Residence permit / paper work and documents

One tip:  The certificates you get from interpol (police clearance) and your local police station (Vida y Residencia) have expiration dates, so don't go for those until you have your other things stamped and ready to turn in.  Things such as your birth certificate, health certificate (we didn't have one from our own country, but had a local doctor in Paraguay type one up and stamp it on his letterhead, which we presented to the Minister of Salud in Asuncion), school/college paperwork, etc., won't expire, so get those out of the way first.  Sometimes the offices that have to view all these things or translate them can have you waiting a few days to get them back, and we had the problem of our police records expiring before we could present it all together.  This just adds to the cost and hassle, when you have to go back to interpol and your police station and redo their certifications.

Something we also had to do was go to a separate office and register as foreigners, and the police there gave us an identity card.

The real fun is that many of these things you apply for, require that you give them a certified copy of different documents.  Most times, it's the passport including visa pages.  These copies are best made in advance in the office directly in front of the door into Migraciones (best price and service).  If you make a lot of copies of the passport ahead of time, knowing you'll be handing them out left and right.  And then once you're ready to submit it all, you must have several copies of each document (check the list, this changes a lot).  SUERTE!

If you are coming from the US you will need an FBI issued background check (the US version of a "national police check"). If you can get this done in the US prior to coming to Paraguay that is best. If you are already here the US Embassy has more information on the process here: http://paraguay.usembassy.gov/informati … -residency

Thanks to all for the great info!  One further question though, does owning a house in Paraguay do away with the requirement to open a bank account or have a letter from a local bank?  On previous trips to Paraguay we had attempted to open an account at a couple of banks but got told we couldn't do so until we had cedula's, so we just decided to wait until our home purchase was completed.  So we now have the title or deed to our home which we have been told can be used instead of a bank account when applying for a cedula.  Hopefully this is correct but otherwise we'll try going to bank mentioned by the first response to my initial posting.  Thanks again!

We were told that owning a house or land of sufficient value would negate the requirement for the bank account.  We were also told that we couldn't open an account by several banks, because we didn't have cedulas.  The house deed should help you there!

oh man, this is news to my.You either have to have a bank account with at least something in it ( the more the better, in the past it was min. $5000 US, but for some reason they've changed it to "at least something...") or the equivalent in property, owning a house will definitely do it, but being told by banks that you need a cedula so as to be able to open a back account   that's news to me, but then again, Paraguay is the land of the impossible...

Does the FBI clearance have an expiration date as well? How close to the time I apply for residency do I want to wait? I have a local police clearance certificate- should I send that to get an apostille than legalization, or is it sort of pointless? Thanks!

Don´t bother with the local police certificate, it won´t be acceptable. The reason they want an FBI certificate is because they want a national police check - your local police report would not include any information from other states. I would check with the FBI itself about how long the checks are valid for- either that or call the consular office at the US Embassy here. They should be able to give you more information.  Good luck!

We're going thru the process of gathering documents in the US now ourselves.  From what I've been able to figure out at this point is that the FBI checks don't "expire" from a US perspective, they are good "as of" the day they are signed by the agency.  Same is true for local police checks. 

The folks I think that matter most to ask how long these checks are good for would be the Paraguayan Immigration folks.  And they may have some unpublished amount of time they allow the documents to be valid.  But frankly the answers we get on other issues from Paraguayan officials have been different depending on whether we talk to the Consulate in LA, the Embassy in DC or someone in the Immigration office in ASU.  So not sure quite who to believe the most, but bottom line would seem to be that the rule in effect at the Immigration office on the day you turn everything in is the one that counts.  So take a guess or go with the answer you hear most consistently.

Specifically on the FBI checks, the Consulate in LA told us we had to send them in, with local police checks, to be notarized by them along with in, along with birth certificates, health certificates and marriage license.  In an email exchange with the US Consular office in ASU, they validated this by telling us basically the same thing.  Although, I note the US Embassy's  web site, under the "Fingerprints" heading for US citizen services, gives you the Embassy address in ASU that you can have the FBI send your background paperwork to.  We were also told by someone who went thru the cedula application process already that if you do this the US Consule's office will call you when the paperwork gets in (if you put a local contact phone number on the paperwork)and then provide some form of notarization stamp on the paperwork that I assume is in lieu of getting a US Paraguayan consular stamp. So I think we'll go this route and hope for the best.  At least the FBI check will be "fresher" if we await it in Paraguay and add it to the rest of our paperwork down there than if we get it earlier in the States and have it in hand for X number of weeks or heaven forbid months until we get down there and get everything else arranged.

