Looking for a reliable lawyer for Cedula/citizenship

Is it still possible, getting the permanent residence, then the cedula.. Because I can't really find a lot of information about people who actually went through this process. Have regulations changed? I feel like everyone is very unresponsive on this matter, as I tried to email a few people, and barely get any relevant information back. Unfortunately.

Read down thru the other postings on this forum regarding getting your cedula.  Information from these postings is still pretty current and you'll find recomendations for and from various lawyers.  It's not a real complicated process, just takes time and patience, even if using a lawyer to do a lot of the work.

Jeronimo Finestra is who we are using. He and his partner are quite reliable, and make sure that you aren't missing anything on your documents. There are tiny things that can go wrong, and since they do this multiple times a week, they know what to look out for.

Honestly, I'd recommend avoiding the stress and getting a "sherpa" in the form of Jeronimo to guide you through the process. You could actually save yourself time, money, and stress just by hiring him. These DIYers are assuming that everyone: a) speaks Spanish fluently, b) can guide themselves through the interpol, medical check, notary visits without problems... which is unlikely, c) knows the layout of Asuncion upon arrival.

It's that last one that always bugs me. I hear it from a few expats about how "easy" this process is, but if you don't know where to go and how to get there, then how easy is it really? If you show up and don't have a car, you're going to be telling cabbies how to get where you need to go, and if you've been here long enough, you'll learn that cabbies here have the worst sense of direction, and couldn't find the Presidential Palace if you asked them... especially if you're using broken Spanish.

I can't recommend getting help enough.

Re permanent residency, I used a lawyer who certainly knew all the ins and outs. Managed to complete everything in 3 and a half days as there were no holdups anywhere. Did not have to return to Paraguay again to complete the process as I filled out all the necessary forms, fingerprints, etc. in advance without inserting dates. Eventually received everything via courier some months later.

Currently the police does not allow to insert fingerprints until you get PR, the control systems are falling on upon that. More and more Pyan government does not like the view that our PR, is seen by some people, as Mc. Donald order that can be done in express format, people in congress are even aware of this situation.

Jeronimo Finestra is the most trusted and offers the best service without killing your bank account in comparison to some of the other shady characters like Bettina Mueller (Stay away from her)

I agree that using Jeronimo Finestra for getting your cedula is the way to go! I got my cedula about 18 months ago. Jeronimo and Edwin are the best!

FreeRangeJoel wrote:

...if you've been here long enough, you'll learn that cabbies here have the worst sense of direction, and couldn't find the Presidential Palace if you asked them...

Absolutely correct regarding cab drivers! When I was recently in ASU, just from curiosity I wanted to take a look at Hotel Don Gerado. I showed a cab driver the address and asked him if he knew where it was. (I didn't.) "Oh, sure," he said. Well, 80,000Gs later (about $US40.00), after wandering here and there, backtracking, even stopping at a cab stand, supposedly in the general vicinity to ask directions, I told him to forget it. I paid him, although I considered not doing so.

80.000 Guaranies is less than 20 USD

Sorry - you are right. Still, $20 for nothing.

One of the reasons I developed the OFFICIAL Expat community in order to help and support expats that are going through the process  - FREE information

A lot of us went through this - but knowing someone that can avert you from getting screwed is a big help

Feel free to join us

facebook.com/groups/expatspy/

You forgot to link it, Lonnie...

Lonnie M wrote:

FREE information...Feel free to join us
facebook.com/groups/expatspy/

Lonnie, it's unfortunate that you post the information on facebook; I'm sure there are many people, myself included, who refuse to join "social networking" sites - knowing that's where the govt snoops and easily gets much of their information about everyone involved.

Lonnie M wrote:

Jeronimo Finestra is the most trusted and offers the best service without killing your bank account in comparison to some of the other shady characters like Bettina Mueller (Stay away from her)

How much is permanent residency and cedula from Jeronimo Finestra?

Can he ship the perm res. card and cedula via FEDEX out of Paraguay if I spend only five days in Paraguay to get things processed?

Will the perm. res. card and cedula come to me at the same time?

I do not want to be forced to spend a couple thousand dollars to fly back again and need to have everything done correctly within five days at the most.

Thank you for your recommendation.

You need to email Jeronimo and ask him. I doubt that you can accomplish it with just one trip.

