Cyprus Golden Visa: €300,000 Permanent Residency for Investors

Cyprus residency by investment is not a separate law. It is a ministerial policy that uses the power in Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations to issue an Immigration Permit, the Cypriot form of permanent residence, through an expedited procedure. The Minister issues the permit after notifying the Council of Ministers. Since migration moved to its own deputy ministry, applications are handled by the Migration Department and decided by the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection^[1].

Three features set the programme apart:

• Permanent from day one. The right of residence is of unlimited validity for the investor and adult dependants. Only the plastic card expires, every ten years; children's cards run until age 18^[1].
• Very light presence rules. The permit lapses if the holder acquires permanent residence abroad or is absent from Cyprus for two years, so in practice one visit every two years keeps it alive^[1][2].
• An income test as well as an investment. You must prove €50,000 a year of secure income on top of the €300,000, with more for each family member^[1].

The permit does not give a right to work in Cyprus, except as a director of the company you invested in^[1]. It is national permanent residence, not EU long-term resident status, and Cyprus is not yet in Schengen: on 1 October 2026, speaking in Luxembourg before an EU justice and home affairs meeting, the deputy minister said Cyprus is "technically ready" but needs political agreement from EU partners^[8]. Holders who want EU-wide travel rights should note that a Cypriot permit does not currently give visa-free Schengen stays in the way a Greek investor residence permit does.

Status on 2 October 2026: open. Around 1,500 permits were issued in the past two years, according to the deputy minister^[7]. The investor citizenship scheme that once ran alongside it closed in 2020 and its legal basis was repealed in December 2025^[6]; see our page on what replaced Cyprus's closed passport scheme.

Most applicants use property. The rules differ sharply between the two property categories^[1]:

• Homes must be new. Under Category A the house or apartment must be sold for the first time by a development company. Resale homes qualify only if the sale contract was lodged with the Department of Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013. You may buy up to two homes to reach the threshold, including as a couple^[1].
• Commercial property can be resale. Offices, shops and hotels under Category B may be bought on the secondary market, which avoids VAT but brings transfer fees (see the cost table)^[1][12].
• €300,000 paid, not just agreed. The market value must be at least €300,000 plus any VAT, and official receipts must show at least €300,000 paid excluding VAT, whatever the delivery date^[1].
• Contract or title deed filed. You submit a title deed, or a sale contract lodged with the Department of Lands and Surveys, in your or your spouse's name. A Cypriot or EU/EEA company solely owned by you or your spouse may also hold the property^[1].
• Enough bedrooms. If the investment property is too small for your family, or if you invest under Categories B–D, you must show where you will live in Cyprus: a title, a sale contract or a lease^[1].

VAT is the main cost trap. New homes carry 19% VAT. A 5% rate applies to the first 130 m² of a home used as the buyer's primary and permanent residence, where the home is no larger than 190 m², worth no more than €350,000 and part of a transaction of no more than €475,000^[11][12]. The reduced rate is tied to genuine residence, so an investor who will not live in the property should budget for 19%. Ask your lawyer to check eligibility before signing; transitional relief for some older planning permits was extended to 31 December 2026^[11].

Cyprus has no single "business investor visa". Investors who want to run a business, rather than hold a passive asset, have three main options:

Category C of the investor permit

A €300,000 investment in the share capital of a Cypriot company with a real office and at least five employees gives permanent residence, and the investor may work as a director of that company^[1]. This is the only Regulation 6(2) route that allows the investor to work in Cyprus.

A company of foreign interests

Under the strategy in force since 2 January 2022, a company of foreign interests can hire highly paid third-country staff earning at least €2,500 gross a month, with relevant qualifications or two years' experience, without a labour market test, with a one-month target for permits^[4]. Law firms report that eligibility normally requires majority third-country ownership and an initial investment of at least €200,000 transferred from abroad, plus independent office premises^[15]. Companies must commit to reaching 30% Cypriot or EU staff over five years, to be checked after 2 January 2027^[4]. These are temporary residence and work permits, not permanent residence, but they count towards long residence in Cyprus.

Startup visa

The Startup Visa scheme lets non-EU founders, alone or in teams of up to five, live and work in Cyprus for three years if an independent panel rates their business plan as innovative. At least 25% of the shares must belong to the applicants. The current scheme runs until December 2026 with up to 150 visas^[5].

Cyprus also issues Category F permits to people with a modest secure income from abroad who will not work, starting at €9,568 a year plus €4,613 per dependant^[2]. These are not part of the fast-track investor procedure and do not have its two-month target. For other EU routes built around running a company, compare the Italian investor visa for start-ups and companies.

Every applicant must meet one of the investment criteria above and all of these conditions^[1]:

1. Secure income: at least €50,000 a year, plus €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each dependent minor child. A spouse's income can be counted. For Category A, the income must come from abroad, such as salary, pension, dividends, interest or rent. For Categories B, C and D, all or part of it may come from activity in Cyprus. Proof is a tax return from your country of tax residence or a certificate from an independent certified accountant^[1].
2. Clean criminal record for the applicant and spouse, from the country of origin and the country of residence if different, and no threat to public order or security^[1].
3. Health insurance covering inpatient and outpatient care for the applicant and all dependants^[1].
4. No employment in Cyprus, confirmed in a signed statement, except as a director of the company you invested in. Under Categories A, B and D you may still own shares in Cypriot companies, receive dividends and act as an unpaid director^[1].
5. Accommodation in Cyprus, proven by a title, a sale contract or a lease, where the investment is not a home or the home is too small for the family^[1].
6. Funds from abroad, traced from a personal or wholly owned company account to the seller's account at a Cypriot bank^[1].

