Documents for Ciudad del Este: what works and what does not

Direct answer: Brazilians enter Ciudad del Este with a national ID in good condition, the CIN card, or a valid passport. A driving licence does not count as a travel document. Travellers from a state Paraguay classifies as a risk area need a yellow fever certificate, and anyone staying overnight or travelling on must register entry with immigration.

What Paraguay accepts

Under the Mercosur free movement agreement:

• The Brazilian ID card (RG) in good condition, with a photo that still allows identification;
• The CIN, the new national identity card;
• A valid passport.

A driving licence is not accepted. It authorises driving, and it is exactly the document most people bring assuming it will do. A phone photo or a digital ID app does not replace the physical document at an inspection.

The requirement almost nobody knows: yellow fever

Paraguay requires the International Certificate of Vaccination from travellers arriving from areas it classifies as at risk. The official list includes Amazonas, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Roraima.

Two practical points:

• Paraná is not on the list, so residents of Foz are not covered by that rule.
• Visitors from São Paulo or Minas Gerais are covered, including on a day shopping trip. And the vaccine must have been given at least 10 days earlier.

Since most of Foz's tourism comes from São Paulo and Minas Gerais, this catches a lot of people unaware. Detail in who needs the yellow fever vaccine.

Immigration registration: when it applies

• Day shopping trips: in practice there is no control at the Friendship Bridge crossing, but you must carry your document, because inspections happen.
• Overnight stays or travel into Paraguay: registration is required. Find the Migración office at the bridgehead and register entry and exit. If you want a passport stamp as a souvenir, you can ask there.

Minors

A minor with both guardians crosses on their ID alone. With one, the other must authorise; alone or with a third party, both must. Note the age limit on the electronic authorisation, which covers up to 16: child travel authorisation.

If you are driving

Crossing by car has its own rules, and rental cars almost never cross: see can a rental car cross the border?.

The Integration Bridge, the new one, is not a tourist route: car use is restricted to residents of the four border cities holding the DTVF border document. Visitors keep using the Friendship Bridge. See the Integration Bridge and the DTVF.

On the way back

What matters is the duty-free allowance and what customs releases. Work it out in advance with the allowance calculator, and check the specific rules for medicines in pharmacies in Paraguay.

Crossing time shapes the whole day: check bridge traffic now.

Sources: Mercosur free movement agreement; Resolution S.G. 268/2025 of Paraguay's Ministry of Health (yellow fever certificate requirement by risk area); Receita Federal (duty-free allowance).