Moving to Paraguay from the Netherlands

Step 1

The documents a Dutch citizen assembles

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

• A Dutch passport (paspoort) valid well beyond your planned travel — check the expiry date now, not at the airport.
• Your birth certificate — an afschrift or uittreksel of the birth record (geboorteakte) from the gemeente that registered the birth.
• A VOG — the Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, the Dutch certificate of conduct issued by Justis under the Ministry of Justice and Security. This is the police-record document Dutch citizens use for emigration and foreign residency. One detail matters: the VOG is issued for a stated purpose, so on the application you must name emigration to, or residency in, Paraguay as the purpose — do not apply for an unrelated work-related VOG. Apply through your gemeente if you are registered in the BRP, or directly to Justis if you are not, and ask for a paper VOG, since a digital one cannot be apostilled.
• Your marriage certificate (huwelijksakte), if you are married and applying as a couple — an afschrift from the relevant gemeente.
• 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 — done at a Dutch district court

The Netherlands belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, so Paraguay accepts an apostille and you skip consular legalization entirely. The Dutch system is refreshingly simple compared with some countries — but the documents must be paper originals.

• Apostilles on Dutch documents are issued by the district courts (rechtbanken). Any designated rechtbank can apostille any Dutch public document — there is no document-by-document split — and a single visit can usually cover your VOG, birth certificate, and marriage certificate together.
• Make sure each document is a recent paper original with an original signature or seal. A digital VOG or a downloaded civil-status extract cannot be apostilled.
• Processing at a district court is normally quick — often a small number of working days — but confirm the current arrangements and whether the court takes walk-ins or requires an appointment.
• 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 the Dutch tax system is a task, not a flight

The Netherlands taxes on residence, not citizenship — so unlike a US citizen, you can genuinely end your Dutch tax liability by leaving. But it is something you do, not something that happens automatically when you land in Asunción. It starts with deregistration: you must uitschrijven from your gemeente, and your departure date in the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP) becomes your official departure date for Dutch tax purposes — but the tax authority still looks at where your actual life and ties are, so the move has to be genuine. The item to watch is the conserverende aanslag — a preserving, or protective, tax assessment. If you emigrate while holding a substantial interest (an aanmerkelijk belang, broadly a 5%-or-more stake in a company), the Belastingdienst treats your shares as if sold on your departure date and issues an assessment on the deemed Box 2 gain. It is not collected immediately — it is deferred — but for departures outside the EU/EEA, which includes Paraguay, the deferral can carry interest and a requirement to provide security. You also file an emigration-year tax return (the M-form). 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 Dutch 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 the Netherlands 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 VOG (which itself takes a few weeks to issue), district-court apostilles, sworn translation — typically runs 5 to 10 weeks from the Netherlands, paced by your slowest step.
• You do not need a visa to enter Paraguay as a Dutch tourist — Dutch citizens are granted a 90-day stay on arrival. You begin the residency process in person, after you arrive, at the DNM.
• Paraguay has no embassy in the Netherlands itself — the embassy accredited to the Netherlands sits in Brussels, with an honorary consulate in Kampen for limited assistance. Contact the Brussels embassy if you need a document checked or a question answered before you fly.

FAQ

Moving to Paraguay from the Netherlands — FAQ