# Appendix G — Family Documentation Checklist This appendix restates Chapter 16 as a working checklist. It sets out, for each class of family member, the documents the two components of the reference structure call for, who issues them, how long they remain current, and how they are legalised — with the citizenship component (São Tomé and Príncipe) and the residence component (Greece) shown side by side so that a family can see the whole requirement at once. It introduces nothing that is not established in the body of the report: every line carries the section it derives from, and every qualification the chapters carry is carried here. Two cautions govern its use. First, on the citizenship side there are in places two answers — what the gazetted law provides and what the programme's official channel publishes; where they diverge this appendix marks the published position as administrative practice requiring applicant-specific legal confirmation, never as law (Chapter 16 opening note; §16.2, §16.4, §16.5). Secondly, the Greek family-member documentary set is fixed by the common-documents list carried forward under Joint Ministerial Decision 214926/2025, Article 1 (that list being Article 2 of JMD 95391/2024), which was not available for verification for this report; the Greek family rows below state the shape of the file and require confirmation at the date of application (§16.7). Statements of current status are made as at 2 August 2026. This is a preparation tool, not a legal opinion; the instruments named govern. ## G.1 Main applicant | Document | Required for São Tomé | Required for Greece | Issuing authority | Validity window | Legalisation route | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Application form and electronic filing | Yes — official form in Portuguese or English, submitted electronically on the unit's platform (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 10) | Yes — digital filing only; a proxy may file under an apostilled power of attorney before the applicant enters Greece | The responsible unit's platform (São Tomé); portal.immigration.gov.gr (Greece) | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.1 | | Passport | Yes — certified copy (Anexo III) | Yes | The applicant's state of nationality | No validity rule appears in the instruments read; confirm at the date of application | Certified copy per the receiving authority's rule | §16.1, §16.7 | | Criminal-record certificate(s) | Yes — from every country of nationality and every country of residence of the last five years | Not in the category-specific list read; whether the incorporated common-documents list requires one could not be verified — confirm at the date of application | The competent national criminal-records authority of each relevant state (§G.8) | São Tomé: issued within the three months before filing | Apostille; consular authentication only where the issuing state is not a Contracting Party (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 10(8)) | §16.8; the shortest-lived document in the file (§G.11) | | Medical certificate | Yes — attesting the absence of transmissible diseases and general good health | Not required; the Greek condition is an insurance policy | A medical practitioner; form and certifying requirements confirmed with the unit at the date of application | Not stated in the instruments read; treat as short-dated and confirm | Apostille where required by the receiving authority — confirm | §16.1, §16.7 | | Proof of residence | Yes (Anexo III) | Not applicable | The competent authority or provider of the applicant's country of residence | Not stated in the instruments read | Apostille where a public document | §16.1 | | Declaration of the lawful origin of funds, with supporting bank documentation | Yes (Anexo III) | No separate bank-statement file; payment is evidenced by the notarial certificate | The applicant, with documentation from the relevant financial institutions | Not stated; bank documentation is expected to be current at filing — confirm | Apostille where a public document; certified translation as at §G.9 | §16.1; source-of-funds file at Chapter 15, evidence standards at §15.12 | | Due-diligence report | Yes — from an entity recognised by the responsible unit (Anexo III) | Not applicable | An independent qualified external entity engaged by the responsible unit | Not stated in the instruments read | Not applicable | §16.1; interviews may be required, in person or by video (§11.8) | | Proof of payment of the application fee | Yes — US$5,000 due-diligence and processing fee, per application | Yes — €2,000 electronic fee (παράβολο) | The respective payment channel | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.11; the São Tomé fee is non-refundable after submission (§16.11) | | Civil-status certificates for the family (marriage, birth) | Yes in substance — not itemised in Anexo III, but the conditions cannot be met without them | Yes — evidence of the qualifying relationship | The civil-registration authority of the state where the event was registered | Not stated in the instruments read; a receiving authority's own currency rule requires confirmation | Apostille (§G.9) | §16.7 | | Declaration of support for each dependant