How to Get Money into Paraguay
Getting money into Paraguay isn't as hard as people say, if you know where to look. From real estate hacks to creative corporate structuring, here is the insider's guide on how to move your capital effectively.
Buying Property? Skip the Bank Account
If your primary goal is to buy real estate, you don't necessarily need to jump through the hoops of opening a local bank account right away.
In many cases, if you are looking to buy a new property, you can deal directly with the developer. Usually, they are happy to accept your money directly once you show a little bit of proof of funds. This bypasses the need for an upgraded local bank account, which can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain as a newcomer. And a lot of developers also accept crypto or even international wire transfers without too many problems.
The ATM Strategy (For Daily Cash)
For smaller, day-to-day amounts, the ATM network is your friend, specifically Ueno.
Ueno allows you to withdraw 2.5 million PYG (Guaraní) for a fee of roughly 25,000 PYG. You can typically do this twice with each card you have (unless your specific card provider has its own limitations).
Pro Tip: Use a Charles Schwab card. They will refund your ATM fees, making this a very cost-effective way to access cash.
Funding Your "Cuenta Mínima" (Basic Account)
If you have opened a basic local bank account (Cuenta mínima), you have a monthly limit of 8 million PYG (approximately $1,100 USD at current rates).
A common strategy is to combine this with the ATM method:
- Withdraw cash from an ATM (using your foreign card).
- Physically deposit that cash into your local Cuenta mínima from the same ATM!.
- Start using your local account for transfers and payments.
Moving Larger Amounts: Crypto & Connections
When you need to move more than $5,000 or $10,000, ATMs won't cut it. Here are the alternative routes:
There are private Crypto Connections available where you can swap USDT (Tether) or crypto for cash. If you are moving more than 5k–10k USD, the fee is usually around 2%.
You can also go to a physical Crypto exchange. Often, you can withdraw up to $10,000 without needing extensive "Know Your Customer" (KYC) proofs.
Don’t forget Binance Peer-to-Peer (P2P). It remains a very reliable way to move money into the country digitally.
Note: If you're in need of this, you can connect with me, as sometimes I have the connections to help you with this.
The "Ingenious" Method: Corporate Loans & US LLCs
This is one of the smartest ways to get money into the country that almost nobody is talking about. It involves using a foreign company to inject capital into a Paraguayan entity.
This is how it works. Let’s say you have a US LLC. You can use that LLC to issue a loan to a new company you have set up here in Paraguay.
You can use these funds to buy assets inside the Paraguayan company, such as real estate. It is surprisingly easy to transfer a large sum (e.g., $100,000) as a corporate loan.
This is excellent for tax reduction. You can structure the loan repayment with 15% to 20% interest (depending on conditions). You can then pull that money back out of the Paraguay company tax-free as a loan repayment.
Need help?
Pulling off this kind of cross-border corporate structuring is incredibly effective, but the paperwork can be tricky if you are doing it alone. If you want to fast-track the process,
You just tell us your problem, and we provide the specific setup help you need. Whether you are trying to set up your company for this exact loan strategy, figure out your ideal residency stack, or safely move your assets.
Official Income (RUC)
There are also fully official ways to bring money in by doing RUC declarations (formal self-employment/business income declarations). This requires more setup, and we will cover the specific details of this in a future article.
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