Moving & Living - Cabo Verde - Complete Guide

01Choose the island, then test the neighbourhood

Begin with the island where your everyday commitments actually are. A ferry connection is useful for a planned visit; it is a different proposition when you need it for an urgent appointment. Mark the workplace, proposed school, medical provider and administrative offices before browsing apartments.

The Tourism Institute’s Santiago and São Vicente pages give geographical starting points. Use the actual school and campus locations in step 5 to turn those broad choices into a household plan.

1. Reserve temporary accommodation on the intended island and request the full address and airport or port transfer arrangement.
2. Visit shortlisted homes at the time you would commute. Test the phone connection inside the property and inspect water storage, ventilation and working appliances.
3. Ask which regular errands require another island. Put their travel cost and time into the decision.
4. Choose the neighbourhood after these tests, then negotiate the lease in step 11.

02Choose a lawful residence route before arranging the move

A visa exemption for a visit does not establish permission to settle or work. AAI’s nationality guidance describes up to 30 days of visa-free visiting for EU citizens and up to 90 days for ECOWAS citizens; it expressly distinguishes ECOWAS movement rights from residence and employment. Use the rules for your own passport, rather than assuming those periods apply worldwide.

1. Identify the purpose: employment, independent activity, higher education, family reunification, retirement or an eligible remote profession. The DEF residence-category page separates temporary applications from permanent residence.
2. For an application abroad, use the Foreign Ministry’s visa instructions and book with the responsible consular service. Describe the intended activity and duration, including dependants. A residence visa is described as valid for six months, with extension while a residence application awaits decision.
3. Prepare identity, financial means, accommodation and purpose evidence. Obtain the exact consular checklist before commissioning translations or legalisation.
4. Record the permission granted, entry date and last authorised day. Arrange the in-country residence file before that day; a receipt is not an automatic approval.

Remote work has a specific legal basis. Article 29-A in the May 2025 regulation covers professional activity performed remotely for entities outside Cabo Verde. It calls for passport and origin-country criminal records; an employment contract or employer relationship declaration, or qualifying independent-service evidence; proof of average monthly income over the last three months; and a tax-residence certificate. The article does not itself state a numerical income threshold. Ask the consulate or DEF which subsistence rule and application procedure apply to your case.

For a spouse, minor child or adopted minor, prepare a separate household file. AAI family-reunification guidance requires the resident’s valid permission, suitable accommodation and resources for the family. Confirm each person’s category and entry arrangement rather than treating one applicant’s visa as permission for everyone.

03Agree the employment, remote-work or business arrangement

For a local job, ask the employer to explain who handles immigration, payroll and the labour-authority file. AAI’s foreign-worker contract guidance describes a written contract requiring endorsement by the Direção Geral de Trabalho, with stated family and longer lawful-residence exceptions. Have HR identify the applicable rule and approval before setting the first working day.

1. Agree the position, workplace, salary currency, start date and responsibilities for residence costs, household insurance and relocation. Retain the signed contract or qualifying promise of employment for the appropriate residence file.
2. Supply the qualifications and professional registration relevant to the occupation. A medical, teaching or other regulated role needs its own professional eligibility resolved.
3. Ask payroll to show how employment tax and INPS contributions will appear on the payslip. Obtain the registration number and first contribution evidence after hiring.
4. For remote employment, obtain the employer’s written agreement to the location and document the foreign employment relationship. For independent remote work, retain service contracts and evidence of the activity outside Cabo Verde.

Optional: form a local company. The Plataforma Empresa Online procedure allows foreign applicants and distinguishes company forms. Prepare the Certificado de Admissibilidade de Firma, owners and registered office, statutes and capital evidence. Cash capital uses a bank deposit document; contributions in property require an accountant’s valuation. Choose the accounting regime and arrange a Técnico Oficial de Contas where required. The online process uses Autentika with the specified Cabo Verdean digital identity methods; contact PEO support if your foreign identity cannot use that path.

Complete the resulting commercial and tax registrations, then the licences for the actual activity. For example, the official import-licensing procedure requests company registration, tax activity evidence, premises documents and the foreign manager’s residence card or applicable visa. This is an importer’s procedure, not a universal licence for every freelancer. Registering a company also does not decide the founder’s personal immigration permission.

04Build a moving budget and resolve tax treatment

Use CVE for local expenses; ECV and the escudo symbol on local websites refer to the same currency. Keep foreign-currency income and transfer charges on separate lines. Rent varies by island and address, so obtain comparable written offers instead of using a national monthly-living-cost figure.

