Working in Paraguay as a French Citizen: Residence, Salaries, Taxes and Contributions

The 90-day tourist stay without a visa does not serve as a work authorisation. The National Directorate of Migration grants foreigners who wish to settle to carry out a lawful activity temporary residence under law 6984 of 2022, valid for two years at most and renewable for an equal period. While the file is being processed, the applicant obtains the status of “precarious resident”, which lets them leave and re-enter the country, study and work; residence also opens access to the Paraguayan identity card (cédula) (Migraciones).

The file includes a sworn statement on the profession, activity or trade carried out and the address in Paraguay, a criminal record certificate from age 14, an Interpol certificate and a certificate of antecedents for foreigners from the national police. The fees are of the order of 2.9 million guaraníes in cash for temporary residence, 1.3 million for an extension and 230,000 for the radicación certificate (rates revised each year). Children and teenagers are exempt from showing means of support, which suggests that adults are required to; the exact supporting documents are confirmed with the directorate.

The procedure is personal and in person, with follow-up possible by a legal representative; foreign documents are apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish by a Paraguayan sworn translator, with Portuguese-language documents issued by Brazil exempt from translation. Submitting the file does not guarantee that residence will be granted, and the directorate may ask for additional documents. Overstaying the authorised length of stay is punished by a fine of 702,462 guaraníes in cash.

See also the guide for employees working abroad, and the page on living in Paraguay for settling-in formalities.

The legal minimum wage is readjusted every year by decree, on the recommendation of the National Minimum Wage Council, which follows the price index. It is of the order of 3 million guaraníes a month for general activities, after a 5% increase decided by decree 6225 of 17 June 2026 and regulated by resolution 670/2026 of the Ministry of Labour. The minimum jornal is of the order of 117,000 guaraníes; for night work, with the 30% premium of the Labour Code, the minimum monthly wage is of the order of 3.9 million guaraníes.

The employer must display the minimum wages in force in a visible place, and non-payment of the minimum exposes them to fines of 10 to 30 minimum jornales per worker concerned. Above the floor, pay is negotiated according to the trade and the sector; the “Economic indicators” block of this page updates the indicators (unemployment, inflation, exchange rate). An offer denominated in guaraníes is also judged against the exchange rate, which varies.

Resolution 670/2026 also sets values for other schemes: for the apprenticeship scheme, the minimum monthly wage is of the order of 1.8 million guaraníes, and for part-time work the daytime and night-time hourly values are published separately. An employee who finds that their July pay does not include the adjustment can file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour in Asunción or its regional offices.

The Social Welfare Institute (IPS) runs the seguro social for private-sector employees. According to the Ministry of Labour, the employer pays 16.5% of the worker’s total pay and the employee 9%, withheld on their payslip, that is 25.5% in total. The employer must top up the employee’s contribution base when they receive less than the minimum wage. The local employee is thus covered for sickness and maternity, and work accidents also come under the contribution.

Dependants are minor children, the spouse or partner and, under conditions, the insured person’s parents; for foreigners, registration requires the Directorate of Migration card of the holder and of the dependant, the identity document from the country of origin and legalised or apostilled civil status records, with a Paraguayan cédula to be presented within two years (IPS). Registration of beneficiaries is free. The page on the healthcare system in Paraguay details the cover.

Personal income tax (IRP) is run by the National Directorate of Tax Revenue (DNIT, formerly SET). It has two components: personal services income, taxed at 8%, 9% and 10% depending on the net income bracket, and capital income and gains, taxed at 8%. The return is annual, with a March deadline for the previous tax year; taxpayers are individuals, national or foreign. The brackets in guaraníes are read in the DNIT guides for the tax year concerned.

Paraguay does not appear on the list of tax treaties published by impots.gouv.fr (the French tax authority’s website). The domestic-law rules of each country therefore apply, with no treaty mechanism for eliminating double taxation; the situation of an employee who keeps French-source income is checked with the French tax authorities.

In the absence of a social security agreement, an employee sent by a French company can be seconded outside an agreement: they remain affiliated to the French scheme for three years, renewable once, covered up to the benefits they would have received in France, on paid invoices using form S 3125c. Contributions are paid in France as if the activity were carried out there, without exempting them from any contributions due in Paraguay (CLEISS). See seconded or expatriate.

An employee on a local contract, by contrast, leaves the French scheme and comes under the IPS; the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French expatriate health fund) is added to local affiliation without exempting them from it. A self-employed person can affiliate voluntarily to the IPS or join the CFE, which covers sickness-maternity for a self-employed person. For a remote worker who remains an employee of a foreign company, the migration law requires a residence suited to the declared activity; see the guide to digital nomad visas and confirm with the National Directorate of Migration.

According to France Diplomatie, Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in South America but one of the most open and dynamic economies in the region, with average growth of about 4% a year, controlled inflation of 3 to 4% and public debt of the order of 40% of GDP. Activity rests chiefly on agribusiness and on hydroelectricity produced by the binational Itaipú and Yacyretá dams.

Exports consist mainly of electricity, soybeans (third in the world), maize and beef (fifth in the world). The main customers are Brazil (about 3.67 billion dollars), Argentina (about 1.91 billion) and Chile (about 1.16 billion). These sectors and the services linked to them are the most visible openings for a French manager or technician; the currency is the guaraní.