other than the spouse | Yes | Not applicable | The principal applicant | Not applicable | Confirm whether notarisation or apostille is required at the date of application | §16.1, §G.6 | | Entry visa or residence title, or evidence of exempt entry or a Schengen residence card | Not applicable | Yes | The issuing state or member state | Per the document's own terms | Not applicable | §16.7 (JMD 214926/2025, Art. 2 §2.6) | | Notarial certificate — parties, property, price, payment method and all payment details, full payment, and whether the property has previously been used for a permit | Not applicable | Yes | The Greek notary | Fixed by the transaction | Not applicable | §16.7; property qualification at §7.4–§7.6 | | Land-registry or cadastral registration proof | Not applicable | Yes — at initial issuance an attestation that registration has been applied for, or a lawyer's certificate, suffices; the definitive certificate is submitted at renewal | The land registry or cadastre | Deferred item becomes due at renewal | Not applicable | §16.7 | | Evidence of 100% ownership where the property was acquired through a Greek or EU entity | Not applicable | Yes, where applicable | The entity's registry and the applicant's advisers | Not stated | Not applicable | §16.7 | | Engineer's technical report | Not applicable | Yes — for the change-of-use category, with additional five-year non-operation evidence for industrial buildings | A qualified engineer | Fixed by the planning acts certified | Not applicable | §16.7; category conditions at §7.4–§7.6 | | Private health insurance policy | Not applicable | Yes — one policy per applicant and per family member | A private insurance body (a foreign policy qualifies only where it expressly covers the period of residence in Greece) | One-year policies, produced annually and afresh at each renewal | Not applicable | §16.7, §11.8; reported premiums ≈€70–€300 per adult per year for minimum-compliance cover — written quotations required (§11.6) | | E9 declaration copy | Not applicable | Yes | The Greek tax administration filing | Fixed by the filing | Not applicable | §16.7 | | Power of attorney for proxy filing | Not applicable | Yes, where a proxy files | A notary in the state of execution | Per its own terms | Apostille, or consular legalisation where the apostille is unavailable | §16.1 | | Attendance for biometrics (obligation, not a document) | No travel, visit or residence requirement in the decree; the oath is sworn before a public official in São Tomé and Príncipe or before a diplomatic or consular agent abroad | Yes — the applicant and each included family member must enter Greece within an exclusive twelve-month period from filing and give biometrics; a second failure to attend a summoned appointment results in rejection | Not applicable | Twelve months from filing (Greece) | Not applicable | §16.1, §17.11 | Caption: main-applicant pack, both components. Assumptions: the €250,000 change-of-use category on the Greek side (§7.4–§7.6); a single application covering the family on the São Tomé side; documentary requirements as published at 2 August 2026, both governments being able to alter them. Greek category-specific items are those of JMD 214926/2025, Article 2 §2.6; the incorporated common-documents list was not available for verification and requires confirmation at the date of application. Derived from §16.1, §16.7, §16.8, §16.11, §11.8, §17.11 and, for the property conditions, §7.4–§7.6. **Standing conditions screened for every person, not only the principal.** Nationality may not be granted to a person already holding more than two foreign nationalities (Nationality Law, Lei n.º 7/2022, Art. 11(1)), and is refused where the criminal record shows a conviction with a prison sentence of more than one year (Art. 11(4)); a final conviction carrying a sentence of three years or more is a separate bar (Art. 10(1)). Industry reporting records that a memorandum of 10 April 2026 placed applications from persons holding three or more foreign nationalities on hold in application of the statutory cap; the memorandum is not public and the position requires confirmation at the date of application. Due diligence extends to every candidate and to dependants of an age to bear criminal responsibility, and interviews may be required in person or by video. Nationality-based restrictions are assessed at §13.2; the consequences of a member's ineligibility at §14.8. (§16.1, §16.8, §11.8.) ## G.2 Spouse or partner | Document | Required for São Tomé | Required for Greece | Issuing authority | Validity window | Legalisation route | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Marriage certificate, and evidence of the matrimonial property regime | Yes, where the spouse is included on the marriage limb — Article 6(1) of the Nationality Law requires on its face two cumulative conditions: a marriage of more than five years **and** that the marriage be under the regime of community of acquired property (*comunhão de bens adquiridos*) | Yes, where the spouse is included as spouse; Article 95(2) of Law 5038/2023 states no minimum duration and no property-regime condition | The civil-registration authority of the state of registration | Not stated in the