CYPRUS INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
Undeniably the past decade had demonstrated a significance on the increase of Immigration in Cyprus.
The acquisition of the Cyprus Citizenship is now considerably more appealing to foreign nationals since Cyprus is now not only a member of the European Union but also it enjoys accessibility to the rest of the EU. Simultaneously, it is evidently a strong financial and business centre something which contributes as a factor for this unexpected increase of foreign nationals wishing to acquire the Cyprus Citizenship.
Cyprus has concurrently aligned its immigration law and regulations with the EU’s acquis communautaire on matters such as entry and stay of third country nationals for self- employment and study purposes and long-term residence. Following these actions, non-EU residents who have been residing in Cyprus for at least five years are now entitled to Long-Term Residence Permits.
Cyprus provides an attractive destination, for high net worth individuals, for investment based immigration. The Cyprus Council of Ministers has revised and approved the “Scheme for naturalization of Investors in Cyprus by exception” making the Cyprus Investment Programme (CIP) the most attractive in Europe.
Our main goal is therefore to provide an efficient and cost-effective service to our clients by offering up to date and accurate guidance regarding the implementation of immigration law generally. Our immigration lawyers possess the necessary breadth of knowledge on this field something which provides them with the ability to advice on complex immigration law matters such as permanent and temporary residence licenses, passports and visas, employing foreign migrants, dealing with working permits and naturalizations. We have extensive experience in obtaining for the applicant citizenships and Permanent Residency Permits and we are able to guide accordingly on the Permanent Residency Scheme.
We strive to deliver first quality legal representation to international business executives, private and public companies, banks, investors and individuals on quarrelsome immigration matters.
Cypriot citizenship to non–Cypriot investors through the Cyprus Investment Program
Financial criteria of the Investment programme:
- Investment in real estate, land development and infrastructure projects of at least €2 million.
- Investment in financial assets of Cypriot Companies or organizations of at least €2 million.
- Investment in alternative investment funds or financial assets of Cypriot Companies / organizations that are licensed by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission of at least €2 million.
Benefits of the Investment programme:
- Cypriot passport is a full EU passport. The investor and his family can freely reside, work, study, have business in any of the EU-member states as well as in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
- Holder of Cyprus passport can travel visa-free in 157 countries in total.
- Dual-citizenship is permitted. Acquisition of Cyprus citizenship is not reported to other countries.
- The passport is issued also for the investor’s spouse*** and all financially dependent children (up to 28 years old). All next generations of investor retain EU citizenship.
- The investor’s parents are entitled to apply for citizenship provided that they are owners of a Cyprus permanent residence of at least €500.000.
- An express procedure – 3 months to be approved, plus another 3 months to actual passport.
- No requirement to reside in Cyprus.
- The investment must be kept just for 3 years. After that, the assets can be sold. To be more precise, the Law states that a property of minimum value of €500.000 must be kept as a private residence (we expect that this condition will be removed; anyway this private residence can be rented out and generate rental income for investor).
- No donation to the Cyprus government.
Our services include but are not limited to:
- Selecting the investment: Our expert team will undertake the task of carrying out research in the real estate market to give you the best possible advice on the available options for your investment.
- Preparing the application
- Submit the application
- A certificate will be issued after the Council ratifies the citizenship. The client will need to take an oath and then the Citizenship Certificate will be stamped. Subsequently, we will apply for a bio-metric passport, which we can obtain in a matter of hours, at which point you are an EU citizen.