Twenty-one months on a temporary card is what Paraguay normally asks of a foreigner before a permanent-residency application is even possible. The Paraguay Investor Pass waives that wait for anyone who can document a qualifying investment: $70,000 in a staffed business, $150,000 in tourism, or $200,000 in real estate or financial instruments. The rules sit in Resolución MIC N° 0283 of 21 April 2026, and they are tighter than the launch headlines suggested.
A house you live in yourself does not qualify. No file opens before you have physically entered Paraguay. Two of the four categories keep you reporting to the ministry long after the cédula is in your wallet. What follows covers each category, the sequence from SUACE to Migraciones, the documents and fees, the duties that follow, and the points the resolution leaves open, so you can price the route before any money leaves your account.
What the Paraguay Investor Pass Is: a Certificate That Opens Permanent Residency
Behind the brand name sits one document, the Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero (CIE). The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC) issues it through SUACE, its one-stop office for opening and closing businesses, and Migraciones accepts a direct permanent-residency application only once that certificate exists. The CIE goes to individuals, never to companies, and it has no use other than this residency filing.
The label came after the mechanism. Industry Minister Marco Riquelme and Migraciones director Jorge Kronawetter presented the "Paraguay Investor Pass" in Brazil on 17 April 2026, four days before the resolution that defines it was signed.
The legal basis for the investor route: Article 46 of Ley 6984/2022
The shortcut is written into the migration law itself. Article 46 of Ley 6984/2022 makes temporary residency the first stage as a rule, then exempts foreigners who prove an investment under Ley 4986/2013, the statute behind SUACE. Resolución MIC N° 0283/2026 spells out what that proof has to contain.
It repealed Resolución 1052 of 11 September 2025, which knew exactly one route: $70,000 and five jobs. The April text added three categories without a jobs requirement and tightened the definition of investment, so wages, rent and running costs no longer count. Applications still pending under the old rule are decided under whichever text treats the applicant better.
Who the Investor Route Is For, and Who Already Has a Direct Path
The program is aimed at foreigners without a family tie to Paraguay. Anyone married to a Paraguayan, or with a Paraguayan parent, already goes straight to permanent residency under Ley 2193/2003, and certain relatives of returning nationals have a similar path under Article 48 of the migration law. The Investor Pass is therefore not the only direct door. It is the only one an outsider can open.
Everyone else trades capital against time, retirees included. Since the 2022 law, a secure pension no longer buys an immediate permanent permit, so pensioners start on temporary status like nomads and founders do. Whether close to two years on temporary status or a six-figure commitment is the better deal comes down to what you would do with the money anyway, which is the question behind our comparison of the Investor Pass vs standard residency.
The Four Investment Categories of the Paraguay Investor Pass
The resolution recognizes four kinds of investment, each with its own floor and its own strings. Amounts are stated in US dollars or the guaraní equivalent at the official rate on the day you apply, so a price agreed in guaraníes just above a threshold can slide below it if the currency moves. The investment need not be complete: Article 1 accepts investments still en proceso de ejecución, as long as the economic commitment is documented.
| Category | Minimum | What it demands | Evidence for SUACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Productive (industry, trade, services) | $70,000 | Pre-approved business plan, at least 5 formal jobs, half-yearly reports | Business plan with investment table and timeline, proof of solvency |
| Tourism | $150,000 | Pre-approved business plan, half-yearly reports, no jobs requirement | Business plan, tourism-provider classification, proof of solvency |
| Real estate | $200,000 | Investment use only, never exclusively personal or family use | Registered deed, or notarized contract with at least 30% paid; documents no older than 180 days |
| Financial instruments | $200,000 | Held for at least 2 years, reported annually | Certificate from an entity licensed by the Superintendencia de Valores (BCP), no older than 180 days |
At the end-of-September 2026 rate of roughly PYG 5,870 per dollar, $70,000 comes to about PYG 411 million and $200,000 to about PYG 1.17 billion. Where several people invest in one project, each applicant has to reach the minimum alone. The text states this only for the productive category; whether a couple can share a single $200,000 investment property is not addressed at all.
