São Tomé and Príncipe · the sourced record
The newest citizenship programme, and the gazette that created it.
São Tomé and Príncipe began taking applications in September 2025 under Decreto-Lei n.º 07/2025. It is absent from most reference works, and the tariff below is set out in full because it is published in Portuguese and rarely reproduced.
Read from the gazette on 16 August 2026
The legal base
The enabling law
Lei n.º 7/2022 — Lei da Nacionalidade
Diário da República, I Série, N.º 25, 10 March 2022. Provides for the acquisition of nationality by investment or donation.
The regulation
Decreto-Lei n.º 07/2025
Regulamentação da Nacionalidade por Investimento ou Doação. Diário da República, I Série, N.º 33, 1 August 2025. Sets the procedure and, at Anexo I, every amount payable.
The contribution is made to the Fundo Nacional de Transformação and, under Anexo I, is payable only after approval in principle. Applications are filed through a licensed promotion agent.
Anexo I, in full
Referred to in article 13(1) of the decree-law. Reproduced here in English because the gazette is published in Portuguese; the Portuguese text governs.
Qualifying investment in the Fundo Nacional de Transformação
Payable only after approval in principle.
- Individual applicant
- USD 90,000≈€78,261
- Family application, two to four members
- USD 95,000≈€82,609
- Each additional qualifying dependant
- USD 5,000≈€4,348
Due diligence and processing
Per application, non-refundable once the application is submitted.
- Due-diligence and processing fee
- USD 5,000≈€4,348
Applications by family of an existing citizen
In addition to the due-diligence and processing fees above.
- Spouse of a citizen
- USD 10,000≈€8,696
- Qualifying dependants other than the spouse
- USD 5,000≈€4,348
- Newborn child of a citizen, up to one year old
- USD 500≈€435
Promotion agent
Payable by the licensed agent, not the applicant.
- Annual licence fee
- USD 5,000≈€4,348
Euro figures are conversions at €1 = US$1.15 and are illustrative only. The programme sets its amounts in US dollars, and the dollar figure is the one that binds.
Sources
Each links to the published document and to the copy we hold, so the reference survives if the original moves.
Decreto-Lei n.º 07/2025 — Regulamentação da Nacionalidade por Investimento ou Doação
The decree-law that creates and regulates the programme, with the fee and contribution tariff at Anexo I. Diário da República, I Série, N.º 33, 1 August 2025.
Lei n.º 7/2022 — Lei da Nacionalidade
The Nationality Law under which the decree-law is made. Diário da República, I Série, N.º 25, 10 March 2022.
Unidade de Cidadania por Investimento e Doação (UCID) — the Citizenship by Investment Unit — official programme portal
The government portal: programme description, licensed agents and fee schedule.
Citing this page
Kestrel Private, “São Tomé and Príncipe citizenship by investment: the law, the tariff and the sources”, kestrelprivate.com/sao-tome-and-principe, read from the gazette 16 August 2026, citing Decreto-Lei n.º 07/2025 (Diário da República, I Série, N.º 33, 1 August 2025), Anexo I.
Kestrel Private is an independent private-client advisory. It is not the UCID/CIU and does not speak for the Government of São Tomé and Príncipe. Applications are filed through a licensed promotion agent. This page records published law and is not legal advice; where the English differs from the Portuguese gazette, the gazette governs.
The programme you apply under is the one that exists on the day you file.
For residence applications, we generally plan on approximately two to three months to approval and three to six months from instruction to residence card.
Citizenship applications vary more widely. A straightforward application may receive approval within approximately three months, but six to nine months to passport issuance is a more prudent planning assumption.
Programme rules, government fees and processing times can change. We therefore reconfirm the applicable terms immediately before an application is filed.
Neither approval nor timing can be guaranteed.
If São Tomé & Príncipe is the route you want, we can start your file.
A first conversation, not a commitment. Tell us who would be included and what you already hold, and we come back with the route, the confirmed terms and the timeline — or tell you honestly if it is not worth doing.