Cyprus Permanent Residency
Cyprus grants permanent residency to non-EU nationals who invest at least €300,000 in Cypriot real estate, company shares or investment funds. The permit is issued for life, covers a spouse and children under 18, and requires no relocation to the island. Under the fast-track procedure, applications are examined in about two months.
That is the short version, and it is also where a lot of published guidance stops being accurate. The criteria were revised on 2 May 2023, and several rules still repeated online no longer reflect the policy in force, including the common claim that only €200,000 has to be paid before an application is submitted. This guide follows the criteria published by the Cyprus Migration Department: what qualifies, what it costs, who is actually covered, and what has to happen after approval.
The Cyprus Permanent Residency Permit is an immigration permit that allows a third-country national to live in the Republic of Cyprus without a time limit. The residence right itself never expires. The card that evidences it does: it is issued for ten years and must be replaced when it runs out. Permits issued to children under 18 are valid until the child turns 18, at which point a separate application is needed.
The permit is granted to one applicant and extends to the immediate family named in the application. It carries no language test, no interview and no obligation to live in Cyprus for a set number of days each year. It is also not citizenship, and it is not a work permit.
Two routes lead to permanent residence in Cyprus, and they are governed by different rules.
The fast-track route under Regulation 6(2) is the one most non-EU buyers use. It requires a qualifying investment of at least €300,000 and is handled under an expedited procedure, with an examination period of roughly two months from the date a complete application is submitted.
The standard route, known as Category F, is for applicants who can demonstrate a secured annual income from abroad but are not making a qualifying investment. It uses a different application form, takes longer and depends more heavily on the applicant’s documentation. The two routes are frequently confused, and so is the difference between temporary and permanent residency in Cyprus, which is a separate question again.
It gives the holder the right to live in Cyprus indefinitely, to include a spouse and children under 18 in the same application, and to keep that status without relocating, provided the conditions below are met.
It does not give the right to take up employment in Cyprus. The one exception written into the policy is acting as a director of the company the applicant invested in. It does not confer Schengen free movement: Cyprus is not part of the Schengen area, the European Commission has confirmed the country meets the technical requirements, and the decision now rests with the EU Council. And it does not confer citizenship or an EU passport, which follow a separate legal route.
The permit is open to third-country nationals, meaning citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. The applicant must make a qualifying investment, show a secured annual income from abroad, hold health insurance covering inpatient and outpatient care, and provide a clean criminal record certificate from both the country of origin and the country of residence, if the two differ. The applicant and spouse must also declare that they do not intend to take up employment in Cyprus.
The rules in force today are the fourth revision of the criteria, which took effect on 2 May 2023. A significant amount of guidance published before that date is still online and still being copied, which is why so many summaries of this programme disagree with each other.
These are the points where older material is now wrong:
| Claim still circulating | What the current criteria say |
|---|---|
| €200,000 is enough to pay before submitting the application | Payment receipts of at least €300,000, excluding VAT, must be submitted with the application, regardless of when the property is due for delivery |
| Parents and parents-in-law can be included | They cannot. Only the spouse and children under 18 are covered by the applicant’s permit |
| Children up to 25 are included in the same application | Children between 18 and 25 who study abroad must file their own separate application and pay their own fee |
| Two units must come from the same developer | Up to two housing units may be bought, and the policy states they do not need to be purchased from the same development company |
| The application form is MIP1 | The form for this route is MIP2. MIP1 belongs to the Category F route |
No. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not apply under this policy at all. Their right to live in Cyprus comes from EU free movement rules, and they register their residence with the Civil Registry and Migration Department instead of applying for an immigration permit. The €300,000 investment threshold, the income requirement and the employment restriction described in this guide apply only to third-country nationals. If that is the situation you are in, the practical differences are set out in more detail in the guide to residency in Cyprus for non-EU citizens.
