Short answer: Paraguay has two residencies that matter and one for the transition. Precarious residency lasts 90 days and is the status you hold while the DNM decides on your application. Temporary residency lasts up to two years, comes with a cédula and lets you live, work and bank like any resident; since Law 6984/2022 it is mandatory before permanent unless you invest or have Paraguayan family. Permanent residency is indefinite, with a ten-year cédula, tolerates absences of up to three years and starts the citizenship clock. What changed in July 2026 is the conversion: DNM Resolution 407/2026 requires proof of real income and activity, in twelve categories with their paperwork. Here are the differences with article and figure, and at the end which one fits your case.
The categories the law recognises
Article 44 of Law 6984/2022 on Migration defines residency as the DNM’s authorisation to settle in the country, in three sub-categories: spontaneous or occasional, temporary and permanent. Spontaneous residency (article 45) is for one-off activities, lasts up to 90 days extendable once a year and, note, is neither a prerequisite for nor counts towards temporary residency; someone entering as a tourist does not need it either. On top of that sits a status that is not residency but works like one: the precarious resident of article 57.
The previous law, 978/1996, allowed applying for permanent residency directly with a bank deposit of around $5,000. That deposit no longer exists (Law 6984/2022, promulgated on 17 October 2022, repeals the old law in its article 107) and direct permanent residency is now reserved for investors and family members. If you read “permanent residency in 90 days” with no mention of an investment, you are reading the old law.
Precarious residency: the 90 days of the application
When you file for temporary residency in Asunción, the DNM hands you a precarious residency card (article 57): granted once, valid for 90 calendar days, and it entitles you to remain, leave and re-enter, work and study while the file is processed. It creates no right to approval and is revoked if the grounds for it disappear.
In practice it is what lets you fly home four days after filing without losing anything. If processing runs past 90 days, the DNM can extend the precarious status case by case. What you should not count on it for is opening a bank account: most banks want the cédula.
Temporary residency: two years that are no longer a waiting room
Article 46 defines it: an authorisation for a set period to a foreigner entering with the intention of settling to carry out a lawful activity. It is granted for up to two years, extendable for the same period, and is a prerequisite for permanent residency. The requirements are in article 50 and detailed in requirements, fees and timelines: passport, proof of entry, apostilled birth and civil-status certificates, police clearance from the country of origin or of residence over the last three years, Interpol and Paraguayan National Police clearances, two sworn declarations (respect for the Constitution; activity and address) and the fee, Gs. 2,926,925 since 1 July 2026.
With approval you receive the temporary resident card (article 58) and, with it, the Paraguayan cédula, issued by the National Police Identification Department with the same validity as the residency (articles 62 and 63). From there: RUC at the DNIT, bank account, driving licence, a lease in your name. A temporary resident lives exactly like a permanent one.
Two things set it apart. First, absence: temporary residency is cancelled if you are out of the country for more than one continuous year without DNM authorisation (article 55.2). Second, it is a stage with an expiry date: miss the permanent application window and there is a fine, an extension, and a longer clock.
And a warning that carries more weight in 2026 than before: temporary residency is not a stage you sit through like a waiting room. What you do in those two years (whether you hold a RUC, whether you get paid, whether you keep contracts and statements) is what you will have to show for permanent residency.
Permanent residency: the real one
Article 47 defines it as the authorisation to reside indefinitely, granted to a foreigner who intends to settle for good and has completed the temporary residency period. The permanent resident card renews every ten years (article 59) and the cédula carries the same validity; with permanent residency the cédula replaces the card as your ID (article 62).
It is lost after an unjustified absence of more than three years (article 54), a period the DNM can extend by resolution in cases set by regulation, and it can be recovered by proving the requirements again. This is the rule the Investor Pass summarises as “one day every three years”, and it is the same for any permanent resident.
It is also the residency that counts for citizenship: article 148 of the Constitution requires three years of settled residence, and the Supreme Court counts them from permanent residency. And the one that makes the tax residency certificate at the DNIT straightforward, although General Resolution 65/2020 also accepts a valid temporary cédula.
Converting temporary into permanent
The step almost nobody plans and the one that changed most in 2026. The window is narrow: the DNM accepts the change of category within the three months before the temporary card expires. Once the card has expired, there is one more month paying the overstay fine (Gs. 702,462). After that month, only an extension of the temporary residency of up to six months, also with a fine, and more waiting.
The documents are those of article 52: passport, temporary card, cédula, proof of any change of civil status or profession, Paraguayan clearances (Identification, Police IT department, judicial) and Interpol, the Gs. 2,926,925 fee and, since 6 July 2026, proof of economic solvency under DNM Resolution 407/2026.
