São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment

The programme's official portal currently publishes a single investment route: a non-refundable contribution to the National Transformation Fund (Fundo Nacional de Transformação), paid after the application receives approval in principle. The minimums under Annex I of Decree-Law 07/2025, in US dollars:

The Decree-Law allows 90 days to pay the contribution; otherwise the application lapses, and proof of approval is delivered only once payment is made. The Decree-Law allows the responsible members of the Government to adjust the minimums by joint order, having regard to economic developments, international inflation and the public interest; a new level does not apply to applications already admitted.

After approval the applicant may make further voluntary investments in the public projects listed in Annex II, such as the power grid, a deep-water port, the airport, housing, education and health. These do not replace the base contribution, unless they fall within the investment routes of Article 10(2) of the Nationality Law.

The outcome is São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship by naturalisation, with a certificate of registration, a passport and a national identity card. The legal basis is Article 10(2) of Nationality Law No. 7/2022, which allows the Government to grant citizenship to a foreign national for investment or for a financial donation. Decree-Law 07/2025 (Official Gazette, I Série No. 33, 1 August 2025) sets the procedure and creates the Citizenship by Investment and Donation Unit (UCID), under the member of the Government responsible for justice.

Ordinary naturalisation requires five years of lawful residence and sufficient knowledge of Portuguese or a national language; for the investment route the law allows both conditions to be waived. The remaining conditions still apply: being of age, having no final conviction carrying a prison sentence of three years or more, and posing no threat to security or national defence.

Four limits are worth knowing.

First, the law bars citizenship for anyone holding more than two foreign nationalities, and a naturalised citizen immediately loses São Tomé citizenship on acquiring a fourth nationality.

Second, the Public Prosecutor must give a prior opinion; if the Prosecutor refuses, the application ends. Even after a favourable opinion, the Prosecutor has six months from the acquisition of citizenship to bring an objection before the administrative court; the objection does not suspend the citizenship.

Third, the Government may exclude in advance nationals of countries under international sanctions or lacking effective judicial cooperation, under a list adopted by the Council of Ministers and published in the Official Gazette.

Fourth, citizens naturalised under this route are permanently exempt from compulsory military service.

On the political side, according to press reports, ADI deputies asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the Decree-Law, and in August 2025 MLSTP president Américo Barros said the party would propose amending the Nationality Law and supported repealing the decree-law. According to RSTP and RTP, the Constitutional Court confirmed that the MLSTP won the most seats in the parliamentary election of 27 September 2026, 24 of 55, short of a majority; the ADI won 23. The sources read do not show whether the Constitutional Court has ruled on the ADI petition.

The programme's official portal gives two sets of figures. The home page gives an average of 1.5 to 2 months to a decision and about 4 months from approval to passport; the same home page, and the FAQ, give about 2 months to approval and a further 3 to 4 months to the passport, 5 to 6 months in total.

The legislation sets the following steps. UCID carries out a preliminary review within 15 days. The Public Prosecutor gives a prior opinion within 30 days. Within 15 days of that opinion, or of the Prosecutor's silence beyond the deadline, the UCID Director approves or refuses the application. The applicant has 90 days to pay the contribution. An oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the laws follows, and within 5 days of the oath UCID sends the file to the Central Registry.

The Decree-Law and the Nationality Law set no deadline for issuing the passport.

The official portal states that the programme requires no residence or relocation, either during the application or afterwards. In law, the five-year lawful residence condition of ordinary naturalisation may be waived for the investment route; the Decree-Law uses the words "may be waived".

The only step the law requires the applicant to attend is the oath, taken in São Tomé and Príncipe before a public officer or, where the applicant is abroad, before the competent diplomatic or consular agent. In addition, UCID may require an interview in person or by remote means.

The two official sources differ on dependants.

The programme portal allows the following to be included in the same application: a spouse in a monogamous marriage or a de facto partner, children up to 30, and parents and grandparents. The portal's FAQ gives parents and grandparents from age 55, while the portal's own eligibility page gives age 18.

Decree-Law 07/2025 defines dependants as the main applicant's spouse and/or children under Article 10(4) and (5) of the Nationality Law: minor children may be granted citizenship at the same time if the applicant requests it, or may apply themselves within one year of reaching majority; a spouse acquires citizenship under the marriage provision. The main applicant must give an undertaking of support for each dependant other than the spouse.

Adding dependants after approval in principle costs more, in US dollars:

A further submission fee of 5,000 applies to the addition, except for a newborn.

A person granted citizenship under this programme receives the São Tomé and Príncipe passport, so the figure in this cell is the figure for that passport itself.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the São Tomé and Príncipe passport reaches 56 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

Decree-Law 07/2025 sets no tax regime of its own and attaches no income or wealth tax obligation to citizenship acquired under the programme. The official portal describes the contribution as one-off, with no ongoing investment obligation.

Any tax obligation of a naturalised citizen is determined by the tax law of São Tomé and Príncipe and of the country where the person actually lives, not by the programme.

Beyond the contribution, government fees in US dollars:

The due diligence and processing fee is charged per application, regardless of family size. The 750 document fee and the sponsor due diligence fee are published on the official portal and do not appear in Annex I of the Decree-Law.

The official portal states that applications must be initiated through a licensed marketing agent; the Decree-Law sets a fine of up to USD 500,000 for promoting the programme without a licence. The sources read do not state agents' service fees.