Cape Verde Remote Working Program

Cabo Verde’s Remote Working Program is a separate track from the standard tourist visa. It gives remote workers a six-month temporary work and tourism visa, with the option to renew once for another six months, so it’s built for people who want more than a quick beach stop.

The program is aimed at self-employed remote workers, employees and entrepreneurs whose income comes from outside Cabo Verde. The official tourism materials also make clear that applicants can come alone or with family members and that the point is to keep working online while living in the islands.

What makes it different is the structure. A normal tourism visa is listed on the consular portal as a 90-day stay, extendable for another 90 days and it’s meant for recreation or cruises. The remote-working visa starts with a six-month stay, which is a lot more useful if you’re actually planning to settle in for a season.

The government also markets the program with a tax angle. The official tourism page says remote workers are exempt from income tax, which is one of the biggest draws here. Just don’t read that as a green light for local work, because the program is still meant for foreign-source income only.

Fees and basic requirements

• Visa fee: €20 per person
• Airport fee: €34 per person
• Passport validity: At least 6 months

The official pages don’t give a fixed processing time, so don’t build your trip around a promise that isn’t published. What they do say is that once your application is accepted, you’ll receive permission to enter, then you present the required documents to border officials and get the visa stamp on arrival.

This isn’t the same thing as the standard TSA pre-registration or a short-stay tourist entry. If you want Cabo Verde as a true remote base instead of a 30-day stopgap, this is the cleaner route. It’s still paperwork-heavy, but at least the rules are made for the life you’re trying to live.

The Cabo Verde Remote Working Program is built for foreign remote workers and self-employed people, not locals. It gives you a six-month stay and you can renew it once for another six months if you still qualify. The official portal says you can apply alone or bring your family, so this isn’t just a solo-nomad setup.

Who gets in? The clearest rule is that you must be a non-resident of Cabo Verde working online for clients or an employer outside the country. The program is aimed at people who don’t need a fixed office and can do their job entirely through the internet. If you’re a Cabo Verde citizen or permanent resident, this visa isn’t for you.

The government pages don’t publish a detailed nationality list, which is annoying but true. Third-party guidance consistently says the program is open mainly to applicants from Europe, North America, CPLP countries and ECOWAS states, but that country list isn’t shown on the official portal, so treat it as guidance, not hard law.

You should also expect the usual immigration checks. A valid passport, proof of health insurance, proof of accommodation and a clean criminal record are commonly requested. The official portal doesn’t publish a full document checklist, so you may need to confirm the exact paperwork with an embassy or the immigration service before you apply.

• Eligible work: Freelancers, self-employed professionals and remote employees paid by non-Cabo Verde employers or clients.
• Eligible applicants: Foreigners who aren't Cabo Verde residents.
• Family members: The program allows dependants to come with the main applicant.
• Income proof: Official pages don’t give a fixed minimum, but widely cited third-party guidance puts the benchmark at an average bank balance of €1,500 for individuals and €2,700 for families over six months.

That income figure matters, even though it’s not clearly published by the government. In practice, you should be ready to show bank statements, salary slips or other proof that your money comes from outside Cabo Verde and that you can support yourself without taking local work.

Local employment is the red line. This visa is for remote work, not for landing a job with a Cabo Verdean company once you arrive.

Source 1 | Source 2

The Cabo Verde Remote Working Program is the main route for remote employees and freelancers who want to stay on the islands for longer than a tourist trip. The basic pitch is simple, but the paperwork isn’t. You need to show that your income comes from outside Cape Verde and you need to prove you’ve got enough money in the bank before you apply.

The financial threshold is the part most applicants focus on. For individual applicants, the program asks for an average bank balance of €1,500 over the last 6 months. For families, that rises to €2,700 over the same period. The research also says you’ll need salary receipts or bank statements showing that your income is earned outside Cape Verde.

The document list is straightforward, but the official guidance available here doesn’t give a longer checklist or a fixed processing time. Based on the research, you should be ready to submit:

• Passport: valid for at least 6 months
• Photo: a recent passport-style photo
• Proof of income: salary receipts or bank statements from outside Cape Verde
• Health insurance: proof of coverage
• Criminal record check: required with the application
• Accommodation booking: proof of initial lodging

The application starts online through the official tourism portal. If approved, you’ll receive letters from the Institute of Tourism and the Border Agency and you need to print them before travel. The research says the fee breakdown includes a €20 visa fee plus a €34 airport security tax, then you have to finish the process by email within your first 30 days to get the official residency stamp.

The permit is issued for 6 months and can be renewed once for another 6 months. Local work isn’t allowed and the program is aimed mainly at citizens from Europe, North America, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and ECOWAS states. If you’re expecting a lot of hand-holding, don’t. The process is fairly clear, but the official portal doesn’t give much room for guesswork, so every document needs to line up exactly.

Cape Verde’s official consular portal says the remote-work visa is handled online through the EASE system, but it doesn’t publish a fixed fee for the remote-working permit itself in the material I could verify. That means applicants should expect a government charge, but the exact amount isn’t clearly stated on the pages reviewed here.

The one fee that's clear is the airport security tax or TSA. For international flights, it’s 3,400 CVE (€30.83). If you’re flying between islands on a domestic leg, the TSA drops to 150 CVE (€1.36). Pre-registration is also required and the portal doesn’t show any separate fee for that step beyond the TSA.

