Visa Free Travel

A holder of a PRP who eventually wishes to be granted Citizenship has an advantage in that he may legally reside in the Republic for five consecutive years prior to filing an application for Citizenship by naturalisation in the traditional way (as opposed to the Citizenship by Investment route). This is the only advantage afforded even though many persons opt to obtain the PRP first, and subsequently proceed with an application for Citizenship by Investment, especially when they intend to reside in the Republic with their families.

Upon filing of a completed Citizenship application, it usually takes between two to three months before a decision is made by the Ministry of Interior.

There are no residency prerequisites either prior to filing the Citizenship application or following the granting of Citizenship. This is one of the many benefits of the Cypriot Citizenship by Investment program, when compared to other EU Citizenships programs.

Once citizenship is granted, the applicant can receive a Cyprus passport on the same day simultaneously with the issuance of the naturalization certificate, if done in person in Cyprus. On that day, the applicant issued a sworn statement that he accepts citizenship and can then obtain the Cypriot passport issued by the Ministry of Interior, on payment of acceleration fees of €120. Alternatively, the applicant may obtain the Cyprus passport any time after the naturalisation certificate is issued, from the Citizens Service Centers at a lower cost of €70, but it could take up to two weeks to have the passport issued in this case. A Cypriot passport will also be issued to the Investor's spouse and dependent children up to the age of 27, provided they are in full-time education.

This criterion pertains to a €5m/€2.5m (depending on whether the application is submitted as a group or individual) investment in the participation rights or shares of a Cyprus company(ies) that maintains offices and operates in Cyprus, employing a minimum of five Cypriot citizens, for a period of three years.

An eligible company/business can also be one that was acquired by the Investor, up to three years prior to filing his citizenship application.

In all cases, the Investor must demonstrate the correlation with the companies or businesses purchased. This requires the investor to continue to be an owner or be directly involved in the operations of the businesses acquired.

Any property purchased three years prior to filing the Citizenship application is eligible. Additional properties may be purchased in order to meet the total sum required for this investment criterion, namely €5 million (or €2.5 million in the case of a group application).