Full cost breakdown · every route
Four layers make up the true cost — the qualifying investment, official government fees, legal and professional fees, and a modest set of incidentals. Most single applicants land, outside the investment itself, somewhere in the region of USD 1,500–3,500 — not the tens of thousands some marketing implies. See the itemised route comparison below.
How the total is built
Every Paraguay Investor Pass application is built from the same four layers, in the same sequence, whichever route you choose.
The capital, or contribution, that satisfies the threshold for your chosen route under Resolution N° 0283/2026, or, for the film route, the separate INAP pathway. By far the largest line item — and the number most marketing leads with.
The tariffs charged by Paraguay's Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, and related bodies, to process the residency application itself — separate from the investment.
The cost of having the file structured, the investment diligenced, and the application prepared to the standard the authorities require. Confirmed in a personal consultation, not quoted blind.
The paperwork layer: certified Spanish translations, document legalisation, background-check certificates, and travel to Asunción for the in-country stage.
Layer one
Resolution N° 0283/2026 sets four investment routes; a fifth, lower-cost film route runs on a separate, pre-existing legal basis (Ley N° 6106/2018), administered through Paraguay's audiovisual institute, INAP. All five converge on the same residency and, later, citizenship pathway — the difference is what you invest in and what you hold at the end.
| Film & audiovisual — USD 40,000 | A contribution to an approved production — nothing recoverable. See the Paraguay film residency route. |
|---|---|
| SUACE company — USD 70,000 | An active, capitalised Paraguayan company. See the SUACE business investment route. |
| Approved tourism project — USD 150,000 | A stake in an approved tourism development, with project-linked yield potential. See the Tourism investment route. |
| Real estate — USD 200,000 | Title to income-generating property. See the Real estate residency route. |
| Financial instruments — USD 200,000 | Regulated financial instruments, held in your name for a minimum of two years. See the Financial instruments route. |
| USD conversion | Indicative at ~₲ 6,075 = USD 1 (mid-July 2026); the guaraní floats, so confirm the live rate before filing |
|---|---|
| Fee basis | 5% adjustment tied to the legal minimum wage, effective 1 July 2026 |
Layer two
Effective 1 July 2026, under Executive Decree N° 6225/2026, the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones revised its immigration-procedure tariffs, a 5% adjustment tied to the new legal minimum wage. These are per-applicant fees charged by Migraciones for the residency process itself, distinct from the qualifying investment.
On top of them, most applicants also budget for a national identity card (cédula), an Interpol clearance certificate, and a local police-clearance certificate — modest, separately administered fees confirmed as part of your file preparation. See the full Paraguay residency requirements checklist for the complete document set.
| Permanent residency application | ₲ 2,926,925 — approximately USD 480 |
|---|---|
| Temporary residency application | ₲ 2,926,925 — approximately USD 480 (Law 6984/2022) |
| Certificate of Residency / Migration Movement Certificate | ₲ 234,154 — approximately USD 39 |
| Permanent Resident Card renewal | ₲ 468,308 — approximately USD 77 |
| Residency cancellation application | ₲ 234,154 — approximately USD 39 |
Layer three
We will not invent a number here, because we do not quote residency work blind, and neither should anyone claiming to be transparent about it. Fees scale with route complexity, not route price — a SUACE company formation with genuine operating substance typically involves more structuring work than a straightforward real estate purchase, regardless of which one costs more in capital.
Fees cover route selection, investment due diligence, file preparation, submission, and liaison with the MIC and Migraciones through to the cédula — not just form-filling. Where a route, or a different country entirely, would serve you better, we say so before any fee is quoted — see why Paraguay for how we approach the advice stage.
| Scope | Route selection, investment diligence, file preparation, submission, liaison to the cédula |
|---|---|
| Basis | Quoted individually — route, family composition, existing structure |
| Why not fixed | A blind flat quote ignores the complexity that actually drives cost |
Layer four
This layer catches applicants off guard, because it is rarely itemised anywhere. It applies regardless of route, and scales with the number of family members included in the application.
| Apostille of foreign civil documents | ~USD 20–150 per document — cost and process depend on the issuing country |
|---|---|
| Certified Spanish translation | ~USD 30–100 per page — must be completed locally by a translator registered with the Paraguayan judiciary; a translation done abroad, even apostilled, is not accepted on its own |
| Interpol certificate & local police clearance | Modest fixed fees, payable to the issuing authority; confirmed during file preparation |
| Cédula (national ID card) issuance | Modest fixed fee, issued once permanent residency is granted |
| Travel & accommodation in Asunción | Varies — most routes require limited but real time in-country for biometrics and signatures; the film route, for example, typically involves roughly eight business days in Asunción |
Putting it together
The investment figure is fixed by the route; government fees and incidentals are the indicative ranges above; legal fees are excluded here because they are quoted individually — add your confirmed quotation to reach your real all-in number.