instruments read; a receiving authority's own currency rule requires confirmation | Apostille (§G.9) | §16.2 | | Court decision recognising a de facto union | Yes, where the union limb is used — under Article 6(2), a de facto union of more than three years recognised by action in the Civil Court; that limb carries no property-regime condition | Not applicable | The competent court of the home jurisdiction | Per the decision | Apostille | §16.2; long lead time where proceedings must be brought (§G.11) | | Cohabitation agreement | Not applicable | Yes, where the partner limb of Article 95(2) is used | The instrument's executing authority in the state of execution | Per its own terms | Apostille | §16.2 | | Passport | Yes — certified copy | Yes | The state of nationality | No validity rule appears in the instruments read; confirm | Certified copy per the receiving authority's rule | §16.1, §16.7 | | Criminal-record certificate(s) | Yes — same jurisdictional coverage and three-month currency rule as the principal | Not in the category-specific list read; the common list could not be verified — confirm | The competent national criminal-records authority of each relevant state | São Tomé: three months from issue | Apostille | §16.8, §G.8 | | Medical certificate | Yes | Not required | A medical practitioner | Not stated; treat as short-dated | Confirm | §16.7 | | Declaration of support | Not required for a spouse — the decree requires it for each dependant other than the spouse | Not applicable | The principal applicant | Not applicable | Confirm | §16.1, §G.6 | | Private health insurance policy | Not applicable | Yes | A private insurance body | Annual | Not applicable | §16.7, §11.8 | | Fee | Within the family contribution tier and the single per-application fee; a spouse added after approval in principle carries the Anexo I inclusion fee of US$10,000 plus the US$5,000 submission fee required by the Anexo I item 4 chapeau plus the US$750 document charge — US$15,750 in total | €150 (type O.1), plus the €16 card charge as modelled at §11.2 | The respective payment channel | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.2, §16.11, §11.2 | Caption: spouse or partner, both components. Assumptions: inclusion at the time of the original application unless the post-approval addition is stated; amounts as published at 2 August 2026. The programme's official channel publishes a broader class than the gazetted law — a spouse in a monogamous marriage or a de facto partner, with no stated duration condition and no stated property-regime condition. A spouse married five years or fewer, a spouse whose marriage is under separation of property rather than community of acquired property, or an unrecognised partner, is therefore included on the strength of administrative practice rather than published law, and the inclusion should be confirmed in writing by counsel before engagement. How the Article 6(1) property-regime condition is applied to a foreign marriage contracted under a different matrimonial regime is not addressed in either instrument and requires São Toméan advice before a spouse is priced into an application (§16.2, §11.2). Derived from §16.2, §16.7, §16.8, §16.11, §11.2. ## G.3 Minor child | Document | Required for São Tomé | Required for Greece | Issuing authority | Validity window | Legalisation route | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Birth certificate establishing filiation | Yes | Yes | The civil-registration authority of the state of registration | Not stated in the instruments read; confirm | Apostille (§G.9) | §16.3, §16.7 | | Passport | Yes — certified copy | Yes | The state of nationality | Confirm | Certified copy per the receiving authority's rule | §16.1, §16.7 | | Application signed by the child's legal representative | Yes | Not stated in the sources read for the Greek file — confirm | The legal representative | Not applicable | Confirm | §16.3, §16.9 | | Custody or guardianship instrument | Yes, where sole custody or guardianship is asserted — judicial or administrative proof of authority | Yes, for a child of only one spouse or partner — lawful custody must be established | The competent court or administrative authority of the home jurisdiction | Per the instrument | Apostille | §16.3, §16.9, §G.7 | | Declaration of support | Yes — a dependant other than the spouse | Not applicable | The principal applicant | Not applicable | Confirm | §16.1, §G.6 | | Criminal-record certificate | Where the child is of an age to bear criminal responsibility; the age threshold is not stated in the sources read — confirm at the date of application | Not in the category-specific list read; the common list could not be verified — confirm | The competent national criminal-records authority | São Tomé: three months from issue | Apostille | §16.8, §11.8 | | Medical certificate | Yes, on the same basis as other included members | Not required | A medical practitioner | Not stated; treat as short-dated | Confirm | §16.7 | | Private health insurance policy | Not applicable | Yes — required of every applicant and family member | A private insurance body | Annual | Not applicable | §16.7, §11.8 | | Fee | Within the family contribution tier; a newborn child of up to one