 1 September 2026: the <strong>original Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n Permanente issued by Migraciones<\/strong>, a notarised copy of the valid Carnet de Admisi\u00f3n Permanente, a notarised copy of your home-country identity document, a notarised copy of the valid <strong>Carnet del Registro de Extranjeros<\/strong> issued by the Polic\u00eda Nacional&#8217;s own foreigners&#8217; registry, a birth certificate apostilled under the Hague Convention or legalised, an INTERPOL record, a home-country criminal record covering the last three years of residence, and a <em>certificado de vida y residencia<\/em> from a Juzgado de Paz or the local police station. Documents not in Spanish must be translated by a sworn translator registered in Paraguay.<\/p> <div class=\"bs-callout\"><span class=\"bs-callout-label\">In breve<\/span> <p>The state&#8217;s fee is a small share of the file. What the fee does not cover is the apostilles, the sworn translations, the notarised copies and the trips back when one paper is refused, and that is the work an agency is actually selling.<\/p><\/div> <p><strong>One state cost on that path we could not price.<\/strong> The Carnet del Registro de Extranjeros is a required input to the c\u00e9dula application, and the Polic\u00eda Nacional&#8217;s requirements PDF for it did not download in two attempts on 1 September 2026, returning no response at all. We are not going to publish a figure for it from a third-party page, so the number is missing here and stays missing.<\/p> <p>One divergence is worth flagging rather than resolving quietly. A relocation service&#8217;s guide states that &#8220;first-time issuance for foreign residents is free, and renewals or replacements are Gs. 8.500&#8221;. The page we read at the Departamento de Identificaciones is the one headed <em>C\u00e9dula de identidad por primera vez a extranjeros con radicaci\u00f3n temporal o permanente<\/em>, and it publishes <strong>&#8220;Tarifa: Gs. 8.500.-&#8220;<\/strong> on that first-issue procedure. Where a government page and a service provider&#8217;s page disagree about the government&#8217;s own fee, we print the government page and say the other exists.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_sellers_publish_next_to_the_same_fee\"><\/span>What sellers publish next to the same fee<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>The state&#8217;s number only means something next to the other number, so here is the other number. We opened the pricing pages of five services selling standard Paraguayan residency to foreigners and read them on 1 September 2026. Investor routes are excluded here because they buy a different product and are outside what this article measures.<\/p> <div class=\"bs-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Service and page<\/th><th>Published price, verbatim<\/th><th>Does it name the state fee?<\/th><th>Against the state&#8217;s \u2248536 dollars<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody> <tr><th>Paraguay Residencia<br>paraguayresidencia.com\/faqs<\/th><td>&#8220;$1,450 (USD) per person, inclusive of all fees and associated costs (and including Cedula)&#8221;<\/td><td>No. Bundled, and stated to be bundled<\/td><td>\u2248 2.7\u00d7<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>ParaguayProfis<br>paraguayprofis.com<\/th><td>&#8220;EUR 1.298,- per person, payable in cash upon receipt of the &#8216;Mesa de entrada'&#8221;, plus &#8220;the &#8216;PLUS CEDULA&#8217; package is now EUR 599,- per person&#8221;<\/td><td><strong>Yes<\/strong>: &#8220;The fees payable at &#8216;migraciones&#8217; for the residence permit are about 450,- USD per person and are already included in the package price&#8221;<\/td><td>Priced in euros; the split is disclosed on the page itself<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Move Paraguay<br>moveparaguay.com\/en\/cedula<\/td><td>&#8220;Full Residency $1,895 &#8211; end to end, apostille to c\u00e9dula&#8221;<\/td><td><strong>Yes, but from a superseded schedule<\/strong>: &#8220;DNM residency filing of 25 jornales = Gs. 2.787.550 in cash, about US$ 450 at the same rate, per Decreto 4122\/2025 in force since 1 July 2025&#8221;<\/td><td>\u2248 3.5\u00d7<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Paraguay Sovereign<br>paraguaysovereign.com\/getresidency<\/td><td>&#8220;Remote Worker Premium $2,290 or $2,176 with crypto (5% off)&#8221;<\/td><td>No. &#8220;The package price covers government fees, sworn translations, photos, document prep, and every appointment&#8221;<\/td><td>\u2248 4.3\u00d7<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Paraguay Pathways<br>paraguaypathways.com\/residency-services<\/td><td>&#8220;Temporary Residency Gold Package \u00b7 1 Trip, Fast Lane PYG 20 ,000,000&#8221;, listed as including residency, c\u00e9dula and RUC<\/td><td>No. Described as covering &#8220;all direct costs of the bureaucratic processes&#8221;<\/td><td>\u2248 6.3\u00d7 (PYG 20,000,000 \u2248 3,382 dollars)<\/td><\/tr> <\/tbody><\/table><\/div> <p class=\"bs-table-foot\">All five pages opened and read on their own domains on 1 September 2026, with the quoted strings taken from the pages themselves. The state figure they are set against is the published sum of the Migraciones permanent residence fee (2,926,925 guaran\u00edes), the Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n (234,154) and the Identificaciones c\u00e9dula fee (8,500), which is 3,169,579 guaran\u00edes or about 536 dollars at the Banco Central del Paraguay close of 31 August 2026. <strong>The multiples are ours and they are not a verdict:<\/strong> the two figures do not buy the same thing, and the difference is set out below. The rows are ordered by published price and carry no ranking. Two of the five name a state fee; three fold it into the package without a number.<\/p> <p><strong>The gap is real and it is not the same as a markup.