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Amendments in relation to the Cyprus Investment Programme have been approved by the Cyprus Cabinet in order to make the Programme even more trustworthy.
Key Amendments on the plan include:
Compulsory donation of €75,000 to the Foundation for Research and Innovation, for promoting the creation of an entrepreneur. This duty can be waived under the following conditions:
- Where the applicant will invest in an innovative business, that has in possession a relevant certificate from the Ministry of Finance.
- Where the applicant will invest in a certified social company.
- Where the applicant has invested under the criterion “Purchase or Established or Participation in Cyprus companies or Business”. The investment should be equivalent to at least 20% of the investment cost of the prerequisite amount (i.e. 400,000) and be made to a company of primary or secondary sector of the economy or in the fields of either research and technology, education or health.
Compulsory donation of €75,000 to Cyprus Land Development Corporation.
Investments in the shipping sector are included in the permitted investments (specific measurable criteria)
Duty to maintain investments for 5 years from naturalization date.(instead of 3 years)
Investments in government bonds are no longer considered as an acceptable investment within the Programme.
Planning Permission, Bank waiver and Completion Certificate will be needed, if the investment relates to the purchase of real-estate or property and also in the case of a permanent home owner.
Applicant is required to have a Schengen visa* to be able to apply for naturalization.
An applicant will not be eligible to acquire Cypriot Citizenship by the Cyprus Investment Programme, if he/she has applied for acquisition of citizenship in any other Member State of the EU and has been rejected.
Applicant must have a residence permit in the Republic of Cyprus for a minimum of six months before the naturalization as a Cypriot citizen.
Number of naturalizations, nationality of the applicants and the investment sector should be included in an Annual Implementation Report that must be prepared.
The amendments will be implemented in the law and enforced from May 2019.
*Schengen Visa: is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any members of the Schengen Area, per stays up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. The 26 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
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