Bringing Your Family to Cyprus on a Pink Slip

The short answer. A dependent spouse and each dependent child file separate applications for a Cyprus temporary residence permit, underwritten by the supporting family member. The income you must show rises by 20 per cent for a spouse and 15 per cent for each child on a base of €2,000 a month. Children under 15 take a Mantoux skin test instead of a chest x ray, and children under 6 born in Cyprus need no medical tests at all.

Most families discover this the expensive way. They assume one permit covers the household, arrive, and then find that the accommodation document, the bank guarantee and the bank statements all have to be in the supporting person's name, while every other document has to be produced separately for each dependant.

What your family does to the income requirement

The base requirement for a single applicant is €2,000 per month, or €24,000 a year, arriving in a Cyprus bank account as foreign remittances. Each family member adds to it on a fixed percentage of that base.

Alongside the statements you file two short documents people routinely forget: a declaration of how many family members you will be supporting in the Republic, and a summarised statement of income. The declaration is what ties your family size to the threshold being applied, so it needs to match the applications you are filing.

What a dependent spouse files

Your spouse produces their own passport copies, their own original criminal record certificate and their own medical certificate for the first permit, and their own Plan A health insurance. Then the file leans on you.

• The bank guarantee is issued from your account, not theirs.
• The accommodation document, title deed or stamped tenancy, is in your name.
• The bank statements showing foreign remittances are yours.
• An original marriage certificate, duly authenticated, certified and translated into Greek or English.
• A duly certified Declaration of assumption of expenses and accommodation, signed by you.

The practical consequence is that a couple cannot split the work in half. One of you is the supporting spouse and that person's banking, housing and paperwork carries the whole household. Decide which of you it is before you open accounts or sign a lease, because changing it later means redoing documents rather than re labelling them.

What changes for children, by age

This is the part worth reading twice, because it is where families waste the most time and money.

• A child's medical certificate comes from the country of origin or residence. It does not have to be produced in Cyprus, unlike the main applicant's, which must be stamped by a specialist doctor here.
• Children under 15 do not need a chest x ray. They take a Mantoux skin test instead.
• Children under 6 who were born in Cyprus need no medical examinations at all.

Beyond the medical, each child needs an original birth certificate, authenticated, certified and translated, presented as an original with a copy for the first permit and as a certified copy at renewal. You also file a copy of the parents' marriage certificate, the accommodation document and the bank statements in the supporting parent's name, and the declaration of assumption of expenses.

Two more apply in specific situations. If a child is enrolled in school here, you file proof of attendance or enrolment at the educational institution. And where the other parent is not part of the move, you need a court decision for sole parental care or guardianship, or that parent's sworn consent to the child residing in the Republic for the proposed duration, or a certification from the Embassy or Consulate abroad if they are overseas.

The order that works

Open the supporting person's Cyprus bank account first. The bank guarantee and the statements both depend on it and nothing else can be finished without them. Start the criminal record certificates and any parental consent at the same time, because both wait on third parties. Sign and stamp the lease. Book the adults' medicals here and arrange the children's at home. Pull the statements last so they are as current as possible.

Then file the household together. Separate applications, one bundle, submitted once and complete.

Common questions

Related: the full official document list is on the Cyprus pink slip page, and see also Cyprus pink slip renewal and the €6,000 rule.