The 27 November 2025 official fee schedule lists residence-visa analysis at 1,500 CVE and issuance at 5,000 CVE. Normal residence-authorisation analysis is 1,500 CVE for the applicant plus 500 CVE per jointly included household member. Residence-title document charges are separate. CPLP residence issuance/renewal exemptions exclude document costs; request the category-specific payment instruction rather than paying an older all-inclusive price found online.

Hypothetical housing calculation: if a particular lease quotes 30,000 CVE monthly rent, one month’s advance and a separate 30,000 CVE refundable deposit, the initial housing cash required is 60,000 CVE. These are invented arithmetic inputs, not surveyed rent or a prescribed deposit. Add the real connection, furnishing and temporary-home costs; the deposit remains unavailable for routine spending.

For tax, the published IRPS legal text distinguishes resident worldwide-income treatment from non-resident Cabo Verde-source income. Its residence tests include more than 183 days in any twelve-month period or a qualifying habitual home at year-end. Record travel dates, homes and income sources for an individual assessment, including treaty or special-regime eligibility. Immigration permission is not a tax ruling.

The DNRE guidance separates salary/pension, business, property, capital and gains, and describes electronic Modelo 112 declarations with applicable exceptions. Have payroll or a Cabo Verde tax adviser identify withholding, whether a return is required and current deadlines. Keep foreign tax certificates and transfer records. A tourism programme’s promotional reference to tax exemption is insufficient evidence that your particular foreign salary or pension is exempt.

05Secure the school or university arrangement first

For children, decide the curriculum and teaching language before making a housing commitment. École française Les Alizés is a practical French-school starting point in Praia’s Achada Santo António, on Avenida OUA. Its public admissions page is an enquiry route, not a published guarantee of a place or a complete application checklist.

1. Contact the school with the child’s birth date, current class, recent reports, curriculum, language experience and intended start date. Explain learning-support requirements early.
2. Request its current admission file and placement process. Prepare identity and educational records, but obtain its requirements for translation and any health records before ordering them.
3. Ask for the full current-year invoice: registration, tuition, meals, materials, transport and examination costs. Confirm payment timing and withdrawal terms.
4. Obtain written placement and the first-day requirements, then test the journey from the shortlisted home. Retain enrolment evidence for the household immigration file.

For higher education, select the programme through Universidade de Cabo Verde’s admissions page and confirm the teaching language, campus and qualification assessment. Its 2026–27 bachelor application phases ran from June to September, with the last ending on 11 September 2026. At this guide’s October review, those published windows had closed; ask the admissions office about the next applicable intake rather than assuming an application is still open.

The admissions office lists the Palmarejo Grande campus, block E5-103, telephone +238 334 02 58. Ask how a foreign secondary qualification enters the chosen selection process and whether equivalence or programme-specific tests apply. Keep the acceptance, registration and tuition-payment evidence: the higher-education residence category requires those items alongside financial means. Arrange housing independently unless the university gives an actual accommodation offer.

06Use the retirement category and plan care before committing

Cabo Verde has an identifiable permanent-residence category for a retired foreign applicant. It is not necessary to invent a “retirement visa” or assume that buying an apartment automatically grants permission. Begin with the DEF retired-foreigner procedure and coordinate the entry and residence sequence with the responsible consulate and DEF.

1. Obtain the pension authority’s declaration confirming retirement and payments, and evidence of adequate resources. Establish how the pension will be available in Cabo Verde, including transfer charges and any restrictions imposed by the paying country.
2. Prepare the passport and required origin-country criminal record. The DEF page also requests undertakings concerning medical and medicine costs and compliance with local law.
3. Document the proposed accommodation and health arrangements. Discuss ongoing prescriptions and specialist appointments with providers before choosing an island.
4. Submit through the applicable DEF route and retain the receipt, payment instruction and requests for additional documents. Ask how dependent household members apply.

The 2025 permanent-residence regulation includes pension-payment evidence, accommodation, medical evidence and Cabo Verde criminal-record consultation. It permits DEF, on request, to waive the language-evidence requirement for a retired applicant. A waiver requires the authority’s decision; it is not an automatic exemption.

