News

Criteria and Conditions of Citizenship by Exception

The Council of Ministers recently has set out new criteria and conditions for acquiring citizenship status in Cyprus.

According to these new criteria, the applicant should be at least 30 years old, with non-criminal record (issued and certified by the Cyprus Police and/or from his/her country  of origin), and with permanent residence-property in Cyprus which is worth at least approximately Euro 500,000 (at current prices). 

Additionally:

1. the applicant should have direct investments in Cyprus of at least EUR €10 million (noting that direct investments include, but is not limited to, the purchase of real estate, businesses/companies etc ); or

2. the applicant should have established in Cyprus a company/ies (controlled by him) with a total turnover of an average of at least EUR €10 million per year (according to its audited accounts) in the three years preceding the application year and/or at least 1/3 of the applicant’s employees are citizens of Cyprus; or

3. the applicant should prove that by his activities he introduced on a large scale new and innovative technologies in major sectors of the Cyprus economy or created a significant research centre on a large scale for locally conducted research; or

4. the applicant should have personal deposits in Cypriot banks or deposits of privately owned companies or trusts (controlled by him) in Cyprus of at least EUR €15 million with a five year duration period. It is noted that failure to observe the five year maturity period on the deposits, may result in the revocation of citizenship; or

5. the applicant should have, minimum assets of EUR €15 million, by a combination of the conditions set out in paragraphs (1) – (2) above; or

6. the applicant should have established in Cyprus a company/ies, the management of which is exercised in Cyprus, noting that for the three years preceding the application year he should have contributed to the Cypriot economy at least EUR €500,000 on average per year by way of:

(i) income tax or VAT payments to the Cyprus government; and/or

(ii) business services fees (legal, accounting, auditing, banking fees and otherwise).

It should be noted here that none of the above criteria affects the absolute discretion of the Council when making/reaching a decision.