Productive investment: a business plan and five formal jobs
The cheapest door carries the most work. You need a business plan approved in advance, with a CIIU activity code, a location (owned, rented, or a temporary office while you search), an investment table and a timeline, plus at least five formal jobs under Paraguayan labor law. Founding a company is optional: the resolution also accepts a stake in an existing business, provided you document the share transfer or the beneficial ownership.
Machinery, equipment, business vehicles, technology, operating furniture, building work and the company's own premises all count toward the $70,000. Salaries, rent, utilities and recurring administration do not. That line matters, because five jobs at the minimum wage of PYG 3,044,000 plus the employer's 16.5% IPS contribution cost about PYG 17.7 million a month, roughly $3,000, before the thirteenth-month aguinaldo.
No hiring deadline appears in the resolution. The MIC's business-plan guide caps the timeline at 24 months. Running the category through a new or an existing company is covered step by step in the Investor Pass with a company.
Tourism investment from $150,000 is not a passive route
For assets, infrastructure and services tied directly to tourism, the floor is $150,000. No jobs are required, which is where the "passive" label sometimes comes from, and the label is wrong. The category asks for a pre-approved business plan, a classification as a tourism provider by the competent authority, a timeline, proof of solvency and a progress report every six months. Wages and rent are excluded from the investment total here too.
Real estate from $200,000: an investment property, not a home
Among the three newer categories, real estate attracts the most interest and the most misreadings. The resolution wants $200,000 placed in acquiring, developing or using property in order to earn income, gain value or put it to productive use. Then comes the sentence that ends most home-buying plans: purchases for exclusively personal or family use do not count.
Two forms of evidence are accepted. One is a public deed already entered in the property registry. The other is a private purchase contract with notarized signatures on which at least 30% of the declared total has been paid, which is $60,000 on a $200,000 purchase and opens the door to buying off-plan.
Either way, the documents may be no older than 180 days on the day you file. The resolution asks for no valuation and sets no holding period. Mixed use, resale and timing are worked through in Paraguay residency through real estate.
Financial investment from $200,000 through a licensed entity
If you want neither a business nor a building, $200,000 can go into financial instruments instead. Any investment whose economic substance can be verified qualifies, provided the certificate comes from an entity licensed by the Superintendencia de Valores, the securities regulator inside the central bank (BCP). The position has to stay in place for at least two years and is reported once a year.
Press coverage so far mentions investment funds, corporate bonds and shares bought through Paraguayan brokerage houses. Bank deposits are a gray zone. Banks answer to a different supervisor, the Superintendencia de Bancos, and whether a fixed-term deposit with a suitable certificate is accepted has not been settled.
How the Investor Pass Application Runs, From Entry to Cédula
Officials like to call the procedure largely digital. Half of that holds. The first application already requires proof that you have entered Paraguay, and the cédula requires your fingerprints in person. Between those two points a gestor can carry much of the paperwork; the application form even has a field for one.
- ▹Entry and INTERPOL Paraguay. You enter the country and request a criminal-record certificate from INTERPOL Paraguay on site. The entry stamp, the entry slip or a Migraciones certificate of your border crossings serves as proof of entry.
- ▹Make or contract the investment. Depending on the category, that means the purchase contract, the licensed entity's certificate or the business plan, plus the documents listed in the next section.
- ▹CIE application at SUACE. You file an electronic form that carries the legal weight of a sworn declaration. The Dirección de Inversiones y Regímenes Especiales reviews the file and writes a technical report. With a complete file, SUACE issues the CIE within at most five business days; the clock stops while it asks for missing items, and incomplete files can be rejected.
- ▹Permanent residency at Migraciones. With the original CIE and a certified copy, you apply in the inversionista category, lodged through the SUACE window.
- ▹Cédula at the Policía Nacional. Fingerprints, photo and signature are taken in person at the Departamento de Identificaciones.
