Everything You Need to Know About Securing Residency in Paraguay

Hey guys, Mikkel here,

If you’re new here and have only just discovered this newsletter, or are unfamiliar with the work I do at Expat Money, I want to make something clear: our community of tens of thousands of freedom-minded families and investors, nor I, are “Paraguay bandwagoners”.

I have been visiting the country, building relationships, earning trust, and working directly with some of the top lawyers, developers, bankers, and local experts in Paraguay, well before Bloomberg ran a major piece on the country’s rise.

…and well before Peter Thiel, one of the most powerful tech investors in the world, went to Paraguay to meet with President Santiago Peña on what I presume was a “fishing expedition” to see what access to Paraguay’s cheap renewable energy could mean for his energy-dependent business interests.

So yes, now, serious people are starting to pay attention.

We were simply paying attention earlier.

…and I’m not surprised in the slightest that Paraguay is finally receiving its due credit.

You’re looking at a country with abundant energy production, a dominant position in global food supply, strong trade relationships, and a low-cost operating environment.

You also have a young, growing population, supported by both migration and a healthy birth rate, and a pro-business government that understands exactly what will attract and retain capital.

Yet, despite the natural, geographical and pro-expat advantages, Paraguay still offers a residency framework that is incredibly straightforward and efficient.

…however, I doubt it will last…

According to official figures from Paraguay’s National Directorate of Migration, the country received over 43,000 residency applications in 2025 alone.

…that’s more than a 50% increase over the 2024 application figures.

This year, Paraguay projects it will receive 80,000 new residency applications.

This is a clear-as-day indicator that savvy families, investors, and business owners are not just studying Paraguay from afar… they are acting on it while they still can.

When this type of demand arrives, it indicates the system is working, validated and proven as attractive to other well-informed freedom-seekers just like us. 

I have been around long enough to know what happens next when a program like this gets the type of attention that the current Paraguay residency program is getting: requirements tighten, processes slow down, and barriers increase.

The country needs to manage population inflows, preserve stability, and maintain control over its growth (as it should). 

In other words, the very characteristics that make securing residency in Paraguay so attractive today are the same ones that I firmly believe will be adjusted against your favour soon. 

Right now, we are still in that window where the process is straightforward and efficient, and doesn’t require an investment to secure.

As I already mentioned, I highly doubt it will remain this simple, efficient, affordable, or straightforward for much longer (even more so now, after the recent introduction of the new “Investor Pass”). 

The Investor Pass is a new framework that allows foreign investors to obtain near-immediate permanent residency through qualifying investments in the country, with various routes tied to business activity (job creation) as well as real estate and tourism investments. 

When a government begins creating competitive investor-focused pathways, it most often means the “free and simple” phase will soon give way to a more selective phase, so to speak.

Given the demand for Paraguayan residency, the obvious questions any reasonable government asks are: 

How do we manage it, filter it, and ensure the people coming in are aligned with the country’s long-term goals?

…the Investor Pass gives us a pretty clear answer…

Paraguay is not trying to shut the door on new would-be residents, but it is clearly building a more sophisticated, and to some, a more prohibitive door to securing residency, as the Investor Pass comes with six-figure investment requirements.

If you have been thinking about securing residency in Paraguay and have been assuming that the current residency pathway will remain available forever, you are making a very risky assumption.

NOTE: While the Investor Pass framework seems very compelling, until we stress-test the process firsthand, we will not deviate from what currently works, is proven, and has already served our community members exceptionally well.

From the standpoint of my team at Expat Money, the introduction of the new Investor Pass does not make the current residency pathway any less compelling.

It, however, should add a serious sense of urgency to those of you considering securing residency in Paraguay while it still offers its ultra-accessible pathway. 

Right now, you DO NOT NEED TO INVEST $150,000 or $200,000 (or prove you will be creating at least 5 new jobs in the country) to secure residency in Paraguay. 

With residency in the right jurisdiction, the other essential Plan-B doors present themselves to you: offshore banking options, legal structures and tax-optimized real estate investments are all made possible on the back of a legal residency in the right Plan-B jurisdiction.

…that’s just how this works…

If you’ve been thinking about building a Plan-B, or if you’ve been exploring different jurisdictions, structures, and strategies without a clear starting point, this is where you begin.  

Now, you can absolutely secure Paraguayan residency on your own terms.

You can book a flight, arrive in a foreign country, and start knocking on doors to find the right lawyer, banker, or brokerage.

By all means, legally, you can do this. 

There is no one stopping you.

…there is no one helping you either. 

Having the desire to create a Plan-B and the gumption to try and make it work without expert support is admirable.

I don’t recommend it, but I understand that for some of you, saving a few thousand bucks is worth the time, stress, mistakes and everything else that comes alongside trying to navigate an offshore legal system without professionals by your side. 