<\/strong> The Migraciones fee buys a decision. The package price buys apostille coordination, sworn translation, notarised copies, the transport between offices that keep their own hours, and someone who goes back when a paper is refused. ParaguayProfis is the clearest case precisely because it does the arithmetic in public: it charges 1,298 euros and states on the same page that about 450 dollars of that is the state&#8217;s own fee. Everything above that line is the service, and the service is a real thing that people buy on purpose. <strong>What the reader is owed is the ability to see the line at all, and on three of the five pages there is no line to see.<\/strong><\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;I have been quoted everything from $1100 all the way up to $5200 (!) and as you say, the main difference between them seems to be in the wrapping, though the cheapest quote at $1100 is from someone who doesn&#8217;t speak any english (and I don&#8217;t speak spanish).&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, April 2023, replying to a poster who had written that the offers ran &#8220;from about $1000 and up&#8221;<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>One poster in the same forum broke their own bill into its two halves, which is the split this whole section is about:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;I used a proper lawyer, useful for other advice too, and very personable. His firm is moderately priced, TR is 500 USD which includes taking you to all the right placs at the right time &#8211; important as there are a number of steps. The government costs, translations, certain notarisations, interpol fingerprinting etc were about 750 USD.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, October 2024<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_the_five-thousand-dollar_number_lives_now\"><\/span>Where the five-thousand-dollar number lives now<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3> <p>The figure that follows Paraguay around is not any of the package prices above. It is a bank deposit, and on 1 September 2026 two sellers published flatly contradictory statements about whether it still exists.<\/p> <p>Paraguay Residencia answers it in its FAQ: <strong>&#8220;Do I need to deposit ~$5,000 with the Central Bank of Paraguay to get residency? No. Since October 2022, this is no longer a requirement. You do not need to make any deposit at all, or prove your wealth or income in any way.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p> <p>Paraguay Sovereign publishes a page about residency scams, and on it, under a green tick labelled <em>Actual Requirements<\/em>, it states: <strong>&#8220;Standard Paraguay residency requires: valid passport, apostilled birth certificate, apostilled police background check, $5,000 refundable bank deposit, and passport photos. That&#8217;s it.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p> <p><strong>Both pages were read on the same day, and the state&#8217;s own current requirements support neither of them in full.<\/strong> The Migraciones requirements document for the change of category, self-dated 1 July 2026, contains no deposit and no minimum sum anywhere in its six pages, set out in the next section: on that document, Paraguay Sovereign&#8217;s line does not hold. It does ask for economic solvency in documentary form, so Paraguay Residencia&#8217;s &#8220;or prove your wealth or income in any way&#8221; does not describe the conversion step either.<\/p> <p>Two things we could not establish, and they matter enough to name. <strong>We did not find a primary Paraguayan text that ever fixed the deposit at five thousand US dollars<\/strong>: the figure appears in English-language expat material, while the first-hand forum accounts that describe paying it name Banco Nacional de Fomento, a state commercial bank, rather than the central bank named in the FAQ above. <strong>And we could not open a Migraciones or Gaceta Oficial text showing the moment the deposit was removed.<\/strong> What we can show is what the published rules require today, and today they do not require it.<\/p> <p>The half-life of the number explains why this article exists. In December 2023, fourteen months after the date the FAQ above gives for the change, someone in the Paraguay expat forum was still writing this to a newcomer:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;For the cedula, they do require cash deposit of close to $5000 usd or equivalent in guaranies cash deposit to their central BNF bank downtown of which you keep the deposit receipt so that after you get your cedula almost 8 months later, you can show the cedula ID with your deposit slip to withdraw the money you deposited.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, December 2023<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_the_published_rules_require_you_to_prove_and_the_number_that_is_not_in_them\"><\/span>What the published rules require you to prove, and the number that is not in them<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>Paraguayan permanent residence is reached through temporary residence rather than directly. The Migraciones page for temporary residence states the sequence in one line: <strong>&#8220;La residencia temporal ser\u00e1 requisito previo al otorgamiento de la Residencia Permanente.&#8221;<\/strong> The temporary carnet is valid for up to two years and is renewable for the same period.<\/p> <p>The conversion is governed by the requirements document Migraciones publishes for the change of category, self-dated 1 July 2026, which we downloaded and read end to end on 1 September 2026. Its ninth general requirement is the one worth quoting in full, because it is the requirement that people arrive expecting to be a bank deposit:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;Acreditaci\u00f3n de solvencia econ\u00f3mica mediante documentaci\u00f3n id\u00f3nea, suficiente y comprobable, que evidencie la generaci\u00f3n efectiva de ingresos o la disponibilidad real de recursos econ\u00f3micos, conforme a las categor\u00edas y criterios establecidos en el Anexo.