# 16. Family Eligibility and Documentation The two components of the reference structure define the family in different ways, under different instruments, tested at different moments. A person eligible under one component is not necessarily eligible under the other, and a family plan is complete only when each member's position has been confirmed under both. This chapter sets out, class by class, who may be included under São Tomé and Príncipe's citizenship programme and under the Greek investor residence permit, and the documents each inclusion requires. Programme-level eligibility is treated in §6.3 and §7.9; family cost models in Chapter 11; the consequences of a member's ineligibility in §14.8. Appendix G consolidates this chapter into a working checklist. Statements of current status are made as at 2 August 2026. One point of method applies throughout: 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 chapter states both and treats the published position as administrative practice requiring applicant-specific legal confirmation, not as law. ## 16.1 Main applicant On the citizenship side, the principal applicant must be a natural person of full age who meets the cumulative naturalisation conditions of Article 10(1) of the Nationality Law (Lei n.º 7/2022), of which the five-year-residence and language limbs may be waived for investment applicants: no final conviction carrying a prison sentence of three years or more, no terrorism or state-security concern, and an activity ensuring subsistence.[^16-1][^16-2] Two further statutory gates apply to every person to be naturalised, principal or dependant: nationality may not be granted to a person already holding more than two foreign nationalities (Article 11(1)), and is refused where the criminal record shows a conviction with a prison sentence of more than one year (Article 11(4)).[^16-2] Industry reporting records that, by a memorandum of 10 April 2026, the programme unit 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.[^16-8] The application is submitted electronically on an official form in Portuguese or English, with the fees paid, a medical certificate, a criminal-record certificate issued within the previous three months, and the mandatory documents of Anexo III, including a declaration of the lawful origin of funds with supporting bank documentation and a due-diligence report from a unit-recognised entity (see Chapter 15 for the funds file).[^16-1] The decree separately confers on the Government a power to exclude applicants of designated nationalities — states under sanctions ratified by São Tomé and Príncipe, or without effective judicial cooperation — by gazetted Council of Ministers resolution (Article 17); no such resolution had been located as at 2 August 2026, and the position requires confirmation at the date of application.[^16-1] Nationality-specific considerations across the structure are treated at §13.2. On the residence side, the main applicant is the third-country national who holds full ownership and possession of the single qualifying property of at least €250,000 (see §7.4–§7.6).[^16-3] Filing is digital and may be made by a proxy under an apostilled power of attorney before the applicant enters Greece; within an exclusive twelve-month period from filing the applicant — and each included family member — must enter Greece to give biometrics and file the outstanding insurance document, and a second failure to attend a summoned appointment results in rejection (see §17.11).[^16-6] The main-applicant fee is €2,000, with a €16 electronic-card charge recorded in the official fee table.[^16-3][^16-4] ## 16.2 Spouse or partner On the citizenship side, the decree defines dependants as the spouse and/or children of the principal applicant, by reference to Article 10(4)–(5) of the Nationality Law.[^16-1] The spouse's route runs through Article 6 of that Law, which requires cumulatively a marriage of more than five years and that the marriage be under the regime of community of acquired property (*comunhão de bens adquiridos*), or a de facto union of more than three years recognised by the Civil Court.[^16-2] The programme's official channel publishes a broader class — a spouse in a monogamous marriage or a de facto partner, with no stated duration condition.[^16-7] No statutory basis for the broader class is visible in either gazetted instrument; a spouse married five years or fewer, or an unrecognised partner, is therefore included on the strength of administrative practice rather than published law, and the inclusion is a matter for written confirmation by counsel before engagement.[^16-1][^16-2][^16-7] The fee annex separately provides for the addition of a citizen's spouse after naturalisation against a fee of US$10,000.[^16-1] On the residence side, Article 95(2) of Law 5038/2023 admits the sponsor's spouse or partner under a cohabitation agreement, with no minimum duration of the marriage or agreement stated in the provision.[^16-3] The spouse or partner receives a family-reunification permit (type O.1) that expires simultaneously with the sponsor's permit; the fee is €150.[^16-3] ## 16.3 Minor children On the citizenship side, minor children may be granted nationality at the parent's naturalisation, at the parent's request; a child not included may request nationality personally up to one year after reaching majority.