Cyprus Permanent Residency Through a EUR 300,000 Property
Cyprus grants an Immigration Permit under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations to a third country national who buys a first sale home from a developer for at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT and proves a secured annual income of at least EUR 50,000 from outside Cyprus. Our three bedroom house in Stroumbi is priced at EUR 300,000 excluding VAT, so it reaches the threshold with nothing added.
The property is one of several conditions and it is the only one a developer can answer for. Approval rests with the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection and depends on the applicant.
By Paul Bendzik, ConstruX Cyprus build desk
Last updated
- EUR 300,000
- Threshold, excluding VAT. Our price, with no top up
- Regulation 6(2)
- The rule this route is granted under
- EUR 50,000
- Secured annual income, from outside Cyprus
- About 2 months
- Stated examination period for a complete application
The short version
The threshold is EUR 300,000 excluding VAT. VAT sits on top and does not count toward it.
Cyprus Migration Department, criteria 4th Revision, paragraphs 2.1(A) and 4.1
You must hold payment receipts of at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT when you apply, whatever the delivery date. Much of the web still publishes EUR 200,000, which was the rule before 2 May 2023.
Criteria paragraph 4.1, corroborated by Michael Kyprianou and Co LLC
The home must be a first sale from a development company. A resale does not qualify under this category.
You may reach the threshold with up to two housing units, and they need not come from the same developer.
You must prove a secured annual income of at least EUR 50,000, rising by EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 for each dependent minor child. For a home purchase that income has to come from abroad.
The fee is EUR 500 on application plus EUR 70 per person for the Alien Registration Certificate. The stated examination period is about two months from a complete application.
Buying as a non EU national also needs separate permission from the District Administration on form COMM 145. There is no fee and it takes two to three weeks.
This is permanent residence, not citizenship and not a visa. Cyprus ended its citizenship by investment programme on 1 November 2020.
Every residency figure on this page is read from the Cyprus Migration Department criteria document, 4th Revision, in force since 2 May 2023, and checked against a second independent source. Both are linked next to the figure. ConstruX Developments is a property developer and is not an immigration adviser or a law firm.
Before you act on any of this
Take this page to your own Cyprus immigration lawyer and have them check it against your situation
Every residency and tax figure below is quoted from the Cyprus Migration Department criteria document and the Ministry of Interior, and each one is linked so you can read the source yourself. Two named Cyprus law firms were used to check them. That is as far as a published page can go.
What it cannot do is tell you where you stand. Eligibility turns on your nationality, your income and how you can evidence it, where your money comes from, your criminal record and the shape of your household, and the decision belongs to the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection. A lawyer who acts for you can read your position against these rules. We cannot, and neither can this page.
We are a developer. The price, the specification, the contract and the payment schedule are ours to answer for, and we stand behind them. The residency rules are the Republic of Cyprus's, and your reading of them should be your lawyer's.
The number
What Is the EUR 300,000 Threshold, and What Is It Not?
It is the minimum investment that opens the expedited Immigration Permit route under Regulation 6(2). It is a floor you have to clear, not a price that buys an outcome.
Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations lets the Minister of Interior, having notified the Council of Ministers, issue an Immigration Permit to a third country national whose investment meets a published policy. The policy in force is the 4th Revision of the criteria, which took effect on 2 May 2023. It sets four investment categories, all of them at EUR 300,000. Category A is the purchase of a house or apartment from a development company, and it is the one this page is about.
The EUR 300,000 is stated in the criteria as being plus VAT, and the payment evidence is measured excluding VAT. Read that as one sentence rather than two: the property has to be worth at least EUR 300,000 before VAT, VAT is charged on top at whichever rate you qualify for, and the VAT you pay does not push you over the line. A EUR 285,000 house does not become a EUR 300,000 investment because the VAT invoice takes it past the number.
