Documents Needed to Move to Paraguay: Country by Country

The Paraguayan requirement — identical for everyone

From the migration authority's published requirements for temporary residency under Ley N° 6984/2022:

Background certificates are required for applicants aged 14 and over. Minors are exempt from the solvency requirement and have separate rules depending on which parent is present.

The translation rule, which is the same everywhere and catches everyone

The migration authority accepts translation into Spanish by a public translator licensed in Paraguay, or by a foreign public translator authorised where they practise — and in the second case the translated version itself must be apostilled or legalised.

Translating at home is therefore not automatically simpler. It often adds a legalisation step rather than removing one. Full detail on the apostille page.

Country matrix

Here is where this page differs from most country-by-country guides: it is mostly empty, on purpose.

What to check for your own country, in the meantime

You can do this research yourself, and if you do, these are the six questions that determine everything:

1. Which authority issues your birth certificate, and can it send one to an address abroad?
2. Which criminal-record product does your country issue? Several countries issue more than one, for different purposes, and they are not interchangeable. Ask for the one intended for use abroad.
3. Is your country party to the Apostille Convention? If yes, which body issues the apostille. If no, you need consular legalisation through a Paraguayan consulate.
4. Is a paper original available? If your registry now issues only digitally signed PDFs, establish what Paraguay will accept before you rely on one.
5. How long does each take? The criminal record is usually the longest and it is the one that ages.
6. Does your nationality need a visa to enter Paraguay? If so, it must be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The sequence that avoids rework

1. Order the original certificate.
2. Legalise it — apostille or consular legalisation — on the original.
3. Translate into Spanish, ideally in Paraguay.
4. If translated abroad, legalise the translation as well.
5. Authenticate copies in Paraguay where the authority asks for original plus authenticated copy.

Translating before legalising is the most common and most expensive mistake in this process, because the apostille then certifies the wrong document and the chain has to be rebuilt.