That resolution sets twelve categories: professional, technician, employee, self-employed (commerce or services), remote worker or digital nomad, property owner, shareholder or partner, farmer or rancher, religious minister, retiree or pensioner, dependent and student. And it changes the underlying test: solvency is no longer shown with a degree or a bank balance, but with effective activity and verifiable income, consistent with what you declared on entry. Examples of what it asks for:
- Remote worker or digital nomad: a contract or certification from the employer or client establishing the relationship, the income and the means of payment, plus proof of the payments received; foreign documents apostilled and translated. No RUC and no Paraguayan company required.
- Self-employed: an active RUC and the last three VAT returns or the latest income tax return, with a tax-compliance certificate. The RUC needs to have been running for months for those returns to exist.
- Professional: a registered degree plus proof of paid activity (social security record, registered contract or recent tax returns). The degree alone no longer works.
- Property owner: title registered at the Public Registry and, if the DNM asks, proof that the property produces income.
- Shareholder or partner: registered corporate documents proving the stake.
- Retiree: pension certificate stating amount and means of payment, apostilled.
There is no universal income threshold. There is a demand for coherence: what you show at month 21 has to match what you said at month zero. For a founder with an LLC that means one concrete thing: a services agreement between you and your LLC, or between the LLC and its clients, and statements of the payments, kept from the start.
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.
Who skips the temporary stage
Article 46 itself exempts from temporary residency anyone who proves investments under Law 4986/2013 (SUACE); that is the door for both the classic SUACE route and the 2026 Investor Pass. Article 48 grants direct permanent residency to the spouse, children and grandchildren (under 18) of repatriated Paraguayans, and the DNM processes as direct permanent residency children and spouses of Paraguayans and nationals of Mercosur countries under the residency agreement. Article 52.9 sets the investor’s proof: company incorporation, investment documents or a project approved by the competent bodies.
For someone with no family link, the only real exception is investing. And the right question is not “how much does skipping the temporary stage cost” but “what would I do with that money in Paraguay anyway”. If the answer is “nothing”, temporary residency is cheaper and reaches the same place two years later.
Which one you need
Temporary, then permanent if your income comes from abroad (an LLC, international clients, dividends), you have no local project and you can prepare the remote-worker solvency file from the start. It is the route for most of my clients.
Investor Pass if you have liquidity, a real economic use for it (an office or a unit to rent out, a two-year portfolio of financial instruments, a tourism project) and want a ten-year cédula without the conversion stage. Details and traps in Paraguay Investor Pass and investing in Paraguay.
SUACE if you are building a company with five genuine formal employees; then residency is a side effect of the business, not the other way round. Covered in a company in Paraguay.
Whichever you pick, remember what this whole hub repeats: migratory residency is the easy piece. Whether your current country stops treating you as tax resident depends on where you live, and for anyone leaving Spain that is now arbitrated by a treaty. See Paraguay residency from Spain and tax residency for founders.
In short
- Precarious (90 days, while processed), temporary (2 years, with cédula) and permanent (indefinite, 10-year cédula).
- Temporary is mandatory except through investment or a family link; the $5,000 deposit vanished in 2022.
- Cancelled after absences over 1 year (temporary) or 3 years (permanent).
- Conversion is requested between month 21 and 24 and, since 6 July 2026, requires real income in one of twelve categories.
- The remote worker with an LLC has a category of their own: contract and payments, apostilled.
Explore the full guide
Frequently asked questions
Does temporary residency let me work and open a bank account?
Yes. The precarious residency card already allows you to work and study, and with the temporary resident cédula you open a bank account, obtain a RUC and a driving licence. In day-to-day terms a temporary resident lives exactly like a permanent one; the differences are duration, tolerated absences and the conversion.
Can I apply for permanent residency before the two years are up?
The law requires you to have completed the temporary residency period (article 47) and the DNM opens the conversion window in the three months before the card expires, so from month 21. Earlier access to permanent residency is limited to investors (SUACE and the Investor Pass), family of Paraguayans and Mercosur nationals.
What if my temporary residency expires before I apply for permanent?
You get one month of grace paying the overstay fine (Gs. 702,462 since July 2026). After that month the only option is an extension of the temporary residency of up to six months, also with a fine, and the permanent clock stretches. It is the most expensive and most common mistake among people living between two countries.
How long do I have to spend in Paraguay during temporary residency?
The law sets only a negative limit: residency is cancelled if you are absent for more than one continuous year without DNM authorisation (article 55). There is no minimum day count. But since July 2026 conversion to permanent requires proof of real activity and income, and citizenship requires genuine ties. Being away eleven months out of twelve complies with the law and wrecks everything else.
Is permanent residency for life?
It is indefinite, but the card renews every ten years together with the cédula, and it is lost after an unjustified absence of more than three continuous years. The Investor Pass phrases this as "one entry of at least one day every three years". Lost through absence, it can be recovered by meeting the requirements again.
Does temporary residency count towards citizenship?
In practice, no. The Constitution asks for three years of settled residence and the Supreme Court counts them from permanent residency. That is why the standard path to citizenship is five or six years from arrival and the investment path about four.