Background Checks for Paraguay Residency: Police, INTERPOL and Home-Country Records

The three background check certificates

Article 50 of Ley N° 6984/2022 sets the documents for temporary residency, and the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) publishes the same set on its temporary-residency page. The table sets out who issues each certificate and what the DNM asks for.

For each certificate the DNM asks for the original plus one authenticated copy. Applicants under 14 do not have to present criminal, judicial or police certificates. Resolución DNM N° 858/2024 goes further for adolescents: where the country of origin, or a country of residence in the last three years, does not issue these certificates to minors, a document proving that fact is accepted in their place.

The Paraguayan certificates are needed again later. The DNM's list for moving from temporary to permanent residency by change of category asks for a fresh INTERPOL certificate and a fresh Policía Nacional certificate for foreigners, each from age 14.

Which foreign record: origin or last residence

The DNM's wording turns on where you have lived, and your passport alone does not settle it. If you have lived in a country other than your country of origin for more than one year in the last three years, the DNM asks for the criminal record of that country of residence, legalised or apostilled, together with a document proving that residence. The certificate must come from an authority with national or federal scope. A certificate from a city police station or a single state will not do where a national one exists.

For a British citizen who has spent the last four years in Portugal, the record the DNM is asking about is Portugal's, and the file must also prove the Portuguese residence. Someone who has moved between several countries should work through this question before ordering anything. If it is unclear which country's record applies, take advice before you pay for certificates.

The INTERPOL certificate in Asunción

The certificate is issued by the Departamento de INTERPOL of the Policía Nacional, the National Central Bureau in Asunción. Its own service page lists the requirements:

• the application form supplied by OCN Asunción, in original;
• your identity document from your country of origin (passport, national ID card or DNI), authenticated by a Paraguayan notary;
• two original 3×4 photographs on a white background;
• a simple copy of your Paraguayan cédula, if you have one;
• a copy of your temporary or permanent residence card, where applicable.

For minors, the page adds a request note signed by the parent, on a form supplied by the office. The parents must attend in person with a simple copy of their identity document. If someone else handles the application for you, they need a written authorisation from you.

The fee is set as one jornal mínimo vigente, the legal minimum daily wage in force at the time, and is payable in cash only. That makes the amount a moving target. The OCN's page still showed ₲107,627 when we read it. The state news agency reported ₲111,502 in April 2026. Since 1 July 2026 the jornal mínimo for unspecified activities has been ₲117,077 under Resolución MTESS N° 670/2026. If the formula is applied as published, ₲117,077 is the current fee, but we have not seen INTERPOL confirm that it has updated. Bring cash and expect the fee to match the jornal in force on the day.

The Policía Nacional reports that issue takes about 24 to 48 hours. The DNM also runs MigraMóvil sessions, where applicants can obtain the Policía Nacional certificates, both the Informática and the INTERPOL one, at the same venue as the residency filing.

The Policía Nacional certificate for foreigners

This certificate is separate from the INTERPOL one. It is issued by the Departamento de Informática of the Policía Nacional, and the DNM names it specifically, so you cannot substitute the ordinary Paraguayan police certificate that citizens obtain from the Departamento de Identificaciones.

How long each certificate stays valid

The DNM requires foreign documents to be vigentes, meaning current, but on the pages we have read it publishes no maximum age in days for any of the three certificates.

Apostille and sworn translation

Only the foreign record goes through the legalisation chain. The sequence the DNM's rules produce is set out in full on our apostille page. In short:

1. Order the original from the issuing authority. Where more than one version exists, ask for the one intended for use abroad.
2. Have the original apostilled, or consularly legalised if the issuing state is not party to the Apostille Convention.
3. Have it translated into Spanish by a traductor público matriculado in Paraguay. Alternatively, use a foreign public translator, but then the translation itself must also be apostilled or legalised.

A certificate issued in Spanish, such as Spain's, does not need translating. It still needs its apostille. The full document checklist covers the rest of the file.

Getting the home-country record: five countries

The table names the document, the issuer and the official route. Fees appear only where we read them on the issuer's own site. Rules at the issuing end change, so check the official site before you order.

Two points apply to every country. First, each issuer's processing time is its own and is outside Paraguay's control, so start with this document. Second, an exemption from the apostille that your country grants for use elsewhere, for example between EU member states, does not carry over to Paraguay. Paraguay's rule is that the document is apostilled or legalised.

If you have a record

Articles 50 and 52 of Ley N° 6984/2022 give the DNM power to refuse temporary and permanent residency to anyone prosecuted or convicted of hechos punibles de carácter doloso, intentional offences, where Paraguayan law would impose more than two years' imprisonment. The same applies to anyone with a record of repeated offending. Three features of that wording matter:

• It is discretionary. The law says podrá denegar, meaning "may refuse". A conviction does not trigger an automatic refusal.
• The seriousness test is Paraguayan. What counts is the penalty the conduct would carry under Paraguay's own law. The sentence you actually received abroad does not decide it.
• Negligent offences sit outside the wording. The clause refers to intentional offences. A negligence-based conviction is therefore not caught by its terms, although it still appears on the certificate you file.

Separately, Article 39 bars entry to anyone who is the subject of an international arrest warrant, or of an alert issued by the DNM or another competent authority.

The Paraguay residency criminal record check, in one place

The Paraguay residency criminal record check is three certificates, not one: your home country's criminal record from the age of 14, an INTERPOL certificate, and a Policía Nacional certificate issued in Paraguay. The first needs an apostille and a Spanish translation; the last two are obtained here. A record does not automatically disqualify you, but concealing one does more damage than disclosing it.

What we would actually do

1. Settle which country's record applies using the DNM's more-than-one-year-in-three rule, and gather proof of that residence at the same time.
2. Order the foreign record first, in the version for use abroad, with the apostille arranged at the point of ordering where the country allows it (Germany, Spain). Ask for paper where a digital certificate cannot be legalised (the Netherlands).
3. Translate it in Paraguay with a traductor público matriculado. This ends the chain in one step.
4. Get a notarised copy of your passport in Asunción on arrival. INTERPOL requires one.
5. Obtain the INTERPOL and Policía Nacional certificates last, a few days before filing, with cash for a fee pegged to the current jornal mínimo.
6. If anything shows on your record, take legal advice before filing. Do not wait for the migration authority to raise it.