Sao Tome and Principe Citizenship by Investment: contribution from US$90,000 under Decree-Law 7/2025

Yes. The programme was created by Decree-Law 7/2025, published in Diário da República No. 33 of 1 August 2025, under Article 10 of Nationality Law 7/2022. Applications are handled by the state body UCID under the Ministry of Justice; contributions go to the National Transformation Fund overseen by the Finance Ministry, the Court of Auditors and the Central Bank. The regulation allows a private managing entity under concession — that does not replace the state decision on each file.

Under Annex I: contribution US$90,000 for one person, US$95,000 for a family of 2–4, US$5,000 for each further dependant. Plus the due diligence and processing fee of US$5,000 per application. Agent, apostilles, translations, medical certificates, the due diligence report and passports are counted separately — we send the full budget for your family composition.

On filing you pay only the US$5,000 fee — it is non-refundable. The contribution to the NTF is transferred after approval, within 90 days; if unpaid, the file lapses. On refusal the main amount is never transferred.

The regulation sets no overall term. The stages are regulated: 15 days for UCID's preliminary assessment, the prosecutor's visa within the term of the nationality law, 15 days for the Director's decision after the visa, 90 days to pay, 5 days to send the file to the registry. How long due diligence and the interview take depends on the checks. We have no confirmed statistics for this programme yet, and we do not promise 'a few weeks'.

No. The application is filed through the UCID electronic platform, any interview can be held remotely, and the oath can be taken at a Sao Tome and Principe diplomatic or consular post abroad. The regulation contains no residence requirement.

No. India does not permit dual citizenship: voluntarily acquiring another citizenship terminates Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Act, and the Indian passport must be surrendered. You can then apply for the Overseas Citizen of India card — a lifelong visa and NRI-type economic rights, without voting or public office. For many families a residence permit elsewhere does the job without that price; we settle this before any fee is paid.

Due diligence to AML/CFT standards is carried out by independent bodies, then the file must go to the Public Prosecutor for a prior visa; in doubtful cases the Review Committee chaired by the prosecutor steps in. Grounds for refusal: criminal records, unproven source of funds, false information, nationality of a country on the restricted list. We check this at the free audit before the fee is paid.

Promoting the programme without a Ministry of Justice licence carries a fine of up to US$500,000; the list of licensed agents and revoked licences is published officially. We check the intermediary against that list and require the contribution to go to the National Transformation Fund account, not to third-party accounts.

That is a separate question we check on the filing date against official sources, not marketing tables. The passport has no visa-free access to the European Union, the UK or the USA. If the main goal is travel to Europe, this document does not solve it, and we say so at the first consultation.

Yes, for breaches of the regulation: the sanctions in Article 18 include revocation of citizenship; the general grounds for loss follow the Nationality Law. The Public Prosecutor may challenge the grant in the administrative court within 6 months of acquisition, without suspending citizenship during the dispute. A clean file and a transparent source of funds are the main protection.

Parents — no: Article 10 of the regulation names only the spouse and children as dependants; parents and grandparents are not in Decree-Law 7/2025. Children are included with a declaration of support; the age limit for adult children is set by Nationality Law 7/2022, which we verify per case before filing and do not promise in advance.

Under Annex I: single applicant US$90,000, family of 2–4 US$95,000, each further dependant US$5,000. The US$5,000 due diligence fee is per application. A spouse added after citizenship — US$10,000, another dependant US$5,000, a newborn under one year US$500.

Yes. If the application is refused through the fault of our team or an error in building the case, we refund the company's service fee less a minimal retention for costs actually incurred. Refund terms, the payment schedule and the rules on retaining service costs are fixed in the contract before work begins. Before we start, we check your documents and risk history free of charge and tell you about any risks in advance.