Paraguay has added the digital certificates for its electronic passports to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory, a system that enables participating countries to electronically verify document authenticity and the integrity of data stored on the chip.
The addition was formalized in Montreal, Canada, during the Key Import Ceremony held at the Traveller Identification Programme symposium from September 22 to 24, 2026. Participants included ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Zalazar and Miguel Ángel Aranda, Paraguay’s Vice Minister of Administration and Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The directory, known as the ICAO Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD), brings together certificates used to verify digital signatures on electronic travel documents. In practice, immigration authorities in connected countries can check whether a chip-enabled passport was issued by the Paraguayan state and whether its stored information has been altered. The system removes the need for prior bilateral agreements for this verification, although it does not itself set entry rules or eliminate visa requirements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented the move as a step forward for the security and interoperability of Paraguayan documents. The integration enables verification under a shared standard, but the available information does not quantify any potential reduction in airport waiting times.
Figures on visa-free access vary by index and methodology. The latest Henley & Partners ranking cited in publications places the Paraguayan passport at 29th and indicates access to 145 destinations without a prior consular visa. Passport Index, by Arton Capital, ranks the document 27th and gives it a mobility score corresponding to 141 countries. The figures are not directly equivalent: each index uses its own criteria to classify destinations and restrictions.
Joining the ICAO PKD is a technical change to electronic passport verification, not an automatic change to Paraguayans’ freedom to travel. The number of destinations accessible without a visa remains subject to each country’s rules and the methodology used to count them.