- Ways to apply
- Children of Paraguayans who take residence (Art. 146(3))
- Dual citizenship
- Kept, however you apply
Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Through your mother
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05Ways to apply
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Law changes
- 10Other options
- 11Sources
Who qualifies, generation by generation
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Paraguayan citizenship through a parent?
Children of Paraguayans who take residence (Art. 146(3))
A child of a Paraguayan born abroad becomes a natural Paraguayan by establishing permanent residence in Paraguay and having a court declare the nationality by option. Paraguay does not ask you to give up your home citizenship.
What would settle itWhether the family is prepared to establish permanent residence in Paraguay.
- Natural Paraguayans include children of a Paraguayan father or mother born abroad who establish permanent residence in the Republic. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Art. 146(3) ↗
- The declaration of nationality by option is sought through a lawyer before a civil court of first instance where the applicant lives, with the birth certificate, police and judicial records, and a certificate of residence. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Law 7052/2023, Art. 5 ↗
- Natural Paraguayan nationality can be lost only by express and voluntary renunciation before the Supreme Court; Paraguayans who also hold the nationality of a country without a dual-nationality treaty are Paraguayan for all legal purposes. The option asks no one to give up another nationality. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Law 7052/2023, Arts. 8 and 10(c) ↗
UNLIKELY
Can you claim Paraguayan citizenship through a grandparent?
One generation
Descent reaches children of Paraguayans who take residence; there is no grandparent option.
What would settle itWhether your parent can establish Paraguayan nationality first.
UNLIKELY
Can you claim Paraguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?
One generation
Descent reaches children of Paraguayans who take residence; there is no grandparent option.
What would settle itWhether your parent can establish Paraguayan nationality first.
The dates that matter
No date named in Paraguay’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.
Claiming through your mother or grandmother
Paraguay’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
Every way to apply, and the law behind it
The law
- Natural Paraguayans include children of a Paraguayan father or mother born abroad who establish permanent residence in the Republic. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Art. 146(3) ↗
- The declaration of nationality by option is sought through a lawyer before a civil court of first instance where the applicant lives, with the birth certificate, police and judicial records, and a certificate of residence. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Law 7052/2023, Art. 5 ↗
- Natural Paraguayan nationality can be lost only by express and voluntary renunciation before the Supreme Court; Paraguayans who also hold the nationality of a country without a dual-nationality treaty are Paraguayan for all legal purposes. The option asks no one to give up another nationality. Constitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality, Law 7052/2023, Arts. 8 and 10(c) ↗
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether the family is prepared to establish permanent residence in Paraguay.
- UNLIKELY
Through a grandparentDescent reaches children of Paraguayans who take residence; there is no grandparent option.
The law
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether your parent can establish Paraguayan nationality first.
The documents, as the rule lists them
Children of Paraguayans who take residence (Art. 146(3))
Through a parent
- Your parent’s Paraguayan birth certificate or cédula
- Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated
- Evidence of permanent residence in Paraguay
Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Children of Paraguayans who take residence (Art. 146(3))
- Time
- Several months once residence in Paraguay is established, then a further few months for the option declaration to be recorded.
- Cost
- About $500–1,500: travel and time to establish residence, registration fees, apostilles and certified translations.
- The hard part
- You must actually move to Paraguay and establish permanent residence before this citizenship attaches, and the nationality is then declared by a civil court through a lawyer. Paraguay does not ask you to give up U.S. citizenship (Law 7052/2023, Arts. 8 and 10(c)).
- Who decides
- The Dirección General de Migraciones for residence, then the Registro del Estado Civil for the option declaration.
- The first record
- Your parent’s Paraguayan birth certificate or cédula, from The Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil. Request the certificado de nacimiento with the parent’s name and place of birth, or bring their cédula when applying for residence in Paraguay. registrocivil.gov.py ↗
How it’s filed
- Where
- In Paraguay only: SEDERREC (online) for the Certificado de Repatriación, the Policía Nacional’s Departamento de Identificaciones for the cédula, the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (Caballero 201, Asunción) for residence, then the Juez de Primera Instancia en lo Civil y Comercial of the applicant’s domicile (the Juez de la Niñez for a minor). office list ↗
- How
- In person; you appear in person
- Fee
- About $6
- Decision
- 4–18 months
What goes in the file (4)›
- Step 1 (SEDERREC, online at tramites.repatriados.gov.py): the Paraguayan parent’s cédula and proof that the parent lives abroad (or, if the parent has died, the parent’s birth and death certificates); the applicant’s passport and birth certificate
- Step 2 (cédula, Identificaciones): notarized copy of the applicant’s valid passport or national ID; the applicant’s birth certificate, apostilled; the Paraguayan parent’s birth certificate and notarized cédula copy; the applicant’s criminal record from the country of origin, apostilled; the Policía Nacional’s record for foreigners and an INTERPOL report; a sworn declaration of permanent residence in Paraguay; the Certificado de Repatriación
- Step 3 (Migraciones, within 90 days of the cédula): the Identificaciones file, which Identificaciones sends on; the cédula; the Certificado de Repatriación
- Step 4 (court, through a lawyer): the applicant’s apostilled birth certificate; police and judicial records; a certificate of life and residence from the Policía Nacional; the Paraguayan parent’s birth certificate; an INTERPOL record if over 14; the Certificado de Repatriación
What goes wrong (7)›
- The residence must be real and permanent, and the judge wants evidence of it (a certificate of life and residence). This is a move to Paraguay, not a paperwork claim.
