Short answer: the Paraguay Investor Pass is the direct permanent residency by investment that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce created with Resolution MIC 283/2026, running since April 2026. Four tracks: productive investment from $70,000 (business plan and five formal jobs), an approved tourism project from $150,000, and $200,000 in income-producing real estate or in financial instruments held for at least two years. It grants permanent residency without the two-year temporary stage, with a ten-year cédula, and the Foreign Investor Certificate issues in five working days. It is the best route if you were going to invest in Paraguay anyway, and an expensive one if all you wanted was the cédula. Here are the tracks, the procedure and the numbers against temporary residency.
What the Investor Pass is and where it comes from
Law 6984/2022 requires a two-year temporary residency before permanent, but its article 46 exempts anyone who proves investments under Law 4986/2013, the law that created SUACE (the one-stop shop for opening and closing businesses). For years that exemption meant a single formula: about $70,000 over ten years in tangible assets of a Paraguayan company plus five jobs. That “classic SUACE” route still exists.
The Investor Pass is the regulation of that exemption for three investor types who did not fit before: the one buying a property to rent out, the one placing capital in financial instruments, and the one funding a tourism project. The MIC approved it through Resolution 283/2026 and SUACE itself processes it, issuing the Foreign Investor Certificate (CIE) within a maximum of five working days once the file is complete. With the CIE, the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones grants permanent residency under article 52.9, with no temporary stage.
It is a young programme. The resolution dates from 2026 and approval criteria are still settling in practice. Everything below is what the rule says and what we see in files; we confirm current amounts and categories before anything is started.
The four tracks
Productive investment: $70,000. An approved business plan creating at least five formal jobs, executed through SUACE. It is the old SUACE with a new name. It suits someone setting up a company with activity and staff in Paraguay: a small factory, a services company with employees, a farm. The assets remain yours, but the five-jobs requirement is real and monitored.
Tourism project: $150,000. An approved project showing benefit to the sector: accommodation, rural tourism, hospitality with lodging. The tourism authority takes part in the approval. It is the track with the fewest files and the most discretion.
Real estate: $200,000. A property used for an economic activity: offices, retail premises, a rental unit, a warehouse. The resolution excludes personal or family use, so the house you will live in does not count. It is the track people ask about most and misread most: it is not a European-style real-estate golden visa. It is an investment that has to produce income, with a lease and that income declared under the Paraguayan IRP. Where to buy and what yields are realistic is in investing in Paraguay.
Financial instruments: $200,000. Deposits, bonds, funds or securities inside the Paraguayan financial system, held for at least two years with an annual report. It is the most passive track and the least binding: no employees, no property, just holding the position. The trade-off is that the capital sits in guaraníes or dollars inside the Paraguayan system for that time, with the return and the risk that implies.
Minimums are expressed in dollars or their guaraní equivalent at the official rate on the filing date, and every track requires proof of the lawful origin of funds with a sworn statement and banking documents. Minimums are per investor: two spouses cannot pool investments to reach the threshold.
What you get and what it binds you to
You get direct permanent residency: a card renewable every ten years (article 59) and a ten-year Paraguayan cédula. With it, everything any permanent residency gives: RUC, bank account, hiring, buying, and the start of the three-year settlement clock towards citizenship (article 148 of the Constitution).
To keep it, the rule is the general one in article 54 of Law 6984/2022: no absence from the country of more than three continuous years without justification, which the brochures translate as “one entry of at least one day every three years”. Plus the programme-specific rule: maintain the investment through the monitoring period (two years minimum on the financial track, the approved plan on the others) and report when the MIC asks. Selling the property or withdrawing the funds after six months is the fastest way to have the residency cancelled.
What you do not get: automatic tax residency in Paraguay or, above all, an automatic exit from your current tax residency. I repeat it on every page of this hub because it is mistake number one. A ten-year cédula is a right to live here, not proof that you live here. See Paraguay residency from Spain or tax residency for founders.
The procedure, step by step
- Investment design. Choose the track, the vehicle (personally or through a Paraguayan company) and the asset. On the real-estate track, identify the property and check title, encumbrances and use; on the financial track, the institution and the instrument; on the productive track, draft the business plan with the five jobs.
- SUACE file. Form, apostilled personal documents (the same as any residency: birth, civil status, clearances), proof of the investment (registered deed, deposit or portfolio certificate, approved plan) and proof of source of funds.
- Foreign Investor Certificate. SUACE assesses, may ask for clarifications, and issues the CIE within five working days of the file being complete. “Complete” is where the weeks go.
- Permanent residency at the DNM. With the CIE and the article 52 documents (including the Interpol and National Police clearances, issued in Asunción), the DNM decides on permanent residency. Fee: Gs. 2,926,925 (about $475) since 1 July 2026.
- Cédula. Certificate of settlement and processing at the Identification Department, in person. Ten-year cédula.
- Monitoring. Annual report on the financial track; maintenance of the investment and the plan on the others.
Start to finish, a well-prepared file takes three to six months to the cédula, most of it in steps 1 and 2. At least one trip to file and another for the cédula, unless it is all organised within a longer stay.
Not sure how this applies to your case?
Eleven questions and we tell you whether the LLC fits, and if it does not, that too.
