Guinea-Bissau

Registering Property in

Guinea-Bissau

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

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  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: XOF 12,539,890.15
  • City: Bissau

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain property title from the property registry (certidão de registro predial)

Once the signature of the seller has been verified by the notary, then this form is deposited at the Property Registry

Agency: Property Registry 		12 days XOF 7500
2 Pay property transfer tax and obtain tax clearance from tax authority

The tax clearance states that no taxes are owed on the property prior to its transfer. The transfer tax (Sisa) is paid at the same time.

Agency: Tax Authority 		1 - 2 days 10% of property value
3 Parties request the notary to prepare and execute the sale purchase agreement

The public deed is handwritten and only the notary can write it in the notary books where all contracts are registered. There is only one notary for land transactions in the whole country. The seller must present the property title and the proof of tax payment. Both the seller and the buyer must present their identification documents. XOF 150,000 for the public deed (according to scale) + stamp duty (XOF 2000 per page+ 0.5% of half of property value). The typical length for a property sales contract is approximately 4 pages.
6 months XOF 10.000,00 fixed fee for a transaction with a specific value (Valor determinado) XOF 2.000,00 for the Justice budget (Cofre Geral da Justiça) XOF 4.800,00 for the pages ("laudas"--600,00 per page) XOF 7.700,00 for the written lines ("linha"-- 77,
4 Obtain copy of the public deed (certidão de escritura) from the notary

After the public deed is handwritten in the books, the contract is typed and a copy is given to the parties.
1 day included in previous procedure
5 Pick up Form at the property registry

In order to be registered as the new owner of the property, the buyer must first complete a form to request this registration. The request must be submitted along with the certification of the deed ("certidão de escritura"). The registry makes a note of the new owner in their books.


Agency: Property Registry 		1 day XOF 250 for the Form + XOF 2000 for the stamps
6 Verify signatures at notary

The notary must verify that the signature of the buyer is authentic.
1 day XOF 250 for one signature
7 Obtain the new property title (certidão predial)

The buyer obtains new property title. After the registration in the books is done, a copy of that registration is typed and given to the buyer.
The fee scale is as follows:
Description, Inscription and Certificate: XOF 15 000 (=XOF 5000 x 3)
Fee for the specific value of the contract: XOF 8 900 for every 1 million
Participation fees ("participação emolumental"): 20 % of (XOF 15 000 + XOF 8 900)
“Construção prisional” : 1 % of (XOF 15 000 + XOF 8 900)
Reimbursement fee ("taxa de reembolso"): XOF 822
Printing cost: XOF 250
Certificate: XOF 5 000
Lodging for 3 books ("apresentaçao") : XOF 9 000

Agency: Property Registry (Conbservatoria do Registo Predial, Comercial e Automóvel de Bissau) 		12 days Description, Inscription and Certificate: XOF 15 000 (=XOF 5000 x 3) Determined value: XOF 8 900 for every 1 million Participation fees ("da participação emolumental"): 20 % of (XOF 15 000 + XOF 8 900) “Construção prisional” : 1 % of (XOF 15 000 + XOF 8
8 Submit a copy of the property title to municipality

The buyer must submit a copy of the property title to the municipality to inform about the property transfer, for tax purposes. In Bissau, the municipality acts as the cadastre, but outside of the capital there are separate cadastres in which to perform this procedure. Note that land is leased and buildings are owned. When the land and building are first registered, the certificate that is provided is unified and contains both sets of details on lease and ownership of building. The seven procedures outlined describe the process of transferring a unified title.

Agency: Municipality 		1 day No cost
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