year may be added after approval in principle at the Anexo I inclusion fee of US$500 plus the US$750 document charge — US$1,250 in total, the programme's official channel exempting newborns from the US$5,000 submission fee that the Anexo I item 4 chapeau otherwise requires. The gazette contains no newborn exemption, and on the gazetted text read literally the total is US$6,250; which governs requires confirmation at the date of application | Minors are exempt from the permit fee (Art. 171); the €16 card charge is modelled per person and its treatment for minors requires confirmation | The respective payment channel | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.3, §16.11, §11.3 | | Attendance for biometrics | Not applicable | Yes — within the twelve-month window, as for every included member | Not applicable | Twelve months from filing | Not applicable | §16.3, §17.11 | Caption: minor children (under 18 on the citizenship side; unmarried and under 21 on the residence side). Assumptions: the child is included in the original application; Greek inclusion under Article 95(2) of Law 5038/2023 covers the couple's common children and the children of either spouse or partner where lawful custody is established. A minor child not included at the parent's naturalisation may request nationality personally up to one year after reaching majority (§16.3). Derived from §16.3, §16.7, §16.8, §16.9, §16.11, §11.3, §11.8. ## G.4 Adult dependent child | Document | Required for São Tomé | Required for Greece | Issuing authority | Validity window | Legalisation route | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Birth certificate establishing filiation | Yes | Yes | The civil-registration authority of the state of registration | Not stated; confirm | Apostille (§G.9) | §16.4, §16.7 | | Passport | Yes — certified copy | Yes | The state of nationality | Confirm | Certified copy per the receiving authority's rule | §16.1, §16.7 | | Personal request for nationality within one year of reaching majority | Yes — this is the gazetted route for a child not included as a minor | Not applicable | The responsible unit | One year from majority | Apostille where supporting public documents are foreign | §16.3, §16.4 | | Documents supporting inclusion in the published class of children up to 30 | Administrative practice only — no statutory basis is visible in either gazetted instrument, and passport issuance for adult dependent children aged 18 and over was placed on hold by the reported memorandum of 10 April 2026, with no evidence located that the hold has been lifted as at 2 August 2026; the document list for this class is not published — confirm at the date of application | Not applicable | The responsible unit's published procedure | Not stated | Confirm | §16.4, §11.5; not priced as a statutory entitlement (§11.5) | | Evidence of the child's lack of legal capacity | Not applicable | Not applicable to this route — Article 95(2) contains no incapacity limb; its list of family members is closed, being expressed as a derogation from Article 84(1), and is age-limited. Whether such a child may be accommodated under the humanitarian category (type "Α.4") is a separate question on separate conditions, fees and deciding authority | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.4; applicant-specific legal advice required | | Criminal-record certificate(s) | Yes — same jurisdictional coverage and three-month currency rule as the principal | Not in the category-specific list read; the common list could not be verified — confirm | The competent national criminal-records authority of each relevant state | São Tomé: three months from issue | Apostille | §16.8, §G.8 | | Medical certificate | Yes | Not required | A medical practitioner | Not stated; treat as short-dated | Confirm | §16.7 | | Declaration of support | Yes — a dependant other than the spouse | Not applicable | The principal applicant | Not applicable | Confirm | §16.1, §G.6 | | Private health insurance policy | Not applicable | Yes | A private insurance body | Annual | Not applicable | §16.7, §11.8 | | Fee | Within the family contribution tier where the inclusion is admitted; a qualifying dependant added after approval in principle carries the Anexo I inclusion fee of US$5,000 plus the US$5,000 submission fee required by the Anexo I item 4 chapeau plus the US$750 document charge — US$10,750 in total | €150 (type O.1) between 18 and 20, the minor exemption no longer applying; €150 for the independent three-year permit (type O.2) on reaching 21 — Article 171 §1(β) prices types O.1 and O.2 at €150 and reserves €450 for the permit granted under the *first* sentence of Article 90 §5, whereas Article 95(2) grants the investor's child that permit by analogous application of the *second* sentence; the €450 figure circulating in practice requires confirmation at the date of application; €16 card charge as modelled | The respective payment channel | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.4, §16.11, §11.5 | | Attendance for biometrics | Not applicable | Yes — within the twelve-month window | Not applicable | Twelve months from filing | Not applicable | §16.4, §17.11 | Caption: adult dependent children. Assumptions: on the