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones, published requirements for the change of category from temporary to permanent residence, requirement 9, read 1 September 2026<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>That annex, headed <strong>&#8220;Anexo &#8211; Categor\u00edas de acreditaci\u00f3n de solvencia econ\u00f3mica&#8221;<\/strong>, sorts applicants into twelve named categories and tells each one which documents it accepts: <em>Profesionales, T\u00e9cnicos, Empleados, Trabajadores Independientes (comercio y servicios), Trabajadores a distancia o n\u00f3madas digitales, Propietarios de bienes inmuebles, Accionistas o socios, Agricultores y ganaderos, Religiosos, Jubilados o pensionados, Dependientes<\/em> and <em>Estudiantes<\/em>. Remote workers have their own category, named in those words.<\/p> <p><strong>Across all six pages of that document there is no minimum sum, in any currency, and no bank deposit.<\/strong> We searched the extracted text for dollars, for guaran\u00ed amounts, for the phrase <em>salario m\u00ednimo<\/em> and for the word <em>banco<\/em>: the only monetary figures in the file are the fees themselves, the only occurrence of <em>dep\u00f3sito<\/em> is in the list of ways a dependant can show that someone transfers money to them, and the only occurrence of <em>monto<\/em> is the instruction that a pensioner&#8217;s certificate must state the amount received and the financial channel it arrives through. Solvency is a documentary test, not a threshold.<\/p> <p>The document also sets out what does not count on its own. Two footnotes say so directly: <strong>&#8220;La sola posesi\u00f3n del t\u00edtulo de profesional no constituir\u00e1 prueba suficiente de solvencia econ\u00f3mica&#8221;<\/strong>, and, for students, <strong>&#8220;La sola condici\u00f3n de estudiante no constituir\u00e1 por s\u00ed misma prueba suficiente de solvencia econ\u00f3mica&#8221;<\/strong>. Property owners are told their title must have been registered for at least two years, and that the authority may ask for further evidence that the property produces income.<\/p> <p>Two more lines from the same document belong in any honest reading of it. <strong>&#8220;La admisi\u00f3n de los documentos en las mesas de entrada de documentaci\u00f3n de la Instituci\u00f3n no presupone el otorgamiento de la residencia solicitada&#8221;<\/strong>: filing is not approval. And <strong>&#8220;La Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones podr\u00e1 requerir cualquier otro documento adicional que considere necesario, dependiendo de cada caso en particular&#8221;<\/strong>: the published list is a floor, not a ceiling.<\/p> <h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_timing_rule_that_costs_money_if_you_miss_it\"><\/span>The timing rule that costs money if you miss it<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3> <p>The same document sets a window rather than a deadline. The change of category <strong>must be filed within the three months before the temporary carnet expires<\/strong>. If the carnet has already expired you have one further month, and you pay the overstay fine of 702,462 guaran\u00edes. After that month the change of category is off the table and only an extension of temporary residence remains, available up to six months past expiry, again with the fine. That is a state cost that is entirely avoidable and entirely calendar-driven.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_much_time_you_have_to_spend_in_Paraguay_to_get_it_and_to_keep_it\"><\/span>How much time you have to spend in Paraguay, to get it and to keep it<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>These are two different questions with two different answers, and the confusion between them is where most of the bad advice lives.<\/p> <p><strong>To get it, you have to be there.<\/strong> The Migraciones requirements document states it in one sentence: <strong>&#8220;El tr\u00e1mite es personal y presencial.&#8221;<\/strong> The temporary residence application that precedes it requires proof of your entry into the country, either the stamped migration slip or the entry stamp in the passport, so the file itself contains evidence that you turned up. The c\u00e9dula adds its own appearance: the Polic\u00eda Nacional takes fingerprints, a photograph and a signature in person, and then the 90 business days begin.<\/p> <p>That is two separate appearances, and people who have been through it describe it the same way:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;You DO need to visit to apply for temporary residence, and then come back once again to apply for the cedula. [&#8230;] Temporary residence cannot be requested by someone else through a PoA, the applicant needs to apply in person.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, February 2024, poster self-identified as an immigration attorney<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>An anonymous poster does not prove a rule. This one matches the rule, which Migraciones publishes in the sentence quoted above.<\/p> <p><strong>To keep it, the published rule is not a days-per-year count at all.