It is also worth saying plainly what the permit is. It is permanent residence in the Republic of Cyprus. It is not a passport, it is not citizenship, and there is no such thing as a Cyprus golden visa in law. The scheme people usually have in mind when they use that phrase was the Cyprus Investment Programme, which granted citizenship for investment and which the government terminated on 1 November 2020 after the Al Jazeera investigation. Regulation 6(2) is a different, older and much smaller instrument, and it survived.
See the house priced at the threshold
Three things this route is not
- Not citizenship
- The Immigration Permit is a residence right. Naturalisation is a separate process under different law, with its own residence and language conditions.
- Not a Schengen permit
- Cyprus is an EU member state but was not in the Schengen Area as at 30 August 2026. The European Commission adopted a positive assessment of Cyprus on 14 August 2026 and the EU Council takes it up from September 2026, where the decision has to be unanimous. Treat accession as a forecast, because that is what it is.
- Not a work permit
- Quality criterion 3.3 asks the applicant and spouse to confirm they do not intend to take any form of employment in the Republic, apart from acting as a Director of a company they invested in under the policy.
Has the threshold been raised?
No. EUR 300,000 is the figure in the criteria in force. The policy has been revised four times and the most recent revision, on 2 May 2023, raised the income requirement and the payment requirement and left the EUR 300,000 alone. Several advisory firms have written about a possible increase to EUR 500,000. We looked for the source. As at 30 August 2026 there is no ministerial announcement, no draft instrument and no named official behind it, and the firm that published it says in its own words that nothing has been adopted. We are not going to sell you a deadline we cannot show you. If the Ministry changes the number it will publish it at the link above, and that link is the one to watch.
The property test
Which Properties Qualify Under Category A?
A house or apartment bought from a development company, sold for the first time, with a total market value of at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT. A resale does not qualify.
Paragraph 4.1(b) of the criteria is narrow and it is the condition most often got wrong. The purchase must relate to a dwelling sold for the first time by a development company. The only exception is historic: a resale contract filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013 is still accepted. In practice, if the home has had a previous owner, Category A is closed and you are looking at Category B, which covers offices, shops, hotels and similar and does permit resales.
Paragraph 4.1(a) allows you to reach the threshold with up to two housing units rather than one, and the criteria state that they do not have to come from the same development company. The same limit applies to a couple, taken together. Beyond that, the sale contract or the title deed has to be officially filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys, and where the contract was signed more than a year before the application you also need a recent search certificate from the Land Registry.
A purchase in the name of a company is accepted, on the condition that the applicant or the spouse are the sole shareholders or the ultimate beneficial owners and the company is legally established in the Republic, in another EU member state or in the European Economic Area.
| Condition | What the criteria say | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum value | At least EUR 300,000 plus VAT, total market value | Paragraph 2.1(A) |
| Seller | A development company | Paragraph 2.1(A) |
| First sale | The dwelling must be sold for the first time. Resales are excluded from this category | Paragraph 4.1(b) |
| Number of units | Up to two housing units may be combined, from different developers if you wish | Paragraph 4.1(a) |
| Filing | Title deed or sale contract officially filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys | Paragraph 4.1 |
| Corporate purchase | Accepted where the applicant or spouse are sole shareholders or beneficial owners and the company is established in the Republic, the EU or the EEA | Paragraph 4.1 |
| Holding the investment | Disposing of the investment without immediately replacing it with one of equal or greater value that meets the same conditions cancels the permit | Paragraph 2.1 |
The separate permission to buy at all
Residency and the right to buy are two different applications to two different authorities, and people routinely merge them. A non EU national buying immovable property in Cyprus must first get permission from the local District Administration under the Acquisition of Immovable Property (Aliens) Law, Cap. 109, on form COMM 145, submitted in the district where the property sits. The Ministry of Interior states that no fee is payable and that applications take two to three weeks.
What that permission allows
- A plot or land not divided into plots measuring up to 4,000 m2, for the purpose of building a dwelling for owner occupation. Couples are granted joint permission.
