On 17 April 2026, the Paraguayan Government officially launched The Paraguay Investor Pass — a new investment-based pathway to immediate permanent residency. No temporary visa. No company formation. No job creation. Invest $150,000 to $200,000 in real estate, securities, or tourism. Visit once every three years. Hold permanent status for a decade. Apply for citizenship after three.
For those of us who have been operating in Paraguay for years, this is the most significant shift in the country’s immigration landscape since the SUACE program launched in 2013.
Why “Golden Visa” Matters Now
The term “Paraguay Golden Visa” has floated around the investment migration industry for years, usually describing the SUACE program, which grants permanent residency through a $70,000 business investment.
But SUACE was never a golden visa in the way the industry uses that term. It required company formation, a government-approved business plan, and five local employees. It was an entrepreneur’s pathway. Useful. Legitimate. But not passive.
The Investor Pass is passive. Invest capital, receive residency, maintain it with minimal presence, face no operational obligations. That’s the model that made European golden visas attractive and Paraguay has now adopted it at a fraction of the cost.
Portugal eliminated its real estate investment Golden Visa options in 2023. Spain killed its program. Greece raised thresholds to €800K in prime areas (excluding renovation projects). Paraguay is offering what those programs used to offer, starting at $150K.
What Changed
The Investor Pass was announced by Minister of Industry and Commerce Marco Riquelme and Director of National Migration Jorge Kronawetter in São Paulo. The choice of venue was deliberate, Brazil accounts for roughly 30,000 of Paraguay’s 47,000 new residency applications in 2025, and the government is projecting over 100,000 new residents in 2026.
The program was designed in direct response to investor feedback. Many foreign nationals were comfortable with capital requirements but found SUACE’s five-employee mandate impractical — particularly those purchasing property or securities that generated no direct employment.
Three investment tracks are now available:
Tourism — $150K. The lowest threshold. Reflects the government’s push to develop Paraguay’s tourism sector.
Real Estate — $200K. Houses, apartments, offices, land. This will be the most popular route.
Securities — $200K. Paraguayan stock exchange. Investment types can be combined.
Presence requirement: one entry every three years. Tax benefit: reduced 8% dividend tax (from 15%), on top of Paraguay’s territorial tax system — 0% on all foreign income. No wealth tax. No inheritance tax.
(For the full breakdown of all six Paraguay residency routes — including SUACE, the $40K film route, and temporary residency — read our Complete 2026 Guide to Paraguay Residency by Investment.)
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What It Doesn’t Change
A few things to be clear about.
The Investor Pass is not instant. Applicants still go through the SUACE and Migraciones pipeline with full documentation, Interpol checks, administrative processing. Processing timelines haven’t been formally published yet. Based on our experience with the shared institutional infrastructure, expect 2 to 6 months for well-prepared applications.
The SUACE program isn’t going away. It remains available at $70K (or the higly attractive $40K ilm production route) for entrepreneurs who want to operate a business locally. For active investors, it’s still the cheaper option.
And citizenship still requires commitment. Three years of permanent residency with at least 183 days per year of physical presence, plus a language and knowledge interview. The Investor Pass gets you to permanent residency faster. It doesn’t shortcut the naturalisation process.
The Southern Cone: The Ultimate Plan B Theatre
The Investor Pass doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s the latest move in what is becoming the most dynamic investment migration region on earth.
The Southern Cone: Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile is quietly assembling the most compelling combination of residency, citizenship, and tax planning options available anywhere. No other region offers this density of pathways at these price points, with this speed to citizenship and this level of passport strength. – David Lincoln, CEO – Lincoln Global Partners, from Linked In
Here’s the landscape as it stands in 2026:
Paraguay — Investor Pass & SUACE. Immediate permanent residency from $40K–$200K. Territorial taxation. 3-year path to citizenship. 140+ visa-free countries. Just launched.
Argentina — Citizenship by Investment. Direct citizenship — no residency phase required. ~$500K investment threshold (pending final Ministerial Resolution). 30 business days to decision. 170+ visa-free countries. Launching Q3/Q4 2026. The most significant program launch of the decade.
Brazil — Golden Visa (VIPER). Permanent residency from BRL 700K (~$140K) in North/Northeast real estate. 4-year path to citizenship. 170+ visa-free countries. The undervalued coastline play.
Uruguay — Permanent Residency. No investment required — proof of economic solvency only. 3-year citizenship pathway (married) or 5 years (single). 11-year tax holiday on foreign income via the January 2026 rule changes. The Switzerland of South America.
Chile — Start-Up Visa. Tech and innovation-focused entrepreneur pathway. Access to the Pacific Alliance and one of Latin America’s most developed economies. 5-year path to citizenship.
Each of these programs serves a different investor profile. But combined, they form something no single jurisdiction can offer alone: a regional sovereignty system. Territorial tax in Paraguay. A G20 passport from Argentina. Mercosur settlement rights across all five countries. Real estate exposure in Brazil’s northeast corridor. Institutional stability in Uruguay. Innovation infrastructure in Chile.
This is why we say Europe integrates you, but Latin America liberates you. The Southern Cone is not one program. It’s a theatre of options, and the Investor Pass just made it deeper.
Our Take
I’ve lived in the Southern Cone for over five years. I’ve walked clients through SUACE applications in Asunción. I know how the system works from the inside, not from a brochure.
The Investor Pass is a meaningful upgrade. It removes the real friction point in Paraguay’s offering — the job creation requirement that made no sense for property buyers — and replaces it with a clean, capital-based pathway. It positions Paraguay directly against the programs that European golden visa holders are now losing access to, at investment thresholds that most of those holders would consider modest.
For clients already building a Plan B across multiple jurisdictions pairing Southern Cone residency with European golden visas, Caribbean citizenship, or both the Investor Pass now fits cleanly into that architecture. It’s not the whole plan. It’s a component of it.
Paraguay is not the alternative. It’s the strategy.
If you’re considering the Investor Pass or want to understand how it fits alongside your broader sovereignty structure we’d welcome the conversation.
David Lincoln is the Founder and CEO of Lincoln Global Partners, an investment migration consultancy headquartered in Dubai and operating across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He holds the IMCM credential and has lived between Florianópolis, Brazil and Asunción, Paraguay for over five years.
