Household goods to Paraguay: free of import duties, but only final with a permanent residencia
Anyone coming to live in Paraguay may bring furniture, household goods and tools for his profession without import duties, if he lived outside Paraguay for more than a year before. But as long as you do not yet hold a residencia permanente, your belongings come in under temporary admission. That means a guarantee to customs and a procedure you have to close later.
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Anyone coming to live in Paraguay may bring his household goods without import duties. Customs, part of the DNIT tax authority, lists furniture and other household goods, and the tools and equipment you need for your profession. The condition is that you lived outside Paraguay for more than a year before. But there is a sentence attached that matters: as long as a foreigner does not yet hold a residencia permanente, his belongings can enter under admisión temporaria, temporary admission. You only get the residencia permanente after the residencia temporal, which is valid for up to two years.
| What | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Furniture, household goods, tools for your profession | free of import duties, after more than a year outside Paraguay | DNIT |
| Without a residencia permanente | temporary admission, with a guarantee to customs | DNIT, Código Aduanero |
| Personal belongings in your luggage | free: clothes, books, jewellery, phone, laptop | DNIT |
| Other goods in your luggage, by plane | free up to 1,000 dollars | DNIT, February 2026 |
| Likewise, overland | free up to 300 dollars | DNIT, February 2026 |
| Cash or cheques | declare through the eDAV from 10,000 dollars | DNIT |
| Car, motorbike, motorhome | not covered by the luggage scheme | DNIT |
What is temporary admission?
A scheme under which goods may stay in the country while the import duties are suspended in whole or in part. The Código Aduanero says that customs asks for a guarantee, that the goods must remain unchanged and be re-exported within a set period, or be placed under another scheme. If you do not keep to the conditions, the goods count as imported and the duties are due. Customs may come and check during that period that the belongings are still there.
Do not sell or give away anything from a shipment that came in under temporary admission, and keep the packing list. As soon as you have the residencia permanente, ask customs how to convert the temporary admission into the exemption. If you do nothing, the period runs out and customs can still levy the duties.
How high the guarantee is and how long the period, the law leaves to customs and the implementing rules. Ask in advance.
Do you need a customs broker?
It is not compulsory. The Código Aduanero lists the declaration for an immigrant among the cases in which a despachante de aduana, a customs broker, is not required. With a container full of belongings and a guarantee to arrange, it is wise to hire one anyway.
What do you declare at the airport?
If you bring 10,000 dollars or more, in cash or in cheques, you declare it through the eDAV, the DNIT's electronic declaration for travellers. You receive a QR code that you show to customs. There is no limit, but there is a duty to declare.
Personal belongings in your luggage are free. For other goods there is an exemption of up to 1,000 dollars if you arrive by plane or by river, and 300 dollars overland, as long as nothing points to trade. If you go above that, you take the red channel and fill in a declaration. If customs holds something back, you have 90 days to get it released with a broker.
What may not simply come along?
Your car. Cars, motorbikes and motorhomes fall outside the luggage scheme, and the exemption for people coming to live does not list them. See car and driving licence in Paraguay.
Plants, seeds and animal products fall under other agencies; the DNIT refers to SENAVE and SENACSA for those. You report a dog or cat on arrival to SENACSA's veterinary inspection; see pets to Paraguay. If you take medicines with you, read medicines across the border.
When do you send the shipment?
The DNIT documents we read set no period within which your household goods must arrive. They do set the condition that you lived outside Paraguay for more than a year. Keep documents at hand that show this, such as your proof of deregistration and your old lease. Deregistering is covered in deregistering from the municipality.
The order of all the steps is in the route to Paraguay. Which residencia you have and when you become permanent is covered in the residence routes.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Paraguay or go straight to step 4.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- DNIT — frequently asked questions, the exemption for people coming to live and temporary admission without a permanent residencia — dnit.gov.py
- DNIT — the rules for travellers, the eDAV and the exemptions, February 2026 — dnit.gov.py
- Ley 2422/04 Código Aduanero, articles 29 and 166 to 175 — the customs broker and temporary admission (BACN) — bacn.gov.py
- Dirección Nacional de Migraciones — switching to the residencia permanente after the temporary years — migraciones.gov.py
- SENACSA — animals pass the veterinary inspection on arrival — senacsa.gov.py
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