So, if you’re going to “go it alone”, please, please, please, at least keep this in mind when doing so:

• You will get different answers to the same question depending on who you speak to.
  

• Ensure you cross-check everything with at least two independent firms, and don’t assume any of them are familiar with the compliance rules for foreigners (most are not)
  

• Ask for itemized quotes, ask what locals pay for the same service, and never agree to a fee structure that isn’t in writing.
  

• If you plan on securing real estate yourself, make sure that the land you’re buying or property you’re buying has no liens or ownership issues (these will become your problem after closing)
  

• If you’re buying or investing in a pre-construction project, please, please, please, do your best to find a developer with a long-term track record who can prove past delivery (my trusted partners have told me horror stories about some fly-by-night types setting up shop in Paraguay lately who have no business being in the business or large-scale residential development)
  

• Keep in mind that most professionals don’t speak “expat”, so make sure you’re not blindly submitting forms without understanding the potential tax consequences, reporting obligations, or other legal/financial complications that could arise from not acting within the compliance regulations of your home country
  

• Hire a local translator (with no ulterior motives) who can travel with you to make sure nothing gets lost in translation. 

Simply put, if you’re keen on doing this without expert guidance (and without access to a proper network), YOU MUST thoroughly research the implications of every move you make before making them.

You will be dealing in a foreign country, and there are serious implications, so please, please, please be careful, be thorough and exercise extreme caution while doing so.

Now, if you’d prefer to do this important work with the guidance and expertise of my trusted partners, whom I have personally worked with for years, there is a smarter way…

…and it starts with putting boots on the ground and having the right team take you around the country, introducing you to hand-picked experts with decades of experience working specifically with expats and foreign investors like us…

Paraguay Expat Exploration & Investment Tour Snapshot

• Meet and strategize with my network of Paraguay-specific partners & service providers
  

• Evaluate pre-vetted investment opportunities and deploy capital alongside me (if you choose)
  

• Share nightly meals with our like-minded group at top restaurants and stay in top-rated hotels
  

• Take in bucket-list-worthy sights & partake in various excursions throughout the tour
  

• Experience the established and emerging cities driving Paraguay’s current boom
  

• Secure your legal residency status (optional)
  

• …and much, much more

Flights aside, everything else is covered for the entirety of the 9-day, 9-night tour. 

Hotels, all meals, private transport, intra-country flights, and every logistical detail… all of it is handled.

You walk the land, meet the right vetted, trusted domain experts and engage in strategy sessions with the same teams who have vast experience in working with foreign clients… the same teams who I personally work with and whom I have entrusted to support hundreds of my clients over the years. 

When you join a small group of freedom-seekers on this tour, you’ll spend your days moving through the country exploring Paraguay’s most economically important (and fastest growing) cities, walking real development sites, and meeting the experts who are leading the country into its next era of global relevance.

…and I’ll be there alongside you the entire time, helping you connect the dots between strategy and reality.

On our last tour, most attendees opted to start the process of securing their residency in Paraguay, which you can accomplish in a single trip to the country with us (fully optional, but highly recommended, even if you plan on just “keeping it in your back pocket for a rainy day”).  

I currently have just one tour date scheduled for this year, kicking off on October 17th and running through the 26th (2026).

Yes, October is a long way out, but I have to tell you now if you’re going to come because:

1) - The tour will sell out well in advance of October

2) - If you’re planning to secure residency on the same tour, it would be in your best interest to get started on some simple paperwork now rather than having to scramble to get it done during the Summer

Despite leading a company of nearly 30 employees and a large, growing family, working directly with hundreds of families and investors, and doing tens of millions of dollars in cross-border business, I still say goodbye to my family, get on a plane, and go all-in with you guys for these tours.

I work this hard and invest my time and energy so that your only job is to show up prepared to learn, explore, and lay the groundwork for your personal offshore plans.

If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll make your move “soon,” understand this: what is available today may not be there later… and much like most things in the offshore world, your options aren’t going to expand.

Here is where you can take action: 

SECURE RESIDENCY: CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & GET STARTED

JOIN OCTOBER’S EXPAT EXPLORATION & INVESTMENT TOUR: CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & SECURE YOUR SEAT

Or, click here if you’d like to learn more before committing by scheduling a call with Melissa, my Head of Client Intake. Melissa can answer any questions you may have about securing residency, joining the upcoming tour… or doing both.

Speak soon,
Mikkel

PS. The photos below may give you a small glimpse of what to expect on the Expat Exploration & Investment Tour I am leading this October; however, this video should paint a pretty perfect picture of what your 9 days and 9 nights exploring (and enjoying) Paraguay with an amazing group is really like! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHtqzREgw2A