Good luck!

Something to keep in mind once you are in Asuncion: if you feel like you are getting the runaround in the Immigration office you can ask to speak to someone in the Asesoría Jurídica. They are often more informed than the desk clerks at reception in Immigrations. Especially if there is something different about or special about your case they will be reviewing it anyway. So you can always ask to speak directly to them instead of going through several messengers.

If you know anyone in Paraguay with contacts in Immigrations or the Ministerio de Interior do not be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes having someone who is willing to actually go and look for your file (once you have submitted paperwork) can save you several trips back while you´re told "it´s not done yet."  If you have contacts use them.

If simply reading this forum thread is already sending you into a frustrated panic you might want to consider paying a "gestor" to deal with the paperwork etc for you. You might not get things done any faster but at least you won´t have to do them yourself. For some people it is a small price to pay for the sanity of not having to jump through a lot of red tape in a foreign language.

Our FBI (fingerprint) check did not have an expiration, and we were not required, or even asked, to have a local police check from the States.  It was listed on one of the papers we got from Migraciones, but we were told that the FBI check covered that, because it not only covered any local listings we might have, but also across state lines.  Go ahead and do the FBI check now, and send all your paperwork in to be stamped / visado by the Consulate in the U.S., all at once. 
We actually got our FBI fingerprint form here in Asuncion, they took our fingerprints at Interpol, and we sent those to the States from here.  Not the recommended method, but we didn't realize we'd need them before arriving.

None of the things that came from the U.S. (birth certificate, marriage cert, FBI) had an expiration, only a few of those from the local and interpol police here in Paraguay.  We just got our cedulas within the last couple months, so hopefully what I'm telling you still applies. 

OK people, did a bit of finger pressing on the telephone this morning and also walked to the 2 closest bank branches to me.

But first, your first Paraguayan lesson; This info is gonna cost you all $100 each so just let me know when you come and I'll come by

I've tried the following bank's this morning: BBVA (they didn't know what to say and just cut me off -2 times!-) InterBanco, Continental and Vision Not possible opening any normal banking account with them without a cedula. Vision will take a deposit from you though if you deposit it fixed for 6 months.

On coming back home I called Migraciones and like I said before $5000 is not the min. limit anymore but you still need either a bank account (with any amount in it) or land. Told the Guy its all very nice and good but how if the banks won't open a account for you without the damm "cedula" on which he coolly remarks that you can open a bank account in either Banco de Fomento or Financiara Atlas without a cedula! Said thank you very much, cut the line and called Atlas immediately, and effectively yes, atleast over the phone, the girl that I spoke too said yes, with them you can open a account with only your passport.
Banco de Fomento is a state owned bank and though I haven't called them I guess it will be possible with them too.

Another wrinkle: it is very difficult to open a bank account here if you don't have an official employer. If you are able to provide proof of steady income (from a job or pension) you are fine but if you plan to work informally (teaching english without a contract for example) it will be very difficult to find a bank willing to let you open an account even if you have a cedula and permanent residency. I'm not sure if this is the same for cooperatives such as the Cooperativa Universitaria. I think it is a function of one of the anti-corruption measures.

Nic'oPY,

Great info on banks, thanks for doing the leg work, or finger work as it were.  I'll drop a check for you into the mail....But since it's the Paraguayan postal system good luck ever seeing it!

Also for general info I did get another emailed response this morning from the US Consulate in ASU regarding FBI checks.  The response was that we should complete the process of gathering documents and getting them stamped by the Paraguayan Consulate in the US prior to coming to Paraguay, ie "do the process correctly".  So noted. 

Thanks to all for all the good info.

majbjb,

DHL, DHL!

Reminds me of when my Sister was living in England and she sent my wife a birthday card, on the outside she decorated it with little stickers and wrote in Spanish "happy birthday" all over the thing.Inside was a birthday card + a small letter to me. We both started reading and both looked up at each other at the same moment, asking each other if he\she got the 20 pound note sissy sent her for her birthday...
Inspecting the letter closer after that one could see that the glue wasn't the original glue anymore, was sealed with kind of bottle glue with a thin snout.
At least they let the letter go through...