To JamesB, do not even begin to think you will achieve everything in a single visit of 5 days. The carnet and cedula are issued by 2 different govt departments. The carnet will take you about 6-7 working days and will end with you being digitally photographed at Migracciones.
Some 4-6 months later your lawyer will pick up and hold your carnet.  Your $5000 will remain hostage in the bank until you return and withdraw it personally.
You will need to return for at least 5 working days for the cedula, which is issued by Identifacciones. Part of the requirement for the cedula is a certificate from Migraccones that your carnet has been granted, so they can't be done at the same time. The last thing to happen is you will be digitally photographed again and supply an electronic signature, so you have to be present for the whole application process.
Your lawyer can pick up your cedula 30 days later and send it to you.
So plan on 2 trips, 8 to 12 months apart, with about 8 days for the first visit and 5 days for the second.  I also should say that if you are booking flights in and out you would be silly not to allow some wriggle room. This is Paraguay we are talking about. The operative word when doing anything in Paraguay is "tranquilo" - never forget it.

For Lonnie ...

Please contact me by PM.  (Regarding B. Mueller)

Macmarco

I obtained my PR and Cedula in 2013 very efficiently and without drama. Other members of my family have just completed the process for their permanent residency in Feb'14; their process took a few weeks longer than mine and they'll apply for their Cedula towards the end of the year. As I have mentioned in other posts we relied on Jeronimo Finestra to help us navigate the process as pleasantly as possible and our documents were all fine but official approvals took longer in Feb.

I would like to highly recommend Jeronimo Finestra and his very kind professional Assistant, Daniel, should anyone require a reliable, efficient, professional and helpful lawyer to apply for their citizenship in Paraguay. My adult son, husband and I were looked after by Jeronimo and Daniel from beginning to end. Jeronimo and Daniel, if you read this blog, thank you for your efforts and kindness. We were also recommended just the right hotel for our preferences. We could not speak the language but it didn't matter as Jeronimo or Daniel stepped forward at every turn, even helping with filling in our bank forms etc. For those thinking of moving to Paraguay, we found the people all over the country very accepting of foreigners and always helpful despite the language barrier.

" I am currently working in Belgium as a Belgian citizen."

Hi Belgian, meet another one in Paraguay

Hi Steve. It's Laura from Caacupe . I just want to say hi. You move to Belgium?

No why would I ? To cold !!! 

Hi,

I've heard good things about -Jeronimo Finestra.

Can anyone comment on the fee these lawyers charge in general or may be Jeronimo's fee if someone got their residency through him?

Abhi

Hi, my family highly recommend Jeronimo Finestra. Regards his fees, its best to ask him direct so that you get specific information (fees can after all change over time etc). Just type into the search engine at the top of this blog page "Immigration Lawyers" and you will get his name and his direct link to his email. V easy. Good luck with your decisions. I know that Jeronimo and his friendly helpful Assistant, Daniel, will smooth your way throughout the process. Be sure to take the time required according to their advice.

.

Jeronomo's assistant "Daniel." What happened to Edwin, who used to be his assistant?

Agree. I used the same lawyer; but please realise some procedures are now taking a bit longer - for example
I did mine in 2013 and it was quite straight forward. For my parents doing theirs in 2014, its taking a little bit longer, apparently the Paraguayan government want due process, not cash scams (fair enough!!) for PR and then citizenship rights.

HI,

Its nice to see everyone is suggesting Jeronomo's.... I emailed him and get generic reply for all requirement.. I called and talk to him to reply my email and msg him later.. either he is to busy or do not want to handle asians???

I mean I further email him after the generic reply to answer my specific query.. but he did not reply!!!! tough i email him repeatedly and msg him.. though he talk to me and promise me will answer me....!!

I have tried to get in touch with Jeronimo Finestra, but go no reply. Is he still handling PR process? Please let me know. Thank you in advance.

ODAN,

It would seem that Mr. Finestra and his "group" are highly busy, or have disappeared.    I've seen many posts like yours over the past few months where people cannot get in contact with them.   I suspect that there is a lot of pressure from the government here against folks like him that are dealing on a large scale with immigration assistance.  One of the big "sharks" or immigration lawyers, Alice Neufeld who used to publish many testimonials of her happy customers on this site, got arrested and charged with many things such as using counterfeit documents, falsifying records and producing fake US and Paraguayan passports.  This was a few months ago and was all over the news here.  Gave the whole industry a bad reputation.  But this being Paraguay, it is now reported that the courts have mysteriously either lost or thrown out all the evidence and she will at least be free to go on her way and who knows, she may even be back on this site shortly.   I'm posting this because it would seem, from the perspective of someone who has been here off and on for decades and lives here now permanently (I'm a US citizen married to a Paraguayan) that immigration fraud is now "big business" in Paraguay.   

