How to Choose a Paraguay Residency Service

Start with the government fees

These are public. Any quote you receive should be transparently separable into these plus everything else. Checked against the migration authority's published tables on 19 August 2026.

What a residency service can and cannot do

The migration authority states plainly that admitting documents does not presume approval, and that additional documentation may be requested depending on the case. No provider controls the outcome.

Twelve questions worth asking

1. Which route are you putting me on — general temporary, MERCOSUR, investor, or family? If they cannot name it, they have not assessed you.
2. Is the government fee included, and at what figure? Compare against the table above.
3. Are sworn translations included, or billed per page? This is often the largest hidden variable.
4. Is the cédula application included, or only the residency?
5. How many trips does this require, and how long is each?
6. Who accompanies me to the offices, and in what language?
7. What happens if the authority requests further documentation? Is that within scope or billed separately?
8. Do you track my conversion window — three months for the general route, ninety days for MERCOSUR — and how do you notify me?
9. What is your position on economic solvency under Resolución DNM 407/2026? A provider who has not read the 2026 resolution is working from last year's process.
10. What do you say about tax? If the answer is a flat "zero tax on foreign income" with nothing about the business income tax source rule, they are selling a headline. See IRP vs IRE.
11. Do you guarantee approval? If yes, that is a reason for caution, not comfort.
12. What is the refund position if it does not proceed? Get it in writing before paying.

Lawyer, agent, or yourself

The honest dividing line: if your case is ordinary, a service is a convenience purchase. If anything about your situation is unusual, pay for legal advice rather than administrative help — and be wary of a service that tells you an unusual case is routine.

Warning signs

• A guarantee of approval, or of a specific processing time stated as fact rather than estimate.
• A quote that will not itemise government fees.
• "Zero tax" with no mention of what it does not cover.
• A promise of citizenship or a passport on a timetable. Naturalisation runs under Article 148 of the Constitution and requires residence in the territory plus regular exercise of an occupation in the country.
• A specific economic-solvency income figure quoted as a published requirement — the migration authority has not published one.
• Pressure to decide quickly on a process with two-year timelines.

Where we stand

Our residency package is USD 1,600 and covers document validation, the temporary residency application, the cédula application, sworn certified translations, official pre-approval of documents, notarised power of attorney and copies, transfers to every office, and English-language assistance. Add-ons — priority processing, one-trip fast track, driver's licence, lease documentation, RUC, fiscal residency certificate, accounting — are billed once and only if you choose them. We also offer company formation and bank-account opening, and a DIY guide at USD 79 for people who would rather do it themselves.

Government fees are separate and are the figures at the top of this page, so you can do the subtraction. We publish them for the same reason we publish our safety methodology: a claim you can check is worth more than one you cannot.

Ask us the twelve questions. If the answers do not stand up, that is useful information too.