Okay, I'll tell you how we skipped that bank account/$5000 thing altogether, but let me preface this with an acknowledgment that a.) I was REALLY nice to the Migraciones staff and they took pity on me once or twice, and also ripped me a couple of times, but this could have been a pity moment, and b.) this may only apply to missionaries.  When we first arrived, we found out that Maxicambios (a check cashing institution) would let us open an account using our passport and a letter of reference from the national offices of our denomination.  The letter of reference stated that our income came from the support/donations of churches and individuals in the U.S., and that they would vouch for us up to x amount of dollars.  I think it was something like a few thousand a month or something. 

This account isn't like a bank account where we make deposits and carry a balance, but simply where we walk in with our American check, fill it out in English, and they cash it for us and exchange into Guaranies.  (**SIDENOTE:  This really saves on the Western Union fees.) 

When it came time to present that bank account, I showed them the letter from our national church, and they said if we had an account with Maxicambios, that was sufficient for them.  So we never deposited any money in any bank. 

What you'd need to do to try that is be sure you bring a few books of checks from your bank in the States, or at least a few, even if you never intend to use the account here.  Then go by the Maxicambios office nearest you (they're all over Asuncion).  Fill out their form, get a letter of reference (possibly from an employer), and see if it works.  It saved us the hassle of the $5000 junk.  Good luck!

What if a person is from the US but as been living in another county for the past five years.  Would they still need to do the FBI Criminal History Record check or would police clearance from their present country of residence be enough?

Or if you don´t have 5 000$, in the first time, you can go every 3 months 2 days in Argentina (30 mn) and you have another 3 months legal in Paraguay, and again... Sorry it s not my language, have a good day

For home country police checks of citizens of one country who reside in another, it is necessary to produce proof that you have lived in your adopted country.

The stamp or letter granting residency is not acceptable. It is necessary to produce proof of address. A driving licence or bank statements should suffice. If a driving licence is used, a translation is needed. The original is not submitted.

For residency purposes visas now have to be legalised along with other documents. This is done at the ministry for exteriors on 14th May up on piso 11, next door to where they are usually done.

Take a copy of your passport and visa. They do not ask you to leave your passport. You then return the next day to get the legalisation done in your passport while you wait (not long). This legalisation is free.

Hi

Great information posted here, guys.

How does one prove that one is "single". That is neither divorced nor widowed nor married. Is their some special certificate for that?

How much time is required for getting the cedula after you present your documents at migraciones?

Is it possible to a open a HSBC account without cedula if one is a HSBC premier customer?

Has anyone applied for a passport? How many years it takes after the cedula?

If you are just speaking basic level Spanish, does it make sense to hire a lawyer.

Thanks

From home you need to bring a police clearance certificate, your birth/marriage certificate and a health statement.  You need to send these documents to the Paraguayan consulate for stamps. Then, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asuncion: 14 de Mayo y Palma.

Can someone elaborate this statement, please?

Does one have to send these documents from USA to Asuncion? The structure of sentence is a bit confusing.

Do apostilled documents work in Paraguay.

hi

the documents mentioned need to be legalised in their country of origin, then when you come to paraguay they need to be legalised again at the ministry for foreign affairs. apostilled docs still need to be legalised in country of origin. foreign documents, not already in spanish, need to be translated and authenticated by an escribana here. dont worry, the translations and authorisations are easy to obtain. get us document legalisations done before coming to paraguay as money orders do not exist here and the paraguayan consulate in usa only accept money orders for payment.

i believe your us tax statement should state that you are single, this should suffice.

you can open an hsbc account if you are a premier customer already. you will need details of your account. the minimum here is $50000usd to be maintained during the course of a year. they offer usd, eur and pyg accounts for cash

i have been advised that it takes about 3 months for cedula after submitting docs to migraciones.

i would still get the help of a lawyer. mine checks on the progress of our documents every week, and ensures that there are no problems.