• Remote-work visa fee: Not clearly published on the official sources reviewed.
• Airport security tax, international flights: 3,400 CVE (€30.83)
• Airport security tax, domestic inter-island flights: 150 CVE (€1.36)
• Pre-registration: Required through EASE, with no separate fee verified in the official material

There are other costs you should budget for, even if the government hasn’t posted a neat fee schedule. Health insurance is required in practice, but the official sources reviewed don’t list a price. The same goes for translations, legalization and agent help, those costs can show up fast, but there isn’t a government-set figure to point to.

The official pages I reviewed also don’t confirm the program’s income threshold, processing time or renewal fee. Non-government sources often mention an average bank balance of €1,500 for an individual or €2,700 for a family, but I’m not treating that as official. If you’re budgeting, the safe move is to plan for the TSA, possible visa charges and any document prep costs before you book.

Source 1 | Source 2

Cape Verde’s Remote Working Program is an online-first process, but it doesn’t end online. You apply through the official tourism portal, wait for approval, then finalize the visa when you arrive and present your papers to border and immigration officers.

The program is a 6-month temporary work/tourism visa for self-employed people and remote workers who aren’t Cabo Verde citizens or residents. You can renew it once for another 6 months, so the longest stay under this route is 12 months.

What you need before you apply

• Passport: Valid for at least 6 months.
• Proof of income: The commonly reported threshold is an average bank balance of €1,500 for an individual or €2,700 for a family over the past 6 months.
• Health insurance: Cover for your stay in Cabo Verde.
• Accommodation proof: A booking or rental agreement.
• Police clearance: A criminal record check from your country of residence.
• Work documents: Proof you work for or provide services to, an entity outside Cabo Verde.

The official tourism site doesn’t publish a full visible checklist on the public page, so the portal itself may ask for extra documents. That part is a little annoying, but it’s better to upload more than to get bounced back later.

How the application works

• 1. Apply online: Start on the official tourism portal and submit the remote work visa form from outside the country.
• 2. Upload your documents: Add your passport, photo and supporting paperwork.
• 3. Wait for approval: The portal sends you the authorization you need to travel.
• 4. Travel to Cabo Verde: Bring the approval with you and show it at the border.
• 5. Finalize in country: Pay the visa fee and airport fee, then complete the immigration step to get the visa stamp.

Fees: the official tourism portal lists a €20 visa fee per person and a €34 airport fee per person. The portal says the visa fee is due through renewal, while the airport fee is paid on arrival.

The paperwork is manageable, but the process isn’t instant. If your passport, income proof or accommodation details don’t line up cleanly, expect delays. Apply early and double-check every file before you submit.

The Cabo Verde Remote Working Program starts with a 6-month temporary work and tourism visa. That’s the full first grant, not a soft landing or some vague “up to” period. If you want to stay longer, the official program says you can renew it once for another 6 months.

That gives you a maximum continuous stay of 12 months total under this scheme, 6 months plus 6 months. The public information doesn’t set out a path to keep renewing it year after year and it doesn’t say this visa leads directly to permanent residency or citizenship. If you want a longer-term status, you’d need to look at a separate residence route.

The renewal itself isn’t presented as a fresh first-time application, but the official guidance is light on procedure. It says you may need to extend your visa on the ground, yet it doesn’t publish a clean step-by-step process, a fixed deadline or a named office for the renewal. That’s annoying, but it’s the reality of the published guidance.

• Initial validity: 6 months
• Renewal: One extra 6-month period
• Maximum stay under the program: 12 months
• Visa fee: €20 per person and the official page says this is due again on renewal
• Airport fee: €34 per person on arrival

The main thing to watch is timing. Don’t assume you can just keep rolling over your stay indefinitely, because the official material only confirms one renewal. If you’re hoping for a fresh program cycle after leaving the country, that isn’t spelled out publicly, so you’d need to confirm current practice with Cabo Verde immigration or a consulate before making plans around it.

One last point. The remote work visa sits in the temporary stay category, separate from the country’s residence visas. So while it’s a decent 12-month setup for remote workers, it’s not a built-in bridge to permanent status.

Taxes and considerations

Cabo Verde’s Remote Working Program says remote workers are exempt from local income tax on their remote-work income. That’s the clean headline, but the tax picture is messier behind it. The program gives you temporary stay status, not a special tax-resident label, so the normal residence rules still sit in the background.

Under the general rules, you can become tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in Cabo Verde during a calendar year. You can also be treated as resident with fewer than 183 days if you keep a home there that points to Cabo Verde as your habitual residence. That matters because residents are generally taxed on worldwide income, while non-residents are taxed only on Cabo Verde-source income.

There is also a separate tax incentive for some remote workers tied to foreign employers or clients. Public summaries describe a one-year exemption for non-resident employees and self-employed people working remotely for entities based outside Cabo Verde, but the exact scope isn't crystal clear in publicly available English-language guidance. The official messaging doesn’t spell out every condition, so don’t assume the visa alone settles your tax position.

If you stay long enough to become resident, another regime may matter: the non-habitual resident system. It can apply if you become resident in a year and weren’t taxed as a resident in the previous five years. Under that regime, qualifying local employment and self-employment income can be taxed at 10% and some foreign income may be exempt. It lasts 7 years and the application is filed electronically by 31 March of the following year.

• Good for: remote workers paid from abroad who want a six-month stay, renewable for another 6 months.
• Watch out for: becoming tax resident if you stay more than 183 days or set up a habitual home there.
• Still unclear: exactly how the remote-work exemption interacts with tax residency, treaties and mixed income.
• Best move: get written tax advice if you plan a longer stay, local work or a move that could trigger resident status.