The Revised Version Of Citizenship Programs In Cyprus. Do You Know?

By Author: Hudson Mckenzie
Total Articles: 100

The Cyprus Investment Program – or, in the terms of some pessimists and detractors, the ‘Citizenship for Sale Program’ – has once again come under inspection, as an outcome of new research published by Transparency International and Global Witness.

The Cyprus Citizenship by Investment Program allows Investors to get quick Cyprus/EU citizenship within 3 months by investing in approved real-estate investments in Cyprus. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus has just brought two big new changes to the program:

The first alteration is that the lowest investment sum of EUR 5 Million (or EUR 2.5 Million if a portion of a collective investor group) is down to EUR 2 Million for all entries and the requirement for a collective investor group to bring down the investment sum is eliminated.

The second big change is that applicants can now bring along dependent parents who may also get citizenship. In a bid to maintain citizenship, the Cyprus government needs that an applicant buys and maintains a permanent home in Cyprus with the overall value of minimum EUR 500,000, however, the applicant is not supposed to live there and can choose to even rent out the property. Flexibility is enabled where residential property is bought, in that either a single investment in EUR 2 Million property can be considered as a permanent home, or different residential properties can be bought, as long as one property has a worth of at least EUR 500,000.

These changes to citizenship programs in Cyprus state that if dependent parents are involved in the application, then the dependent parents must either have a permanent residence in Cyprus with a worthy of minimum EUR 500,000, or must own a share of a permanent residence, where the dependent parents’ portion has a value of minimum EUR 500,000.

This simply reflects that the Cyprus Citizenship by Investment Program has become now more accessible and easier to obtain for investors, but still includes all of the citizenship perks that being a member of the European Union (EU) enables, such as the right to live, work or study anywhere in the EU. The program enables great travel mobility to approximately 140 countries to be traveled visa-free, and as there is no residency clause, it is highly flexible for investors that want to spend the most of their time in their existing country of residence. Otherwise, it gives a perfect environment for families to live work and study, which can now include dependent parents.
Cyprus has been witnessing sturdy financial growth with surges in property worth, tourism, employment, and financial offerings. These benefits, mixed with a great geographic location and Mediterranean climate makes Cyprus a great destination for investments and will make the citizenship programs in Cyprus even more lucrative to a great range of investors.

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