Which documents do I need to start the residency process?

Before you travel to Paraguay, there's a short, fixed list of documents to gather. Getting this right in advance is what keeps the process to one or two trips instead of three or four.

The core documents

For most applicants, you'll need:

— A valid passport
— Your birth certificate, apostilled
— A criminal record certificate from your country (or countries) of residence, apostilled
— A recent photo
— If applicable: a marriage certificate, apostilled

What "apostilled" actually means

An apostille is an internationally recognized stamp (under the Hague Convention) that certifies a document is genuine, so a foreign government will accept it without further legalization. If your country issued the document, its foreign affairs ministry or a designated authority issues the apostille — not Paraguay. This is usually the part that takes the longest, so it's worth starting early, before you've even booked a flight.

If you need a visa first

Some nationalities need an entry visa before they can even start the residency process — this depends on your passport, not on you personally. If that applies to you, there are a few additional steps before the documents above come into play. We'll confirm this with you during intake, before you prepare anything.

How the process actually flows

Once you have your documents ready, you send scanned copies digitally for review first — this catches any issues before you've spent money on flights. Only once everything checks out do you travel with the originals.

It's a short list, but a strict one: a missing apostille or an expired document is the single most common reason a trip gets delayed. Preparation is genuinely the part that determines how smooth the rest of the process feels.