Can you recommend an Immigration lawyer in Asuncion?

1POSTS

10 years ago

Hey everyone I am looking at getting started with the process of permanent residency but I am at a loss finding a reputable lawyer on the web. i do speak fluent Spanish and feel like i can smell a rat, which is hard to do online

any help or recommendations would be appreciated.

See also

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majbjb Contributor

158POSTS

10 years ago

If you speak espanol and read it, then why use a lawyer? The process for residency is rather simple, just takes a bit of running around dropping off paperwork and getting some bureaucracy dealt with. Bringing your original documents from home, apostilled properly is the first step. And you can only do that yourself. You can go to any Paraguayan Embassy's web site and download a list of required documents and the steps to be followed. Lawyers are only worth the money if your totally unable to communicate, not used to dealing with (or intimindated by) Latin American gov't bureaucracy, or just don't have the time or the desire to put forth the effort. I would be very careful about any lawyers that contact you directly due to this post. Go to the Facebook site "Expats in Paraguay" and ask there for a recommendation. Those who have used lawyers recently will pour forth recomendations. Years ago we used a lawyer due to lack of time, and it worked well. But I always kick myself when I think of how easy it would of been to extend our stay and do it ourselves….

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chicchera Member

16POSTS

10 years ago

I usually advice against going solo through the immigration process. The thing is that there are so many little things that can halt or delay the application that yes, in the end you will be able to do it, but it won't be easy. I have several examples, starting from myself, where fluency in Spanish was not enough. And if you are not fluent in Spanish you better forget it.

Just to give an example of how things work, even if totally unrelated. I grew up in Perú and have lived in south america for 30 years, but I am Italian: if I enter a store and they ask me for my nationality and I answer Italian, chances are that prices will be pretty high but, if I answer Peruvian the prices drop significantly. My wife is Italian and speaks very little Spanish: of course, if she asks for a price usually it will be 15-20% higher than if I do the asking, with peaks of 100%.

In this country you must be fluent in Guaraní and have friends, as I explained it in another post in Italian, otherwise things can become difficult: obstructionism was invented here.

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

10 years ago

majbjb wrote:
Lawyers are only worth the money if your totally unable to communicate, not used to dealing with (or intimindated by) Latin American gov't bureaucracy, or just don't have the time or the desire to put forth the effort.

Presuming that "unable to communicate" means "don't speak Spanish," then the description in the above citation would fit most newly-arriving Expats to South America.

I agree with Chicchera. A newly-minted Expat has plenty on his/her plate without attempting to navigate a complicated, third-world, Spanish-speaking bureaucracy.

That being said, there are about 8 percent of Expats with enough Spanish and mystifyingly-refined attention to detail who can ignore me and Chic .. and successfully pull off a tramités miracle.

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Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant Member

23POSTS

10 years ago

I AM PAKISTANI DOCTOR,working in Maldives & living with family.I want to apply for Paraguay residency, so pleas any one who can recommend any lawyer or agent in this regards, & also give any information good for assistance, i will appreciate the efforts
thanks
Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

10 years ago

Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant wrote:
I AM PAKISTANI DOCTOR, working in Maldives & living with family. I want to apply for Paraguay residency, so please anyone who can recommend any lawyer or agent in this regards, &...

Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant

Dear Jaffer,

Type Immigration Lawyers in Paraguay into the Expat.com search box atop this page, and then click on the search icon to the right of the box.

Why do you want to live in Paraguay?

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Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant Member

23POSTS

10 years ago

well...
i don't want to live in paraguay,want citizenship & second passport by residency

The Paraguay expat guide

Comprehensive and free

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cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

10 years ago

Dr.M.Jaffer Merchant wrote:
well...
i don't want to live in paraguay, want citizenship & second passport by residency.

Are you aware, Jaffer, that you may have to satisfy residency requirements -- in other words, live in Paraguay most of the time for a while -- to qualify for citizenship application?

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