Retiree seeks immigration info

hello rob,

you will need legalised copies of your birth certificate, marriage/divorce certificates, and a police check from your home country. you must then take/send these legalised documents to the appropriate paraguayan consulate/embassy for legalisation by them. i believe there are four paraguayan offices in the us and the country is divided into four zones, with each office taking responsibility for specific areas. the paraguayan consulate in washington d.c. can give you further information on this.

i would also recommend you obtain a police check in the phillipines and get that legalised by their authorities as well. submit this for legalisation by the paraguayan representative office in the phillipines. if you have means of proving your physical presence in the phillipines (bank statements from that country or even a current driver's license covering the period you were there), this will greatly help when you are establishing your documents/ status in paraguay.

you must have the 5000usd to deposit in a local bank for the  approximately six months it takes to obtain permanent residency. you should also bring proof of income to satisfy the bank people that you have means of supporting yourself. your us pension income should be sufficient as proof of the ability to fund your life in paraguay.

i hope this is of help.

saludos cordiales,

ariel ortiz santander

my 2 cents


@asantander
Been reading your posting for a while now and you really give very good\sound advice, but 1 thing isn't correct any more, and that's that one MUST deposit $5000 so as to be able to obtain residency.
Minim  I was told in Immegracions (not so long ago) was there is no Min. any more.Even G500.000 would do BUT the more money you can prove, the faster\easier your gonna get your residency permit.

Regards

Hi all,

I second Nic'oPy's opinion on the well presented advice that Asantander provides, it's very complete and succint.

Also here's an additional 2 cents regarding funds,

In lieu of opening a bank account, you can buy some property and then just need to provide a copy of the title with your cedula application.

Cheers,  Brad

Hi Sir

sorry, but I must correct you too
First comes your Carnet (for which you need either money in a back or some property) and then with your Carnet you may apply for your Cedula.

Saying this again, as far as I know, the only two banks that allows a foreigner to open a bank account with only a passport these days are Banco de Fomento and Financiara Atlas

Oops, I stand corrected, the carnet does come first.  But for many, the process is all blurred together into one big, painful ordeal referred to as "gaining a cedula".   Actually not too painful, but an ordeal without a doubt!

That certainly is the truth, though to my shame or not I can say that I lived in Paraguay for the first 12 years without a Cedula. Had my Carnet and as PY law only states one must be able to ID oneself when asked by Police they couldn't do anything to me.Sure it was sometimes a headache, how many times were I stopped at the Asu. bus terminal and then because I didn't have a cedula they kept me sitting around for 1\2 hour or so after which they wrote something into a ledger which I then had to sign and then I could go...
Another downside of not having a Cedula is you can't open a back account without one, or associate yourself to a cooperative or take-out a credit.

So better it will be if one just do it all in one blur.

You can open a bank account without a cedula in Banco Nacional de Fomento, and Financieras, like Finanaciera Interfisa.

If you have a passport you can´t be stopped by the polic.

Some info for the moment.

Thanks

Yes Jfinestra that is true like you say, but I meant with my case is that I was living in PY for long after my entry-visa expired...
Showing only your passport to the police 1,3, or 5 years after your entered Paraguay without any other Identification is one sure way to either get yourself kicked out or its bribing time.

But you've made me think... Maybe just for the heck of it I should go with my passport to Banco de Fomento and try to open a account, will be interesting to see what happens seeing the last time they'll be able to see from my passport when I entered PY was over 15 years ago

Oh I see.... well then you should update your situation related to residency.

I have an american client, he came in October and aacounts could be oppenned in the mentioned institutions......It would be interesting to see their reaction when you show your entry date.

So is the carnet a provisional residency card? 
About how long does it take to get the cedula?

Also, can you open a bank account with about $5000 in Paraguay money?  I noticed that the G has been doing a lot better then
the USD lately!

Hi roav
No, the Carnet is your Permanent Residency Card which also allows you to work here.
About how long it takes to get the cedula... difficult to say, though I've heard these days its taking much less time than when I did mine 3 years ago -I waited 4 months I think-.With bribes of-course everything goes very fast...

And yes, you can open a bank account here, but only in certain ones, I know of Banco de Fomento and Financiara Atlass and Jfinestra has mentioned Finanaciera Interfisa.

hello roav

you apply for permanent residency with the necessary documents and after 90 to 100 days you receive your approval in the form of the carnet. you must use the carnet within a proscribed period of time to obtain the cedula. the carnet and cedula are not the same document. yes, it can be confusing but is really straightforward.

you can open an account with 5000usd or the equivalent in the currencies that the particular bank you are using offers their customers.

hope this helps,

kind regards,


ariel ortiz santander

How many times are I still gonna have to say it???
That $5000 is not required ANYMORE!

Yes that´s true 5 thousand is not necessary anymore.....though it shows more solvency to prove 5 thousand than 1 thousand, the spirit of Pyan immigration law, is basically we want people with a healthy economy.

Of course money can be deposit in Gs. too

I recommend Jfinestra (Jeronimo Finestra) as a lawyer to help obtain your carnet/cedula/citizenship. I haven't yet been to Py and I am getting my necessary documents legalized before I come. That's not so easy because I'm a US citizen who lives in Panama and my documents are from Texas and California. Jeronimo is being a BIG help with the Consulate in the US, and with the Consulate in Panama toward getting my travel visa.

You can ask Jeronimo yourself about his fees, but I consider them more than reasonable...especially when I consider all the work he is doing for me before I even get there. And he hasn't even asked me for any money up front. I'll post about the final outcome, but I'm confident that it will be completely satisfactory.

Asantander:  What do you mean, "you must use the carnet within a prescribed period of time to obtain the cedula" ??  Use the carnet how?

A special thank you to muffiemae for recommending Jerónimo here on the forum. It was on that recommendation that I ultimately chose Jerónimo to assist me in my quest for PY residency. I have just completed the application process, and everything went smoothly. Jerónimo and his assistant took me everywhere I needed to go, from start to finish, and handled the entire process quite competently. I was made to feel that I was in good hands the whole time, and best of all, the rates were more than reasonable.

After the first rate experience I had with him, I likewise highly recommend Jerónimo Finestra to anyone in search of reasonably priced, competent assistance with PY residency.

hello 9th wave,

regarding the carnet, you must personally attend the identificaciones office within 180 days of receiving the carnet or the permanent resdency process is nullified and you must pay a fine and start all over again.

at identificaciones you have the photograph for your cedula and fingerprint records done. you receive your cedula approximately one month after this time. the cedula must be renewed every ten years.


saludos cordiales

ariel ortiz santander