Cape Verde.
How Cape Verde sells citizenship and residence for investors: 2 programmes, 0 of them open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.
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- numbers
- 19
- prices and rules
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- events
- 3
- documents and articles
Green Card (residence for property buyers)
Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.
Official name: Cabo Verde Green Card - permanent residence for property buyers (Lei 30/IX/2018)
Property of at least EUR 80,000 in a municipality with below-average GDP per capita; EUR 120,000 elsewhere (t-8be2cdd4d6). Paid with money transferred from abroad.
Notes from the research
Permanent residence for foreigners (with spouse and dependants) who buy built or under-construction residential property of at least EUR 80,000 in a municipality with below-average GDP per capita, or EUR 120,000 elsewhere, paid with money transferred from abroad. The card is renewed every 5 years, then every 10 after the second renewal, as long as the property is kept; property-tax and pension-income exemptions. Issued by the Direction of Foreigners and Borders (DEF). 'launched' is the in-force date: the law was published on 23 Apr 2018 and entered into force 30 days after publication (art. 13), counted from the day after publication, i.e. 23 May 2018. The implementing regulation and any count of cards issued were not found, so the current status is not confirmed.
Prices and rules
What is measured
No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.
Citizenship for investors (law, no price set)
Sells citizenship, and with it a passport.
Official name: Cabo Verde nationality by investment (Lei 33/X/2023 art. 14; formerly 'economic nationality', Lei 80/III/90 art. 12(3)-(4) as amended in 1992)
No price: the law that would set the investment amounts has not been passed (programme notes).
Notes from the research
A legal route, not an operating programme with a price. From 1992 investors creating jobs could get the rights of citizens without political rights (Law 41/IV/92), later reworded as citizenship (Law 64/IV/92). The 2023 Nationality Act (art. 14) replaced this with nationality for 'relevant' investments (job-creating projects, tourism property, regional development companies, capital in investment funds, etc.) plus effective ties (language or regular stays); minimum amounts are left to a future law. An academic report (Jan 2026) says the special regulation is still pending. Industry claims of USD 80,000 or 200,000 routes have no legal basis found. No statistics. The launch date is the date of Law 41/IV/92 (6 April 1992) as given in the GLOBALCIT report; the law itself is not stored and no in-force date is stated.
Prices and rules
What is measured
No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.
What happened, and when
The 3 documents behind this page
- 2026-01 · ResearchReport on Citizenship Law: Cape Verde (RSC/GLOBALCIT-CR 2026/01) · European University Institute, Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT)
- 2023-08 · Law or regulationLei n.º 33/X/2023, de 22 de agosto: condições de atribuição, aquisição, perda e reaquisição da nacionalidade cabo-verdiana (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 89) · Assembleia Nacional, República de Cabo Verde (Boletim Oficial)
- 2018-04 · Law or regulationLei n.º 30/IX/2018, de 23 de abril: cria o Green Card - Autorização de Residência Permanente (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 23) · Assembleia Nacional, República de Cabo Verde (Boletim Oficial)
Who buys passports and golden visas, what they cost, and what happens when governments change the rules. Written from this data, in the newsletter.