EU Nationals
You have the right to live in Cyprus, but formalising your residency and tax status unlocks significant advantages. The non-dom regime and 60-day rule are powerful tools for EU nationals with international income or pension income.
Secure permanent residency in Cyprus through a qualifying investment in property, a company or a regulated fund, with tax optimisation and a Mediterranean life. For EU nationals, non-EU nationals, entrepreneurs, retirees, and families. Guided by a specialist who lives it.
Living on income rather than buying? See how Category F works, including the queue nobody warns you about.
Free toolDoes your property actually qualify?Four questions, thirty seconds. Resale, new build, residential or commercial, the rules differ and most people find out too late.Before you commit to anything: which property actually qualifies.
Before you submit anything: the documents you need, and the seven reasons files get sent back.
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Cyprus permanent residency for non-EU nationals is granted under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations, on a qualifying investment of at least €300,000 plus VAT together with a secured annual income. It is the permit the market calls the Cyprus golden visa.
You invest in one of four categories: a first sale home from a development company, commercial property such as offices, shops or hotels where resale is permitted, share capital in a Cyprus company employing at least five people, or units in a Cyprus collective investment organisation.
It covers your spouse and dependent children, and does not require you to live in Cyprus, though the permit lapses if you are absent for two years. It gives permanent residence, not a passport, and Cyprus is not yet in the Schengen Area. A separate income based route, Category F, exists for people who do not want to invest.
Whether you hold an EU passport, a non-EU passport, or you are planning around tax or lifestyle, there is a Cyprus route designed precisely for you.
You have the right to live in Cyprus, but formalising your residency and tax status unlocks significant advantages. The non-dom regime and 60-day rule are powerful tools for EU nationals with international income or pension income.
Gain a stable, permanent foothold in the European Union. Cyprus PR gives non-EU nationals the right to reside indefinitely, access EU banking, and build a base for business and family across the bloc.
Relocate your business and personal tax structure. 15% corporate tax, 3% IP Box, 0% dividend tax for non-doms. A structure used by founders and investors from over 40 countries, legally, compliantly, permanently.
Foreign pension income taxed at a flat 5%, versus 40 to 52% marginal rates in northern Europe. 300 days of sunshine, low cost of living, excellent private healthcare, and a genuine community of international retirees.
Your whole family under one application. Dependants are included. Cyprus has international schools with English as the medium of instruction, low crime, and a genuinely safe, child friendly environment.
Location independent professionals seeking permanence rather than a short term visa. The Category F and non-dom combination gives remote workers and high net worth individuals a robust, long term structure.
Every qualifying route requires a minimum investment of €300,000 and a secured annual income of at least €50,000. Under the residential property route that income must come from abroad. Under the other three it may come from inside Cyprus. The outcome is the same across all routes: a lifetime permit with no renewal requirement.
Purchase of a house or apartment from a development company. Must be a first sale. Up to two units may be combined to meet the threshold.
Most common routePurchase of offices, shops, hotels, or other commercial property. Resale properties qualify. A combination of types is permitted.
Resale eligibleInvestment in the share capital of a Cyprus registered company with genuine operations and a minimum of five employees based in Cyprus.
Business ownersInvestment in units of a Cyprus regulated collective investment organisation (AIF, AIFLNP, or RAIF), whose assets are held in Cyprus.
Fund investorsIncome must derive from abroad and can include salaries, pensions, dividends, rental income, or bank interest. Funds must be transferred to Cyprus from the applicant's account abroad and paid through a Cyprus financial institution.
Find Out Which Route Fits You →Everything the Migration Department actually asks for, written by the person who files the applications. Figures below are taken from the 4th Revision of the Regulation 6(2) criteria, in force since 2 May 2023.
Yes. There is no Cyprus programme officially called a golden visa. The term is what the market uses for the Immigration Permit granted under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations, also written as Category 6.2 and often sold as fast track permanent residency. When an agency advertises a Cyprus golden visa, a Cyprus investor visa or Cyprus residency by investment, this is the permit they mean.
Two things follow from that, and both matter before you spend money.