Once approved, holders must show each year that they still own the investment and, if they are not covered by the national health system (GESY), that they still have health insurance. The applicant and adult family members must provide fresh criminal record certificates every three years. The Migration Department abolished the annual proof of income in its clarifications to the 2023 criteria^[1]. Failure to comply leads to cancellation of the permit for the whole family^[1].

The permit covers the investor's spouse and children under 18 at no extra investment^[1][2]. Parents and parents-in-law can no longer be included. The 2023 revision removed them^[13]. Family rules in detail^[1]:

• Spouse: included as a dependant, or can hold a separate permit through a separate application and fee without meeting the criteria personally. If the investor's permit is cancelled, the spouse's falls with it.
• Children under 18: included; their cards are valid until 18. If only one parent applies, the other parent's consent must be signed before a Cypriot consular officer.
• Students aged 18–25: unmarried, financially dependent children in tertiary education abroad can file their own application if the parents show an extra €10,000 a year per child. Their permits remain valid after 25, after marriage and after their studies end, but they cannot add their own spouses or children.
• Adult, non-dependent children: each needs another €300,000 of investment (€600,000 for one adult child, €900,000 for two) and €50,000 a year of income of their own. For property, at least 66% of the market value must be paid when you apply.

The expedited procedure in six steps^[1][2]:

The permit does not make you a Cypriot tax resident. Tax residence depends on days spent in Cyprus: more than 183 days in a tax year, or the 60-day rule. The 2026 reform removed the condition that a 60-day-rule taxpayer must not be tax resident in any other state^[9][10]. The other conditions of the 60-day rule, which include business, employment or a directorship in Cyprus and a permanent home there, still apply. Check them with an adviser, because a passive investor who does not work in Cyprus may not meet them.

The reform, in force from 1 January 2026, set these main points for individuals^[9][10]:

• Income tax: 0% up to €22,000, then 20%, 25% and 30%, and 35% above €72,000.
• Non-domiciled residents pay no Special Defence Contribution on dividends, interest and rent for 17 years. The period can now be extended by two further five-year periods for a lump sum of €250,000 each, according to KENDRIS.
• Domiciled residents: SDC on dividends cut from 17% to 5%.
• Stamp duty abolished from 1 January 2026.
• Companies: corporate tax rose to 15% for 2026 profits, which matters for Category C investors^[10].

Cyprus has no inheritance tax, no wealth tax and no annual immovable property tax (abolished in 2017); owners pay local authority charges instead^[12]. When you sell, capital gains tax is 20% on Cypriot property gains, with lifetime allowances of €30,000, or €150,000 for a main residence held at least five years^[12]. Most investors who do not move keep their existing tax residence and are taxed there on Cypriot rental income too, subject to the relevant tax treaty.

Cyprus permanent residency by investment is already the end point of the residence process. There is no interim permit and no renewal of the right itself. You replace the card every ten years^[1]. The right is lost if you^[1][2]:

• sell the investment without immediately replacing it with a qualifying one;
• stay away from Cyprus for two years, or take up permanent residence in another country;
• fail the annual investment check, the health insurance check or the three-yearly criminal record check.

The permit does not lead automatically to anything further. Cypriot naturalisation requires actual residence: 12 months of continuous residence before applying, with no more than 90 days away, plus at least 7 years of legal residence in the previous 10 years. Applicants also need Greek at B1 level and must pass a civics exam^[3]. Holding a permit while living elsewhere does not count. Processing then takes years: the Audit Office reported a backlog of 11,891 citizenship files, with waits of up to about 37 months^[16]. A family that moves in full-time should plan on about 10–11 years from investment to a decision: eight years of residence, then two to three years of processing. Our separate guide to Cypriot naturalisation after the end of investor passports covers this in detail, and our ranking of residence programmes with the shortest route to a passport compares Cyprus with faster options.

Cyprus suits families with solid foreign income who want permanent EU residence with minimal paperwork after approval, who like the idea of a home in Limassol, Paphos or Larnaca, and who value the non-dom tax regime if they eventually move. It also suits entrepreneurs ready to set up a real Cypriot company with five staff, and retirees with pensions comfortably above €50,000.

Look elsewhere if you need Schengen travel now, cannot document €50,000 or more of yearly income, want to include parents, or want a programme that leads to naturalisation without moving. Also be cautious if you intend to resell quickly: the new-home rule, the VAT and the obligation to keep the investment make Cyprus property an illiquid way to buy residence.

Within a similar budget, the closest European options are:

• Greece's residence-by-investment programme: from €250,000 for conversions and listed buildings, €400,000 or €800,000 for standard property depending on the area. It gives a five-year renewable permit, Schengen access and no income test.
• Malta's permanent residence programme (MPRP): about €99,000 in fees and contributions plus a €375,000 purchase or a €14,000-a-year lease. Permanent status from day one and Schengen travel, with capital requirements to prove.
• Portugal's investor residence: a €500,000 fund or a €250,000 cultural donation. Low stay requirements, but naturalisation now takes ten years.
• Hungary's guest investor programme: a €250,000 real estate fund held for five years, with a permit of up to ten years.
• Other options in the region include the Bulgarian investor residence route and residence through property in Montenegro.

For a side-by-side view, see our comparison of European residence-by-investment programmes and the ranking of the lowest-cost investor residence permits. If you are unsure whether you need residence or a second nationality, read our guide to residence versus citizenship programmes, or browse every route in the golden visa directory. Spain's former programme, closed in April 2025, is covered on our Spain golden visa closure page.