Cape Verde

About Cape Verde Citizenship and Residency

According to Cape Verde Citizenship Act 2003, a person who makes a sizable investment in Cape Verde may be granted citizenship without the residency requirement. Cape Verde also offers residency through real estate investment.

Citizenship for Investor:

• A sizable investment of EUR€200,000 or more in active investments in Energy, Tourism and Infrastructure projects.
• Foreigners investing in the country must create jobs and contribute significantly to the economic development of the country.
• Investment in the Real estate of €80,000 and above.

Acquisition of Citizenship can be:

• By marriage – the spouse of a Cape Verdean national can acquire citizenship if declaring to acquire it at the time of the marriage. Obs. The declaration of nullity or the annulment of marriage does not impair the acquisition of citizenship by the spouse who got it in good faith;
• By descent – the minor or handicapped child of the father or mother who has acquired Cape Verdean citizenship;
• By adoption – the displaced minor, adopted by a cape Verdean national or the foreign minor or of unknown citizenship adopted by a Cape Verdean national;
• By naturalization – can be granted to the foreigner who normally resides in Cape Verdean territory for at least five years, who is considered of age or emancipated by the State laws of Cape Verde, has moral or civil fitness, has the capacity to take care of him/herself and provide for him/herself.

Residency for Investor:

Cape Verde Residency Visas (Cabo Verde Residencia)

There are two types of residency permits – permanent and temporary. The permanent one is not often issued now and even if it is, it still has to be renewed every five years. The temporary one has to renew every 12 months.

Permanent Residency:

• invest in real estate

1.  invest over 8 million escudos or €80,000 (in municipalities with per capita GDP below the national average) 
2. 13.2 million escudos or €120,000 (in municipalities with a higher GDP than the national average) in tourist properties.

The Benefits Of Cape Verde Residency and Citizenship

Benefits of Foreign investors who set up their company in Cape Verde

1. Custom duty exemption, 
2. easy access to loans, 
3. tax exemption, 
4. green card, 
5. IRS fiscal credits, 
6. exemption from capital gain tax.

Main benefits:

• Applicant and family may live, work, change jobs, move, within the country, study, and travel in and out of Cape Verde as they wish.
• After just 5 years of permanent residence, the investor and family may apply for citizenship.
• Cape Verde has been a stable representative democracy and remains one of Africa’s most developed and democratic countries.

Cape Verde Residency and Citizenship Requirements and Qualifications

• Hold no criminal record.
• There is no official citizenship-by-investment program in Cape Verde but the laws allow for granting citizenship without any residency requirement to persons who make a sizeable investment in Cape Verde.
• Applicants have to be at least 18 years old.

Permanent Residency requirements:

– Completed application form (available at police stations).
– Document showing proof of financial stability (a bank statement from a bank in Cape Verde or the Boletim Official of your own company in Cape Verde usually suffices).
– Certificate from the city hall stating that the applicant has been living in the respective municipality for at least 6 months.
– Disclosure certificate from the country of origin (people with a criminal record are rejected), translated and notarised by the consulate. (= certificate of authenticity of the document and the correctness of the translation).
– Disclosure certificate from Cape Verde, 2 documents:
One from the Public Order Police (POP) and one from the Judicial Police (Policia Judiciaria)
– Health certificate of the health department in Cape Verde: vaccination records are issued or presented here.
– Rental agreement (with certification stamp from the tax office and notarization by a notary public or Registo Civil) or proof of property ownership on Cape Verde.
– Copy of passport that is complete with all pages. A Visa stamp with the entry “Permanente” must be present, meaning more than 6 months of uninterrupted residence. Tourist visa stamps are not valid.
– Two current passport pictures

The official procedure of issuing a Residencia, which means the processing of all submitted documents, can take up to two years. Although you can already incorporate your company during the process, for example, its operation is hardly worthwhile due to high import and export taxes. A special import license is required to enjoy lower tax rates, which again is dependent on Residencia.

Steps And Timeline

• Prepare a request/application to be submitted to the appropriate authority.
• Submit your request/application along with all other required documents.
• Pay the application fee.

Our Services

Privacy World offers its services to anyone, not only looking to obtain residency and/or citizenship processes but our experts figure out legal ways to:

• Find the best solution for your needs.
• Identify and deploy a strategy to help you accomplish your goals.
• Activate our network of people in the country where you need help without having you search for the best solution or lawyer. We only work with licensed people in every country whom we carefully vet and pass the guidelines and principles of privacy we stand for.
• Focus on cutting through the red tape and expediting your process.
• Provide proper communication with you about your case.
  …. and above all: Offer you legal strategies to provide additional layers of privacy for your identity, while obtaining your residency or citizenship!

Privacy World can also help you with incorporating your company in Cape Verde, assisting in getting you settled in the country, and coordinating with you so that this experience will be less of a hassle.

Want Privacy World to handle your case? Have any questions? Contact us!

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