Household goods and customs: ship a container to Paraguay or buy locally?

The 6-month deadline runs from PERMANENT residency, not the temporary one

This is the point where most relocation plans stumble. Since migration law 6984/2022, you first get temporary residency in Paraguay, which runs for roughly two years. Only after that do you switch to permanent residency. The customs exemption for household goods, however, is tied to permanent residency, and the 6-month clock starts once you receive it.

In practical terms: anyone who ships a full container right at the start of their Paraguay journey, while still a temporary resident, generally cannot claim the duty-free import of household goods. How temporary residency becomes permanent, and what presence you need for it, is covered in our articles on the requirements and the 365-day rule. Plan the container only once this status change is in sight.

What is duty-free and under which conditions

Household goods (menaje de casa) means your used household items: furniture, home appliances, personal belongings, tools for your own use. For the exemption, two conditions must be met, and the customs offices take them seriously.

• →Prior ownership: you have owned and used the items for at least 12 months. Brand-new goods in their original boxes do not fit the picture of used household goods.
• →Continued use: you keep using the items yourself after arrival in Paraguay. The exemption is meant for your own needs, not for resale.
• →Deadline: the import takes place within 6 months of receiving permanent residency.
• →Administrative fees only: no import tax applies to the exempted household goods, only administrative fees.

The process with the consulate: getting the packing list and bill of lading stamped

The formal key to the exemption lies not in Paraguay but already in your country of origin. The packing list and bill of lading must be stamped by the Paraguayan consulate responsible for your place of residence. Without this consular certification, duty-free clearance in Asunción becomes difficult.

The sensible order is therefore: first create a complete, honest packing list (ideally with your freight forwarder), then obtain the bill of lading from the shipping line, have both stamped at the responsible consulate, and only then ship. The exact requirements, and whether translations are additionally required, differ by consulate. Clarify this in writing before the container goes on the ship.

Vehicles: not exempt, but they may share the container

A car or motorcycle does not fall under the household goods exemption. Vehicles are taxed on import, regardless of whether you have permanent residency or not. That is a separate, chargeable procedure.

It is technically possible to load a vehicle together with the household goods into the same container. That saves freight costs but changes nothing about the tax liability for the vehicle itself. Whether importing a car is worth it at all depends heavily on vehicle type, age and the Paraguayan import duties. Calculate this separately from the household goods and get a concrete quote from your freight forwarder for it.

Returnees: a separate repatriation regime

For returning Paraguayans, the foreigner rule does not apply but a separate repatriation regime does. It requires a stay abroad of at least two years and has its own conditions. If you are a Paraguayan citizen, or become one along your path, and return after a longer time abroad, that is the route you should check, not the foreigner exemption for menaje de casa.

What a container costs and how long it takes (as of July 2026)

The typical route from Europe to Paraguay runs by sea freight to Buenos Aires or Montevideo and from there roughly 1,000 km by river barge along the Parana and Paraguay rivers to Asunción. For Hamburg to Asunción, freight sources cite about 34 days of total transit time, and from Rotterdam about 25 to 35 days. Add extra time for packing, the consulate stamp and customs clearance.

The following container price guides are experience values from freight comparison sources and fluctuate heavily by season, shipping line and route. Treat them as rough bands, not a quote. We deliberately state them in US dollars, because sea freight is billed that way. For rough orientation: in early July 2026 the guaraní stands at roughly Gs. 6,076 per USD, the euro slightly above the US dollar mark, and both rates are constantly moving. For your specific route, always get a current, binding quote.

Container or buy locally? The honest math

The consensus of German emigrant sources is sober: the exemption math usually only works out with a full container of high-quality furniture that you really want to keep. For smaller moves, freight, packaging, insurance and the whole effort quickly eat up the advantage of the duty-free import.

For many, the pragmatic route is therefore: take what is necessary and personally valuable as excess baggage or a few boxes, and buy the rest of the basic setup locally. Furniture, home appliances and everyday items are available in Asunción. We deliberately do not name a blanket saving in euros here, because that would be dishonest without current local price research, and the strong appreciation of the guaraní in 2025 and 2026 distorts older price tables anyway.

An honest decision aid: weigh the real total container costs (freight plus incidental costs) against the estimated new price of a comparable basic setup in Paraguay. Count on the container side the emotional value of familiar things and the quality of some European furniture. Count on the buy-locally side the effort avoided, the risk avoided and the time saved. For a half-empty container, this math almost always comes out against shipping.