Moving to Paraguay from Israel

Step 1

The documents an Israeli citizen assembles

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

• An Israeli passport valid well beyond your planned travel — check the expiry date now, not at the airport.
• Your Israeli birth certificate — a certificate issued by the state authorities, the version Paraguay's process recognises.
• An Israeli police criminal-record certificate — formally a "Certification Regarding the Absence of a Criminal Record," still widely called by its old name, teudat yosher. It is issued from the Israel Police registry, and can be requested either in person or through a representative holding a power of attorney — useful if you are already abroad. This is the police record Paraguay expects from Israelis.
• Your marriage certificate, if you are married and applying as a couple.
• Every one of these documents must then be apostilled — see Step 2 — and later translated into Spanish by a sworn translator in Paraguay.

Step 2

Apostilles — the Foreign Ministry and the courts

Israel belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, so Paraguay accepts an apostille and you skip consular legalization entirely. Israel has two apostille authorities, and which one you use depends on the kind of document — getting this wrong is a common delay for Israeli applicants.

• Public documents issued by a state authority — your birth certificate, your marriage certificate, and the Israel Police criminal-record certificate — are apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. The police certificate can be ordered through the Ministry's authenticated channel so it arrives already carrying an apostille.
• Israel's Magistrate's Courts apostille notarised documents — powers of attorney, declarations, agreements — and the notarial translations a notary prepares. So a court, not the Foreign Ministry, apostilles the translation work.
• Send a court document to the Foreign Ministry, or a state-issued certificate to a court, and it returns unprocessed — time lost.
• Sworn translation into Spanish happens after apostille, by a translator matriculated with Paraguay's Supreme Court. It is done in Asunción, and getting it right the first time matters.

Be honest with yourself

When you stop being an Israeli tax resident is the real question

This is the section most relocation marketing quietly skips. The good news: Israel taxes by residence, not citizenship — so unlike an American, you can genuinely stop being an Israeli taxpayer. The hard part is that ceasing Israeli tax residency is not a date you pick; it is a factual test. Israel decides residency by your "centre of life" — where your family, economic and social ties actually are. Day-count presumptions support that test: spending 183 days or more in Israel in a tax year, or 30 days in a year plus 425 days across that year and the two before it, presumes Israel is your centre of life. Those presumptions can be argued, but the centre-of-life test is what ultimately governs — and a half-finished move, with the family or the main assets still in Israel, can leave you an Israeli tax resident long after you have a cédula. There is also an exit tax. Under Section 100A of the Income Tax Ordinance, an individual who ceases to be an Israeli resident is treated as having sold their worldwide assets at market value the day before residency ends; the resulting capital gain is taxable, though payment can be deferred until the assets are actually sold. When you leave, you should formally notify the Israel Tax Authority and file a final return for the year of departure — if you do not, the ITA may keep treating you as resident and taxing your worldwide income. The honest summary: Paraguay can genuinely lower your cost of living and, done properly, end your Israeli tax residency — but "done properly" means actually moving your centre of life, not just acquiring a residency card. Speak to a cross-border accountant familiar with Israeli expatriation before any tax-driven decision.

• Residency is decided by the "centre of life" test — family, economic and social ties — not by where you hold a residency card.
• Day-count presumptions: 183+ days in Israel in a tax year, or 30 days plus 425 across three years, presume Israel is your centre of life.
• Section 100A exit tax — a deemed sale of your worldwide assets at market value when residency ends, with capital gains tax that can be deferred until you actually sell.
• Notify the Israel Tax Authority and file a final return for your departure year — otherwise the ITA may continue to treat you as a resident.

Getting there

Flights, timeline, and your first weeks

A realistic picture of the move itself:

• There are no direct flights from Israel to Asunción. The common routings connect through Europe — Air Europa, for example, flies nonstop from Madrid to Asunción — or via São Paulo or Buenos Aires onward to Asunción. Budget a full travel day each way.
• Document preparation — ordering records, Foreign Ministry apostilles, courier time — typically runs around 3 to 6 weeks from Israel. Check current Ministry of Foreign Affairs turnaround before you commit to dates.
• You do not need a visa to enter Paraguay as an Israeli tourist — entry is visa-free for a stay of up to 90 days. You begin the residency process in person, after you arrive, at the DNM.
• Carry proof of onward travel and make sure your passport has at least six months' validity beyond your arrival — both are standard expectations at the border.

FAQ

Moving to Paraguay from Israel — FAQ