The investment must be worth at least €300,000 and fall into one of four categories set out in the policy. Only the first involves buying a home, and it is the route most applicants take. The narrower question of whether buying property in Cyprus grants permanent residency is answered separately.
| Route | What qualifies | Minimum | Key condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | A house or apartment | €300,000 plus VAT | Must be a first sale by a development company |
| B | Other real estate: offices, shops, hotels or related developments | €300,000 total value | May be a resale |
| C | Share capital of a Cyprus company | €300,000 | The company must operate in Cyprus with a physical presence and employ at least five people |
| D | Units in a Cyprus collective investment fund (AIF, AIFLNP or RAIF) | €300,000 | The fund’s investments must be held in Cyprus |
The categories cannot be mixed to reach the threshold, and the investment has to stay in place. Disposing of it without immediately replacing it with another of equal or greater value that meets the same conditions results in cancellation of the permit. Applicants who invest under routes B, C or D must separately show where they will live in Cyprus, through a title deed, a sale contract with proof of payment, or a rental agreement.
This is where the most persistent misunderstanding sits. The property must have a total market value of at least €300,000 plus VAT, and the official payment receipts submitted with the application must come to at least €300,000 excluding VAT, regardless of when the property is due to be delivered. The frequently repeated figure of €200,000 paid up front belongs to an earlier version of the policy and no longer applies. The same point is worth checking against how much you need to invest for permanent residency in Cyprus if you are working from older sources.
An applicant may buy up to two housing units, and the combined market value is what counts towards the threshold. The same limit applies to a married couple. The policy states directly that the two properties do not need to be purchased from the same development company, which contradicts a condition often quoted online.
The purchase must be a first sale by a development company. Resale homes were only accepted where the sale contract was filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013. The property may be bought in the name of a legal entity, provided the applicant and spouse are its sole shareholders or ultimate beneficial owners and the entity is established in Cyprus, the EU or the EEA. If the investment property does not have enough bedrooms for the dependants named in the application, another property has to be identified as their residence.
The threshold is calculated on the value excluding VAT, and VAT is charged on top at a rate that depends on whether the home qualifies as a main residence, which is covered separately in the guide to VAT on new apartments in Cyprus. Whether the €300,000 purchase itself is the right decision is a different question from whether it qualifies, and that one is worth reading alongside whether buying a €300,000 property still grants permanent residency.
Commercial property under route B behaves differently from residential: offices, shops and hotels count towards the threshold and, unlike homes, may be bought on the resale market. Route C requires a genuine operating business rather than a shell, evidenced by a certificate of incorporation, a business profile, proof of payment and confirmation of employed staff from the Social Insurance Services. Route D covers units in Cypriot collective investment vehicles supervised by CySEC, with the fund’s own investments held in Cyprus.
Which of the four suits a given applicant is a question for a lawyer or tax adviser rather than a general guide, since each carries different reporting, tax and exit consequences.
The source of funds is checked, and this is where applications are most often delayed. The money used for the investment must be shown to have been transferred to Cyprus from abroad, from the bank account of the applicant or of a spouse who is included in the application as a dependant. It may also come from the account of a company in which the applicant or spouse are the sole shareholders, provided that shareholder is named in the application.
The payment then has to reach the seller’s account at a Cyprus financial institution. Evidence submitted with the application must show that the funds originated abroad and are not the product of domestic borrowing, using remittance records, foreign card payment receipts or a bank certificate, each linked to the corresponding investment. These are the investment categories set out in the policy in full.
Alongside the investment, the applicant must prove a secured annual income of at least €50,000. That figure rises by €15,000 for a spouse and by €10,000 for each dependent minor child of the applicant or the spouse.
| Household included in the application | Minimum annual income to prove |
|---|---|
| Applicant alone | €50,000 |
| Applicant and spouse | €65,000 |
| Applicant, spouse and one minor child | €75,000 |
| Applicant, spouse and two minor children | €85,000 |
The wording matters here, because it is often reported loosely. The €10,000 increment applies to dependent minor children, not to every child up to 25. Children aged 18 to 25 who study abroad fall under a different arrangement, described in the next section, where the parents must show a further €10,000 of annual income for each such child who applies separately.
