Birthactive
Chinese nationality at birth
Citizenship at birth in Macao follows Chinese nationality rules.
Citizenship routes
Ancestryreviewed
Naturalizationreviewed
Birthreviewed
Investmentreviewed
Ancestryactive
Chinese nationality by descent
Macao confers Chinese nationality; it passes by descent to the child of a qualifying parent.
Naturalizationactive
Naturalization under the parent sovereign
Chinese nationality can be acquired by naturalization under the parent sovereign’s law; local residence in Macao is a separate status.
Residence & settlement
Temporary residence by major investment / major investment plan
Business (non-real-estate) investment route under Administrative Regulation 3/2005. IPIM's current guidelines (effective March 2026) cover new, renewal and family-dependent applications based on 'major investment / major investment plan'.
from MOP 15,000,000
Sources: IPIM — Assessment Criteria for Temporary Residency: Major Investment / Investment Plan
Talent attraction regime (Law 7/2023)
Law 7/2023 (Legal Regime for the Attraction of Qualified Personnel, effective 1 July 2023) grants temporary residence to high-end talents, outstanding talents and advanced professionals via periodic recruitment rounds aligned with the '1+4' diversification strategy.
Sources: IPIM — Temporary Residency (Administrative Regulation 3/2005 status notes)
Temporary residence by real-estate investment (suspended 2007)
The real-estate investment route under Art. 1(4) of Administrative Regulation 3/2005 has not accepted new applications since 4 April 2007, suspended by Administrative Regulation 7/2007. Only renewals and family-dependent extensions for pre-2007 approvals continue. Still closed as of July 2026; no reopening announced.
Sources: IPIM — Temporary Residency (Administrative Regulation 3/2005 status notes)
Driving licence
Where a licence connected to Macao can be exchanged, based on mapped official lists. Search every issuing country.
Licence issued in Macao
4 mapped destinations- FinlandNo tests requiredOfficial exchange list
- FranceNo tests requiredOfficial exchange list
- Hong KongNo tests requiredOfficial exchange list
- TaiwanNo tests requiredOfficial exchange list
Exchange normally requires residence in the destination and replaces the original licence. The official authority still decides validity, deadlines, classes, and any extra checks.