citizenship side the gazetted ceiling is the one-year post-majority window, and the published class of children up to 30 rests on administrative practice currently suspended in its passport-issuance limb; on the residence side inclusion runs to 21, with an independent three-year permit thereafter — in effect a bridge to about age 24, no further renewal being permitted on the reading Article 95(2) applies. Article 95(2) contains no incapacity limb, so an adult child lacking legal capacity is not includable on this route regardless of age, and any accommodation under the humanitarian category is a separate question on separate conditions and fees. Families with children aged roughly 18 to 30 should treat this class as the structure's principal eligibility fault line (§16.4); suitability consequences at §13.3 and §14.8, cost treatment at §11.5. Derived from §16.3, §16.4, §16.7, §16.8, §16.11, §11.5. ## G.5 Dependent parent and other direct ascendant | Document | Required for São Tomé | Required for Greece | Issuing authority | Validity window | Legalisation route | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Birth certificate(s) establishing the ascendant line | Administrative practice only (see caption) | Yes — the sponsor's or the spouse's or partner's birth certificate, and the ascendant's where a further generation must be traced | The civil-registration authority of each state of registration | Not stated; confirm | Apostille (§G.9) | §16.5, §16.7 | | Marriage certificate or cohabitation agreement, where the ascendant is routed through the spouse or partner | Administrative practice only | Yes | The civil-registration or executing authority | Not stated; confirm | Apostille | §16.5, §16.2 | | Passport | Certified copy, where the inclusion is admitted | Yes | The state of nationality | Confirm | Certified copy per the receiving authority's rule | §16.1, §16.7 | | Documents supporting inclusion in the published class of parents and grandparents aged 55 and above | Administrative practice only — neither gazetted instrument provides any dependant class for parents or grandparents; the document list for this class is not published — confirm at the date of application | Not applicable | The responsible unit's published procedure | Not stated | Confirm | §16.5, §11.6; not priced as a statutory entitlement (§11.6) | | Criminal-record certificate(s) | Yes, where the inclusion is admitted — same jurisdictional coverage and three-month currency rule | Not in the category-specific list read; the common list could not be verified — confirm | The competent national criminal-records authority of each relevant state | São Tomé: three months from issue | Apostille | §16.8, §G.8 | | Medical certificate | Yes, where the inclusion is admitted | Not required | A medical practitioner | Not stated; treat as short-dated | Confirm | §16.7 | | Declaration of support | Yes, where the inclusion is admitted — a dependant other than the spouse | Not applicable | The principal applicant | Not applicable | Confirm | §16.1, §G.6 | | Private health insurance policy | Not applicable | Yes | A private insurance body | Annual | Not applicable | §16.7; premiums are age-priced — materially more from age 65, with cover reported as potentially unavailable beyond age 75; written quotations required (§11.6) | | Fee | Within the family contribution tier where the inclusion is admitted, or US$5,000 per additional qualifying dependant beyond the fourth member | €150 (type O.1) each, plus the €16 card charge as modelled | The respective payment channel | Not applicable | Not applicable | §16.11, §11.6 | | Attendance for biometrics | Not applicable | Yes — within the twelve-month window | Not applicable | Twelve months from filing | Not applicable | §17.11 | Caption: dependent parents and other direct ascendants. Assumptions: Article 95(2) of Law 5038/2023 expressly includes the direct ascendants of the sponsor and of the spouse or partner, with no age or dependency condition stated in the provision; parents of both spouses are the established case, and while "direct ascendants" is not limited to parents on its face, no administrative practice on grandparent inclusions was verified for this report and the point should be confirmed with counsel at the date of application (§16.5). On the citizenship side there is no statutory route: the published class of parents and grandparents aged 55 and above rests on administrative practice requiring case-specific legal confirmation, and this report does not present it as an entitlement (§16.5, §11.6). Derived from §16.5, §16.7, §16.8, §16.11, §11.6. ## G.6 Evidence of dependency, where it is required Dependency is not a general test in either component, and a family should not assume one where none is published. - **Citizenship component — the declaration of support.** The decree requires a declaration of support for each dependant other than the spouse (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 10). That declaration is the decree's dependency instrument; no separate financial-dependency evidence is itemised in Anexo III, whose list closes with a catch-all for any further documents the authorities or the responsible unit deem necessary (§16.1, §16.7). - **Citizenship component — the spouse.