[^16-2] Application forms for minors are signed by the legal representative, with judicial or administrative proof of authority required where sole custody or guardianship is asserted, and a declaration of support is filed for each dependant other than the spouse.[^16-1] On the residence side, unmarried children under 21 qualify — the couple's common children, or the children of either spouse or partner provided lawful custody is established.[^16-3] Minors are exempt from the permit fee under Article 171; their O.1 permits expire with the sponsor's.[^16-3] Each child, like every included member, must attend in Greece for biometrics within the twelve-month window (see §16.1).[^16-6] ## 16.4 Adult dependent children On the citizenship side, the gazetted ceiling is the one-year post-majority window described above: beyond it, the statutes provide no dependant class for adult children.[^16-1][^16-2] The official channel nonetheless publishes a category of children up to 30 years old.[^16-7] Adversarial verification against both full gazette texts found no statutory basis for that category, and the state's own administration has acknowledged the gap: industry reporting records that the 10 April 2026 memorandum placed passport issuance for adult dependent children (18 and over) on hold pending a revised dependency framework.[^16-8][^16-9] No evidence that the revised framework has been enacted, or the hold lifted, was located as at 2 August 2026; an application relying on an adult child's inclusion therefore rests on administrative practice currently suspended in its passport-issuance limb, and requires confirmation at the date of application.[^16-8] On the residence side, two routes exist. A child included before 21 receives, on reaching 21, an independent residence permit valid for three years, carrying a fee of €150 — the €450 rate in Article 171 §1(β) being reserved to permits granted under the first sentence of Article 90 §5 (§7.9, §17.11) — in effect a bridge to age 24, after which Article 95(2) provides no further dependant route under the sponsor for a child with legal capacity.[^16-3][^16-4] Separately, adult children who lack legal capacity qualify regardless of age.[^16-3] For families with children aged between majority and 30, this class is the structure's principal eligibility fault line: the citizenship side is administratively uncertain and the residence side time-limited. The suitability consequences are taken up at §13.3 and §14.8. ## 16.5 Parents and grandparents On the citizenship side, neither gazetted instrument provides any dependant class for parents or grandparents. The official channel publishes a category of parents and grandparents aged 55 and above; the verified position is that this class, like the extended child class, has no visible statutory basis and rests on administrative practice requiring case-specific legal confirmation.[^16-1][^16-2][^16-7] On the residence side, the statutory family class expressly includes the direct ascendants of the sponsor and of the spouse or partner, with no age or dependency condition stated in the provision.[^16-3] Parents of both spouses are the established case; the statutory term "direct ascendants" is not limited to parents on its face, but no administrative practice on grandparent inclusions was verified for this report and the point requires confirmation at the date of application. Ascendants receive O.1 permits tied to the sponsor's, at €150 each.[^16-3] Insurability is a practical precondition of an ascendant's inclusion rather than a mere cost item: the Article 8(ε) sickness-insurance document must be produced for each family member, and reported cover is loaded from age 65 and possibly unavailable from age 75, so written quotations are obtained before an ascendant is counted into a family plan.[^16-6][^16-17] For parents the two components rest on different footings — a statutory family class on the residence side, published administrative practice on the citizenship side. Each is assessed on its own terms; a family including parents is planned against both. Cost modelling for families including parents is at §11.6. ## 16.6 Future children On the citizenship side, children born after the parent's naturalisation stand outside the dependant machinery and inside ordinary nationality law (see §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 (Article 21), and is not automatic.[^16-2] The declaration may be made before a São Toméan diplomatic or consular agent, since only naturalisation itself is excluded from the consular route (Article 22).[^16-2] 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.[^16-2] Three caveats attach. First, only filiation established during the child's minority produces nationality effects (Article 4).[^16-2] Second, 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.[^16-2] Third, the programme is approximately one year old and no registry practice on these provisions for programme-naturalised parents can yet exist; the mechanics are the statute's, their administration untested. The programme's fee schedule separately provides for the post-approval addition of a citizen's newborn child of up to one year against a fee of US$500.[^16-1] On the residence side, 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.