Plus ~USD 480–560 government fees and ~USD 1,000–2,500 incidentals — subtotal before legal fees of roughly USD 41,500–43,000. See the Paraguay film residency route.
Plus the same government-fee and incidental ranges — subtotal before legal fees of roughly USD 71,500–73,000. See the SUACE business investment route.
Plus the same government-fee and incidental ranges — subtotal before legal fees of roughly USD 151,500–153,000. See the Tourism investment route.
Plus the same government-fee and incidental ranges — subtotal before legal fees of roughly USD 201,500–203,000. See the Real estate residency route.
Plus the same government-fee and incidental ranges — subtotal before legal fees of roughly USD 201,500–203,000. See the Financial instruments route.
Across every route except film, government fees and incidentals together represent well under 1% of the total — the qualifying investment dominates almost entirely, and for four of the five routes that capital is retained by you, not spent.
The honest comparison
“Cheapest” depends entirely on what you are trying to buy, and this is where we differ from sites that rank routes purely by sticker price.
None of these is objectively “the cheapest route” once you account for what each one leaves you holding. The honest comparison is cost against what you get for it, not cost in isolation — which is also why we walk every prospective applicant through the full set of routes before recommending one.
The honest caveat
A lot of Paraguay residency content online quotes a single headline figure — “residency from USD 40,000” — without separating the four layers above. That is not wrong, exactly; USD 40,000 genuinely is the lowest qualifying threshold. But it conflates three different things that deserve to stay separate.
| Qualifying investment | Set once per application, not per person |
|---|---|
| Government fees, apostille, translation | Charged per applicant — scale roughly by headcount |
| Film route exception | Dependants typically start on 2-year temporary residency before converting |
Family applications
Family members can generally be included in an Investor Pass application, and the specifics are confirmed against your circumstances and chosen route. As a rule of thumb for budgeting: government fees, apostille and translation costs are charged per applicant, so a family of four should expect those layers — not the qualifying investment itself, which is set once per application — to scale roughly by headcount.
Cost breakdown
It depends on the route. The qualifying investment ranges from USD 40,000 (film, a non-recoverable contribution) to USD 200,000 (real estate or financial instruments, both of which leave you holding the asset). On top of the investment, budget roughly USD 480–560 in government fees and USD 1,000–2,500 in translation, apostille and incidental costs per applicant, plus a legal fee quoted individually based on your route and complexity.
It has the lowest cash outlay, but it is a contribution, not a recoverable investment — the funds stay in the production, and any return is speculative. If you want capital you can later sell, let, or hold, the SUACE, tourism, real estate, or financial-instruments routes retain value; the film route does not.
Yes. Paraguay's Dirección Nacional de Migraciones charges its own tariffs for the residency application, separate from your qualifying investment — currently around ₲ 2,926,925 (approximately USD 480, at July 2026 exchange rates) per permanent-residency applicant, per the fee schedule effective 1 July 2026 under Executive Decree N° 6225/2026.
No. Citizenship is a separate, later step, obtained by naturalisation after the constitutional period of permanent residence, subject to language, civics and physical-presence requirements. The Investor Pass cost breakdown covers the route to permanent residency; naturalisation involves its own separate process and is not purchased alongside the investment.
Because a fee that ignores which route you're taking, how many family members are included, and how complex your existing structure is would be a marketing number, not a quote. We confirm legal and professional fees in your consultation, once we understand your circumstances — and we say plainly where another route, or another country, would serve you better before any fee is discussed.
The qualifying investment is set once per application, not per person, but government fees, apostille, translation and incidental costs are generally charged per applicant, so they scale with family size. One exception: on the film route, dependants typically start on two-year temporary residency before converting to permanent status, which is worth building into your planning.
Start your file
Clarity on cost, before you commit capital.
Request an itemised breakdown for your route, family composition, and timeline.
Last reviewed against Resolution N° 0283/2026 and current official fee schedules.
Investment routes
Qualify through an income-generating property investment.
Explore this route → from $200,000Invest in regulated Paraguayan financial instruments.
Explore this route → from $150,000Back an approved tourism-sector project.
Explore this route → from $70,000Form a Paraguayan company via the SUACE one-stop window.
Explore this route → from $40,000Contribute to audiovisual production under Ley 6106/2018.
Explore this route →From our insights
What Paraguay residency by investment actually costs in 2026: investment thresholds, government fees and the real total, route by route.
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