From September 14, 2026, residents of Ciudad del Este, Presidente Franco, Hernandarias and Foz do Iguaçu will be able to cross the Puente de la Integración in private cars from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The authorization will be limited to residents of those four cities, and the driver and all passengers will be required to present the Documento de Tránsito Vecinal Fronterizo, provided for under the Agreement on Linked Border Communities of Mercosur.
The change was established by the Paraguayan-Brazilian Joint Commission for the Second International Bridge over the Paraná River, which is responsible for coordinating traffic between Presidente Franco and Foz do Iguaçu. The new regime also extends the hours for empty heavy trucks: circulation, currently allowed from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m., will run from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The transit document will be required from everyone in the vehicles. In Paraguay, applications may be submitted at the National Migration Directorate office on Rogelio Benítez Avenue; in Foz do Iguaçu, service will be provided at the Federal Police office located in Shopping Catuaí Palladium.
Allowing cars to cross does not authorize commercial operations. The shipment of goods will remain prohibited on the Puente de la Integración, except for products classified as subsistence goods under the border agreement. In practice, the new access period is intended for residents’ daily travel, not for transporting purchases or goods for resale.
The other rules remain in place. Smaller cargo vehicles may enter and leave empty via the Puente de la Integración from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but loaded return trips must use the Puente de la Amistad. International urban transport on the Presidente Franco–Foz do Iguaçu route may optionally use the new bridge in both directions during the same hours and with the border document.
Closed-circuit passenger services without a final destination in Ciudad del Este or Foz do Iguaçu, as well as regular international routes, will continue to use the Puente de la Integración exclusively around the clock. The updated schedule comes just over a month after the previous expansion, implemented on August 3.
The second bridge is still operating partially. Full opening is projected for 2027, after work is completed on the bridge over the Monday River and on its connection to the planned Eastern Metropolitan Corridor, intended mainly to organize truck traffic. Until then, the separation of empty vehicles, transported cargo and local traffic keeps the Puente de la Amistad as the mandatory route for a significant share of commercial flows.