<\/strong> Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones, in the PDF published on the Migraciones site and read on 1 September 2026, sets the test in Article 54, headed <em>P\u00e9rdida de la Residencia Permanente por ausencia injustificada<\/em>:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;Los admitidos con Residencia Permanente perder\u00e1n esta calidad si se ausentaren del territorio nacional por m\u00e1s de 3 (tres) a\u00f1os sin justificar su ausencia ante la Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones, Article 54, read on the Migraciones site 1 September 2026<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>Article 55, which lists the grounds on which residence can be cancelled, repeats the same period from the other direction: unjustified absence from the country for <strong>more than three consecutive years for a permanent resident, or more than one year for a temporary resident<\/strong>. The article also allows the period to be extended by resolution of Migraciones, and the law provides that someone who lost the status this way can recover it by proving again that they meet the legal requirements.<\/p> <p>So the maintenance obligation, as published, is an absence limit rather than a presence quota. The permanent carnet itself is described as <em>definitivo<\/em>, renewable every ten years at 468,308 guaran\u00edes, and the c\u00e9dula it gives access to is issued with a ten-year validity.<\/p> <p class=\"bs-kicker\">A caveat about the source, not about the rule<\/p> <p>The Ley 6984\/2022 PDF hosted by Migraciones renders with alternating corrupted lines when its text is extracted, so parts of Articles 54 and 55 are unreadable in that file. The sentences quoted above are intact in it, and the three-year period appears twice, in two separate articles. Where a line was unreadable we have not guessed at it.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whether_a_lawyer_is_a_legal_obligation_or_a_convenience\"><\/span>Whether a lawyer is a legal obligation or a convenience<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>On the document that would impose it, it is not an obligation. The Migraciones requirements sheet for the change of category answers the question in the sentence immediately after the one about being there in person:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;El tr\u00e1mite es personal y presencial. El seguimiento del proceso puede realizarse de manera personal o a trav\u00e9s de un representante legal.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones, published requirements for the change of category, general observations, read 1 September 2026<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>Read plainly: <strong>filing is something you do yourself and in person, and a legal representative is an option for following the file afterwards, not a condition of opening it.<\/strong> The Polic\u00eda Nacional&#8217;s c\u00e9dula rules point the same way from a different angle. Their article 37 on collecting the finished card lets a third party collect it with the original receipt and a notarised power of attorney, and it names lawyers and registered procuradores among the people who may do so. A lawyer appears in these documents as one permitted channel, never as a gate.<\/p> <p>That is a finding about what the rules require, and it is not an argument that hiring someone is wasted money. The file is in Spanish, the certificates come from several institutions that keep their own hours, and the requirement list ends with the line about additional documents at the authority&#8217;s discretion. Paying someone to absorb that is a legitimate purchase. It is a purchase, though, and the documents are clear that it is not a legal condition.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_the_cedula_actually_opens_at_a_bank_counter\"><\/span>What the c\u00e9dula actually opens at a bank counter<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <p>This is where the document stops being an immigration story. Paraguayan banks publish their own account-opening requirements, and read side by side they agree on one thing and split on another. <strong>They agree that the Paraguayan c\u00e9dula is the entry document. They disagree on whether the c\u00e9dula alone is enough.<\/strong><\/p> <div class=\"bs-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Bank and account<\/th><th>What it publishes as the requirement<\/th><th>Income evidence?<\/th><th>Published deposit or ceiling<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody> <tr><th>ueno bank, Caja de ahorro<\/th><td>&#8220;Ser mayor de 18 a\u00f1os. Tener tu c\u00e9dula de identidad vigente.&#8221; Opening runs in the app with a video-selfie and photographs of both sides of the c\u00e9dula<\/td><td><strong>No<\/strong><\/td><td>&#8220;Cero costos de apertura y mantenimiento&#8221;, &#8220;Sin saldo promedio a mantener&#8221;<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>ueno bank, Cuenta corriente<\/th><td>Age 20 or over, valid c\u00e9dula &#8220;o tu Carnet de Radicaci\u00f3n Permanente si sos extranjero\/a&#8221;, plus the client identification form and the single products contract<\/td><td><strong>Yes<\/strong>, the last 6 proofs of income: salary receipts, VAT forms or IPS receipts<\/td><td>Opening &#8220;sujeto a an\u00e1lisis por parte del banco&#8221;<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Ita\u00fa Paraguay, Cuenta Light<\/th><td>&#8220;Necesit\u00e1s tu c\u00e9dula de identidad paraguaya vigente y tomarte una selfie para validar tu identidad&#8221;, through the Ita\u00fa PY app<\/td><td><strong>No<\/strong><\/td><td>Monthly ceiling of 3 minimum wages, about 9,132,000 guaran\u00edes or 1,544 dollars; no opening or maintenance cost<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Ita\u00fa Paraguay, Cuenta Full<\/th><td>&#8220;Necesitas tener a mano tu comprobante de ingreso, cedula y selfie&#8221;; the request is verified and approved within 48 business hours<\/td><td><strong>Yes<\/strong><\/td><td>Not published on the page we read<\/td><\/tr> <tr><th>Sudameris Bank, Caja de Ahorros<\/th><td>Age 18 or over, photocopy of the Paraguayan c\u00e9dula, signed forms, initial deposit, account maintenance<\/td><td><strong>Yes<\/strong>: work certificate, last 3 payslips or IPS receipts, or last 6 VAT filings<\/td><td>Initial deposit 1,500,000 guaran\u00edes, 1,000 dollars or 3,000 euros; minimum average monthly balance 1,500,000 guaran\u00edes, 1,000 dollars or 1,000 euros<\/td><\/tr> <\/tbody><\/table><\/div> <p class=\"bs-table-foot\">All read on 1 September 2026 on the banks&#8217; own domains and help centres, and the rows carry no ranking. The 1,544-dollar figure is ours: Ita\u00fa publishes the ceiling as three minimum wages, and the current legal minimum wage of 3,044,000 guaran\u00edes is published by Migraciones on its own fee page, converted at the Banco Central del Paraguay close of 31 August 2026. <strong>Banco Continental is absent from this table because we could not read its published requirements<\/strong>: its help centre lists articles titled &#8220;\u00bfCu\u00e1les son los requisitos para abrir una Caja de Ahorro?