Hey all, just found this site and have enjoyed it for the last few minutes. After reading the post on residency, I thought what am I doing. A little background on me. I'm a former Peace Corps volunteer down in Paraguay, wife and daughter are Paraguayan and we have a new daughter who has her US residency. We are in the process of moving down there and was feeling pretty good on the whole residency process. You all have been a wealth of knowledge.
These are to be sent to consulate in LA.: fingerprints and background check, marriage and birth certificate.  The health check is new to me...what is this?
For my infant daughter, does she need to go through all of this too or just the birth certificate?
I keep getting conflicting information from the consulate in LA, depends on who I talk to. I was told that to extend my 3 month visa that we could leave Paraguay for the day and when we came back that the new stamp would extend it for another three months. When I called back to confirm, I was told that that wasn't true.
Once again thanks for all the help

I can respond to at least two of your issues.  First one is regarding the "leaving the country to restart your 90 day visa window".  This used to be fairly common and you can find posts regarding this on this forum.  We tried it this past summer though and it didn't work for us.  But it was due to us more than anything else I think.  The folks at the Clorinda crossing with Argentina (about 45 minutes from ASU) decided to make an issue of it with my Paraguayan born wife.  They wanted a bribe and she wasn't about to provide one, sooooo... a wasted trip for us.  We ended up paying a fee at the Migracions office down town a few days later to get the visas extended.  There we had verified that the border check point should of done what they refused to do without a bribe.   So lesson learned was "don't let Paraguayan wife cop an attitude with crossing guards "   So hopefully you can learn from our mistake.

For the health check, others have posted here that it's a waste of time doing it back in the states.  Just do it in Paraguay.  We did this and it was easy and cheap.  Two doctor offices we checked with in ASU knew right away what we needed and it ended up being blood tests for communicable diseases (two day turn around) and a doctor visit.  We ended up with a notarized letter from doctor and the blood test results as an attachment. One thing to make sure is to have the doc attest to your emotional or physcological health, not just your physical health, in the letter.  Others have postd here that this is a requirement and our doc did include this.  Our toddler was 3 back then and had to go thru the health stuff, so can't really answer if your daughter needs to. 

I do know we had the FBI fingerprints done on our son and when my wife went to turn them in was told that they weren't necessary for "children".  Your guess as good as anyone else's as to the definition of "children"!  And as posted earlier here, we didn't need the local records checks done by local police in US, only the FBI checks.  Good luck!

Thanks for the quick response. It's a big help.

Let's say I want to work on the internet and want to get a residency visa, are they going to deny it?

Since I didn't go to the university I don't comply with any of these points.

11-Título Profesional a nivel universitario (*)
12-O Contrato de Trabajo de Ejecución Diferida, mencionando el salario a percibir con hoja de Certificación de firma ante Escribano Público, Patente, R.U.C. y C.I. del empleador.
13-O Título de Propiedad destinado a la producción, con un mínimo de 10 hectáreas. (Inscripto en lo Registros Públicos de la Propiedad)
14-O Contrato de arrendamiento; C.I. del arrendatario y el Título de propierdad que arrienda
15-O Escritura de Constitución de Sociedad, (Inscripto en los Registros Públicos de comercio)

Does 14 mean you rent the place or that you are the person that rents it someone else?

Hello Pman,

Could you please translate these points in English .

Thanks

Yo soy europeo pero vivo con mi familia en uruguay hace 4 anios.Tengo cedula permanente uruguaya.Quiero campiar pais y venir en paraguay.Conoce alguien que papeles necesito para ser paraguayo residense?

Captain_Tiger wrote:

From home you need to bring a police clearance certificate, your birth/marriage certificate and a health statement.  You need to send these documents to the Paraguayan consulate for stamps. Then, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asuncion: 14 de Mayo y Palma.

Can someone elaborate this statement, please?

Does one have to send these documents from USA to Asuncion? The structure of sentence is a bit confusing.

Do apostilled documents work in Paraguay.

Legalized documents work in Paraguay

Hi and welcome on the forum thanos!

As you are on the anglophone forum could you please write in English so that other members can understand?

Regards
Armand

Hi Everyone,

What good fortune that I found this site with so many kind and helpful people.  This is my first post here, and I have a kazillion questions, but never fear...I promise not to spill them all out on you at one time!  Actually, many about immigration have already been answered by your posts, but here we go:

I am currently living in California, but hope to make a move to South America by September 2011.  It is now May 19th, I have a house and many possessions to sell, etc. etc.  Long story short, I have a lot to do in a little time!