[^16-3] Birth in Greece during the permit's validity confers no citizenship on the child; the residence component's relationship to eventual naturalisation is addressed at §7.13. ## 16.7 Birth, marriage and dependency evidence On the citizenship side, the decree's mandatory-document annex itemises certified passport copies for the applicant and dependants, criminal-record certificates, proof of residence, the funds declaration with bank documentation, proof of fee payment and the due-diligence report, with a catch-all for any further documents the authorities or the unit deem necessary.[^16-1] Civil-status certificates are not itemised, but the substantive conditions cannot be met without them: a marriage of more than five years is proved by the marriage record and the matrimonial property regime by the marriage record or a notarial certificate, a recognised union by the Civil Court's decision, and filiation by the birth record. The practical consequence is a file of apostilled civil-status documents for every included member, together with the declaration of support for each dependant other than the spouse and the medical certificate the decree requires; the certificate's prescribed content is not stated in the gazetted text and requires confirmation at the date of application.[^16-1] On the residence side, the category-specific documentary list for the €250,000 change-of-use permit is fixed by Joint Ministerial Decision 214926/2025, whose Article 1 incorporates the common-documents list of the predecessor decision (JMD 95391/2024, Article 2) — and it is that common list which governs family members' papers.[^16-5] The common list was not available for verification for this report, so the family documentary set requires confirmation at the date of application. The shape of the file can nonetheless be stated: evidence of the qualifying relationship (marriage certificate, cohabitation agreement, birth certificates, custody instruments for non-common children), legalised and translated as §16.10 describes, with each member's passport and insurance policy.[^16-3][^16-5] ## 16.8 Police clearances The citizenship application requires criminal-record certificates from every country of nationality and every country of residence of the last five years, issued within the three months before filing.[^16-1] Due diligence on the file is performed by independent qualified external entities engaged by the unit, and interviews may be required in person or by video.[^16-1] Which included family members must produce their own certificate, and from what age, is not stated in the gazetted text and requires confirmation at the date of application. The certificates are tested against the statute's own thresholds: refusal where the record shows a conviction with a prison sentence of more than one year, and ineligibility where a final conviction carries a sentence of three years or more.[^16-2] The issuing authority is national. For applicants in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States alike, the competent national criminal-records authority issues the certificate; the issuing route, fee and turnaround are confirmed at engagement rather than stated here, no official schedule for them having been verified for this report. The three-month validity window is nonetheless the binding constraint on sequencing: a clearance obtained too early expires before filing, so the issuing authority's own processing time and the apostille step (§16.10) must both fit inside it (see §17.5). On 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.[^16-5] ## 16.9 Consent and custody documentation For minors in the citizenship application, the decree requires the forms to be signed by the child's legal representative, with judicial or administrative proof of authority where sole custody or guardianship is asserted.[^16-1] In the residence application, the inclusion of a child of only one spouse or partner is conditional on lawful custody being established.[^16-3] Where one parent applies alone with minor children — a common contingency-planning configuration — both components turn on the same question, and evidence of custody or of the non-applicant parent's consent is what answers it. The precise instrument (custody order, notarised parental consent, guardianship appointment) depends on the checklist in force at filing and on the family law of the home jurisdiction, and is settled with counsel before documents are commissioned. Misdescribing family composition is not a procedural defect but a substantive 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 (see §6.8).[^16-1] ## 16.10 Translation and legalisation Every foreign document in both files must arrive legalised and translated, and the volume multiplies with family size. Legalisation runs on the Hague Apostille rather than consular legalisation in every chain relevant here. São Tomé and Príncipe has been a Contracting Party to the Apostille Convention since 13 September 2008.[^16-10] Greece, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States are likewise recorded as Contracting Parties in the same status table as at 2 August 2026; their individual dates of entry into force were not separately verified for this report and are not relied on here.[^16-10] The decree expressly accepts apostille legalisation, with consular authentication only in its absence; the Greek proxy power of attorney must likewise be apostilled or consular-legalised.[^16-1][^16-6] Country chains and cost bands differ. In South Africa, public documents (birth and marriage certificates, police clearances) are apostilled by DIRCO, which states the service is offered free of charge; private documents route through a notary and the High Court Registrar, the certificate itself free and the notary's fees additional.