Paraguay's Dirección Nacional de Migraciones takes its mobile office to Ciudad del Este from Monday 7 to Friday 11 September 2026, handing out 250 same-day appointment slots each morning at the Centro Cultural Mangoré. A second run follows in Pedro Juan Caballero from 21 to 25 September, at the Gobernación de Amambay. Neither accepts bookings in advance.
The program is called MigraMóvil, and its purpose is plain enough: bring residency paperwork to the border regions so that foreigners do not have to travel to Asunción to file it. Both editions run from 08:00 to 16:00.
The Turno System Decides Everything
Numbers go out from 07:30, are valid only for that day, and cannot be transferred. There is no online queue and no reservation. Show up, take a number, or come back tomorrow.
That detail matters more than the headline capacity. Turning up at the official 08:00 opening does not get you one of the 250 slots. At the March edition in the same venue, a group of mostly Brazilian applicants was waiting outside from 08:00 the previous Sunday, and organizers ended up opening the doors at 07:30 and honoring arrival order. Around 400 people were seen on that opening day alone.
Five days at 250 a day gives a ceiling of 1,250 appointments. Demand has repeatedly exceeded it. The February edition at the same venue put more than 800 foreigners into the residency system inside a week.
What You Can File There
The list runs wider than residency applications. Migraciones is processing:
- ▹Temporary residency, and extensions of it
- ▹Permanent residency
- ▹Renewal of the permanent residency card
- ▹Replacement of a lost temporary or permanent card
- ▹Certificado de radicación
- ▹Extension of permanence
- ▹Spontaneous or occasional residence
- ▹Certification of migration movements
- ▹Cancellation of a residency application, or of a granted temporary or permanent residency
The National Police attend alongside, with their informatics and Interpol departments issuing the two background certificates that most residency files need, for anyone aged 14 or over. Having the police and Migraciones in the same room is the part that saves the trip.
One caveat on that convenience: the Departamento de Informática certificate is issued on the spot, but the Interpol one is not handed over the same day. Plan for it rather than assuming you leave with a complete set.
What It Costs
Fees rose on 1 July 2026 under Decree No. 6225/2026 and DNM Resolution No. 478/2026, and the odd-looking numbers are not arbitrary at all. Every one of them is a whole multiple of the jornal mínimo, the daily minimum wage, which is the monthly minimum of ₲3,044,000 divided by 26 working days: ₲117,077. We covered that wage adjustment when it landed.
Do the division and the schedule turns out to be a clean price list in days of work.
| Procedure | Jornales | Fee (cash) | Approx. USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporary residency, general regime | 25 | ₲2,926,925 | $490 |
| Permanent residency | 25 | ₲2,926,925 | $490 |
| Temporary residency, MERCOSUR | 20 | ₲2,341,540 | $390 |
| Extension of temporary residency | 11 | ₲1,287,847 | $215 |
| Spontaneous or occasional residence | 8 | ₲936,616 | $156 |
| Replacement of a resident card | 5 | ₲585,385 | $98 |
| Renewal of a permanent card | 4 | ₲468,308 | $78 |
| Certificado de radicación | 2 | ₲234,154 | $39 |
That structure is worth knowing because it tells you when the next increase lands: not when Migraciones decides, but whenever the minimum wage is raised. Dollar figures use ₲6,000, the central bank survey median for August. The MERCOSUR rate is the cheaper of the two, and it is open to nationals of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Everyone else pays the general regime fee.
Why the Queues Are This Long
Residency demand in Paraguay has climbed steeply, and the office network has not grown at the same pace.
Migraciones received 47,687 residency applications in 2025, up 63% on 2024, and granted 40,600, up 42%. The first twenty days of 2026 brought another 2,817 applications, 79% ahead of the same stretch a year earlier. We reported those record figures when the directorate published them.