&#8221; and &#8220;\u00bfQui\u00e9nes pueden acceder a una Caja de Ahorro?&#8221;, but the article bodies did not render without JavaScript on three URLs we opened, and a list of article titles is not a requirements page.<\/p> <p><strong>So the c\u00e9dula opens an account on the day it exists, and it opens the smaller one.<\/strong> At ueno bank the savings account asks for the card and an age; at Ita\u00fa the equivalent account asks for the card and a selfie, and then caps what can move through it at three minimum wages a month. Neither bank asks a foreigner for anything the c\u00e9dula does not already prove.<\/p> <p>People who have done it describe the same two tiers from the other side of the counter. The most recent account we found, from July 2025, states the split in two sentences:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;For the basic account, you will be fine with just the cedula; they don&#8217;t require any additional documentation. If you need a complete account with international transfers and a dollar account, it is a different story. Not impossible, but very few know how to swim in these rivers.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, July 2025<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <p>And a poster who had the card and the account, and still could not use it for the thing they needed it for:<\/p> <blockquote> <p>&#8220;I do have a bank account, but it is a so called BASIC \/ DIGITAL account without being able to send or receive money internationally like my pension.&#8221; <span class=\"bs-quote-who\">expat.com Paraguay forum, June 2024<\/span><\/p> <\/blockquote> <h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_ceiling_is_lifted_by_documents_you_can_only_generate_locally\"><\/span>The ceiling is lifted by documents you can only generate locally<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3> <p>Look at what the three banks ask for when the account gets bigger, and the same three documents come back in every list: an <strong>IPS receipt<\/strong>, a <strong>payslip or work certificate<\/strong>, or <strong>VAT filings<\/strong>. Those are records of economic activity registered inside Paraguay. A resident whose income arrives from clients abroad, into an account abroad, has residency and a c\u00e9dula and none of the three.<\/p> <p><strong>That is the structural point, and it survives every fee change on this page: Paraguayan residency buys you identity, not banking capacity.<\/strong> The identity is genuinely cheap and genuinely fast to use once the card is in your hand. The capacity is priced separately, in a currency the c\u00e9dula does not hold. If you have ever watched an account work perfectly until the moment a monthly ceiling arrived, the mechanism will be familiar; we took it apart in <a href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/emi-transaction-limit-large-transfer\/\">why an account suddenly caps a transfer and what actually lifts the cap<\/a>, and the logic there is the same one operating here.<\/p> <p>The other document that recurs is an address. Ita\u00fa&#8217;s savings route asks for a utility bill showing a home address, and notes that it does not have to be in your name; the c\u00e9dula file itself required a <em>certificado de vida y residencia<\/em> from a Juzgado de Paz or the local police station. For anyone whose life does not produce a tidy utility bill in the right country, <a href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/bank-account-no-fixed-address-nomad\/\">what actually works when you have no fixed address<\/a> covers the evidence that tends to be accepted and the kind that gets a file sent back.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_order_the_documents_come_in\"><\/span>The order the documents come in<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2> <ul class=\"bs-checklist\"> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Enter Paraguay and <strong>keep the entry evidence<\/strong>: the stamped migration slip or the passport entry stamp is a named requirement of the temporary residence file.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Get home-country documents <strong>apostilled before you travel<\/strong>, not after. Birth certificate and criminal record are needed in original form, and translation into Spanish must be done by a sworn translator registered in Paraguay.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>File temporary residence first. <strong>It is the legal precondition<\/strong> for permanent residence, and it carries the same 25-jornal fee.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Pick your solvency category from the twelve in the annex <strong>before<\/strong> you assemble evidence, because each category has its own accepted document list and the wrong evidence for the right category is still the wrong evidence.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Diarise the conversion window: <strong>the three months before the temporary carnet expires<\/strong>. Missing it costs 702,462 guaran\u00edes and, after one month, the option itself.