Citizenship of Cyprus

Main article: Republic of Cyprus

2023: Cyprus revokes citizenship of 9 Russian investors and 34 members of their families who fell under EU sanctions

Cyprus and Malta in May 2023 canceled the "golden passports" of citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus who fell under EU sanctions, writes Der Spiegel.

Cyprus revoked the citizenship of 9 Russian investors and 34 members of their families. Maltese authorities revoked the passports of two more people.

2020

The creators of World of Tanks have denied the illegal issuance of "golden passports" in Cyprus

On December 17, 2020, it became known that the developer of World of Tanks became the largest IT company in Cyprus in terms of the number of employees and investments. This was stated by one of the founders of this company - Wargaming - Ivan Mikhnevich, commenting on the information about the illegal issuance of "golden passports" in Cyprus. Read more here.

Closing the citizenship program for investments

In October 2020, it became known that Cyprus is canceling the citizenship program in exchange for investment.

2019

Number of permits with a residence permit per 1000 inhabitants of Cyprus

Number of permits with a residence permit per 1000 inhabitants of the country in 2019

Cyprus Interior Ministry begins checking citizens who received citizenship for investments

In October 2019, it became known that on a tip from the Americans, the Cyprus Ministry of Internal Affairs began checking citizens who received citizenship for investments. Among them are the owner of Metcombank Viktor Vekselberg, the banker from Vnesheconombank Mikhail Kuzovlev, the former owner of Investorgbank (OTP) Alexander Ponomarenko, the ex-owner of Privatbank Igor Kolomoisky and many others.

There are fears that the Cypriot authorities may also begin revoking such citizenship. If the check is real, as a fight against non-resident accounts, then another crisis may break out in Cyprus, for example, in the real estate market.

2018: Update of investment program terms and conditions

At the end of May 2018, Cyprus updated the terms of the investment program. The company "Immigrant Invest" told more about what has changed for investors who want to apply for citizenship of the country.

There were no radical changes in the program : a Cyprus passport can still be issued by investing in the country's economy (in most cases, in residential real estate) an amount of 2 million euros for a three-year period. This will give the basis for obtaining citizenship not only to the investor: together with him, passports will also be able to get his relatives - spouse or spouse (even in the case of civil marriage), children under the age of 28 and parents.

Advantages of a Cypriot passport

Cypriot citizenship is the ability to have a passport of a stable, prosperous European country. Cyprus does not require residence in the country, study the history or language of the state. However, if necessary, new citizens can settle in Cyprus - or in other European countries: the passport gives the right to live, work and study in the European Union.

Cyprus passport will open borders: citizens of the country without visas visit 158 countries of the world. In addition, for owners of international business, this is an opportunity to choose a more comfortable tax regime.

The Cypriot passport is issued within a few months, while in other countries Europe this procedure will take 5-10 years. At the same time, Cyprus does not disclose information about the owners of the country's citizenship to third parties, and the entire procedure for issuing a Cypriot passport is strictly confidential.

Basic conditions for obtaining citizenship of Cyprus

Investment citizenship involves one of four options for investing funds for 3 years:

• investments in residential real estate ( minimum investment - 2 million euros, no additional investments are required);
• investments in commercial facilities (the amount is 2 million euros, but an additional investment in housing in the amount of 500 thousand euros is needed);
• investment in government bonds (in the amount of 500 thousand euros, but also an investment in housing in the amount of 2 million euros is required);
• combination of options (investment in the amount of 2 million euros with an additional investment in housing in the amount of 500 thousand euros).

Cyprus investment citizenship program: what has changed

part of The Third Cyprus Citizenship & Residency by Real Estate Investment Summit, the Cypriot government presented several additional conditions for investors wishing to apply for citizenship of the country.

Among the changes is a quota on the number of passports issued, which is now 700 people a year. The quota applies only to investors, but does not apply to their families.

As noted in the company "Immigrant Invest," the quota is a formality, since since the beginning of the Cyprus investment program, the maximum number of passports issued during the year to investors has been 503 people. For six months of 2018, 214 investors have already received passports.

The procedure for calculating the three-year period has been changed - the minimum period during which the investor must own the investment object. If earlier it was calculated from the moment of signing the purchase and sale agreement, now - from the moment of obtaining a building permit.

More stringent was the verification of the reputation of the investor. First of all, sources of income will be carefully studied, the main requirement for them is legality. If earlier the Bank of Cyprus took on this task, now third-party companies will be involved in Due Diligence.

Perhaps the investor will also need to clarify the structure of his companies in an additional interview with a special commission. Although this will require a little more time to consider the application, it will increase the chances of a positive response.

Due to the thoroughness of the audit, the timing of the consideration of the application has also been changed: instead of three months, they are six. The company "Immigrant Invest" recommends to focus on 7-8 months. For comparison, an alternative program that operates in the European Union (Malta citizenship for investments) offers to obtain a passport in 12-14 months.

August 1 of this year, applications for registration of Cypriot citizenship can be made only through a licensed agent. All service providers supporting this program must obtain a government license and undertake to act within the requirements code.

particular, agents must provide their clients with the most complete information regarding the threshold size of the investment and the choice of the object to invest. In addition, agents are required to monitor the state of their client's investments and report this to the state annually.

Investors, in turn, must sign a declaration confirming their full awareness of the terms of the program and cooperation with a licensed agent. Violation of the declaration can lead to the loss of citizenship without the right to restitution.

The special committee for supervision and control, which will include representatives of the local Ministry of Finance, MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS and investment promotion organizations, will monitor the activities of investors and agents. One of the tasks of the committee will be to create an official register of licensed agents - providers of services for supporting the investment program.

Purpose of changes in the investment citizenship program

Although at first glance the changes complicate the registration of citizenship of the country, their goal is to make the program more transparent, to systematize it. In addition, the changes are aimed at freeing the market from unscrupulous investors and service providers to accompany them. This will allow new investors not to fear fraudsters, but in the future - to increase the reputation of Cypriot passport holders in the international arena.

Immigrant Invest

109012, Russia, Moscow

st. Okhotny Ryad, 2

+7 (495) 150-40-55

moscow@imin.pro

https://immigrantinvest.com