Cyprus: New Amendments to the Residency Programme

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On April 7, 2021, the Republic of Cyprus announced amendments to the eligible criteria for the Cyprus Permanent Residency Programme.  

The Permanent Residency Programme covers the applicant’s relatives including his own parents, his dependent children up to the age of 18, unmarried children who are students up to the age of 25, as well as the spouse’s parents.   

To qualify for the Cyprus Permanent Residency Programme, Non- EU nationals are required to meet one of the following investment criteria: 

• An investment in a primary house or apartment from a development company of at least €300,000 (plus VAT)
• An investment into commercial real estate such as offices, shops, hotels or related estate developments, or a combination of these, with a cumulative value of €300,000. The investment purchases may be either new or resale
• A €300,000 minimum investment into the share capital of a qualifying Cyprus registered company employing at least 5 people. 
• An investment in Cyprus investment funds (AIF, AIFLNP, RAIF) amounting to € 300,000

Funds transferred for the abovementioned investments must be transferred to Cyprus from abroad. 

Additionally, we note that specific income requirements apply for the applicant ( € 30,000 annual income) and an annual increase for each of his dependents ( € 5,000 – € 8,000).

Under special circumstances, investment proceeds earned from within Cyprus may be included in the applicant’s total income. 

The applicant is required to visit Cyprus once every two years. Neither he, nor his family, are permitted to be employed in Cyprus unless they are employed as directors of the Cyprus company they are invested in.  

The Permanent Residency permit usually takes up to two months to be issued.  

For further information relating to the new amendments as well as the Residency Programme, please contact Constantinos Pavlou, Advocate/Legal Consultant.  

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15/9/21