Where the income must come from depends on the investment route. An applicant who invests in a home under Category A must show income originating outside Cyprus. It can be made up of salary, pension, dividends, interest on bank deposits, rental income and similar sources, and the spouse’s income may be counted towards the total. Applicants who invest under Categories B, C or D are treated differently: their income, in whole or in part, may also come from activities inside Cyprus.
Proof is documentary. For Category A applicants the income is evidenced through a tax return from the country where the applicant declares tax residence, or through official certificates issued by an independent certified accountant.
One point that has changed and is worth knowing before planning around it: the obligation to file annual proof that this income is being maintained has been withdrawn. The investment itself, health insurance and criminal record certificates are still monitored after approval, and those obligations are set out further down.
The permit is issued to one applicant and covers the spouse and their children under the age of 18 as dependants. Everyone else in the family needs their own application, and this is the point where published summaries of the programme most often mislead.
| Family member | How they are covered |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Included as a dependant on the applicant’s permit. Each spouse may instead hold a separate permit, on a separate application and fee, without the second spouse having to satisfy the criteria independently |
| Children under 18 | Included as dependants. The card issued to them is valid until they turn 18 |
| Unmarried children aged 18 to 25 studying abroad | Not included. They file their own application and pay their own fee, and the parents must show a further €10,000 of annual income for each such child |
| Adult children who are not financially dependent | Only through a higher-value investment, described below |
| Parents and parents-in-law | Not covered. Older guidance that includes them reflects the pre-2023 rules |
A child who obtains a permit this way keeps it. It remains valid after they turn 25, and it stays valid even if they marry, stop studying or cease to be financially dependent. What it does not do is extend further: their own future spouse and children cannot later be added to it as dependants.
The permits are also linked in one direction. If the investor’s permit is cancelled, the permits held by the spouse and by children granted residence on the strength of that investment are cancelled with it.
Children who prefer to study in Cyprus rather than abroad follow a different sequence. They apply through their institution for a temporary student residence permit, and once their studies are complete they can file their own application regardless of age, again with the parents showing the additional €10,000 of annual income for each such child.
An adult child who is not financially dependent can still obtain a permit, but only if the investment is scaled up. The €300,000 threshold is multiplied by the number of adult children relying on the same investment: €600,000 for one adult child, €900,000 for two, and so on.
Where that investment is real estate under Category A or B, proof of payment of at least 66% of the market value must be submitted with the application, rather than the full amount required in the standard case. Each adult child must separately show a secured annual income of €50,000, increased by €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each of their own dependent minor children. The investment can be held jointly in the names of the applicant and the adult child, or in the applicant’s name alone.
The application is filed on Form MIP2, which the Migration Department publishes together with the checklists and declarations that go with it. Applications for this route filed on form MIP1 belong to the Category F procedure, not to the fast-track investment route, and the two are frequently confused in third-party guidance.
The department publishes the following as separate downloads on its page of forms for Immigration Permits for Investors:
Alongside the forms, the policy names the evidence the application has to carry:
| Evidence | What it has to show |
|---|---|
| Title deed or sale contract | In the name of the applicant and/or spouse, officially filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys |
| Official payment receipts | At least €300,000 excluding VAT, regardless of the property’s delivery date |
| Origin of funds | That the money came from abroad and is not domestic borrowing, through remittance records, foreign card payment receipts or a bank certificate, each linked to the investment |
| Income | A tax return from the country of tax residence, or certificates from an independent certified accountant |
| Health insurance | Cover for both inpatient and outpatient care, for the applicant and every dependant |
| Criminal record | Clean certificates from the country of origin and, if different, the country of residence, for the applicant and spouse |
| Search Certificate of Immovable Property | Required where the sale contract was signed or the title issued more than a year after the application was submitted |
Identity and civil status documents such as passports and marriage and birth certificates are covered by the department’s own checklists. Where minor children are included and both parents are not part of the application, the consent declaration must be signed before a consular officer of the Republic of Cyprus and must state explicitly that the parent consents to the child residing permanently in Cyprus.