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Order the Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n (234,154 guaran\u00edes) and the Registro de Extranjeros carnet, then file for the c\u00e9dula and <strong>plan around 90 business days<\/strong> before the card is in your hand.<\/p><\/li> <li><span class=\"bs-checklist-box\">\u2713<\/span><p>Open the account the c\u00e9dula alone opens, then <strong>treat the ceiling as the real question<\/strong> and find out what your bank counts as proof of income before you need the headroom.<\/p><\/li> <\/ul> <p>If the destination here is an account rather than a passport stamp, the comparison worth doing next is between the providers that hold money for people who move: our ranking of <a href=\"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/best-neobank-digital-nomads-reliability\/\">the accounts that hold up best for people living outside their home country<\/a> is ordered by reliability rather than by fee, which is the axis that matters once a local card has solved the identity half of the problem.<\/p> <h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div class=\"bs-faq\"><details><summary>How much does permanent residency in Paraguay cost in official fees?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">The Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones publishes the permanent residence fee, including change of category from temporary residence, as 25 jornales, which its own schedule prices at 2,926,925 guaran\u00edes in cash, about 495 dollars at the Banco Central del Paraguay closing rate of 5,912.90 for 31 August 2026. The same schedule is dated &#8220;Vigente desde el 01\/07\/2026&#8221; under Decreto N\u00b06225\/2026 and Resoluci\u00f3n DNM N\u00b0478\/2026, and prices card payment higher, at 2,991,317 by debit and 3,023,514 by credit. Adding the Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n at 234,154 guaran\u00edes and the c\u00e9dula at 8,500 brings the published state line items to about 3,169,579 guaran\u00edes, roughly 536 dollars. Apostilles, sworn translations and notarised copies are real costs and are not on any government tariff. All figures read 1 September 2026.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>How much does the Paraguayan c\u00e9dula cost, and how long does it take?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">The Departamento de Identificaciones de la Polic\u00eda Nacional publishes the first issue of a c\u00e9dula to a foreign resident as &#8220;Tarifa: Gs. 8.500.-&#8221; with &#8220;Tiempo de Entrega: 90 d\u00edas h\u00e1biles&#8221;, under Resoluci\u00f3n N\u00b0 717\/26 of the Comandancia de la Polic\u00eda Nacional, read on policianacional.gov.py on 1 September 2026. The card is valid for ten years for a permanent resident. The fee is small because it prices the card and not the file behind it: the same page requires the original Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n Permanente, the Carnet del Registro de Extranjeros, an apostilled birth certificate, INTERPOL and home-country criminal records, and a certificado de vida y residencia.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Does Paraguay still require a 5,000 dollar bank deposit for residency?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">The requirements Migraciones publishes today do not contain one. We downloaded the official requirements document for the change of category from temporary to permanent residence, self-dated 1 July 2026, and read all six pages on 1 September 2026. Requirement 9 asks for &#8220;acreditaci\u00f3n de solvencia econ\u00f3mica mediante documentaci\u00f3n id\u00f3nea, suficiente y comprobable&#8221;, assessed under twelve named categories in an annex, and the document contains no minimum sum in any currency, no reference to a bank deposit, and no occurrence of the words d\u00f3lares or banco. What replaces a threshold is a documentary test that differs by category: a work certificate, VAT filings, a pension certificate stating the amount received, a registered property title, shareholder records.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Do I need a lawyer to apply for Paraguayan residency?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">Not on the published rules. The Migraciones requirements document for the change of category states &#8220;El tr\u00e1mite es personal y presencial. El seguimiento del proceso puede realizarse de manera personal o a trav\u00e9s de un representante legal&#8221;, read 1 September 2026. Filing is personal and in person, and a legal representative is one permitted way to follow the file afterwards rather than a condition of starting it. The Polic\u00eda Nacional&#8217;s c\u00e9dula rules similarly allow a third party, lawyers among them, to collect the finished card with a notarised power of attorney. Paying a professional to assemble a Spanish-language file across several institutions is a legitimate purchase; it is not a legal requirement.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>How long can I stay outside Paraguay without losing permanent residence?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">Article 54 of Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones states that holders of permanent residence lose that status if they are absent from the national territory for more than three years without justifying the absence before the Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones, read in the law PDF on the Migraciones site on 1 September 2026. Article 55 lists the same period among the grounds for cancelling residence, at more than three consecutive years for a permanent resident and more than one year for a temporary resident, and allows the period to be extended by resolution. The published test is an absence limit, not a minimum number of days per year, and someone who loses the status this way may recover it by proving the legal requirements again.