** No dependency condition applies to a spouse. The operative conditions are durational and, on the marriage limb, proprietary: under Article 6(1) of the Nationality Law, a marriage of more than five years **and** the regime of community of acquired property (*comunhão de bens adquiridos*), cumulatively; or, under Article 6(2), a de facto union of more than three years recognised by the Civil Court, which carries no property-regime condition — with the programme's broader published class, which states neither, treated as administrative practice (§16.2). - **Citizenship component — the extended classes.** For children aged 18 to 30 and for parents and grandparents aged 55 and above, no published dependency test exists because no published statutory class exists. Any dependency evidence requested is administrative in origin, and what is required must be confirmed at the date of application (§16.4, §16.5). - **Residence component.** Article 95(2) of Law 5038/2023 states no dependency condition for ascendants and none for unmarried children under 21; the operative conditions are relationship, age and, for a child of only one spouse or partner, lawful custody. The list is closed and contains no dependency-like limb: in particular it contains no exception for an adult child lacking legal capacity (§16.3, §16.4, §16.5). - **The limit of what can be stated.** The family-member documentary set on the Greek side is governed by the common-documents list carried forward under JMD 214926/2025, Article 1, which was not available for verification; the family file's shape — relationship evidence, custody instruments for non-common children, passport and insurance policy — is stated in §16.7, and the exact list requires confirmation at the date of application. ## G.7 Consent and custody documentation for minors - **Citizenship component.** Application forms for minors are signed by the child's legal representative, with judicial or administrative proof of authority required where sole custody or guardianship is asserted (Decree-Law 07/2025; §16.3, §16.9). - **Residence component.** The inclusion of a child of only one spouse or partner is conditional on lawful custody being established (Law 5038/2023, Art. 95(2); §16.3, §16.9). - **One parent applying alone.** Where one parent applies with minor children — a common contingency-planning configuration — evidence of custody, or of the non-applicant parent's consent, should be anticipated in both components (§16.9). - **Separated or divorced parents.** The same evidence is anticipated. The precise instrument — custody order, notarised parental consent, or guardianship appointment where guardianship rather than parental responsibility is the basis of authority — depends on the checklist in force at filing and on the family law of the home jurisdiction, and should be settled with counsel before documents are commissioned (§16.9). - **Why this is not a formality.** Misdescribing family composition is a substantive defect, not a procedural one: on the citizenship side the file passes the Public Prosecutor's review and remains exposed to post-acquisition opposition and, among the decree's defined sanctions, revocation of nationality (§16.9, §6.8). ## G.8 Police clearances - **Which jurisdictions must be covered.** Every country of nationality and every country of residence of the last five years, for each person requiring a clearance (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 10; Anexo III). A person with two nationalities and an intervening period of residence in a third state therefore produces three certificates (§16.8). - **Who must produce one.** Due diligence extends to all candidates and to dependants of an age to bear criminal responsibility, so clearances should be anticipated for each adult family member, not the principal alone; the age threshold is not stated in the sources read and requires confirmation (§16.8, §11.8). - **How currency is measured.** The certificate must have been issued within the three months before filing. The window runs from the certificate's date of issue to the date of submission. Whether the date of the apostille affects that reckoning is not addressed in the instruments read and requires confirmation at the date of application (§16.8). - **What the certificates are tested against.** Refusal where the record shows a conviction with a prison sentence of more than one year (Nationality Law, Art. 11(4)); ineligibility where a final conviction carries a sentence of three years or more (Art. 10(1)) (§16.1, §16.8). - **South Africa — the primary client market.** The Police Clearance Certificate is issued solely by the South African Police Service's Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management unit in Pretoria, at R190 per application, with finalisation of approximately 15 working days from receipt of complete documents; collection and legalisation time are additional (§16.8). - **United Kingdom and United States.** The competent national criminal-records authority issues the equivalent certificate; issuing routes, fees and timings are confirmed at engagement, the relevant pages not having been reachable for verification for this report (§16.8). - **The Greek side.