Before importing a vehicle or household goods, investigate the specific retired-foreign-citizen customs regime. Its listed evidence includes permanent residence and property/shipping documents. Obtain a written eligibility and clearance assessment before dispatch; a pending retirement application is not the same document. Separately, confirm pension taxation with DNRE and any social-security coordination with the paying country. Plan insurance and evacuation around the actual island and condition, rather than assuming pensioner status pays every healthcare bill.

07Prepare a document file, shipping inventory and pet timetable

Create a file for each household member, with originals kept accessible and scans stored separately. Use the consular checklist to settle which documents require Portuguese translation, authentication or a recently issued certificate. Include passports, relationship records, purpose evidence, accommodation and financial records. Keep the names and dates consistent across applications.

1. Request the required criminal and civil records early enough for authentication, while respecting the authority’s validity period. Ask the receiving office to confirm that period rather than assuming every certificate lasts the same number of months.
2. Keep entry and residence evidence, school records, medical summaries and important medicines in hand luggage. Retain prescriptions with active-ingredient names.
3. Prepare a numbered packing list and obtain a quotation showing freight, destination handling, customs assessment and delivery to the chosen island.
4. Have the customs agent identify your actual relief category. The definitive-return authorisation described by the government concerns qualifying returning Cabo Verde nationals who lived abroad for more than four years; it is not a blanket foreign-newcomer exemption.

Pets require a veterinary timetable. The DGASP entry conditions for dogs, cats and ferrets require entry through an authorised international air or sea point and border veterinary control. Its English document calls for an official international veterinary certificate, animal identification/vaccination records, valid rabies vaccination and rabies-titration evidence. A first rabies vaccination needs at least 30 days before travel; the document does not impose that delay for revaccination. It also lists other disease vaccinations and recorded internal/external parasite treatment at least one week before travel.

Send the animal’s species, origin, vaccination history and travel route to DGASP at [email protected] to resolve the applicable tests, certificate validity and authorised entry point. The published sheet does not give a numerical antibody threshold or a complete country-specific timetable. Have the origin’s official veterinary authority issue the accepted certificate, then confirm the airline’s carrier arrangements and any onward ferry permission before booking the animal.

08Complete pre-registration and establish the first few days

Complete EASE traveller pre-registration for the applicable journey before departure. AAI asks visa-exempt ECOWAS and other travellers to do this at least five days before travel; nationality and statutory exemptions still matter. Save the confirmation and airport-security-tax payment evidence with the passport. Arrange who pays if a tour operator or host handles the process, and obtain the actual proof.

For British citizen visitors specifically, FCDO entry guidance requires six months of passport validity on arrival and notes an additional airport-security-tax charge for missing pre-registration evidence from 1 July 2026. Apply that passport guidance to its stated nationality, alongside the consular requirements for your own residence route. EASE registration is not a replacement for a visa where one is required.

1. Carry the accommodation address, purpose documents, onward-travel evidence where required, and funds accessible without the new bank account.
2. At entry, retain the stamp or permission record and confirm the authorised stay. Record the deadline immediately.
3. Reach the pre-arranged accommodation and verify the landlord or host’s contact details. Keep a receipt identifying the address and occupant.
4. Buy or activate a suitable phone connection and establish a small CVE cash reserve for initial errands. Test an ATM withdrawal with the issuing bank’s fees in mind.
5. Book the tax-number and DEF steps, arranging any medical or local accommodation evidence requested for the residence file.

If the final home is on another island, leave enough time to complete these errands without relying on a tight connection. Carry original documents personally rather than placing them in the shipment. A temporary address, reachable telephone number and dated appointment list make the next stage much easier.

09Obtain the NIF and complete the residence file

The residence process needs more than a passport. AAI’s general temporary-residence conditions include presence in Cabo Verde, the appropriate residence visa subject to applicable exceptions, financial means, accommodation, a NIF and social-security registration where relevant. Arrange the items in that order instead of waiting for a card before starting every dependent task.

1. Use the individual NIF service with valid identification and current personal details. The government lists first issuance as free and a processing target of up to two working days. Confirm the available foreign-passport route with Casa do Cidadão if online identification prevents completion. Download and retain the issued certificate.
2. Assemble the residence application: the applicable form, identity and purpose evidence, requested photographs, financial means, accepted accommodation proof and health/vaccination documents. Obtain the required translated/legalised criminal record where requested.
3. Use the DEF application entry point or the office it directs you to. Ensure the correct category and every household member are recorded; keep the receipt and respond to document requests promptly.
4. Obtain the decision and residence title, check the printed particulars and diary renewal. AAI describes temporary permission as two years, renewable in two-year periods; a permanent title requires five-year document renewal.