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>What does a relocation service charge on top of the state fee?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">On the five pricing pages we opened on 1 September 2026, published prices for a standard residency package ran from $1,450 at Paraguay Residencia to PYG 20,000,000 at Paraguay Pathways, about 3,382 dollars. Move Paraguay publishes $1,895, Paraguay Sovereign publishes $2,290 for its Remote Worker Premium package, and ParaguayProfis publishes EUR 1.298,- plus EUR 599,- for its c\u00e9dula add-on. Against the state&#8217;s published line items of about 536 dollars that is roughly 2.7 to 6.3 times, but the two figures do not buy the same thing: the fee buys a decision, the package buys apostille coordination, sworn translations, notarised copies and the trips between offices. Only ParaguayProfis publishes the split, stating that &#8220;the fees payable at &#8216;migraciones&#8217; for the residence permit are about 450,- USD per person and are already included in the package price&#8221;.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Can I open a Paraguayan bank account with the c\u00e9dula alone?<span class=\"bs-faq-pm\"><span class=\"plus\">+<\/span><span class=\"minus\">\u2013<\/span><\/span><\/summary><p class=\"bs-faq-a\">At two of the banks whose published requirements we read on 1 September 2026, yes, for the entry-level account. ueno bank lists its caja de ahorro requirements as being 18 or over and holding a valid c\u00e9dula, and opens the account in its app after a video-selfie. Ita\u00fa Paraguay opens its Cuenta Light on a valid Paraguayan c\u00e9dula and a selfie, and caps it at three minimum wages a month, about 9,132,000 guaran\u00edes. Beyond that tier the answer changes: ueno&#8217;s cuenta corriente asks for the last six proofs of income, Ita\u00fa&#8217;s Cuenta Full asks for proof of income, and Sudameris asks for proof of income on the savings account itself plus an initial deposit of 1,500,000 guaran\u00edes, 1,000 dollars or 3,000 euros. The evidence all three accept is generated inside Paraguay: IPS receipts, payslips, work certificates, VAT filings.<\/p><\/details><\/div><hr \/> <p><em>Written by Daniel Hart, who covers neobanks, account freezes and cross-border banking for neobankfit. Based on documents read on 1 September 2026: the Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones fee schedule dated &#8220;Vigente desde el 01\/07\/2026&#8221; under Decreto N\u00b06225\/2026 and Resoluci\u00f3n DNM N\u00b0478\/2026; the Migraciones requirements document for the change of category from temporary to permanent residence, self-dated 1 July 2026, read in full including its annex of solvency categories; the Migraciones page for temporary residence under Ley 6984\/2022; the PDF of Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones published on the Migraciones site, Articles 54 and 55; the Departamento de Identificaciones de la Polic\u00eda Nacional pages on first issue of a c\u00e9dula to foreign residents and on Resoluci\u00f3n N\u00b0 717\/26; the Banco Central del Paraguay floating-market close for 31 August 2026; the published account-opening requirements of ueno bank, Ita\u00fa Paraguay and Sudameris Bank; and the public pricing pages of Paraguay Residencia, ParaguayProfis, Move Paraguay, Paraguay Sovereign and Paraguay Pathways. First-hand accounts are from the expat.com Paraguay forum, collected on 1 September 2026 and dated individually. The Polic\u00eda Nacional&#8217;s requirements PDF for the Registro de Extranjeros carnet did not respond in two attempts, Banco Continental&#8217;s help-centre article bodies did not render, and no primary text setting the former deposit at five thousand US dollars was found; the article says so where it matters.<\/em><\/p> <p><em>This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules, fees and thresholds change and depend on your nationality, residence, account and provider. For your situation, check current terms and consider a qualified adviser.<\/em><\/p><\/div><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How much does permanent residency in Paraguay cost in official fees?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"The Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones publishes the permanent residence fee, including change of category from temporary residence, as 25 jornales, which its own schedule prices at 2,926,925 guaran\u00edes in cash, about 495 dollars at the Banco Central del Paraguay closing rate of 5,912.90 for 31 August 2026. The same schedule is dated \\\"Vigente desde el 01\/07\/2026\\\" under Decreto N\u00b06225\/2026 and Resoluci\u00f3n DNM N\u00b0478\/2026, and prices card payment higher, at 2,991,317 by debit and 3,023,514 by credit. Adding the Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n at 234,154 guaran\u00edes and the c\u00e9dula at 8,500 brings the published state line items to about 3,169,579 guaran\u00edes, roughly 536 dollars. Apostilles, sworn translations and notarised copies are real costs and are not on any government tariff. All figures read 1 September 2026.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How much does the Paraguayan c\u00e9dula cost, and how long does it take?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"The Departamento de Identificaciones de la Polic\u00eda Nacional publishes the first issue of a c\u00e9dula to a foreign resident as \\\"Tarifa: Gs. 8.500.-\\\" with \\\"Tiempo de Entrega: 90 d\u00edas h\u00e1biles\\\", under Resoluci\u00f3n N\u00b0 717\/26 of the Comandancia de la Polic\u00eda Nacional, read on policianacional.gov.py on 1 September 2026. The card is valid for ten years for a permanent resident. The fee is small because it prices the card and not the file behind it: the same page requires the original Certificado de Radicaci\u00f3n Permanente, the Carnet del Registro de Extranjeros, an apostilled birth certificate, INTERPOL and home-country criminal records, and a certificado de vida y residencia.