** The category-specific list read for this report contains no criminal-record item for the main applicant; whether the incorporated common-documents list requires one for any applicant or family member could not be verified and requires confirmation at the date of application (§16.8). - **The binding constraint.** The three-month window is the sequencing constraint on the whole file: a clearance obtained too early expires before filing, and for South African files the police turnaround and the apostille step must both fit inside it (§16.8, §17.5, and §G.11 below). ## G.9 Translation and legalisation chains São Tomé and Príncipe accepts apostille legalisation, with consular authentication only in its absence (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 10(8)). It has been a Contracting Party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 13 September 2008, Greece since 18 May 1985, South Africa since 30 April 1995, the United Kingdom since 24 January 1965 and the United States since 15 October 1981. All five relevant document chains therefore run on the apostille, and no consular chain is required for documents originating in South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States for either file (§16.10). | Origin of the document | Apostille authority and published cost | Prior notarisation step | Translation for the São Tomé file | Translation for the Greek file | |---|---|---|---|---| | South Africa | The Department of International Relations and Cooperation apostilles public documents — birth and marriage certificates, police clearances — and states the service is offered free of charge | Private documents route through a notary and the High Court Registrar; the certificate itself is free and the notary's fees are additional | English-language documents need no translation; the file accepts Portuguese or English, or authenticated translation into one of them | Certified translation into Greek required | | United Kingdom | The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: £45 per document standard, £35 for an e-apostille, £40 next-day for businesses, £100 for the restricted urgent service | Where notarisation is needed first, published London bands run at approximately £60–200 or more per document | English-language documents need no translation | Certified translation into Greek required | | United States | The apostille route is available under the Convention; issuing authorities and fees vary by the document's origin and were not verified for this report — confirm at engagement | Confirm at engagement | English-language documents need no translation | Certified translation into Greek required | Caption: legalisation and translation chains for the three client jurisdictions treated in the report. Assumptions: costs are the published schedules as at 2 August 2026, stated as planning bands and not quotations; the United Kingdom notarial band is a market figure from published provider schedules; United States figures are not verified. Greek certified translation runs through the state certified-translator registry (Law 4781/2021) or lawyer certification, with published provider rates of roughly €15–60 per page plus 24% VAT, scaling per person and per document; written quotations are obtained before commissioning. The order in which the apostille and the certified translation are obtained is a practice question and should be settled with the professional handling the file before documents are commissioned. Derived from §16.10, §11.8. ## G.10 Children born after approval **Citizenship component.** A child born after the parent's naturalisation stands outside the dependant machinery and inside ordinary nationality law (§16.6, §6.10). - A child born abroad to a São Toméan parent is a national of origin under Article 5(c) of the Nationality Law, but only upon a declaration of wish to be São Toméan, with effect from birth. Transmission operates by declaration plus transcription at the central registry (the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais) under Article 21, and is not automatic. - The declaration may be made before a São Toméan diplomatic or consular agent, only naturalisation itself being excluded from the consular route (Article 22). - A child born in São Tomé and Príncipe to a São Toméan parent is a national of origin without a declaration condition on the face of the text. - Three caveats attach. Only filiation established during the child's minority produces nationality effects (Article 4). The parent must still hold São Toméan nationality at the child's birth — a parent who has meanwhile acquired a fourth nationality has lost it by operation of law. And the programme is approximately one year old, so no registry practice on these provisions for programme-naturalised parents can yet exist: the mechanics are the statute's, their administration untested. - Working document set for the declaration route: the child's birth certificate, apostilled; evidence of the parent's São Toméan nationality; the declaration itself; and transcription at the central registry. The precise registry requirements are not published in the instruments read and require confirmation at the date of application. - Separately, the programme's fee schedule provides for the post-approval addition of a citizen's newborn child of up to one year against an Anexo I inclusion fee of US$500, to which the US$750 document charge is added — US$1,250 in total, the programme's official channel exempting newborns from the US$5,000 submission fee that the Anexo I item 4 chapeau otherwise requires; the gazette contains no such exemption, and on the gazetted text read literally the total is US$6,250, which of the two governs requiring confirmation at the date of application (§16.6, §16.11). The relationship between that addition route and the descent route is not stated in the instruments read; which applies to a given child should be confirmed with counsel. **Residence component.