You need to be very wary about paying ANY lawyer or "helper" money up front, providing them your documents (passport, birth certificate, etc…) especially if your not physically in Paraguay.   It would also be highly recommended to insure the person you are dealing with actually has an office and not just a "cell phone/website and car".   And don't even consider using anyone who "guarantee's" you results, especially if they guarantee you how long it will take to get those results.   The reason for this is that the process is constantly changing and the time required for various procedures hinges on the current workload and staffing of the government agencies being dealt with, and these  workloads and staffing levels are constantly changing.    It's fine to listen to others tell you how long the process took them, or give you an estimate based on recent experience, but only a fool or a "shark" will guarantee something like this in Paraguay.

I highly recommend the posts by Gabtar, who posted on this thread and other related threads regarding the immigration process.   He lays out a very detailed and accurate (for the time of his posts) process you can expect to go through.  And this process is the same if you do it yourself or your lawyer does it for you….regardless of what the lawyer promises.

majbjb, it is a legal activity to help with formalities/authorities, so pressure from the government sounds strange. Fraudsters like Alice Neufeld should be arrested and charged. Do you think I should call Mr. Finestra?

You are totally correct in that this type of service is a legal activity.  The problem is that many "sharks" that do not really do their job are preying on people by advertising they perform this service, they take money and then either do not provide the service or provide false documents.  That's why I posted this as a warning for folks who are not in Paraguay and not aware of the current news of people like Alice Nuefeld.  And by the way, just yesterday another one of these people, someone who goes by ***, was also arrested in Asuncion.  The  newspaper reports he has many aliases in use and some have commented that the picture in the newspaper is not the same person that they know under this name.  So it looks like there may be a group of people involved in this latest scam.  He apparently was in the business of helping expats get their paperwork taken care of.   

It was this "pressure" from the government to hopefully clean up this mess and weed out the sharks that resulted in this arrest I'm sure.   As for calling Mr. Finestra, by all means give it a try, especially if you've already provided him money.   From what I see on line though many people are upset because they are not returning calls so good luck.

You may want to try the following Facebook site, Expats in Paraguay, if you have access to Facebook.  It's a site run by and for expats in Paragauy and there are various folks who provide services like you are looking for that are listed.  They do a pretty good job of weeding out the non-performers or sharks, although I think they may still have Mr. Finestra's name listed for now.

Thanks for the link. No way I would pay any $ in advance. Reading Gabtar's step by step the process seem to be easy one and no special know-how is required. Good personal driver and translator would be a must. And it would take more time. Or it is my erroneous assumption?

It is a pretty simple process, just takes time and as you say a driver and a translator.   You would save yourself lots of money doing it that way for sure.   Plus it would be more "exciting" for you %^) !

majbjb: I don't know if you can edit your posts, but it was Bettina Mueller who was recently arrested.

THANKS Cernetarian,  I will see if I can edit it at this point, if I can't  you are exactly correct, my mistake!

Hi I'm Emo and I'm staying in South Africa but Bangladeshi nationality passport holder please any one can tell me to apply for the pr and cedula for Paraguay what do I have to do there and please provide me with a good lawyer farm who does this process for or and cedula for Paraguay ?
my contact details -
emokhan2004@yahoo.com
0027738080041

I would like to share my own experience with Jeronimo Finestra (Finestra Group):

I would never recommend Jeronimo Finestra , as he is not responsive at all , he advised me to get some documents for the sake of Paraguayan cedula and citizenship as I was very interested in that , and then after I obtained the documents requested by himself , and that costed me around $1200 to abtain the requested documents from my home country , he stopped responding to my emails despite I sent him scanned copies of the documents many times (8 emails ) , and called him by phone for 5 times but with no valuable results!

Despite I might suppose that he was unable to responed to my emails as he promised me many times over the telephone due to some personal issues of his own , he even did not pass my case to any of his assistant s after I had afford that cost ! I paid $ 1200 for nothing !!