As part of its policies aiming to attract foreign investors in Cyprus the Council of Ministers, on the 19th of March 2014, revised the “Scheme for naturalisation of non-Cypriot investors by exception“ and, thus, established the new financial criteria based on which non– Cypriot entrepreneurs/ investors may acquire the Cypriot citizenship
Who may apply?
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- A non-Cypriot citizen, who makes an eligible investment, either personally or through a company or companies in which they participate as a shareholder (in such case proportionally based on the percentage of participation), or a high-ranking senior manager of a company or companies which make an eligible investment, may apply for the acquisition of the Cypriot citizenship.
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- A high-ranking senior manager may apply, provided that he/she receives such a remuneration that generates for the Republic tax revenue of at least €100,000 for a three year period and provided that this tax has already been paid or prepaid.
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- The grant of the Cypriot citizenship extends to the spouse as well as to the financially dependent adult children (eighteen years old or above) of the investor. Neither the spouse nor the children are obliged to meet any financial criteria.
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- Adult children of an investor are considered as financially dependent, if they are students up to the age of 28 and are attending an institution of higher education aiming to obtain a diploma or an undergraduate or a master’s degree.
What constitutes an eligible investment for naturalisation?
In order to fulfill the requirements for an eligible investment, the investor must invest a minimum of €5 million in any one or any combination of the following eligible investments:
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- state bonds of the Republic of Cyprus • financial assets of Cypriot companies or Cypriot organizations (bonds/ securities/ debentures registered and issued in the Republic of Cyprus) (It is noted that these financial assets can be purchased either at issuance, or subsequently on the market)
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- purchase or construction of buildings or for the construction of other land development projects (residential or commercial developments, developments in the tourism sector or other infrastructure projects).
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- purchase, creation or participation in businesses or companies, that are based and operating in the Republic (these businesses or companies should evidently have a tangible presence in Cyprus and employ at least five (5) Cypriot citizens).
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- personal fixed term deposits for three years in Cypriot banks or deposits of privately owned companies or trusts (in which he/she is the beneficiary owner) in the Republic of Cyprus
The applicant should have concluded the necessary investments during the three years preceding the date of the application and must retain the said investments for a period of at least three years since the date of the naturalization. In addition, the applicant must have a clean criminal record and must hold a permanent privately-owned residence in the Republic of Cyprus, the purchase price of which must be at least €500.000, plus V.A.T.
Benefits of the Cyprus scheme over other schemes
Citizenship can be obtained within three months of the application being made. This compares favourably to other jurisdictions where applicants must wait for several months or even years in certain cases. There are no requirements for knowledge of the language or any requirement to pass a language test and there is no requirement that the applicant be present in Cyprus for any prescribed minimum number of days nor is there any other specific requirement regarding physical presence. This contrasts favourably to jurisdictions which require a minimum residence period of one year or require evidence of a genuine link (e.g. Malta)
Furthermore, no part of the investment constitutes a straight out contribution to the state. (e.g. €650k contribution in Malta meaning only 56.86% to 83.13% (depending on whether he rents or buys a qualifying property) of an investor’s capital is an investment.
