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Paraguay: I want to live in Paraguay:
If your partner is Brazilian and her daughter is also, you don't need permanent residency as they both are citizens of a Merc country. To start school here you need a birth certificate, vaccinatin certificate and whatever school records/certificates she has, probably need to get them translated into Espanol by a certified translator too. I'm not following from your post where you got a list of "helpers" or "lawyers"? Or are you still looking for them? There are many Germans who live in the San Bernardino/Altos/Caacupe area about 40 Km's outside of Asuncion. There is one German realtor who is very active here (in that area). Another very popular area filled with German expats is Colonia Indepencia about 4 hours from Asuncion in the "mountains" of Paraguay. It is primarily a farming area and settled by German expats after WWI. Filled with retired Germans and other Europeans stretching those pension Euro's. One word of warning, if you "want a residency fast" that's like a red flag saying you want to circumvent the legal procedures and may think one can do that here. While you can find unscrupolous lawyers or 'helper' who will promise you they can do just this, they are wolves looking to fleece another sheep. Don't believe them and don't believe anyone who tells you they can 'expedite" a residency application. It doesn't happen.
Paraguay: Residency / Citizenship by Investment still open?:
I do not think Paraguay has ever had an option like this for residency, although I may be wrong. I am pretty certain though that it is not an option at this time as there is only one process for gaining residency. Although there are minor differences in the process depending if your a spouse of a Paraguayan citizen or not.
Paraguay: WARNING: Paraguay:
Your post is so overwhelmingly negative I wasn't initially going to respond but the more I thought about it the more I thought it unfair to let such a post remain "unchallenged" as others may put more validity to your comments if not rebutted.
While a few of the points you make are valid complaints we all have here, such as overall corruption and police checkpoints for instance, most of the others are totally ridiculous.
For instance as to your claim that Asuncion is "dangerous". Asuncion is less dangerous than any similar sized city in N. America. Maybe if you laid down in the middle of the street in the worst barrio at 2 am naked with $100 bills pasted to your body, you'd be in danger. Otherwise just bit of common sense that god gives any adult will suit you just fine. As a prime example. Look at the streets in most barrio's at the beginning and end of the school day. They are filled with kids walking home alone, many of them even riding the city bus's on their own. I have never seen this in the places I lived int he US (Texas, NM, Alabama, NC, VA and Indiana) since the 1960's.
And where did you ever get the idea that Paraguay is an "offshore" banking destination? Even Paraguayan's don't like to keep their money here. Although banks are much safer than in say Argentina or the US, you'd still be foolish to keep your life savings in one.
While it is getting more expensive as the economy improves and more outsiders come in, it is still cheaper here than in any other expat country in S. America. At least in terms of rent, food, utilities.
While I get the fact your a disgruntled expat not happy that PY hasn't lived up to your somewhat unrealistic expectations, I have some bad news for you. You seem to have missed one major point about Paraguay somewhere along the line of deciding to give it a try and that is that it is the FREAKIN" THIRD WORLD !! If you had kept that in mind before coming here, you probably would of been a little less surprised when encountering third world realities. You ain't in Kansas no more…...
Paraguay: You've Not Seen High Prices:
If you're relying on ATM's to access your money from overseas, of course your going to have to pay a premium. If you are in Europe using a US ATM card you'll have similar fee's. If your down here permanently you should get a local account and wire transfer foreign funds into it so your not eaten up by the small fee's every time you want to take out a $100 or so. I do so to our Itau account every few months and can do without the ATM cards then. Someone posted on another site that US gov't direct deposits can even go into foreign banks (like Social Security for instance). I'm going to research that and if true I'll post about the experience.
While Target doesn't ship to PY Box anymore, Walmart and Amazon still do. But the longer we stay here the less we feel the need for "US fixes" of consumer goods as more of this stuff is coming available here or you just learn to live without. But still nice to get US books and or movies here occasionally.
And I second Caja on the cell plans, it's a crap shoot on any continent or in any country whether your going to get a good "deal". It's almost like a full time job (both in the US and in PY!) trying to figure out what plan is best and/or cheapest to go with.
