The Cyprus Council of Ministers has approved on the 13th of September a number of changes to the scheme of acquiring the Cyprus Citizenship y investment, coming finally in line with the general strategy of the government to further attract foreign direct investment and encourage the use of Cyprus by high net worth individuals. A target much anticipated by all as this make the scheme the most attractive citizenship scheme in Europe.
Key changes introduced include:
- a) the criterion of collective investment scheme of a total of 12M is abolished where the applications will be submitted on a stand-alone base with a total investment of 2M plus purchasing a permanent residence of a minimum purchase price of 500K;.
- b) the introduction of combination of all economic criteria;
- c) the bank deposits criterion is also abolished; no deposits of 5M will be needed
- d) the cap of 2.5M on the investment of government bonds (primary market only) is now reduced to a cap of 500K and as noted above, such an investment can be combined with other investments to reach the total investment of 2M-2.5M
- e) a permanent residence permit will be issued to the applicant and the applicant’s spouse prior to naturalization following application, unless the applicant holds already a Temporary permit.
- f) the period the investment must be maintained remains three years
In other words, the level of investment is set to the total maximum of 2.5M; that is 2M investment plus purchasing a permanent residence of a minimum purchase price of 500K (excl. VAT) rather that 5M plus permanent residence of a minimum of 500K that was the case in the past.
The 2M investment may concern:
- purchasing of real estate
- developments in residential, commercial and tourism sector
(b) registration of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (”CySec”)
(c) Financial assets (i.e. bonds, debentures) of Cyprus companies, issued under the auspices of the CySec. The said Cyprus companies must have tangible presence and substantial economic activity in Cyprus.
For further information and assistance on the matter please contact Andreas Parparinos at [email protected].
