Cyprus Permanent Residency Permit (Fast Track):
New amendments were announced on the 26th of March, 2021 by the Cyprus Government.
The minimum investment amount remains the same 300,000 Euro + VAT (if applicable), but new investment options are now available. The investors are now provided with the option to invest not only in new residential properties, but also in new or resale offices, hotels, shops and commercial properties. Furthermore, the applicant is now provided with the option to invest in the share capital of a company with physical presence and activities in Cyprus which employs minimum five persons.
In the situations where the investment will be in residential properties, the applicant must be able to prove that a minimum amount of 200,000 Euro + VAT (if applicable) is paid to the developer, while in all other investment options the total minimum amount of 300,000 Euro + VAT (if applicable), should be settled prior to the submission of the Residence Permit application.
Additionally, investors may now choose to invest in different sections of the Cyprus Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS), such as the Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), the Alternative Investment Fund with Limited Number of Persons (AIFLNP) and the Registered Alternative Investment Funds (RAIF). The investment funds must emerge from abroad and in order for the permit to be sustained should be maintained or replaced by another investment of the same or greater value.
Additionally, to the initial investment the applicant must prove a secure annual income (including salaries from employment, pensions, dividends, fixed deposits, rentals) of at least EUR 30,000, increased by EUR 5,000 for every dependent person (spouse and children) and by EUR 8.000 for every dependent parent or parent-in-law.
In the situation where the applicant would invest in new residential units, the annual income must derive from abroad, for all the other investing options the income can be generated from sources within Cyprus. It is important to mention that both the income of the applicant and the spouse can be taken into consideration.
The pledging of a deposit in a Cyprus bank account it is no longer required, nevertheless the applicants should still confirm that they do not intend to undertake any sort of employment in Cyprus, apart from the position of the Director in the company that they might have chosen to invest in. The applicant and/or the spouse can be shareholders in a Cypriot registered company and receive dividends, or occupying the position of the Director in the company without receiving salary.
The Residency card is obtained approximately within 2,5 months through the fast-track process, and the holder might be eligible to apply for becoming Cyprus Tax resident with the advantage of being exempt for worldwide dividend and passive interest income and from the profit of the sale of securities.
As a result of the new amendments, the non-EU investors have now available a variety of investment options, can explore more business opportunities and most importantly combine those business opportunities with their immigration options.