Every supporting document has to be officially translated and duly certified. Translation and certification are the step that most often delays a file, which is why the documents required to apply for residency in Cyprus are worth assembling before the property is even chosen.
Once the investment is in place, the process is administrative rather than discretionary. The estimated examination period is around two months from the date a complete application is submitted.
01
Sign the sale and purchase agreement and have it filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys in the name of the applicant, the spouse, or both. Transfer the funds from abroad as described above, into the seller’s account at a Cyprus financial institution, and keep every remittance record. The payment receipts submitted with the application must total at least €300,000 excluding VAT.
02
Gather the evidence listed in the previous section and have every supporting document officially translated and duly certified. This step, not the government’s decision, is where most timelines slip.
03
The application is submitted in person to the Migration Department, or through an authorised representative, after arranging an appointment. A fee of €500 is charged on submission, plus €70 for each person included in the application for the issue of an Alien Registration Certificate, where one does not already exist. If an agent or lawyer files on the applicant’s behalf, the file must include a certified authorisation letter signed by the applicant, giving the representative’s details, full address and contact number.
04
The Migration Department handles the file under the expedited procedure. It checks that the investment, income, insurance and criminal record criteria are met and that there are no public order or public security concerns. Neither an interview nor a language test appears among the criteria.
05
Where the criteria are met, the application is put before the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, through the Permanent Secretary of the Deputy Ministry, for examination and decision. The estimated examination period is approximately two months from the submission of a completed application.
06
This step is easy to miss and it voids the permit if ignored. An applicant living outside Cyprus at the time of approval must acquire residence in the country within one year of the application being approved. If that does not happen, the permit ceases to be valid, whatever the investment behind it.
The official examination period is approximately two months from the submission of a completed application. Published estimates elsewhere range from two months to eight or nine, and both figures are describing something real. They measure different things.
The two-month figure is the government’s stage. It starts when a complete file reaches the Migration Department, not when a buyer decides to move to Cyprus. Everything before that point is controlled by the applicant, and it is where the calendar actually goes.
| Stage | Who controls the pace | What the criteria say |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing the property and signing the contract | Applicant and seller | No fixed period. The sale contract must be filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys |
| Transferring funds and collecting payment evidence | Applicant and banks | No fixed period. Funds must come from abroad and be traceable to the investment |
| Obtaining criminal record certificates, translations and certifications | Applicant | No fixed period. Every supporting document must be officially translated and duly certified |
| Examination by the Migration Department | Authorities | Approximately two months from a completed application |
| Taking up residence in Cyprus | Applicant | Must happen within one year of approval |
Two practical consequences follow. First, an incomplete file does not start the two-month clock, so a document missing at submission costs more than the time it takes to obtain it. Second, the criminal record certificates and the certified translations are the items with the longest and least predictable lead times, because they depend on authorities in the applicant’s own country rather than on anything happening in Cyprus.
Two of the costs in this process are fixed by the policy and small. Everything else is either tax, which depends on the property, or professional fees, which depend on who you hire. Separating the three makes the number far easier to plan around.
| Item | Amount | Set by the policy? |
|---|---|---|
| Property purchase under Category A | At least €300,000 plus VAT | Yes |
| Payment evidenced at submission | At least €300,000 excluding VAT | Yes |
| Government application fee | €500 | Yes |
| Alien Registration Certificate | €70 for each person included in the application | Yes |
| VAT on the property | Depends on whether the home qualifies as a main residence | No, set by tax law |
| Legal and agent fees | Set by the provider | No |
| Translation and certification | Depends on the number of applicants and the countries involved | No |
| Health insurance | Depends on the insurer, the ages covered and the level of cover | No |
| Transfer and registration costs | Depend on the transaction and are published by the Department of Lands and Surveys | No |
Family size changes less than people expect. The only cost in the table that moves with the number of people on the application is the €70 Alien Registration Certificate. What does change with family size is the income you have to prove, not the money you have to spend, and that is set out in the income section above.
