Paraguay Is Level 1 for the US: One of Only Three South American Countries at the Lowest Risk Tier

The US Department of State rates Paraguay Level 1: "Exercise Normal Precautions," the lowest risk tier in its four-level Travel Advisory system. It's one of the most favorable ratings the US assigns to any country, and Paraguay shares it with just two others in all of South America: Argentina and Suriname.

What the Travel Advisory Is, and What Level 1 Means

The Travel Advisory is the system the US State Department — the American government's foreign affairs ministry — uses to rate every country in the world by the risk it poses to travelers. It runs from Level 1 (normal precautions) to Level 4 (do not travel), with Level 2 (increased caution) and Level 3 (reconsider travel) in between. Paraguay's notice on travel.state.gov, checked by ViaParaguay on August 14, 2026, opens with: "Exercise normal precautions in Paraguay. Some areas have increased crime risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory." For anyone researching how to travel to Paraguay and what entry requirements apply, Level 1 carries real weight: it's the same category the US assigns to destinations with an established low-risk reputation.

How Paraguay Compares Across South America

Based on the official list checked on August 14, 2026, here is where each South American country stands, along with the date of its own notice:

Only three South American countries sit at Level 1: Argentina, Paraguay, and Suriname. No country in the region reaches Level 4. That's a real, favorable fact, regardless of when each individual notice was published.

The Areas Under Increased Caution, and What They Mean for Travelers

The notice isn't unqualified. It includes an explicit caveat — "Exercise increased caution due to crime in these departments:" — naming five: Alto Paraná, Amambay, Canindeyú, Concepción, and San Pedro. All five sit along Paraguay's northeastern and eastern border with Brazil, and the State Department cites crime as the reason. The notice's own text doesn't say so, but according to press reports, US government personnel need special authorization to travel to those areas.

One of those five is worth pausing on: Alto Paraná is the department that contains Ciudad del Este, Paraguay's second-largest urban and commercial center and one of South America's major shopping destinations, as well as the Paraguayan gateway to Iguazu Falls. Alto Paraná appearing on the list doesn't mean the US advises against visiting Ciudad del Este or the Falls area: the country as a whole remains Level 1, and the crime caveat applies at the department level, not as a blanket warning against travel there. It's a real nuance worth knowing before planning a trip around Paraguay, not a reason to avoid it.

The capital, Asunción, is not on the list, and neither is Encarnación or the department of Itapúa, home to the Jesuit missions of Trinidad and Jesús, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Since When Has This Rating Been in Place

Paraguay's official page on travel.state.gov is dated April 30, 2025, and its own heading notes the document was "Reissued after periodic review with minor edits." The Level 1 rating has been in place steadily ever since: Paraguay has held it through successive periodic reviews without a downgrade, and that continuity is precisely what makes it useful as a benchmark. It is worth keeping in mind when reading figures out of context — the rating that applies is the one on the official notice, with its date.

Why It Matters for Investors and Prospective Residents

For an investor or a family weighing a move to Paraguay, Level 1 is a genuine asset: the country has held it steadily for more than a year, without a downgrade in successive reviews. The caveat covering five border departments matters mainly to anyone planning to travel through those specific areas; it doesn't touch the rest of the country, where foreign investment, tourism, and real estate activity are concentrated, centered on Asunción and its metro area.

The Context With Fresh Data: Tourism and Public Safety

Senatur — Paraguay's National Tourism Secretariat — recorded 3,657,194 inbound visitors in 2025 (2,029,678 tourists and 1,627,516 excursionists), with estimated revenue of USD 1.422 billion (USD 1.363 billion from tourists and USD 58.5 million from excursionists). International arrivals grew 91.24% over the year, with Argentina the top source market at 79.98%, followed by Brazil (10.14%) and the United States (1.09%). These figures, reported by ABC Color on January 28, 2026, cover 2025; no consolidated official figures for 2026 exist yet.

On public safety, InSight Crime — a journalism and research organization focused on organized crime in Latin America — found in its annual homicide round-up (March 2026) that Paraguay's rate fell to 6.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2025 — 391 cases — down from 477 in 2024. That's a year-over-year improvement pointing the same direction as the State Department notice, though the two are separate sources and methodologies.

The Bottom Line

Paraguay genuinely sits at the lowest risk tier of the US Travel Advisory system, alongside Argentina and Suriname. The notice behind it is still dated April 30, 2025 — unchanged in August 2026 — and the regional caveat is specific, not a warning about the country as a whole. If you're planning a trip or weighing a move, our guides to tourism and residency by nationality go deeper, or you can reach us directly through contact.