On 14 September 2016, the Cyprus Government announced that the Council of Ministers approved revised criteria for granting Cypriot citizenship to foreign investors, lowering the threshold and thus making the program even more attractive.
The main revisions in the criteria are the following:
Minimum required investment:
The minimum required investment amount has been reduced to €2mn (from €5mn for individual applications and from €2.5mn for collective investment scheme applications).
To make the application process easier and faster, the collective investment scheme is abolished.
Citizenship to parents of the applicant:
An investor’s parents are now entitled to apply for Cyprus citizenship provided that they own a permanent residence worth at least €500.000. Alternatively, the investor and parents acquire one residential property with a total value of minimum €1mn.
Investment in government bonds:
The investment in government bonds is now restricted to €500.000 (from €2.5 mn).
Residence permit:
Applicants must be holders of a residence permit in Cyprus to qualify for receiving the Cypriot Citizenship. For this purpose, applications for residence permits should be submitted to the Authorities, which will be issued simultaneously with the filing of the Citizenship application.
Remember:
a) Free travel, reside and work within the EU of which Cyprus is a member state
b) The application processing takes 3 months only
c) Keeping investments for 3 years only
d) Low government fees for the filing of the application
e) Dual citizenship is permitted and the acquisition of citizenship in Cyprus is not reported to other countries
Further details and information will be available soon.