Two figures that circulate widely are worth correcting. There is no bank deposit requirement in this policy, so any total that includes one is describing an older or different programme. And the application fee is €500 for the application, with the €70 charged per person, rather than a combined range. The wider costs of buying property in Cyprus, which sit outside this policy entirely, are covered in the guide to additional costs when buying property in Cyprus and in the breakdown of property purchase fees for foreign buyers.
The permit is granted for life, but it is not unconditional. Four things can end it, and none of them requires the holder to do anything dramatic. Three of them are simply a matter of not letting a deadline pass.
The permit ceases to be valid if the holder and their dependants acquire permanent residence abroad, or if they are absent from Cyprus for a period of two years. A visit within any two-year window is what keeps the status alive. There is no minimum number of days, no tax residency requirement and no obligation to relocate. This is separate from the one-year deadline for taking up residence after approval, described in the application process above.
The investment behind the permit has to remain in place. Disposing of it without immediately replacing it with another investment of equal or greater value that meets the same conditions leads to cancellation of the permit, under Regulation 6. The replacement has to satisfy the criteria in its own right, so selling a qualifying property and buying a cheaper one does not preserve the status.
Two obligations continue after approval, and one that used to exist has been removed.
| Obligation | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Evidence that the investment is being maintained | Annually |
| Health insurance certificate, where the holder no longer benefits from GESY | Annually |
| Clean criminal record certificate, for the holder and adult family members, from the country of origin and the country of residence | Every three years |
| Proof that the required income is being maintained | No longer required |
Failure to provide what is still required results in cancellation of the permit, and of the permits held by family members granted residence through it.
There is also a document to keep track of that is easy to overlook. The residence right has no expiry date, but the card evidencing it expires ten years after it is issued and has to be replaced. Cards issued to children under 18 expire when the child turns 18.
No, not as an employee. The applicant and spouse confirm on application that they do not intend to take up employment in Cyprus, and that declaration is part of the file.
The policy carves out specific exceptions. An applicant who invests in a company’s share capital may act as a director of that company. Where the investment is not in company share capital, the applicant and spouse are still permitted to hold shares in companies registered in Cyprus, and dividend income from those companies is not treated as an obstacle to obtaining the permit. In that situation they may also hold the position of unpaid director. Income from abroad, and from investments held in Cyprus, is unaffected either way.
The case for this permit is structural rather than scenic. What it offers is a stable status that does not demand a change of life.
It does not require relocation. There is no minimum stay, no language test and no interview. A visit once in any two-year period preserves the status, which makes the permit workable for people whose business, family or tax residence stays where it is.
It does not expire and does not need renewing. The residence right is granted for life, subject to the conditions above. Only the card carries a date, and replacing it after ten years is an administrative step rather than a fresh application.
It settles the family in one move. A spouse and children under 18 are covered by a single application, and a permit obtained by a child aged 18 to 25 through the separate student route survives their twenty-fifth birthday, their marriage and the end of their financial dependence. For families relocating with school-age children, that removes a recurring source of uncertainty.
Healthcare access follows residence. Some permit holders become beneficiaries of GESY, the national health system, which is why the criteria require evidence of private health insurance specifically where GESY no longer applies.
Tax is the one area where the picture has changed recently and where general guidance ages quickly. Cyprus brought a broad tax reform into force on 1 January 2026, so any figures published before that date should be treated with caution. What that reform means for property owners is set out in Cyprus tax reform 2026 for property investors, and the separate question of how foreign income is treated for people who move their tax residence is covered in Cyprus non-dom tax status. Neither is settled by this permit, and both are questions for a tax adviser rather than a guide.