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Does Paraguay still require a 5,000 dollar bank deposit for residency?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"The requirements Migraciones publishes today do not contain one. We downloaded the official requirements document for the change of category from temporary to permanent residence, self-dated 1 July 2026, and read all six pages on 1 September 2026. Requirement 9 asks for \\\"acreditaci\u00f3n de solvencia econ\u00f3mica mediante documentaci\u00f3n id\u00f3nea, suficiente y comprobable\\\", assessed under twelve named categories in an annex, and the document contains no minimum sum in any currency, no reference to a bank deposit, and no occurrence of the words d\u00f3lares or banco. What replaces a threshold is a documentary test that differs by category: a work certificate, VAT filings, a pension certificate stating the amount received, a registered property title, shareholder records.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Do I need a lawyer to apply for Paraguayan residency?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Not on the published rules. The Migraciones requirements document for the change of category states \\\"El tr\u00e1mite es personal y presencial. El seguimiento del proceso puede realizarse de manera personal o a trav\u00e9s de un representante legal\\\", read 1 September 2026. Filing is personal and in person, and a legal representative is one permitted way to follow the file afterwards rather than a condition of starting it. The Polic\u00eda Nacional's c\u00e9dula rules similarly allow a third party, lawyers among them, to collect the finished card with a notarised power of attorney. Paying a professional to assemble a Spanish-language file across several institutions is a legitimate purchase; it is not a legal requirement.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"How long can I stay outside Paraguay without losing permanent residence?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Article 54 of Ley N\u00b0 6984\/2022 de Migraciones states that holders of permanent residence lose that status if they are absent from the national territory for more than three years without justifying the absence before the Direcci\u00f3n Nacional de Migraciones, read in the law PDF on the Migraciones site on 1 September 2026. Article 55 lists the same period among the grounds for cancelling residence, at more than three consecutive years for a permanent resident and more than one year for a temporary resident, and allows the period to be extended by resolution. The published test is an absence limit, not a minimum number of days per year, and someone who loses the status this way may recover it by proving the legal requirements again.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What does a relocation service charge on top of the state fee?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"On the five pricing pages we opened on 1 September 2026, published prices for a standard residency package ran from $1,450 at Paraguay Residencia to PYG 20,000,000 at Paraguay Pathways, about 3,382 dollars. Move Paraguay publishes $1,895, Paraguay Sovereign publishes $2,290 for its Remote Worker Premium package, and ParaguayProfis publishes EUR 1.298,- plus EUR 599,- for its c\u00e9dula add-on. Against the state's published line items of about 536 dollars that is roughly 2.7 to 6.3 times, but the two figures do not buy the same thing: the fee buys a decision, the package buys apostille coordination, sworn translations, notarised copies and the trips between offices. Only ParaguayProfis publishes the split, stating that \\\"the fees payable at 'migraciones' for the residence permit are about 450,- USD per person and are already included in the package price\\\".\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Can I open a Paraguayan bank account with the c\u00e9dula alone?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"At two of the banks whose published requirements we read on 1 September 2026, yes, for the entry-level account. ueno bank lists its caja de ahorro requirements as being 18 or over and holding a valid c\u00e9dula, and opens the account in its app after a video-selfie. Ita\u00fa Paraguay opens its Cuenta Light on a valid Paraguayan c\u00e9dula and a selfie, and caps it at three minimum wages a month, about 9,132,000 guaran\u00edes. Beyond that tier the answer changes: ueno's cuenta corriente asks for the last six proofs of income, Ita\u00fa's Cuenta Full asks for proof of income, and Sudameris asks for proof of income on the savings account itself plus an initial deposit of 1,500,000 guaran\u00edes, 1,000 dollars or 3,000 euros. The evidence all three accept is generated inside Paraguay: IPS receipts, payslips, work certificates, VAT filings.\"}}]}<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraguay&#8217;s fee schedule prices permanent residency at 2,926,925 guaran\u00edes and the c\u00e9dula at 8,500. An agency package prices something else. Read 1 Sep 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","rank_math_title":"Paraguay Permanent Residency Cost: the State's Published Fee","rank_math_description":"Paraguay's fee schedule prices permanent residency at 2,926,925 guaran\u00edes and the c\u00e9dula at 8,500. An agency package prices something else. Read 1 Sep 2026.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"paraguay permanent residency cost","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nomads-expats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neobankfit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}