[^16-12] In the United Kingdom, the FCDO legalisation fee is £45 per document standard, £35 for an e-apostille and £40 next-day for businesses (£100 for the restricted urgent service); where notarisation is needed first, published London bands run at approximately £60–100 plus VAT per document, with an upper band to £200 or more drawn from unopened extracts rather than the opened schedule.[^16-11][^16-13] In the 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.[^16-10] Translation requirements diverge between the two files. The citizenship file accepts documents in, or authenticated translation into, Portuguese or English — English being the practical route for the client jurisdictions above.[^16-1] The Greek file requires certified translation into Greek, through the state certified-translator registry (Law 4781/2021) or lawyer certification; published provider rates run from €15 per page (up to 230 words, plus 24% VAT) to €30–60 for a one-page certificate — a reported band of roughly €15–60 per page plus VAT, scaling per person and per document.[^16-14][^16-15] These bands are planning figures only; written quotations, not published rates, govern the cost actually incurred. ## 16.11 Family-member cost implications Family size changes the cost of the structure through the contribution schedule, per-member fees, and the per-person multiplication of documents, translations, legalisation and insurance. The rules are set out below; the worked family models, and the reasons no single headline figure can serve every family, are in Chapter 11 (documentation and due-diligence differences at §11.8) and Appendix D. This section derives no totals. | Item | Citizenship component (São Tomé and Príncipe) | Residence component (Greece) | |---|---|---| | Core capital requirement | Contribution US$90,000 (single); US$95,000 (family of 2–4); +US$5,000 per additional qualified dependant — "qualified dependant" being the gazetted class of spouse and children (Articles 10(4)–(5), Lei n.º 7/2022) | Property ≥€250,000 — unchanged by family size | | Application fee | US$5,000 due diligence and processing, per application (not per person) | €2,000 main applicant; €150 per adult family member; minors exempt; €16 card charge recorded for the main procedure | | Later additions | After naturalisation: spouse US$10,000; other qualifying dependant US$5,000; newborn (≤1 year) US$500 | Child reaching 21: €150 three-year independent permit (§7.9) | | Per-person documents | Citizenship documents charge published by the official channel at US$750 per applicant — requires confirmation at the date of application | Private medical insurance policy per person: reported premiums ≈€70–300 per adult per year for minimum-compliance cover, materially more for comprehensive cover, loaded from age 65 and possibly unavailable from age 75 — written quotations required before any older member is counted into a plan; biometrics attendance per person | | Document production | Clearances, civil-status certificates, translations and apostilles multiply per member and per document (bands at §16.10) | Same | Caption: fee rules only, not totals; family cost models are built in Chapter 11 and Appendix D. "Qualified dependant" in the contribution row is the gazetted class of spouse and children only; the extended categories published by the official channel (children to 30, parents and grandparents 55+ — §16.4, §16.5) are administrative practice without visible statutory basis and are not priced here. Sources: RNID Anexo I and Anexo III (contribution, fees, post-naturalisation additions);[^16-1] Lei n.º 7/2022 Articles 10(4)–(5) (dependant class);[^16-2] Law 5038/2023 Articles 95 and 171 and the official administrative record (Greek fees);[^16-3][^16-4] official programme site, archived 19 April 2026 (US$750 documents charge — an official-site figure not present in the gazetted fee annex);[^16-16] reported Greek insurance premium band and age loading, written quotations required.[^16-17] Amounts as published at 2 August 2026; both governments may alter fees (in São Tomé and Príncipe by joint ministerial order, without affecting processes already admitted).[^16-1] Two structural points close the chapter. First, the two largest single figures — the contribution and the property threshold — move little or not at all with family size; the per-person items do, and their aggregate is built in Chapter 11 and Appendix D. Second, every added member multiplies the evidential surface: clearances, civil-status documents, translations, apostilles, insurance and attendance obligations, each a point at which the file can fail or expire. Evidence standards are at §15.12; the pre-engagement confirmation step is §17.5. ### Notes [^16-1]: São Tomé and Príncipe, Decreto-Lei n.º 07/2025 ("Regulamentação da Nacionalidade por Investimento ou Doação", RNID), Diário da República I Série N.º 33, pp. 429–440, 1 August 2025 — Articles 3, 9–11, 14, 17–18, 22, Anexo I and Anexo III; gazette facsimile (Portuguese) via https://ntltrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/STP-CBI-Act-01082025-1-1.pdf (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-2]: São Tomé and Príncipe, Lei n.º 7/2022 ("Lei da Nacionalidade"), Diário da República I Série N.