Об Парагвае спустя 3 года и 10 месяцев

Life in Paraguay After 3 Years and 10 Months

After living in Paraguay for 3 years and 10 months, the narrator says he does not regret moving there. He arrived without plans to settle permanently, obtain citizenship, buy property, or start a family farm. He says that having few expectations shaped his experience.

Day-to-Day Life

• Infrastructure: In Encarnación, he finds sidewalks poor and roads rough, though he says repairs are gradually taking place. He also mentions recent heavy rain, high humidity, and minor flooding linked to an emergency water discharge at the Itaipu dam.
• Driving and walking: Although traffic rules require drivers to yield to pedestrians, he says this rarely happens in practice. His advice is to wait for traffic to pass rather than assume cars will stop.
• Cost of living and money: He disputes the idea that Paraguay is automatically cheap, particularly for people earning in foreign currencies. For example, his rent stayed the same in guaraní terms but rose from about $300 to $480 when converted to dollars. He also describes transferring money into Paraguay as paperwork-heavy and advises caution around promises that banking or property transactions can be handled cheaply and easily.

Residency, Citizenship, and Business

The narrator argues that citizenship is not simply granted after three years in the country. In his account, the relevant period is three years after obtaining permanent residency, and work, tax payments, and documented income are important to an application. He cautions against paying consultants who promise an easy passport. These claims should be checked against current official rules.

He says running a small business was relatively straightforward and involved less red tape than he experienced in Russia. He distinguishes informal receipts from official tax invoices, or facturas, and says documented income and tax payments matter for residency and citizenship applications. He personally did not encounter pressure to pay bribes, though he has heard reports of corruption.

Safety and Health

The narrator warns about phone and laptop theft, including robberies by motorcyclists, and says violent crime is a concern. He cites a homicide statistic he saw, but the video does not independently verify it. His practical advice is to stay alert and avoid provoking conflicts.

He also discusses sexually transmitted infections and mosquito-borne illnesses, including dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. He recommends using condoms unless in a long-term monogamous relationship, and advises consulting a doctor about whether a dengue vaccine is appropriate, especially for people with chronic conditions.

Education

He describes local education as a concern for some Paraguayans and shares personal observations about school and university preparation. He acknowledges that his comparison with Russia is limited and partly based on what others have told him.

Overall Impression

The narrator is satisfied with his life in Paraguay, while stressing that it may not suit people expecting an effortless route to citizenship, a very low cost of living, or uniformly good infrastructure.

Notable locations and topics: Encarnación, Asunción, the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, nearby Argentina, Paraguayan residency documents, tax invoices (facturas), condoms, and dengue vaccination. The speaker is the channel’s narrator, an expatriate living in Paraguay.