How long the Paraguay Investor Pass takes in practice
Only one deadline binds anyone: the five business days for the CIE. After that, as La Nación reported, everything hangs on Migraciones, and the resolution gives that office no deadline. Law firms and specialist portals estimate 20 to 90 business days after the CIE and three to nine months for the whole procedure. There are no official averages. Plan for the upper end, especially if your home-country documents still need apostilles.
Documents and Government Fees for the Investor Pass
The file is assembled twice, first for the CIE at SUACE and then for the residency at Migraciones. For the CIE, the resolution lists:
- ▹the application form, which counts as a sworn declaration
- ▹your passport or national ID, proof of entry and, where your nationality needs one, a visa
- ▹a national-level criminal-record certificate from your home country, apostilled or legalized; if you lived more than a year in another country during the last three years, that country's certificate and proof of residence there as well
- ▹a criminal-record certificate from INTERPOL Paraguay
- ▹a sworn declaration on the origin of the funds, checked against the rules of SEPRELAD, the anti-money-laundering secretariat
- ▹the evidence for your category
Migraciones then adds its own list. The SUACE information sheet for investors names an apostilled birth certificate and proof of civil status, the Policía Nacional's police clearance for foreigners, a certificado de vida y residencia from the local police station and a sworn declaration. Every applicant aged 14 or older needs police certificates, and copies are certified by a Paraguayan notary. That sheet dates from 2024 and 2025; no newer version was available when this guide was updated.
Watch the dates on everything. Evidence for real estate and financial instruments may be no older than 180 days, bank statements for the solvency proof cover the last three months, and asset valuations may be no older than six months. If you bought your investment property a while ago, clarify in advance which current registry document will be accepted.
Since 1 July 2026, Migraciones charges PYG 2,926,925 for permanent residency, plus PYG 234,154 for the certificado de radicación. Together that is PYG 3,161,079, about $539. The resolution sets no fee for the CIE, although we could not confirm that the certificate is expressly free. Apostilles, translations, notarizations and, for property, the purchase costs come on top.
Foreign documents need an apostille or consular legalization. The Spanish translation is then done in Paraguay by a Traductor Público, a sworn public translator registered there, so there is no need to hire a sworn translator in your home country. Documents in Portuguese issued by Brazil are exempt from translation.
Comparing the four categories? Our partner lawyer assesses which category your project fits, and we coordinate the SUACE and Migraciones files with you. See how we handle the Investor Pass.
Investor Obligations After the Cédula, and What Can Cost You the Status
The cédula ends the procedure, not your relationship with the ministry. SUACE reviews the certificates it has issued every month, keeps statistics and reports to Migraciones. What stays with you depends on the category:
- ▹Productive and tourism: progress reports every six months, measured against the timeline in your business plan
- ▹Financial instruments: hold the position for at least two years and report once a year
- ▹Real estate: the resolution names neither a holding period nor a reporting duty
The resolution is silent on what follows a breach. An older SUACE information sheet from the 1052 era says the MIC can pass breaches of the sworn declaration to Migraciones, which can then revoke the residency under Article 55 of Ley 6984/2022. Nothing says that selling the asset by itself costs you the status. Anyone planning an early sale or a reallocation should still have it checked before buying.
The absence rule applies to every permanent resident, whatever the category. More than three years abroad without a justified reason ends the status (Articles 54 and 55 of Ley 6984/2022). Since Resolución DNM 376/2026, Migraciones reconciles border crossings twice a year and cancels lapsed statuses by administrative decision. An extension of up to one year has to be requested before the limit, not after it. There is no minimum stay, and every entry restarts the count.
There is also the plain investment risk, which no residency card offsets. A business can miss its plan, a tourism project can underperform, an apartment can sit empty and a fund can fall. An asset that only makes sense because it comes with a residency permit is usually a poor asset, so judge each one on its own return first.