º 25, 10 March 2022 — Articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 21 and 22; gazette facsimile (Portuguese) via https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/STP-Lei.07.2022.pdf (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-3]: Greece, Law 5038/2023 (Immigration Code, Government Gazette A′ 81/01.04.2023), Articles 95(2), 100 and 171, consolidated text (codified through Law 5307/2026) via https://www.taxheaven.gr/law/5038/2023 (article views; Greek) (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-4]: Greece, National Registry of Administrative Public Services (mitos.gov.gr), "Permanent golden visa (change of use) – Initial issuance", last updated 31 July 2026, https://en.mitos.gov.gr/index.php/ΔΔ:Permanent_golden_visa_(change_of_use)_–_Initial_issuance (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-5]: Greece, Joint Ministerial Decision 214926/2025 (Government Gazette B′ 6014/11.11.2025), Articles 1–3 (Article 1 incorporating the common documents of JMD 95391/2024 Article 2); FEK PDF via https://www.pomida.gr/assets/File/1236_20250206014.pdf (Greek) (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-6]: Greece, Law 5038/2023, Government Gazette A′ 81/01.04.2023 (gazette facsimile), Articles 8(ε), 10(11), 14 and 17 — sickness-insurance condition; proxy filing on apostilled or consular-legalised power of attorney; twelve-month entry-and-biometrics window; insurance document at biometrics; rejection after two failures to attend; the relied-on articles re-checked against the consolidated text codified through Law 5307/2026; via https://www.elinyae.gr/sites/default/files/2024-09/81α_2023.pdf (Greek) (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-7]: São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment Unit, "Become a Citizen", cip.gov.st — published dependant categories (spouse or de facto partner; children up to 30; parents and grandparents 55+); Wayback capture of 17 July 2026, https://web.archive.org/web/20260717032201/https://cip.gov.st/become-a-citizen (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-8]: IMI Daily, "São Tomé Introduces Remote Passport Issuance, Clarifies Three-Nationality Rule", 11 April 2026 — CIU Director's memorandum of 10 April 2026 (three-nationality hold; adult-dependant passport hold), https://www.imidaily.com/africa/sao-tome-introduces-remote-passport-issuance-clarifies-three-nationality-rule/ (accessed 2 August 2026; industry reporting — the memorandum is not public). [^16-9]: NTL International (industry firm press page), "São Tomé and Príncipe CBI 2026 legislative updates", 14 April 2026 — corroborating the adult-dependant passport hold, https://ntlinternational.com/press/sao-tome-and-principe-cbi-2026-legislative-updates (accessed 2 August 2026; reported tier). [^16-10]: HCCH, Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, status table — São Tomé and Príncipe: accession 19 December 2007, entry into force 13 September 2008; Greece, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States are recorded in the same table as Contracting Parties (individual entry-into-force dates not separately verified for this report), https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41 (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-11]: United Kingdom, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, "Get your document legalised" — £45 standard, £35 e-apostille, £40 next-day (businesses), £100 restricted urgent, https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-12]: South Africa, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Legalisation Services — public documents legalised free of charge; private documents via notary and High Court Registrar, https://dirco.gov.za/legalisation-services/ (accessed 2 August 2026). [^16-13]: iNotary Public London, published price schedule — single-document notarisation ≈£60–100 plus VAT on the opened schedule; the £200+ upper band derives from unopened extracts, https://inotarypublic.co.uk/notary-public-prices-london/ (accessed 2 August 2026; market band, reported tier). [^16-14]: Athens Translation Centre, published certified-translation rates — €15 per page (≤230 words) plus 24% VAT, https://athenstranslations.gr/en/rates (accessed 2 August 2026; provider rate, reported tier). [^16-15]: WordHub, "How much does an official translation cost in Greece?", 10 April 2025 — €30–60 for a one-page certificate; certified routes under Law 4781/2021, https://www.wordhub.gr/en/blog/official-translation-cost-greece (accessed 2 August 2026; reported tier). [^16-16]: São Tomé and Príncipe Citizenship by Investment Unit, "Financial Layout", official programme site on the government domain cip.gov.st — "Citizenship documents, such as Certificate of Registration, Passport and National ID (per applicant) — USD 750.00", https://cip.gov.st/donation-to-the-national-transformation-fund (accessed 2 August 2026; official-site content, reported tier — not in the gazetted Anexo I). [^16-17]: Greek residence-permit insurance market data — indicative premiums ≈€70–300 per adult per year for minimum-compliance cover, materially more for comprehensive cover or older applicants (loaded from 65; possibly unavailable from 75); insurancemarket.gr ("από 68€ ετησίως"); mygoldenvisa.io ("about €300 per person"), https://www.insurancemarket.gr/asfalisi-allodapon-adeia-diamonis ; https://mygoldenvisa.io/blog/greece-golden-visa (accessed 2 August 2026; reported band — written quotations required).