Investor Pass or temporary residency: the numbers
Take the most common case, a founder with an LLC who wants Paraguayan residency and has $200,000 available:
| Temporary → permanent | Investor Pass (real estate or financial) | |
|---|---|---|
| Capital tied up | 0 | $200,000 for at least 2 years |
| Cost of the process (fees + professional fees) | $2,500–4,000 | $4,000–8,000 plus the costs of the investment |
| Cédula | 2 years, then 10 | 10 years from the start |
| Conversion with proof of income (Res. 407/2026) | Yes, at month 21 | No |
| Citizenship clock | Starts in year 2 | Starts at month 3–6 |
| Tolerated absence | 1 year during temporary | 3 years |
| Return on the capital | Whatever it earned abroad | The property’s (6–9% gross in Asunción) or the instrument’s, taxed in Paraguay |
The real difference is not the process, which costs a few thousand dollars more: it is whether you had a destination for the $200,000. If you were going to buy a rental flat in Asunción or park liquidity for two years, the Investor Pass hands you permanent residency and two years of clock for free. If that money sat in a global portfolio at 7% and you bring it to Paraguay only for the cédula, you are paying the opportunity cost of a residency the temporary route would give you for $3,000.
How it fits a US LLC and your exit
With the LLC, well. The LLC remains the company and USD-banking flag; the Investor Pass gives you the residency flag without the temporary stage. And the income from the property or the financial instruments is Paraguayan-source, so it is taxed here: rental income under the IRP on capital income at 8% (plus the 5% VAT on property rentals), local interest and dividends also at 8%. It is a low, predictable tax, but it is not zero, and it belongs in the spreadsheet. What the LLC earns abroad still escapes Paraguayan tax if the work is performed abroad, as explained in tax residency in Paraguay.
With your current country, the usual point plus one more. The usual one: the Investor Pass does not end your tax residency at home; moving does. For anyone leaving Spain, since 14 October 2024 that is arbitrated by article 4 of the treaty (permanent home, centre of vital interests). The extra one: an asset in Paraguay in the name of someone still tax resident elsewhere is reportable there (in Spain, form 720 above €50,000 and the wealth tax). The right order is to move, cease to be resident, and then consolidate the investment; or at least do both in the same tax year with the returns in order.
Who should not bother
- Anyone with no economic use for the capital in Paraguay who only wants the cédula: temporary residency reaches the same place at a fraction of the cost.
- Anyone who wants to buy the house they will live in: it does not count. Buy the house and apply for temporary, or buy a second property to rent out.
- Anyone planning to sell after six months: the investment is maintained and reported.
- Anyone who thinks a ten-year cédula replaces moving: it does not, for Paraguay or for home.
- Anyone who cannot evidence the source of funds with statements and tax returns: the file never leaves SUACE.
How we do it at Cheq
We design the track with our of-counsel legal partners in Asunción, review the asset (title, use, lease, or institution and instrument), prepare the SUACE file and the residency at the DNM, and coordinate everything with your LLC and your tax exit so the order is right. If the Investor Pass does not pay for you, we say so and take you down the temporary route.
In short
- Direct permanent residency by investment: $70,000 (productive, 5 jobs), $150,000 (tourism) or $200,000 (income-producing property, or financial instruments for 2 years).
- Investor certificate in 5 working days; ten-year cédula; one entry every 3 years and keep the investment.
- Your own home does not count; the investment’s income is taxed in Paraguay at 8%.
- Worth it if you were investing in Paraguay anyway; otherwise temporary costs $3,000.
- It does not end your tax residency at home: where you live does, and for Spain the treaty now arbitrates.
Explore the full guide
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a flat to live in and use it for the Investor Pass?
No. The real-estate track requires the property to be used for an economic activity (rental, offices, retail, productive use) and expressly excludes personal or family use. A flat you will live in does not count. A flat you rent out does, with a lease and declared income.
Do the $70,000 have to be paid upfront?
On the productive track, not necessarily: the SUACE logic admits an investment plan executed over several years, with the commitment to create at least five formal jobs. What is assessed is the approved plan and compliance with it. On the real-estate and financial tracks, the investment must be shown as made.
Does the Investor Pass include my family?
The resolution does not create a family group of its own; family comes in under the general migration rules: minor children accompany their parents' residency and a spouse is processed through the family link. Plan it from the start, because practice is still settling in 2026 and we confirm case by case.
How long must I keep the investment?
Financial instruments, at least two years with an annual report. On the other tracks you must maintain the investment and the plan during the monitoring period set by the MIC and evidence it on request. Selling the month after you get the cédula is the fastest way to lose the residency.
Does it give me Paraguayan citizenship?
It gives permanent residency, which is where the three-year settlement clock of article 148 of the Constitution starts. That is why it is the route that shortens the path to citizenship most: about four years in total against five or six via temporary residency. But naturalisation is decided by the Supreme Court and requires genuine ties.
Investor Pass or temporary residency?
It depends on whether you have a real economic use for the capital in Paraguay. If you do, the Investor Pass saves you the temporary stage, the conversion with proof of income and two years on the citizenship clock. If you do not, temporary residency costs about $3,000, ties up nothing and reaches the same place two years later.