Open Questions for Investors: Family Members and DNM 407/2026
The CIE covers only the person who invests. Whether a spouse and children also become permanent residents directly is not regulated by the program. The migration law firm Fragomen writes that family members cannot be included and apply for their own temporary residency, which matches the statute: it exempts only investors and relatives of Paraguayan nationals from the temporary stage. Some providers claim otherwise without citing anything. Until this is clarified, plan for your family to take the standard route.
It is also unclear whether Resolución DNM 407/2026 reaches investors. Since 6 July 2026 it requires a solvency proof in one of twelve categories for new permanent-residency applications. Investors are not named, although property owners and company shareholders are. Whether Migraciones asks CIE holders for that proof as well could neither be confirmed nor ruled out when this guide was updated.
Smaller gaps concern single categories. The resolution does not say whether the five productive jobs must go to Paraguayan nationals, while a 2025 MIC guide does. Where personal use begins in a partly rented property is open, and so is whether a financed purchase counts. If any of these points touches your plan, get the answer in writing before you commit.
What the Paraguay Investor Pass Does Not Change About Your Taxes
At the launch, the MIC presented an 8% dividend rate as a tax benefit of the program. It is nothing of the kind. Under Article 43 of Ley 6380/2019, the dividend tax (IDU) is 8% for everyone who is tax-resident in Paraguay and 15% for non-residents, and Resolución MIC 0283 contains no tax rule whatsoever. A residency permit does not make you tax-resident either: that is governed by Paraguayan tax law, and the DNIT issues its own certificate, which requires among other things an active RUC with current filings.
The other rates also apply regardless of the program: 10% corporate income tax (IRE) on the net profit of a Paraguayan company, and 8% IRP-RGC on the capital income of individuals, rent from an investment property included. Work you physically perform in Paraguay is Paraguayan-source income even when the client sits abroad, and it falls under IRP (8 to 10%) or IRE (10%).
Only income that is genuinely foreign-source stays outside the net under the territorial principle. How your own structure is treated is a question for a tax adviser; on request, we introduce our partner tax advisers in Paraguay.
US citizens and green-card holders: an Investor Pass changes your immigration status, not your US tax position. The United States taxes worldwide income on the basis of citizenship, so Paraguayan rent, dividends and capital gains stay reportable to the IRS, and a Paraguayan holding can add FBAR and FATCA filings. Read our US citizens and Paraguay taxes guide and take US-qualified advice before you invest.
Naturalization in Paraguay: the Head Start That Permanent Status Brings
The constitution requires, among other things, at least three years of residence for naturalization (Article 148). The Poder Judicial counts those three years from the resolution with which Migraciones grants permanent residency, evidenced by the certificado de radicación. On the standard route that clock starts only after about two years of temporary residency, so roughly five years pass before an application is possible.
One conclusion follows that no authority has confirmed for investors specifically. Because the direct route leads straight to permanent admission, naturalization becomes possible about three years after that resolution at the earliest. The other requirements remain: legal age, a profession or business activity in Paraguay, good conduct and the Supreme Court's written exam. The whole procedure is set out in our guide to Paraguayan citizenship and naturalization.
How Many Investors Use the Investor Pass So Far
The first figures came from REDIEX, the investment and export vice-ministry within the MIC. From January to June 2026 it issued 140 investor certificates, with about $31 million in declared investment and 1,026 projected jobs, meaning jobs written into business plans rather than jobs already filled. Because the current resolution took effect only on 21 April, many of those cases still fell under the previous rule.
Just 18 of the 140 certificates went to the new categories: 15 real estate, 2 financial instruments and 1 tourism, according to Vice Minister Eduardo Gustale. The remaining 122 or so, about 87%, are productive. The arithmetic average of roughly $221,600 per certificate says little about a typical case, because a few large projects pull it up. Brazil leads by number of cases and Spain by capital, with Argentina, Switzerland and the United States completing the top five countries of origin.
Set against the more than 47,000 residency applications Migraciones recorded in 2025, the investor route remains a niche. The official projection for 2026 is around 80,000 applications across all categories.