Brazilians account for most of the volume. They took 23,526 of the residencies granted in 2025, roughly 58% of the total, which is why a city facing Foz do Iguaçu draws the crowds it does. Argentina followed at 4,366.
The rest of the top ten is more mixed than the border traffic suggests: Germany at 1,652, Bolivia 1,357, Spain 1,023, Venezuela 847, the Netherlands 772, the United States 736, Russia 509 and France 472.
Speed Is the Other Draw
Cornelio Melgarejo, the directorate's regional chief, told reporters at the March edition that a file submitted through an ordinary office can take upwards of 90 days, while applicants who completed their requirements early in the MigraMóvil week were collecting documents by the Saturday.
Treat that as what it is: an official describing a good week, not a guarantee. It holds only where the file is complete on the day, which is the strongest argument for arriving with every document in order rather than hoping to close gaps at the desk.
What This Means If You Are Moving Here
For most readers, not much directly. If you are relocating from Europe or North America and will settle in Asunción, you will file in Asunción, and a five-day operation on the Brazilian border is not your route. Our cédula and residency guide covers the standard process.
Two things are still worth taking from it.
The first is that Ciudad del Este works as a base for people who want the commercial side of Paraguay rather than the capital, and Migraciones now serves it several times a year. Our guide to the city sets out what living there involves.
The second is a reading of capacity. A directorate that runs mobile operations because its offices cannot absorb demand is a directorate under strain, and strain shows up as processing time. Build slack into your timeline, particularly if you are counting on permanent residency by a specific date.
One reminder gets lost in the queue photographs. A residency card is not a tax status. Paraguay's tax system is territorial, and the 0% treatment of foreign income rests on genuine tax residency, which is a separate question from the document Migraciones hands you. Our explainer on immigration versus tax residency draws that line.
US citizens and green-card holders: none of this shifts your position with the IRS. The United States taxes worldwide income on the basis of citizenship, so a Paraguayan cédula, however fast you obtain it, leaves your US filing obligations exactly where they were. Our guide for US persons sets out what applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I book a MigraMóvil appointment online?
No. Turnos are handed out in person from 07:30 on the day, are valid only for that day, and cannot be transferred. Migraciones issues nothing in advance, so arriving at the official 08:00 opening does not secure a place among the 250 daily slots.
Do I have to be a MERCOSUR national to use it?
No. The MERCOSUR residency route and its lower fee are limited to nationals of the member and associated states, but the general regime procedures sit on the same list and any nationality can file them. The difference is the fee, ₲2,926,925 against ₲2,341,540.
When is the next MigraMóvil after Ciudad del Este?
Pedro Juan Caballero, in Amambay, from 21 to 25 September 2026 at the departmental government building, on the same terms: 250 slots a day, distributed from 07:30, service from 08:00 to 16:00.
Not sure your file would survive a one-shot appointment? Walking the document list before you join a queue costs an hour and saves a wasted week. Get in touch.
Disclaimer: This is reporting on an announced government operation, not legal or immigration advice. Dates, venues, slot numbers and fees are set by Migraciones and can change without notice. Confirm current requirements with the directorate before travelling to an operation.
Sources
- ▹Migraciones: Septiembre llega con nuevas fechas del MIGRAMÓVIL en Ciudad del Este y Pedro Juan Caballero
- ▹Migraciones: Aranceles migratorios vigentes
- ▹Migraciones: Residencias en Paraguay, 2025 cierra con cifras históricas
- ▹Prensa Mercosur: MigraMóvil llega a Ciudad del Este con 1.250 turnos
- ▹Prensa Mercosur: Masiva concurrencia en la segunda edición del Migramóvil en el salón Mangoré
- ▹Paraguay TV: Migramóvil, más de 800 extranjeros tramitaron su residencia
About the author
Yannick Schroth
Founder · Paraguay relocation advisor
Lives in Asunción and guides international nomads, entrepreneurs and investors toward residency, a cédula and a tax-efficient structure in Paraguay.
