The Iguacu loophole - feasible or not?

[Mikehogan]

Let's say that a gentleman:
1. flies to Asuncion, Paraguay (and gets his entry stamp into Paraguay) , then
2. flies to Cuidad del Este and takes a walk towards the bridge. He does not stop at the Paraguayan border office BUT he stops at the Brazilian border office (no exit stamp from Paraguay)
3. flies back home from Foz do Iguacu
4. after 3 years and 1 day he makes the exact same trip backwards and gets to Asuncion through Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este without any entry stamp from Paraguay
5. he walks to his Embassy in Asuncion claiming that he lost his passport and requires a new one.
6. he waits for the technical time to receive a new passport and, in the following day, he submits the documents to get Paraguayan citizenship

Let us assume that at the beginning of this scheme, this gentleman
1. already has the cedula
2. owns a minuscule flat in Asuncion with bills in his name
3. has opened a Paraguayan company that issues a few invoices per year - enough to pay his Paraguayan salary
4. is hired by his own company
5. has a bank account in Paraguay and receives a monthly salary by bank wire. Has a debit card that he uses to pay online the bills of his flat
6. holds and italian/spanish passport and speaks a decent spanish

... of course in the real world this would be more complicated and there would be more than two visits to Paraguay, but let's keep this overly simple.

1. Would this gentleman be able to convince the Paraguayan authorities of his ties to the country and be able to be naturalized?
2. Has anyone in this group made it?
3. Is there any consultant with whom this hypothetical gentleman could discuss about this scenario?

Thanks

 

[daniels27]

Yes, it is feasible.

Depending on the country, you may be eligible to apply for two passports and travel with both. It may simplify the routine. Also, not sure about Paraguay but some countries simple won't care about anything that is not from them, so you may not even need the passport renewal.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

@NewHorizonsParaguay could provide his views.
This has already been done elsewhere successfully.

 

[Mikehogan]

This has already been done elsewhere successfully.

could you explain where is this "elsewhere"?

 

[daniels27]

I do not think that it makes sense to discuss this on a public forum. Unless you want the loophole to be closed before you took it.

 

[wellington]

Let's say that a gentleman:
1. flies to Asuncion, Paraguay (and gets his entry stamp into Paraguay) , then
2. flies to Cuidad del Este and takes a walk towards the bridge. He does not stop at the Paraguayan border office BUT he stops at the Brazilian border office (no exit stamp from Paraguay)
3. flies back home from Foz do Iguacu
4. after 3 years and 1 day he makes the exact same trip backwards and gets to Asuncion through Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este without any entry stamp from Paraguay
5. he walks to his Embassy in Asuncion claiming that he lost his passport and requires a new one.
6. he waits for the technical time to receive a new passport and, in the following day, he submits the documents to get Paraguayan citizenship

Let us assume that at the beginning of this scheme, this gentleman
1. already has the cedula
2. owns a minuscule flat in Asuncion with bills in his name
3. has opened a Paraguayan company that issues a few invoices per year - enough to pay his Paraguayan salary
4. is hired by his own company
5. has a bank account in Paraguay and receives a monthly salary by bank wire. Has a debit card that he uses to pay online the bills of his flat
6. holds and italian/spanish passport and speaks a decent spanish

... of course in the real world this would be more complicated and there would be more than two visits to Paraguay, but let's keep this overly simple.

1. Would this gentleman be able to convince the Paraguayan authorities of his ties to the country and be able to be naturalized?
2. Has anyone in this group made it?
3. Is there any consultant with whom this hypothetical gentleman could discuss about this scenario?

Thanks

Paraguay have a system like Thailand had - You can stay there and when you leave your overstay you get a fine.

These days Thailand deports and blacklists - I imagine Paraguay and many other nations there will adopt similar processes in the future

 

[KJK]

So your goal is to avoid getting an exit stamp in your passport to be eligible to citizenship (whilst having permanent residency in the country, speaking Spanish and paying taxes etc etc.).

I think the real problem is that afaik Paraguay doesn't hand out citizenship like this very often. Spanish passport, speaking Spanish and paying taxes there may be a plus but no idea if it is enough (especially when you want to fake the amount of time spent there). There are definitely easier countries to gain citizenship after staying in the country for a while - all of the countries in the region (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil) are easier to gain citizenship or at least the process is more rules-based and not ad-hoc dependent

 

[daniels27]

Paraguay have a system like Thailand had - You can stay there and when you leave your overstay you get a fine.
These days Thailand deports and blacklists - I imagine Paraguay and many other nations there will adopt similar processes in the future

@wellington It is about the opposite. Stay elsewhere while he should be there to become Paraguayan.

 

[daniels27]

So your goal is to avoid getting an exit stamp in your passport to be eligible to citizenship (whilst having permanent residency in the country, speaking Spanish and paying taxes etc etc.).

I think the real problem is that afaik Paraguay doesn't hand out citizenship like this very often. Spanish passport, speaking Spanish and paying taxes there may be a plus but no idea if it is enough (especially when you want to fake the amount of time spent there). There are definitely easier countries to gain citizenship after staying in the country for a while - all of the countries in the region (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil) are easier to gain citizenship or at least the process is more rules-based and not ad-hoc dependent

He is Italian, should be a plus for them too. Both Italy and Spain have a treaty with Paraguay.

Do you have any personal experience with countries in the region?

 

[Marzio]

1. Would this gentleman be able to convince the Paraguayan authorities of his ties to the country and be able to be naturalized?

The answer is in your bank accoun list of transactions. No daily expenses in Paraguay for 3 years.

 

[daniels27]

The answer is in your bank accoun list of transactions. No daily expenses in Paraguay for 3 years.

Not sure about Paraguay. But many countries in that area still work a lot with paper. I think it would not be the main problem.

 

[Marzio]

But many countries in that area still work a lot with paper.

Even with paper you should see list of withdrawals in your bank accunt

 

[daniels27]

Maybe. Maybe not. I know enough people where this is not the case more often than not. But again, not all coutries there are equal.

 

[Forester]

@NewHorizonsParaguay could provide his views.

And certain debaters from this thread https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/threads/permanent-residency-in-paraguay.36653/ (@Aleksander Paragvaets, @HelloMyDroogs, @Thomas278, @Brutaltruths, ...) definitely too...

I do not think that it makes sense to discuss this on a public forum. Unless you want the loophole to be closed before you took it.

Friends, re-read this

 

[Mikehogan]

Good point. What if this gentleman receives his salary in cash?

 

[Mikehogan]

Paraguay have a system like Thailand had - You can stay there and when you leave your overstay you get a fine.

These days Thailand deports and blacklists - I imagine Paraguay and many other nations there will adopt similar processes in the future

this gentleman's issue is not overstaying... it is understaying.