For employment, the INPS registration page gives a 30-day employee registration period from the start of work, using the insured-person form, payroll evidence, identity and photograph. Employer/contributor registration, including independent workers, has a separate 15-day period from starting the activity. The forms and supporting business documents differ. Ask who submits each file and obtain proof rather than conflating the deadlines.

Digital identity is another distinct service. Autentika activation support identifies the CNI, foreign-residence title and digital-key routes and authorised activation offices. Do not apply for a citizen identity document as though it were the foreign residence card; obtain the supported login for your actual status.

10Open the right account and test everyday payments

Choose a bank by the account and services you need, not an emigrant product advertised for Cabo Verde nationals abroad. Caixa’s ordinary customer instructions identify passport evidence for foreigners, NIF and address proof or a branch declaration. Employees provide employer/income information; independent workers provide activity and income evidence. Bring originals or the accepted certified copies and let the branch confirm the complete file for your status.

1. Ask whether the account will be resident or non-resident, which identity and immigration documents it accepts, and whether the proposed foreign transfers require further source-of-funds records.
2. Obtain the deposit, maintenance, card, transfer and foreign-exchange charges. Read the account forms and terms before signing, including any tax-residence declarations applying to you.
3. Arrange the first transfer using the bank’s actual account instructions. Compare the sending and receiving charges and retain the payment trail.
4. Activate the card and mobile or online access. Test a small purchase, withdrawal and bill payment before relying on the account for rent or salary.

As a precisely scoped opening-deposit example, Caixa’s non-resident current-account page lists 2,000 CVE for Conta Caderneta and 10,000 CVE for Conta Cheque. These are minimum deposits for those products, not universal resident-account charges. Ask which product the branch offers you.

Learn the Vinti4 payment instructions used by the service you are paying. Sol Atlântico’s recharge process, for example, uses a service payment and reference. Keep the resulting receipt and verify that the provider credited it. Agree how the landlord receives rent and how each payment is acknowledged; the lease should identify the recipient and currency. Maintain a second way to access money while cards or transfers are being activated.

11Inspect the home and sign a clear rental agreement

Local terms worth recognising are contrato de arrendamento for the rental agreement, senhorio for the landlord, renda for rent and caução for the deposit. An advance rent payment is different from a refundable deposit. AAI’s housing guidance emphasises variation even within the same city and asks renters to obtain a contract and rent receipts.

1. Verify the owner or agent’s authority to let the property. Obtain the full address, property identification and a lease draft before payment.
2. Inspect taps, storage tanks, electricity, ventilation, locks and the actual internet connection. Record the furniture and appliance condition in a dated inventory with photographs.
3. Agree rent currency, payment day, advance period, deposit, agent charges, building charges, repairs and responsibility for water, electricity and internet. Record notice, renewal and deposit-return terms.
4. Sign the agreement identifying all parties and occupants. Obtain receipts distinguishing rent, deposit and any other charge; record keys and opening meter readings at handover.

Discuss the contract’s registration through the PEO rental-registration service. The party or specially authorised representative must have the supported Autentika access; the property must be identified in the relevant registry/system. The procedure uses a digital lease and, in its specified foreign-party circumstance, a passport copy. It accepts card payment or a generated Documento Único de Cobrança. Confirm who completes the registration and supplies evidence; a newly arrived foreign tenant may need the landlord or authorised representative to handle the supported authentication path.

Use the signed lease as accommodation evidence where DEF accepts it. If a temporary home or family host is supplying another form of proof, resolve that form with DEF first. Compare the final property with the original budget, including island travel and utility arrangements, before ending temporary accommodation.

12Arrange local care and insurance around the chosen island

AAI healthcare guidance states that foreign residents access healthcare on the same conditions as nationals. That does not mean every service, medicine or evacuation is free. Separate access to local care, your INPS entitlement and the benefits of a private policy, and obtain the actual evidence for each.

1. Identify the health centre serving the address and ask what identity, residence and insurance documents it needs for registration or consultations. Bring a concise medical history, vaccination records and prescriptions.
2. For insured employment or independent activity, obtain the INPS number and ask how coverage and eligible household members are evidenced. Supply the required relationship records when registering dependants.
3. Ask the provider about the continuing availability of your medicines and treatment, the appointment route and payment. Resolve active-ingredient equivalents with a qualified clinician rather than changing medication yourself.
4. Choose insurance that covers the actual residence period, conditions, island and onward medical transport. Obtain the assistance number and written instructions for arranging authorised treatment or evacuation.