- With a Certificado de Repatriación, residence is free, the court tax and the police, judicial and INTERPOL record fees are waived once, and SEDERREC provides a lawyer free. What remains is Gs 8,500 for the cédula and Gs 25,000 to inscribe the judgment at the Registro Civil (about USD 6). Without the certificate, permanent residence alone costs Gs 2,926,925 (about USD 498), plus a private lawyer.
- The Certificado de Repatriación is requested by the Paraguayan parent, who shows a cédula and proof of living abroad; if the parent has died, a relative requests it with the parent’s birth and death certificates.
- Law 7052/2023 (Arts. 5–7) sets the court procedure: the judge sends the petition to the civil prosecutor, who has 9 days; without opposition the judge rules within 30 days, or the petition is deemed granted. The Registro Civil and Identificaciones then need only the judgment, within 15 days. A minor’s declaration is ratified within 2 years of turning 18.
- Dual nationality: Paraguay does not ask the applicant to give up U.S. nationality. Law 7052 sets no renunciation for the option, and natural Paraguayan nationality is lost only by an express renunciation before the Supreme Court (Art. 8); Paraguayans holding a nationality from a country without a treaty stay Paraguayan for all legal purposes (Art. 10(c)).
- Cédula processing at Identificaciones takes up to 60 business days.
- From AR, BR: the same in-country process. Mercosur residence is another way to live in Paraguay, but the Law 2193 route gives permanent residence directly and free with the Certificado de Repatriación, so use it.
source ↗
Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth
Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil (Ministerio de Justicia)
The Paraguayan parent’s birth certificate, by name, date and the registry office (oficina) of birth; the parent’s cédula number helps.
- Takes
- 1–4 weeks
Good to know (3)›
- The Paraguayan parent downloads their own birth certificate from Portal Paraguay, logging in with their electronic identity: Gs 30,994, digitally signed with a QR code, valid for a year. A child abroad cannot order a parent’s certificate there.
- If the parent has died or has no electronic identity, a relative or lawyer in Paraguay asks at a Registro office: Gs 25,000 per certificate, and Gs 25,000 to legalize it at the Registro’s head office in Asunción.
- The court declaration needs the parent’s birth certificate; the Paraguayan parent’s cédula is also asked for by Identificaciones.
source ↗
Translations
- Into
- Spanish
- Who may translate
- A sworn translator in the country
- About
- $20–$60 a page
The applicant’s foreign birth certificate must be apostilled (or visaed by the Paraguayan consulate and legalized by Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Identificaciones asks for a notarized copy. Anything not in Spanish must be translated by a traductor público registered in Paraguay, or by a sworn translator abroad whose translation is then itself apostilled. Brazilian documents in Portuguese need no translation.
source ↗
The passport
- Where
- Policía Nacional, Departamento de Identificaciones (Asunción and regional offices), after the Paraguayan cédula that follows the judgment. Gs 240,000 (Resolution 689 of 16 September 2022).
- Fee
- About $41
- Time
- 1–4 weeks
source ↗
Recent and pending changes
We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Paraguay.
We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.
If descent doesn’t reach you
2 residence programs lead to Paraguay without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.
Every source on this page
1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.
- LawConstitution of Paraguay, Art. 146(3) (children of Paraguayans born abroad who take permanent residence in Paraguay); Law 7052/2023, regulating Arts. 146, 147 and 149 on multiple Paraguayan nationality · Art. 146(3); Law 7052/2023, Art. 5; Law 7052/2023, Arts. 8 and 10(c)
- RecordsThe Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil: Your parent’s Paraguayan birth certificate or cédula
- RecordsHow to file: Children of Paraguayans who take residence (Art. 146(3))
- RecordsStep 1: Certificado de Repatriación (SEDERREC, online). Step 2: cédula for a foreign child of a Paraguayan (Law 2193/2003) at Identificaciones. Step 3: permanent residence at Migraciones. Step 4: declaración de nacionalidad paraguaya natural before a civil judge, through a lawyer (Law 7052/2023)
- RecordsBirth records: Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil
- RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait
Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.