Paraguay: Moving to PY in late November:
You can find "surge protectors" or power strips in most hardware stores here. But I wouldn't buy them or use them as such as they are the cheaply made Brazilian ones which are crap. Just google 240 V surge protector and you'll find many sources of mail-order quality surged protectors to use here. About $20- $30. I would not hook any electronics directly here as the power fluctuations caused by blackouts and brown outs are notorious for "eating" appliances.
Paraguay: multiple entry visa:
The only way to know for sure, besides just showing up at ASU and seeing what happens, is to give the PY Consulate nearest you a call. I've had no problem getting answers from them over the phone in the past.. Now, knowing how things normally go here, I would bet they'll tell you that the visa must be "in the current passport you are using and get stamped upon arrival in ASU". But I could be wrong, and surprised...
Paraguay: Survey about Healthcare in Paraguay:
This thread sure has gotten a bit away from it's original subject. But MY two cents regarding health care mirror's Caja's. We have Assimed, and it is expensive,, (nearly $300 for a family "VIP" plan) but no where near as expensive as our family plan in the US was. But here's some free advice, you need to actually read and understand the contract before signing up and handing over money. And .."duh I don't know Spanish enough.." isn't an excuse. I mean, what in the heck are you doing here signing up for stuff like health insurance if you can't read or understand the language??!! Of course it's perfectly fine to get someone to translate for you, but still, it's on you to arrange. And sure there are exclusions and you better be sure you understand them.
One thing I like about Assimed is that one of the doctors I could choose from has his medical degree from the US and speaks excellent English and is board certified Internist in the US. It's easy to make appointments and see him and specialists so far. And frankly I feel in better hands with Assimed than with my insurance in the US. Can this change? Sure can! This is the third world and you can't forget that.
Now, since everyone else seems to want to rant, rave and bash away on this thread…allow me. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people from "first world countries" that are unhappy enough to immigrate to a "third world country" and then are shocked and upset that things aren't as organized, efficient and civilized as they are used to. And "gasp" they are also seemingly shocked and upset that they have actual "CORRUPTION" in the third world. I mean, what were you freakin' expecting people??!! You want sandy beaches and a wonderful easy life, go win the lottery and live in Hawaii or on the French Riveria! I've read stats that over half of the people who immigrate from the US/Canada and Europe to Latin America leave to go home in the first year. And I believe it. Guess that's what you get for being unrealistic and unprepared for the challenges of living in the third world.
I'll also second Juan's often expressed refrain about the low class sub group of expats out there who prey on new expats or wanna be expats and fleece them of lots of money by promising them unrealistic things in regards residency, naturalizations, passports, etc… This is getting to be more of a problem as Paraguay is becoming more popular for people to check out and/or come to as expats. Look at countries that are more established as expat destinations in Latin America like Panama, Costa Rica, Equador and Argentina and you can see this kind of thing in a much larger scale. I personally have experience with these type of "sharks" in Costa Rica as well as here in Paraguay. It all gets down to a personal responsibility. The old saying a "fool and their money are soon parted" apply's here in spades. There, now let the bashers bash away LOL ! I'm going to drink some more mate and watch some World Cup coverage in my little corner of paradise, Ciao!
Paraguay: Interested In Starting Quaker/Friends Meeting:
You know, you may want to check with the many English speaking missionarys in PY, who may be interested in something like this. Not sure how many of them follow this forum, but there are many blogs some of them have running. The one that comes to mind most readily are the Hagermans whose blog "Hagermans on a Mission" you could google and connect that way. Good luck!
Paraguay: Relocation&Cost of Living:
I second Aramiss reply. Renting prices can be all over the map depending on what your comfortable with. The link he provided is a good source of ads. You can also try some of the smaller hotels for extended periods. The benefit there is you don't have to worry about leases and other formalities. Food costs can be very low if you buy local and stay away from the big chain processed foods. Overall PY is much cheaper than it's neighbors for most living costs. An excellent source of info is "Discovering Paraguay" a guidebook recently published by a US expat living in Asuncion. She is half Paraguayan and grew up between the US and Paraguay. Her book is the definitive guide to the country. Link is: http://discoveringparaguay.com/home/
Paraguay: import regulations:
Try expatblog.com It's got a pretty lively paraguay forum.
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