In Praia, identify the health centre serving your neighbourhood and discuss referral to Hospital Agostinho Neto. AAI’s healthcare-access page supplies its assistance contacts if you need help navigating access as an immigrant. In Mindelo, Hospital Baptista de Sousa’s own website links its services, contacts and online appointment system. Ask about the particular treatment and referral needed before relying on a listed specialty.

Current FCDO health guidance gives 130 for an ambulance and describes limited medical facilities, with major hospitals in Praia and Mindelo. It highlights difficult emergency evacuation from Santo Antão and Brava because they lack working airports. Make that part of the island decision when someone needs frequent specialist care. Save the local provider, ambulance and insurer contacts on every adult’s phone and keep a paper copy accessible at home.

13Connect the phone, utilities and regular transport

Start with a mobile connection that works inside the home. Alou’s Netmóvel page, reviewed on 13 October 2026, lists 850 CVE for 3,000 MB with 30-day validity, advertising up to 2 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. The page supplies no tariff-effective date. This allowance and speed are not a substitute for testing a remote-work connection. Ask about a suitable fixed service at the exact address, installation, router and renewal conditions.

1. Record water and power meter identifiers and handover readings with the landlord. Agree whether you will take over the accounts or reimburse bills, and obtain the supplier’s connection/deposit quotation.
2. For electricity, distinguish EDEC from Boa Vista’s AEB. ARME’s September 2026 measures apply through 31 December 2026; an older July tariff or a quoted discount amount is not the final current retail rate. Identify the category on the bill and use ARME’s consumer/contact service if the tariff or charge needs clarification.
3. In Praia, compare individual bus journeys with a pass. Sol Atlântico’s published table lists 43 CVE per journey and 2,900 CVE for the general monthly pass; the fare footnote dates from 1 May 2022 and was reviewed here in October 2026.
4. Use its pass application instructions with identity, photograph and form. A monthly pass follows the calendar month; it is not thirty days beginning with your purchase.

Selected monthly calculation: forty 43-CVE Praia bus journeys cost 1,720 CVE; adding that 850-CVE mobile plan gives 2,570 CVE for those two services only. Extra data, other transport, housing and utilities are excluded. Compare a pass against your actual number of journeys.

For inter-island travel, book the sailing you will actually use. CVInterilhas’ currently linked passenger tariff, effective 1 February 2024 and reviewed in October 2026, prices São Vicente–Santo Antão at 950 CVE for nationals and 1,500 CVE for non-nationals, including taxes. Do not assume foreign residence places you in the national category. Its booking FAQ explains tickets, payments, luggage and pet carriers. Reconfirm the sailing and any carrier approval before an onward move, leaving time for changes.

14Build an island routine and close the first-month checklist

Practise useful Portuguese for contracts and appointments, and learn the Cabo Verdean Creole expressions used around you. The Tourism Institute’s people-and-culture page explains the local importance of Creole and music. Ask a local teacher which variety and vocabulary suit your island; administrative Portuguese and everyday conversation serve different needs.

Set up ordinary routines around the home: a food shop or market, the school or work journey, a clinic and a dependable way to pay recurring bills. Shop with a weekly list, compare actual prices and receipts, and update the budget from your own spending. A market photograph conveys a setting, not current prices. For community, start with school activities, colleagues, neighbourhood associations and the actual music or cultural venues in your chosen city, without relying entirely on a visitor network.

• Documents: retain entry evidence, the residence submission or decision, NIF, household civil records and any INPS registration. Put the current permission and renewal dates in the calendar.
• Home: file the lease, inventory, deposit receipt, registration evidence and meter readings. Make sure the address on official records is the address you actually use.
• Money: test salary or pension receipt, rent payment, card and bill references. Retain tax and transfer records in a monthly folder.
• Family: confirm school placement, collection arrangements, insurance contacts, prescriptions and a route to appropriate care.
• Connections: test the working-day internet load, bus journey and any planned island connection. Record the alternatives when the normal arrangement changes.

AAI’s resident-details guidance asks for notification to DEF within eight days of specified changes, including civil status, nationality, profession or address, and absence exceeding ninety days. Make a move within Cabo Verde part of that paperwork routine rather than leaving an old address on the file. At the end of the month, compare actual expenditure with the plan and resolve missing documents with the responsible institution before the next deadline.