How We Support Your Paraguay Investor Pass
We are a relocation and residency service, not a law firm and not an investment adviser. For the Investor Pass, our partner lawyer assesses which category fits your plan and your capital, while we coordinate the documents for SUACE and Migraciones and accompany you to the appointments within the agreed scope. You talk to us in English; our partners on the ground handle the Spanish side.
Paraguayan lawyers and the escribano take care of legal reviews, and partner tax advisers answer tax questions. Our fee covers the support, never the investment itself.
For the real-estate category we can run a property search with you; for the productive category we handle company formation or the stake in an existing business. The scope of our work is on the Investor Pass service page, with a price quoted on request according to category and effort. If you are still weighing the direct route against the two-stage one, the Paraguay permanent residency guide covers the standard two-stage route.
Frequently Asked Questions: the Paraguay Investor Pass in Practice
How long does the Paraguay Investor Pass take from investment to cédula?
Only the CIE has a fixed deadline: at most five business days after SUACE has a complete file. Migraciones is bound by no statutory deadline. Law firms quote three to nine months for the whole procedure, and no official averages exist. Add the time it takes to obtain and apostille your home-country documents.
Can a company apply for the Paraguay Investor Pass?
No. The Constancia de Inversionista Extranjero is issued only to individuals and serves only the permanent-residency application. In the productive category, though, the investment can run through a new company or an existing one in which you hold a stake. You still apply as a person.
Does the Investor Pass investment have to be fully paid before applying?
Not necessarily. The resolution accepts investments still being carried out when the economic commitment is documented. For real estate, a notarized purchase contract with at least 30% paid is enough, which is $60,000 on $200,000. Whether a mere reservation agreement with a developer qualifies has not been settled.
Do bank deposits count as financial instruments for the Paraguay Investor Pass?
Not automatically, going by the wording. The certificate must come from an entity licensed by the central bank's Superintendencia de Valores, while banks answer to the Superintendencia de Bancos. Whether a fixed-term deposit with a suitable certificate is accepted remains open.
What are the government fees for permanent residency through the Investor Pass?
Since 1 July 2026, Migraciones charges PYG 2,926,925 for permanent residency and PYG 234,154 for the certificado de radicación, PYG 3,161,079 in total, about $539. The resolution sets no fee for the CIE. Apostilles, translations, notarizations and the investment itself come on top.
Can permanent residency from the Paraguay Investor Pass be lost?
Yes, mainly for two reasons. More than three years abroad without a justified reason ends the status under Articles 54 and 55 of Ley 6984/2022. The MIC can also report a breach of the sworn declaration to Migraciones, which then decides on revocation. The resolution contains no explicit ban on selling an investment property.
When can an Investor Pass holder apply for Paraguayan citizenship?
According to the Poder Judicial, the three years of residence run from the resolution granting permanent residency. Through the Investor Pass that clock starts without a temporary stage, so naturalization would be possible about three years after that resolution at the earliest. No authority has confirmed this for investors; it follows from the general rules.
Which Investor Pass category matches your capital and your plans? Book a free intro call to hear how our Investor Pass support works; the legal assessment of your project stays with our partner lawyer.
Legal basis and disclaimer: This guide reflects the position in October 2026 and is general information, not individual legal, tax or investment advice. It rests on Resolución MIC 0283/2026, the migration law Ley 6984/2022 and the published information sheets of SUACE and Migraciones; amounts, evidence rules and fees can change at any time. Investments carry the risk of loss, and only the authorities decide on the certificate and the residency. Confirm the current requirements with Migraciones or a qualified adviser before you commit capital.
About the author
Yannick Schroth
Founder · Paraguay relocation support
Spends regular time in Paraguay and, with his team on the ground in Asunción, guides international nomads, entrepreneurs and investors through residency, the cédula and the RUC paperwork.
Note: this article reflects the position at the time of publication. Laws, prices and deadlines can change, so individual details may since be out of date. Check the current rules before you act on them: we answer questions about residency and our services, while the tax treatment of your own case belongs with a qualified tax adviser.