The first is that this route gives you permanent residence, not a passport. Cyprus ran a citizenship by investment programme until it was terminated in November 2020. Nothing has replaced it. Any firm still implying that an investment buys a Cyprus passport is describing a programme that no longer exists.
The second is that because it is a regulation rather than a marketed programme, the criteria are published, fixed and applied literally. There is no discretion to make up for a missing document. That is the whole reason applications fail.
You invest at least €300,000 in one of four categories. The categories are not interchangeable and the resale rules differ sharply between them, which is where most buyers go wrong.
| Category | What you buy | Resale permitted | The detail people miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) | House or apartment from a development company | No, first sale only | €300,000 is plus VAT. Up to two housing units may be combined, and they need not come from the same developer. A resale dwelling counts only if the contract was filed with Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013. |
| (B) | Offices, shops, hotels or related developments, or a combination | Yes | The regulation states these purchases may result from a resale. This is the route that opens up the existing market rather than new build. |
| (C) | Share capital of a Cyprus company | Not applicable | The company must be based and operating in Cyprus with proven physical presence and must employ at least five people. A brass plate company does not qualify. |
| (D) | Units in a Cyprus Investment Organization of Collective Investments | Not applicable | AIF, AIFLNP or RAIF. The investments themselves must be held in Cyprus. |
In every category the money must be proven to come from abroad. It cannot be raised by borrowing inside Cyprus. It is paid from your own or your spouse's account into the seller's Cyprus account, or from a company account where you and your spouse are the only shareholders. The purchase may be held by a legal person if you and your spouse are its sole shareholders or beneficial owners and the entity is established in the EU or the EEA.
The investment alone is not enough. You must show a personal secured annual income of at least €50,000, rising by €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each dependent minor child. Your spouse's income counts towards the total.
Where that income is allowed to come from depends on your category, and this is a real planning advantage that very few people are told about. Under category (A) the income must derive from abroad. Under categories (B), (C) and (D) it may come wholly or partly from activities inside Cyprus. If you intend to run something here, the category you choose decides whether your Cyprus earnings help you or are ignored.
Income is proven by a tax return from your country of tax residence, or by a certificate from an independent certified accountant where your country does not issue one. Salary, rent, dividends, interest and pensions all count. What does not count is a bank balance. A large deposit is not income, and showing one instead of a verifiable income stream is the second most common reason a file comes back.
The permit covers you, your spouse and your children under 18 on a single application. Beyond that it becomes arithmetic.
You also confirm that you will not take employment in Cyprus. The one exception is acting as a Director of the company you invested in under category (C).
The government fees are modest and fixed: €500 on submission, plus €70 per person for the Alien Registration Certificate. Everything else in your budget is the investment, VAT where it applies, transfer fees, and professional costs, which vary with the structure you choose rather than with the permit.
The Migration Department's published estimate is approximately two months from the submission of a complete application. In practice, allow two to six months from submission to decision. The gap between those two numbers is almost never the department. It is files submitted incomplete, apostilles missing, translations not certified, or a document that has aged past its validity while the rest of the bundle was assembled.
Complete on the first submission and you are near the official estimate. The twelve documents, and what gets each one rejected.
The residence right itself is of unlimited validity. There is no renewal cycle. The plastic card expires after ten years and is replaced, and children's cards run until they turn 18, but the status underneath does not lapse on a date.
You are not required to live in Cyprus. You may keep your tax residence elsewhere. You can enter and leave freely, your family is covered, and you have access to Cyprus banking and services as a resident.
What it does not give you is Schengen travel. Cyprus is an EU member state but is not yet in the Schengen Area, so the permit is not a Schengen residence permit and does not replace a visa for mainland Europe. The European Commission found Cyprus technically ready in July 2026 and the government has said it expects full integration during 2027, but the Council has not set a date and no decision has been taken. Treat Schengen access as something that may come, not as part of what you are buying today.
Monitoring after approval was relaxed in the current revision. Annual proof that you still hold the required income has been abolished. A clean criminal record is now confirmed every three years rather than annually. Proof that you still hold the investment is still required, as is health insurance if you are not a GESY beneficiary.
Permanent does not mean unconditional. The permit ceases if any of the following happen.
