Documents from Austria for Paraguay Residency: Criminal Record Certificate, Birth Certificate, Apostille

Which documents does Paraguay require from you?

The official document list of the Paraguayan immigration authority (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, DNM) for temporary residency under Ley 6984/2022 requires from your country of origin: a valid passport, your birth certificate and a criminal record certificate, each with an apostille. The criminal record certificate is only required from age 14 and, instead of coming from your country of origin, may also come from the country where you have lived for the last three years.

Depending on your marital status, civil-status documents are added: marriage certificate, divorce decree or the death certificate of your spouse, likewise apostilled.

Everything else is created in Paraguay: the Interpol certificate (from age 14), the certificate of the Paraguayan national police (from age 14) and two sworn declarations in the DNM system. That is why you have to travel to Asunción in person once for the application anyway.

How do I get the criminal record certificate in Austria?

You get the criminal record certificate (Strafregisterbescheinigung, the Austrian counterpart to the German Führungszeugnis) in two ways: electronically via oesterreich.gv.at with ID Austria or EU Login for 18 EUR, or at the counter for 26 EUR. The counter authorities are the state police directorates (Landespolizeidirektionen) or police commissariats, and in municipalities without a police station the municipal office.

Speed is the big advantage: in Vienna the certificate is generally handed over on the spot at the counter, at other locations usually within a few minutes. Only if a municipality has no direct access to the criminal record data does it take roughly 10 days.

For the apostille you need the document in a form that the legalisation office can certify. The simplest route is the counter: there you immediately hold a paper document with signature and stamp in your hand. For the online application you choose the delivery method; clarify in advance with the legalisation office in which form it needs the certificate for the apostille.

Where do I get my birth certificate and what does it cost?

You can request a reissue of your birth certificate at any registry office in Austria, regardless of your place of birth, because the data is held in the Central Civil Status Register. When you appear in person, it is usually issued on the spot.

The costs: 11 EUR federal fee plus 2.10 EUR federal administrative charge, 13.10 EUR together. A written application costs an additional 21 EUR; the verbal application in person is free of charge.

Deliberately order the certificate fresh, even if you still have an old copy lying around somewhere: for Paraguay the date of issue counts (more on that shortly). If you are married, have the marriage certificate reissued at the same appointment; it runs through the same registry office.

Who issues the apostille: BMEIA or the federal state?

In Austria, the competent apostille office depends on which authority issued the document. For the criminal record certificate as a federal document, the legalisation office of the Foreign Ministry (BMEIA) in Vienna is responsible: Leopold-Figl-Gasse 5, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:30, without an appointment. The fee is 24.20 EUR per document, regardless of the number of pages.

Civil-status documents such as birth and marriage certificates, on the other hand, are apostilled by the federal state: the Landeshauptmann or the office of the state government (certification body) of the federal state in which the document was issued. Court documents such as a divorce decree run through the presidency of the competent regional court (Landesgericht).

How old may the documents be? The 6-month deadline

Plan backwards from the filing day in Asunción: the criminal record certificate and the documents should be less than 6 months old at filing. Because you get everything in Austria within a few days, this is easy to meet: only obtain the documents once your travel window is roughly fixed, ideally 1 to 2 months before the trip.

Getting them too early is the most common avoidable mistake: anyone who collects the documents a year before the trip ends up doing everything twice, including the apostilles.

Do I have to get the documents translated in Austria already?

No, and you should not. According to the DNM, all foreign-language documents need a Spanish translation; in practice, translations by translators registered in Paraguay are accepted. A translation prepared in Austria does not readily meet this requirement, so you risk paying twice.

The right procedure: in Austria you obtain only documents and apostilles. Translation happens after arrival in Paraguay, where it is a well-established standard step and done within a few days.

Checklist: the right order in Austria

• →Roughly set your travel window, then obtain the documents (mind the 6-month practice).
• →Have your birth certificate (and, if applicable, marriage certificate) reissued at any registry office: 13.10 EUR per document when you appear in person.
• →Apply for the criminal record certificate: at the counter of the state police directorate (26 EUR, on the spot) or online with ID Austria (18 EUR).
• →Apostille for the criminal record certificate at the BMEIA legalisation office in Vienna: 24.20 EUR, no appointment, Monday to Friday 9:00 to 12:30.
• →Apostille for the civil-status documents at the certification body of your federal state.
• →Do not have anything translated: the Spanish translation happens in Paraguay.
• →Store the apostilled originals safely, make scans and take the originals with you to Paraguay.

How quickly am I done in Austria? The honest country comparison

Austria is the fastest of the three DACH countries when it comes to paperwork, and one can say that plainly. The criminal record certificate and birth certificate are available on the spot at the counter, and the BMEIA apostille usually still the same day. Anyone who plans a day in Vienna and handles the state apostille by post is completely done in 1 to 2 weeks as a planning figure, and the pure authority steps are doable across 2 to 3 days.

For comparison: in Germany the same package takes 4 to 8 weeks, because since December 2024 the apostille for the criminal record certificate has to be requested at the BfAA before the certificate is even ordered, with 3 to 6 weeks of processing time. In Switzerland it is similarly quick as in Austria; there the apostille for the criminal record extract runs directly through the Federal Chancellery.

If you do not want to handle the authority part yourself: we take over the document procurement including apostille in Austria as an add-on from 290 EUR, as part of our residency packages with a written document roadmap.