The head of Paraguay's tax authority has put a number on something this site writes about constantly. On 10 August 2026, DNIT director Óscar Orué said the agency is receiving a significant volume of foreigners applying for fiscal residency, and that the count tripled last year against what the previous three years had produced. Brazilians lead by a wide margin.
Fiscal Residency Is a Second Step, Not the Same Thing
Orué described the sequence precisely, and it is worth quoting the mechanics because they are the single most misunderstood part of moving here. Migraciones has to authorize you first. Once it grants temporary residency, that document is what lets you apply to DNIT for fiscal residency.
Two different authorities, two different statuses, in a fixed order. The distinction is set out in our guide to immigration status versus tax residency, and Orué's description of the process is a useful confirmation from the authority that actually issues the second one.
The scale gap between them tells the real story. Migraciones director Jorge Kronawetter reported 33,243 residency applications in the first half of 2026, up 62% year on year, split into 27,024 temporary and 6,219 permanent. Brazilians accounted for 19,518, or 59% of the total. That follows a record 47,687 applications in 2025, itself up from about 29,000 in 2024, and Kronawetter expects another record this year.
Set against tens of thousands of immigration applications, a tripling of fiscal registrations is growth from a much smaller base. Most people who obtain residency in Paraguay never take the second step, whether by choice, because they do not need it, or because nobody told them the two are separate.
The Caveat the Tax Authority Itself Made
Orué did not stop at the good news, and the part he added is the part the marketing usually drops.
He noted that many foreigners settle in Paraguay for real-estate investment or for digital service activity, and that digital services carried out from Paraguay generate VAT and income tax.
Read that slowly if you are planning to work online from Asunción. Paraguay's advantage is territorial: it does not tax foreign-source income. It is the source of the income that matters, not the currency it arrives in or the nationality of the client, and work physically performed inside Paraguay can be Paraguayan-source. Our guides to how the 0% territorial rule actually works, online business taxation and economic substance walk through where that line sits.
Nothing here is a rule change. It is the tax authority's own director describing how the existing rule applies, which is a more reliable guide than a sales page.
Who Is Actually Arriving
The composition is not what an English-language reader might assume. Brazilians dominate and Argentinians come second, both driven substantially by proximity and by the contrast with their own tax systems.
Behind them sit what Migraciones calls the extra-continental applicants: Germany, Spain, Venezuela, the United States, the Netherlands, France, Bolivia and Russia. Most applicants are classified as entrepreneurs, a category that spans large-scale investors alongside people opening a shop or a restaurant, plus a student contingent.
What This Means If You Are Planning the Same Move
Three practical things follow.
First, get the order right. Residency comes before fiscal residency, and fiscal residency is what produces the tax residency certificate your home country may eventually ask to see. Our residency and cédula guide covers the first half and the timeline article covers how long each stage realistically takes.
Second, expect queues. Volumes at these levels press on the same offices and appointment slots you will be using, and the growth is still accelerating rather than levelling off.
Third, decide deliberately whether you need the tax step at all. If your plan genuinely depends on Paraguayan tax residency, register and document it properly. If you are relocating for other reasons, skipping it is a legitimate choice, but do not assume a cédula alone did the job.
US citizens and green-card holders: none of this changes your position. The United States taxes worldwide income on the basis of citizenship, so Paraguayan fiscal residency does not end your US filing obligation, however carefully you register it. Take advice from a US-qualified professional before assuming otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fiscal residency in Paraguay automatic once I have a cédula?
No. They are separate steps handled by separate authorities. Migraciones grants residency; DNIT grants fiscal residency, and you apply for it with your residency document. Holding a cédula alone does not register you as a Paraguayan tax resident.
Does working online from Paraguay stay untaxed?
Not necessarily. The DNIT director stated that digital services carried out from Paraguay generate VAT and income tax. The territorial rule exempts foreign-source income, and services performed inside the country can count as locally sourced, so the physical location of the work matters.
Why are Brazilians such a large share?
Proximity, a shared border and a sharp contrast with Brazil's own tax and compliance burden. Brazilians filed 19,518 of the 33,243 residency applications in the first half of 2026, about 59% of the total.
Not sure whether your setup actually needs the fiscal-residency step? It is a genuinely case-by-case question, and getting it wrong in either direction is expensive. Get in touch.
Disclaimer: This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Registration figures and administrative practice change. Confirm the current requirements with DNIT, Migraciones or a qualified adviser before acting.
Sources
- ▹Radio Monumental: DNIT triplicó registros de extranjeros en 2025
- ▹Última Hora: Migraciones proyecta nuevo récord anual de residencias tras 33.000 solicitudes en primer semestre
- ▹La Nación: Más de 33.200 extranjeros solicitaron residencia en el país en el primer semestre
- ▹ABC Color: Solicitudes de residencia de extranjeros en Paraguay aumentaron más del 60%
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.