Question:  I have been considering Paraguay, Ecuador, and the Mendoza section of Argentina.  I've already contacted the Argentina Embassy here in LA and they want me to show proof of $48,000. (US) income over two years to gain residence.  Wow, that was a shock.  Has anyone else had that experience?  Is entry to Argentina made more difficult just recently?  I had told them I was retiring, which is only partly true, since I'd hoped to earn a supplemental income for many more years.  So having said that, am I understanding correctly that you only need proof of $5,000.00 US or owning a home to gain residency in Paraguay?  Can one purchase a home in Paraguay without residency?

I guess that's enough for now!!!   Thanks very much,

Cynthia

Cynthia,

One can purchase property in Paraguay without residency. A number of us have done that.  The other way to show fiscal solvency is via the deposit of money in a Paraguayan account.  That amount used to be set at $5,000 or more, but as Nico'Py has posted in other posts a month or so ago, this has apparently changed to an "undetermined" amount.  Below is his post, to include the listing of banks that non-residents can use to open accounts....



That $5000 is no longer obligatory, anything from $100 goes, but of course the more you can show, the faster you're application will go through...

Banks that I've been told of that will open accounts for Expats is Banco de Fomento and Financiara Atlas. Another member here mentioned another bank in one of the earlier posts but I'm not sure which one it is any more.



Good luck!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.  It seems as though the best thing to do, after having read your post and all of the others, is to get an FBI clearance and a Visa before I leave the states, but as far as residency goes, I should complete the other requirements when I get there.  That would include either buying a residence, or depositing a sizable sum of money in one of the banks suggested in order to complete my residency application.

Is my thinking correct, Magbjb, and can you tell me how far is Villarico from the Pacific Ocean?  I'm pretty sure you have to cross the Andes range to get there?

Thanks again!

Cynthia

Cynthia,

You must get a visa prior to leaving the states for Paraguay and you do that by sending an application, money and your passport to the Paraguayan consulate (either LA or DC).  Be sure to get the "multiple entry visa" as opposed to the single entry visa.  The cost between the two is not much, but with a multiple entry visa stamp in your passport you can enter Paraguay as many times as you want, staying up to 90 days a time, and it's good for the life of the passport.  The FBI paperwork is a must too, and to get it squared away you can go to the FBI's web site, which is.....

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/backgr … und_checks

Don't forget to get birth & marriage (if applicable) certificates stamped or notarized at the Paraguayan consulates too before leaving the US.  This makes them "official" for use in the immigration process in Paraguay.  Everything else involved in this process you do in Paraguay. 

As for distance from the Pacific, not sure straightline distance but yes, you would have to cross the Andes for sure.  I suppose another option is you could head directly south to Teirra del Fuego, turn and face westward and therefore be looking at the pacific.

What terrific information!  I am sure it will be helpful to others as well.  Actually, the paperwork on this end will be easier than I thought.  I am happy to know about the two forms of Visa...I will definitely get the latter.  The link to the FBI is much, much appreciated.

I take it the main airport is in Ascencion?  Now, without wearing out my welcome here, a big concern is shipping my belongings.  I have read that the shipping containers are so expensive it makes the best sense to start all over again and ship the very minimum.  Can any Americans help me if they have had previous experience.  I have been looking on the Web, and everything about shipping so far is very confusing.

Muchos Gracias to all!

Cynthia

The only international airports in Paraguay are Cuidad del Este and Asuncion.  Most fly into Asuncion as Cuidad del Este is more like a transit point. 

As for shipping, you can check the previous posts on this forum regarding shipping, one was started by me not too long ago and shouldn't be too far down the list of posts.  This should give you a good overview of what's available. If anything isn't clear after reading these posts, I'm sure someone can provide some additional info.

Thank you.  Yes, I have read the previous posts, but I was hoping for additional information.  And hopefully, others who have gone through it will share their experience.

Hi all. As far as owning property in Paraguay for residency. My wife is Paraguayan and our properties are in her name. Does anyone know if this will count for my residency or do I need to have property actually in my name?

Not sure, but I think if you're married and you can provide a marriage certificate upon applying there will be no problem.

Send me a PM on Tuesday and I call Immegraciones and ask.