The two year absence rule is the one that catches people. A permit obtained as a hedge and then forgotten about does not survive. One visit inside any two year window keeps it alive, and it needs to be a visit you can evidence.
It can, but not automatically, and not on the timeline most brochures quote. Naturalisation requires seven years of legal residence within the last ten, including the twelve months immediately before you apply, along with a Greek language test and a knowledge of Cyprus test. A faster route exists for highly qualified professionals employed here, which is a different path from this one.
The part that gets glossed over is that naturalisation counts actual residence. The permit does not oblige you to live in Cyprus, and if you do not, the clock does not run. If a passport is the real objective, the plan has to be built around genuine presence from the start, and that is a tax conversation as much as an immigration one.
Investment is the fastest route to permanent status, but it is not the only one and it is not always the right one. If you have income but no appetite to tie up €300,000, look at Category F before anything else.
| Route | Who it suits | Investment | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulation 6(2) | Non-EU nationals who can invest and want permanent status immediately | €300,000 | Permanent, no renewal |
| Category F | Non-EU nationals with secure foreign income and no wish to invest | None | Permanent, slower to grant |
| Temporary residence, the pink slip | Anyone needing to be resident now, including while a PR file is pending | None | Renewed annually |
| Digital nomad visa | Remote employees and freelancers paid from abroad | None | One year, renewable |
| Registration certificate, the yellow slip | EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, who do not need any of the above | None | Right of residence as an EU citizen |
People also compare Cyprus with the Portuguese, Greek and Maltese routes. The honest comparison is not about which threshold is lowest, it is about what you want afterwards: a tax position, a passport, a Schengen base, or a place you will actually live. We have written that out separately for Cyprus against Portugal and Cyprus against Malta.
Cyprus is not just a lifestyle upgrade. It is one of the most tax efficient, legally stable residency jurisdictions in the EU.
Non-domiciled residents pay a flat 5% on foreign sourced pension income, versus 40 to 52% marginal rates in Germany, Netherlands, or the UK.
Available immediately on residencyNon-doms pay zero Special Defence Contribution on dividend and passive interest income. This benefit runs for 17 years. No other EU state offers an equivalent.
17-year non-dom windowCyprus companies pay 15% on profits. Combined with the IP Box at 3% and 65+ double tax treaties, it is a premier European holding and trading jurisdiction.
Full EU complianceCyprus grants tax residency with as few as 60 days physical presence per year, versus 183 days in most countries. Maximum flexibility for international lifestyles.
60-day rule (unique in EU)No capital gains tax on the disposal of shares, bonds, or other securities in Cyprus. A major advantage for investors and shareholders managing international portfolios.
No CGT on securitiesCyprus has been an EU member since 2004. PR holders who genuinely live here can apply for citizenship after seven years of legal residence within the last ten, giving full EU passport rights.
Citizenship pathway availableA structured, managed process with clear milestones and no surprises. Timeline depends on route: the fast track investment route (Regulation 6(2)) processes in 2 to 6 months. Standard Category F is currently subject to 18 to 30 month backlogs. We set accurate expectations from day one.
Book a Strategy Call →I live and work in Cyprus. I navigate the immigration system, not from a distance, but every single day.
Before you spend a euro, you will know exactly what is possible, what it costs, and how long it takes. No surprises. No vague timelines. Just a clear plan from someone who has done this many times.
All residency applications are filed in partnership with a licensed Cyprus law firm, ensuring full legal compliance at every stage.
Clients I have worked with have come from:
Kleanthis has provided outstanding service and support from the start of our journey to the finish. He has supported myself and husband with our relocation, residency, property and banking requirements making everything so easy and enjoyable. … He has made the entire process smooth and stress free, always available to answer questions and provide reassurance. … he is such a wonderful and caring gentleman who makes you feel at ease with the biggest decision of your life.
Highly recommend Mr. Kleanthis Socratous! He successfully navigated a complex and delicate banking case for me with total professionalism and efficiency. He is extremely proactive and reliable. I look forward to working with him again!
Very professional, Kleanthis helped us with all of our needs and went above and beyond. Highly suggest
Reviews from the Google profile of our legal partner, Soteroula Stavri-Socratous & Co LLC.
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