Paraguay visa and entry requirements

Get the stamp, and get it where you cross

• You do not need a visa to visit Paraguay. You normally get permission to stay for 90 days on arrival, and a further 90 can be applied for through the immigration department.
• An immigration official must stamp, date and sign the passport when you arrive. Without an entry stamp you get a fine when you leave the country.
• This is the thing to be careful about at a land border, typically Ciudad del Este to Foz do Iguacu on the Brazilian side.
• Long-distance bus drivers sometimes tell foreign passengers they can complete immigration formalities in Asuncion. The FCDO says plainly that this is not true. Get off the bus at the border post and get the stamp, even if nobody else does.
• Keep a copy of the stamp. You are required to carry ID in Paraguay and a copy of the entry stamp is part of what the police ask for.

The passport

• It should be valid for the duration of your stay. Paraguay does not impose the usual six month rule, which makes it unusually relaxed.
• A passport reported lost or stolen will get you refused, as anywhere.

Money at the border

• Declare cash or travellers cheques worth 10,000 US dollars or more.
• You can declare online in advance, or at computer terminals at the airport or the place of arrival. You are given a certified declaration showing you brought it in, which is what you need on the way out.

Vaccination certificates

• A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country listed as a transmission risk. It is not a general requirement.

Travelling with children

• Children under 18 resident in Paraguay need written permission, the Permiso del Menor, from any non-accompanying parent to leave the country. It is granted by a Justice of the Peace Court where the applicant lives. This catches out families with a Paraguayan resident child.