** A child born while the permits are in force acquires no Greek status automatically. The child falls within the Article 95(2) class of unmarried children under 21 and may be included by a family-reunification application, subject to the documentary requirements current at the date of application; the resulting permit expires with the sponsor's. Birth in Greece during the permit's validity confers no citizenship on the child (§16.6). The residence component's relationship to eventual naturalisation is at §7.13. ## G.11 Sequencing note — what expires fastest Documents should be commissioned in inverse order of their life. The items with the longest lead time and no expiry are obtained first; the short-dated items are obtained last, so that they are still current at filing. The order below is by shortest life first, and is the reason the pre-engagement confirmation step at §17.5 precedes the commissioning of any document. **Obtain last — short-dated.** 1. **Criminal-record certificates (citizenship component).** Three months from issue, for every person and every relevant jurisdiction. For a South African file the police turnaround of approximately 15 working days and the apostille step must both fit inside the window, and a multi-jurisdiction family may need several certificates to land inside the same three months (§16.8). 2. **Medical certificates (citizenship component).** No validity period appears in the instruments read; they should be treated as short-dated and obtained late, with the position confirmed at the date of application (§16.7). 3. **Private health insurance policies (residence component).** One-year policies, produced annually. On the proxy route the policy is filed when biometrics are given, so it must be in force at that point and renewed for as long as the position is held (§16.1, §16.7, §11.8). **Obtain in the middle — fixed by the transaction or by a filing.** 4. **Notarial certificate, payment evidence and the E9 copy (residence component).** These follow the property transaction and are fixed by its date (§16.7). 5. **Land-registry or cadastral proof (residence component).** An attestation that registration has been applied for, or a lawyer's certificate, suffices at initial issuance; the definitive certificate falls due at renewal, so this is a renewal item rather than a filing risk (§16.7). **Obtain first — no stated expiry, longest lead time.** 6. **Court and custody instruments.** A Civil Court decision recognising a de facto union, a custody order, or a guardianship appointment may take months to obtain and none carries a stated expiry; these are commissioned before anything else (§16.2, §16.9). 7. **Civil-status certificates and their apostilles.** No validity period for birth or marriage certificates, or for their apostilles, appears in the instruments read. Where a receiving authority applies its own currency rule, that requires confirmation at the date of application (§16.7, §16.10). 8. **Passports and the proxy power of attorney.** No validity rule for applicant passports appears in the instruments read; the apostilled power of attorney is needed at filing and should be executed early (§16.1). **Clocks that are not document lives but govern the same plan.** - **Ninety days from approval** to deposit the São Tomé contribution, failing which the process lapses (Decree-Law 07/2025, Art. 14(4); Anexo I) (§16.11). - **Twelve months from filing**, exclusive, for the applicant and each family member to enter Greece, give biometrics and file the outstanding insurance document; a second failure to attend a summoned appointment results in rejection (§16.1, §17.11). - **Age clocks.** The one-year post-majority window for a São Toméan minor child's personal request; the 21st birthday, on which a Greek family permit converts to an independent three-year permit; and the one-year limit on the newborn addition (§16.3, §16.4, §16.6). - **Renewal cycle.** Greek family permits expire simultaneously with the sponsor's and are renewed alongside it, with fresh insurance and new cards at the fee schedule then in force (§11.8). Caption: sequencing derived from the validity windows stated in the tables above; no new timing rule is introduced. Assumptions: a proxy-filed Greek application and a São Tomé application filed on complete documents; all timings as published at 2 August 2026 and subject to confirmation at the date of application. Derived from §16.1, §16.2, §16.3, §16.4, §16.6, §16.7, §16.8, §16.9, §16.10, §16.11, §11.8, §17.5, §17.11.