The short answer: it depends entirely on where you’re from. Paraguay’s Constitution does not grant dual citizenship as a general right. It permits multiple nationality only where a treaty or “reciprocity of constitutional rank” exists between Paraguay and the applicant’s country of origin — and today, that formally covers Spain and Italy, not the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, or most of the EU. Anyone naturalising without one of those agreements is, on the letter of the law, exposed to a provision that treats keeping a second passport as grounds for losing the one they just earned. What that means in practice is more nuanced than either headline — and worth understanding before you file, not after.
This question only becomes relevant at the naturalisation stage, years down the line. Holding permanent residency under the Investor Pass has no bearing whatsoever on an existing citizenship. Dual citizenship only enters the picture if and when a resident chooses to apply for full Paraguayan nationality.
What Paraguay’s Constitution actually says
Three articles govern this, and they’re worth reading in the order they were written to be read.
Article 149 is the permission: Paraguayans may hold another nationality, but only “by virtue of an international treaty or by reciprocity of constitutional rank” with the country in question. No treaty or reciprocity, no automatic right to dual nationality.
Article 150 is the consequence for natural-born Paraguayans: voluntarily acquiring a foreign nationality is listed as a ground for losing Paraguayan nationality outright — again, subject to the same treaty exception.
Article 153 is the parallel provision for naturalised citizens: voluntary acquisition of another nationality is grounds for suspension of the exercise of citizenship, not automatic loss, but still a real consequence — and, once more, with the treaty exception carved out.
Read together, the framework is consistent rather than contradictory: Paraguay tolerates dual nationality where a specific bilateral or constitutional arrangement says it must, and treats it as a problem everywhere else. That is a narrower rule than many “dual citizenship allowed” country lists imply, and narrower than most of this programme’s audience — mainly North American, British, Australian and broader European nationals — is used to from more permissive jurisdictions.
Who currently qualifies
Spain and Italy are the two countries most consistently cited as having the treaty or reciprocity relationship Article 149 requires with Paraguay — a reflection of the historical convention many Latin American constitutions use to recognise dual nationality with countries of significant historical emigration and shared civil-law heritage. Applicants who hold Spanish or Italian nationality, or who are naturalising while also acquiring one of those two, sit on far more solid constitutional footing than anyone else in this pool.
For the nationalities most relevant to an Investor Pass audience — the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the large majority of the EU outside Spain and Italy — no such treaty currently exists. That doesn’t mean naturalisation is closed to these applicants. It means the constitutional safety net that formally protects a second nationality simply isn’t there for them in the same way.
| Nationality | Treaty/reciprocity basis for dual citizenship | Practical position |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish, Italian | Yes — commonly cited treaty/reciprocity relationship | Formally protected under Art. 149 |
| US, UK, Canadian, Australian, most other EU | None currently identified | No constitutional protection; exposure under Arts. 150/153 on the letter of the law |
The gap between the text and how it’s actually applied
Here is where an honest answer has to resist the temptation to round up or down. The constitutional text, read literally, exposes a naturalised Paraguayan holding a non-treaty nationality to suspension of citizenship rights. But the documented reality looks different from the plain text.
Multiple independent sources researching Paraguayan naturalisation report that dual nationals from non-treaty countries have not been reported losing or having suspended their Paraguayan citizenship as a direct result of holding a second passport. [VERIFICAR] — no published Corte Suprema decision was located actually applying Article 150 or 153 against a dual national on these grounds. That absence of enforcement is a real and repeatedly cited data point, but it is not the same thing as a guarantee, and it is not something this page — or any responsible adviser — should present as settled law simply because it has apparently gone unenforced so far. Constitutional exposure that sits unenforced today can, in principle, be applied differently tomorrow, particularly for anyone whose situation draws unusual scrutiny.
The practical takeaway is not “don’t worry about it,” and it isn’t “assume the worst” either. It’s that this is one of the few places in the entire Investor Pass process where the honest answer is genuinely unresolved, and where relying on a generic guide — including this one — instead of current, case-specific legal advice would be a mistake.
Two separate checks worth doing before you file
1. What Paraguay expects of you. Ask Paraguayan counsel, close to your actual filing date, for their current read on how Articles 149–153 are being applied in practice — not a historical summary, a present-tense one. Enforcement posture is the kind of thing that can shift with the political and judicial cycle, and a guide written today is not a substitute for advice given at the time it matters.
2. What your home country expects of you. This is the half of the equation that’s easy to overlook because it has nothing to do with Paraguay at all. Some countries impose their own restrictions on acquiring a foreign nationality, independent of anything Paraguay’s Constitution says — Germany historically restricted dual nationality before a recent reform, and other jurisdictions attach conditions of their own to naturalising elsewhere. If keeping your original passport matters to you, confirming your home country’s current rules is just as important as confirming Paraguay’s.
Neither check is a formality. Both belong in the conversation with counsel before, not after, a naturalisation application is filed.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
It’s worth restating what this page is not about. Dual citizenship is a question for the naturalisation stage — three years or more after permanent residency is granted, and only for those who choose to pursue full Paraguayan nationality at all. It has no bearing on the Investor Pass itself, on holding permanent residency, or on Paraguay’s tax residency treatment, which is assessed on entirely separate facts. Many residents never naturalise and never need to think about this question in the first place.
For the full sequence — from a qualifying investment through permanent residency to naturalisation eligibility — see Paraguay citizenship by naturalisation, and for the documentation each route requires along the way, Paraguay residency requirements.
The honest bottom line
If you hold Spanish or Italian nationality, Paraguay’s Constitution gives you a formal basis to keep it alongside Paraguayan citizenship. If you hold most other Western nationalities, the constitutional text does not extend you the same protection — even though enforcement against dual nationals in that position does not appear, from the sources available, to be an active practice today. That gap between text and documented practice is real, and it deserves case-specific legal advice rather than a confident yes-or-no from any website.
If a second, retained citizenship is central to why you’re considering Paraguay at all, get in touch and we’ll walk through how your specific nationality, timeline and objectives actually line up against this framework — plainly, including where the answer is genuinely “it depends.”
Last reviewed against Resolution N° 0283/2026 and current official fee schedules.