Cyprus Citizenship Investment to Increase

Yesterday the Council of Ministers in Cyprus announced the following revisions to the Cyprus Citizenship programme which will take place as of 15th May 2019. The most significant change is that the total investment required will increase from €2,000,000 to €2,150,000. This includes an additional donation of €75,000 to the county’s Research and Development fund and a €75,000 donation to the Land Development Organisation.

The changes include the following:

• A donation of €75,000 for research and development shall be mandatory;
• A donation of €75,000 to the land development organisation to fund affordable housing schemes shall be mandatory;
• Applicants should be in possession of a Schengen visa;
• Applicants who have been previously rejected by another EU country will not be eligible to apply for the CIP;
• The investment should be maintained for 5 years following the date of naturalisation, as opposed to 3 years;
• During the 5-year period the investor will be able to change his investment, provided that a consent will be granted in this regard by the Ministry of Finance;
• A planning permit shall be mandatory for properties under construction;
• If investors chose to invest in re-sale property the required investment amount is increased from €2,000,000 to €2,500,000;
• Investment into government bonds will no longer be available.

Along with the above changes, extensive due diligence and background checks shall be carried out by a specialised foreign agency on each applicant applying. The above amendments were likely prompted by the concerns voiced by European Commissioner of Justice, Vera Jourova last year. Ms Jourova has spoken a number of time about her thoughts on the various CIP and Golden Visa programmes in the EU, stating that she feels the programmes pose a security risk to the region and should follow higher regulations across the EU.

We feel that these positive changes will enhance the programme’s security and reputation. This programme still remains the fastest citizenship option in the EU as the process takes just six months. We urge any investors who are looking to apply before the price increase takes place, to start their application as soon as possible to beat the May investment deadline. For a free consultation, please get in touch.