Permanent residency is not a citizenship track, and the two are governed by different laws. Naturalisation is possible for someone who has actually lived in Cyprus, which the permit itself does not require anyone to do.
Under the rules for naturalisation based on years of residence, in force since December 2023, an adult applicant must meet all of the following:
The practical point for permanent residency holders is the mismatch between the two regimes. The permit is designed so that a visit once every two years is enough. Naturalisation counts years of actual legal residence and requires a language certificate and a civics examination. Time spent holding the permit without living in Cyprus does not build towards it.
No, not as an employee. The applicant and spouse declare on application that they do not intend to take up employment in Cyprus. The policy allows an applicant who invested in a company’s share capital to act as its director, and in other cases permits them to hold shares in Cyprus companies and serve as an unpaid director, with dividend income treated as no obstacle to the permit.
Your spouse and children under 18 are. Children between 18 and 25 who are unmarried and studying abroad are not included automatically: they file their own application and pay their own fee, and you must show a further €10,000 of annual income for each of them. Parents and parents-in-law are not covered at all.
The estimated examination period is approximately two months from the submission of a completed application. Incomplete files do not start that clock, and the time spent preparing the investment, certificates and translations beforehand is not included in it.
No. There is no minimum stay requirement. The permit lapses if you and your dependants acquire permanent residence abroad or are absent from Cyprus for two years, so a visit within any two-year window maintains it. Separately, if you are living abroad when the application is approved, you must take up residence in Cyprus within one year.
The policy does not prohibit letting the property, and the investment simply has to remain in place. One detail matters for planning: applicants who qualify under Category A must prove income originating outside Cyprus, so rent received from a Cypriot property does not count towards the €50,000 requirement. Rental income is taxable in Cyprus and worth discussing with a tax adviser.
Yes, but through a separate legal route with much stricter conditions. Naturalisation requires 12 months of continuous residence immediately before applying, seven cumulative years of legal residence in the preceding decade, Greek at B1 level and a pass in an examination on Cyprus’s political and social reality. Holding the permit without living in Cyprus does not count towards it.
Yes. The application is submitted in person to the Migration Department by appointment. If someone files on your behalf, the file must include a certified authorisation letter signed by you, with the representative’s details, full address and contact number.
No. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens have free movement rights and register their residence rather than applying for an immigration permit. This policy applies to third-country nationals.
Yes. The criteria do not distinguish between third-country nationalities, so the same investment, income, insurance and criminal record conditions apply. What differs in practice is documentation: certificates issued in your country of origin and your country of residence must be officially translated and duly certified.
From abroad. The funds must be shown to have been transferred to Cyprus from the bank account of the applicant, of a spouse included in the application, or of a company in which they are the sole shareholders, and paid into the seller’s account at a Cyprus financial institution. Evidence must show the money is not the product of domestic borrowing.
Whether a property qualifies under Category A depends on the seller as much as on the buyer. The home has to be a first sale by a development company, the sale contract has to be filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys in the applicant’s name, and payment receipts totalling at least €300,000 excluding VAT have to exist by the time the application is submitted. A developer who has done this before can produce that documentation as a matter of routine. One who has not can hold an application up for months.
Luma Developers builds residential property in Paphos and works with buyers applying under this route. What that means in practice is confirming which units meet the €300,000 threshold, structuring the payment schedule so the required receipts exist at the right moment, and providing the contract and payment evidence the Migration Department expects to see.
Why buyers choose Paphos in the first place, rather than Limassol or Larnaca, is covered separately in the guide to quality of life in Paphos.
Availability and prices change as units are sold, so it is worth asking for current figures rather than working from a published list. If you are considering this route, get in touch and we will confirm what currently qualifies and what the documentation would look like for your situation.
This guide is intended as general information about the Cyprus Permanent Residency Permit and reflects the criteria published by the Civil Registry and Migration Department. It is not legal, immigration or tax advice. Individual circumstances vary, and the rules can change. Speak to a qualified immigration lawyer or tax adviser before making a decision or a payment.
