The foreign direct investments (FDIs) to Cyprus have exceeded €2B so far this year. Also attributing to this figure is a record number of immigrant visas granted to non-European residents who have invested in property or in bank deposits.
Some investors have also opted to deposit €5M in long-term facilities of at least three years and obtain under fast-track procedures with the Civil Registry and Migration Department (CRMD) a Cyprus passport. However, the number of applicants seems to have dropped from a total of 1259 from March to December 2013 to 720 so far this year, with only a few weeks of the year remaining.
The best months that attracted record applicants were April and July last year with 178 and 117 cases, respectively, soon after the March 2013 Euro group decision that resulted in a bailout for the bankrupt economy and the bail-in by depositors to rescue Bank of Cyprus, that in turn was burdened with the huge debts of now redundant Laiki Bank.
Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos told the House Finance Committee in Cyprus on Monday during a review of his department's budget for 2015 that since coming into office in March 2013, the country has attracted over €1B in investments related permanent residence visas and immigrant applications.
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