Moving to Paraguay from France

Step 1

The documents a French citizen assembles

Paraguay's Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) expects a specific, modest set of documents. As a French citizen you gather these at home, before you fly:

• A French passport (passeport) valid well beyond your planned travel — check the expiry date now, not at the airport.
• Your birth certificate — a recent copie intégrale d'acte de naissance from the mairie of your place of birth, or from the Service central d'état civil in Nantes if you were born outside France. An old copy will not do; Paraguay wants a current one.
• An extrait de casier judiciaire — Bulletin n°3, the criminal-record extract from the Casier Judiciaire National. It is issued free of charge and is the national-level police record Paraguay expects from French citizens. Request it dated less than three months before you use it.
• Your marriage certificate (acte de mariage), if you are married and applying as a couple — again a recent copie intégrale from the relevant mairie.
• Every one of these documents must then be apostilled — see Step 2 — and translated into Spanish by a sworn translator matriculated in Paraguay.

Step 2

Apostilles — France changed who issues them in 2025

France belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, so Paraguay accepts an apostille and you skip consular legalization entirely. The important update: since 1 May 2025, French apostilles are no longer issued by the Cours d'appel. Competence has moved to the notarial profession.

• Apostilles are now issued by notaries, through a network of regional apostille and legalization centres operated under the Conseil supérieur du notariat. Applications can be filed via the Conseil supérieur du notariat's online portal, by post, or in person at a centre.
• This applies to all your documents — the Bulletin n°3, the birth certificate, the marriage certificate. Each is sent as an original to the notarial route; references to the Cour d'appel de Rennes or any other court for this step are out of date.
• Your Bulletin n°3 must be an original dated less than three months old, bearing the seal and signature of the issuing authority, or the notary will refuse to apostille it.
• Sworn translation into Spanish happens after apostille, by a translator matriculated with Paraguay's Supreme Court. It is normally done in Asunción, and getting it right the first time matters.

Be honest with yourself

Leaving France's tax system is a task, not a flight

France taxes on residence, not citizenship — so unlike a US citizen, you can genuinely end your French tax liability by leaving. But it is something you do, not something that happens automatically when you land in Asunción. The core test is your fiscal domicile: France can still treat you as resident if your home, your main stay, your professional activity, or your centre of economic interests (centre des intérêts économiques) remains in France, so the exit has to be real. The headline item is the exit tax under Article 167 bis of the Code général des impôts. If you have been a French tax resident for at least six of the last ten years and hold company shares worth at least €800,000, or at least 50% of a company's profits, transferring your residence abroad triggers a tax on the unrealised gains on those shares. Payment can be deferred, but automatic deferral depends on the destination country having the right tax-recovery agreements with France — which Paraguay does not — so for a move to Paraguay the deferral must be requested with a tax representative and financial guarantees, and these rules need to be checked carefully in advance. You also file a specific departure return for the year you leave. The honest summary: Paraguay can genuinely lower both your cost of living and, done correctly, your tax — but the exit itself needs to be planned. Speak to a French cross-border tax adviser before any tax-driven decision.

Getting there

Flights, timeline, and your first weeks

A realistic picture of the move itself:

• There are no direct flights from France to Asunción. Common routings connect through São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Madrid, or Panama City — budget a full travel day, often more, each way.
• Document preparation — ordering certificates, the notarial apostille, post or portal time, sworn translation — typically runs 5 to 10 weeks from France, paced by your slowest step.
• You do not need a visa to enter Paraguay as a French tourist — French citizens are granted a 90-day stay on arrival. You begin the residency process in person, after you arrive, at the DNM.
• Paraguay keeps an embassy in Paris if you need a document checked or a question answered before you fly.

FAQ

Moving to Paraguay from France — FAQ