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I don't believe you have wasted your money at all.  $1200 sounds a lot for 3 bits of paper,but, provided you did what Jeronimo asked and obtained original birth and marriage certificates and national police check,had them certified by your foreign affairs department, and then re-certified by the Paraguayan Consulate in your country, and they are in a language that a certified Paraguayan translator will be able to translate into Spanish once you get to Paraguay, you can still move forward.  All you have to do is go to Paraguay, and then to the Migracciones Office in Asuncion any weekday morning and wait.  Every day many, many lawyers and "helpers" come through the office, shepherding their clients through the immigration process. Just show them your papers and ask them if they can help.  You can also ask their clients how good they were. You could also do what I, and many others have done, and do it yourself.  There is no requirement to use a lawyer, and you can do it for very little cost in less than 2 weeks. 
The glass is always half full, never be held back by small obstacles.

Dear ,

I had to travel back to my country , which is also not in a good situation since about 3years , the total cost I afforded was a little bit more than 1200$ indeed !

Have you looked at Total Paraguay?

Here is a link to a message by Glen who runs it on Citizenship

Hi,

I agree with Gabtar , you don't need any lawyer to file your application for Cedula in Paraguay , just forget about Jerónimo Finestra , I also tried many times last summer to contact him , yet got no response the only response you receive from Jerónimo Finestra is generic , I came across the recommendations about him , they were all in 2011 and 2012 , maybe now he is no more interested in this capacity , just go on by yourself , that also would save you alot of money , and you would find a good result .

Hi Athol,

Thanks for useful info. Do you mean you filed for residency and filled all the documents and received you cedula via post? Could you please let me know did you withdraw $5000 from the bank as well.

And do let me you which lawyers did you hire and the fee he took. thanks in advance.

When we decided to apply for permanent residency in Paraguay, we did a thorough research on the best choice of lawyer, and decided to hire services of Jeronimo Finestra.
We are very happy we made this choice as he knows exactly what needs to be done from both process and local conditions prospective, he speaks excellent English, has realistic approach, provides approximate deadlines and delivers on promise. Initially we started talking to him via email to discuss an opportunity, documents needed, processes and moneys involved. 
We visited Paraguay in February and within 1 week Jeronimo and his assistant Julio (very capable and diligent, and we were able to understand each other between his Spanish and our English pretty well) prepared all paperwork and organised all meetings and escorted us every step of the process.
Jeronimo organised all appointments, and Julio took us everywhere we needed to go – all well organised. In April same year we got Permanent residency approved.
In August we went back to Paraguay where Jeronimo organised all paperwork so we applied for Cedula (national ID card) which should be ready within couple of months from lodgement date. We are expecting Jeronimo to have sent it to us shortly once it is issued by the authorities (takes about 2 months). Pricing is reasonable, paid in 2 parts – one after the application for permanency is lodged; another half after Cedula application is lodged.
Based on our experience, we would highly recommend Jeronimo Finestra’s services as immigration lawyer  - he removed the stress out of the process, and the whole process was seamless for us – he delivered effective results within realistic timeline

Be very careful with posts that read like "ads" for either lawyers or services, because they often are nothing but ads based on nothing more than a desire to separate you from your money.  The biggest problem you will have with lawyers here that are involved in dealing with residency is that many are almost impossible to get ahold of once they have your deposit money.   ESPECIALLY if you are not staying in Paraguay during the process !!!   They get your money, your 9,000 miles away and good luck evey hearing from them again.   If you go back and read all past posts on this site dealing with "recommending lawyers" you will see many that complain about certain lawyers not returning phone calls, emails, etc…And not surprisingly the same lawyers names come up again and again.    These are the lawyers to stay away from unless you have more money than you do common sense.  So do your "due diligence" and read every post on this Paraguay forum regarding lawyers over the past few years (there really isn't many of them).   The same names keep coming up in regards complaints.    To find a reputable lawyer, go to the Face Book site "Expats in Paraguay".    There are literally thousands of members on that site who are actual expats and they do a good job of "self policing" the scam artists and shoddy operators.

I have recommended Jeronimo Finestra many times. He did a great job for me about four years ago, and he even said I was his "first client. "

At this point, though, I retract my recommendation for Jeronimo Finestra. He doesn't answer emails, even to me, his "first client," who has given him so many recommendations.

It takes a government mandated 30 days for your cedula, not maybe 2 months

If you are a Muslim trying to infiltrate, stay away from paraguay, you have been warned.
To others you will not get your residency in less than 4 months even if you stay here the entire time.