- Or up to two units, which may be at different stages of development. The units may be two dwellings, or one dwelling and a shop up to 100 m2, or one dwelling and an office up to 250 m2. The limit applies to a couple in total.
Google's AI Overview on this subject has been stating a limit of one property or a plot up to 4,014 m2. The Ministry of Interior page says 4,000 m2, and it says up to two units rather than one. We are linking the Ministry page rather than paraphrasing it, so you can read it yourself.
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The rule most pages get wrong
How Much Must Actually Be Paid Before You Apply?
All of it. Paragraph 4.1 requires official payment receipts of at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT at the point of application, regardless of the property's delivery date.
This is the sentence in the criteria that changes how an off plan purchase has to be planned, and it is the one the open web has not caught up with. Before 2 May 2023 the rule was EUR 200,000. The 4th Revision replaced it. On the first two pages of Google for this query on 30 August 2026, one site was still publishing the EUR 200,000 figure under a heading that also called the route citizenship, and another, updated in June 2026, repeated it as well.
So read the current text carefully. It asks for two different things at once: a total market value of at least EUR 300,000 plus VAT, and official payment receipts of at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT. The phrase regardless of the property's delivery date is what removes the escape route. You cannot apply on a signed contract and a deposit and let the rest follow the construction programme.
Alongside that, the money has to be shown to have come from outside Cyprus, from the applicant's or the spouse's own bank account, and to have been paid into the seller's account at a Cypriot financial institution. Evidence has to link the transfers to the investment, and the criteria say in terms that it must not be the result of domestic borrowing. Remittance advices, foreign card payment receipts and a bank certificate are the documents named.
What that means for an off plan buyer, including ours
Our standard contract of sale stages payment against construction milestones, which is how off plan works and what protects a buyer under Law 81(I)/2011. Those two things pull against each other. A buyer using this route either brings the payment schedule forward so the full EUR 300,000 excluding VAT is paid and receipted before the application goes in, or applies once the schedule has completed. We would rather you knew that now than found it out at the Migration Department. Bring it to your lawyer before you sign, because it is a term of your contract, not a term of ours.
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The applicant test
What Income Do You Have to Prove?
A secured annual income of at least EUR 50,000, rising by EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 for each dependent minor child. For a house or apartment purchase it has to come from abroad.
Paragraph 2.2 sets the income test, and it is separate from the investment. The income can be salaries or wages, pensions, dividends from shares, interest on bank deposits, rent and similar. A spouse's income counts toward the total. Where the applicant invests in a home under Category A, the income has to originate outside the Republic. Only the other three categories allow income arising from activity inside Cyprus.
Proof is a tax return declaration from the country where you declare yourself tax resident. A clarification published with the 4th Revision also accepts official certificates from an independent Certified Accountant, which matters for anyone whose home jurisdiction does not issue a return in a usable form.
| Household | Minimum secured annual income | How it is built |
|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | EUR 50,000 | The base figure |
| Applicant and spouse | EUR 65,000 | 50,000 plus 15,000 |
| Applicant, spouse, one minor child | EUR 75,000 | 50,000 plus 15,000 plus 10,000 |
| Applicant, spouse, two minor children | EUR 85,000 | 50,000 plus 15,000 plus 10,000 twice |
| Each child aged 18 to 25 studying abroad | EUR 10,000 more | They apply separately, with their own fee |
The other conditions on the applicant
- A clean criminal record certificate for the applicant and spouse, from the country of origin and the country of residence where those differ.
- A health insurance policy covering inpatient and outpatient care for the applicant and dependants.
- Confirmation that neither applicant nor spouse intends to take employment in the Republic, other than as a Director of a company invested in under the policy.
- Where the investment property does not have enough bedrooms for the dependants, another property has to be named as their residence.
Who the permit covers
The permit is issued to the applicant and covers the spouse and children under 18. Each spouse may hold a separate permit on a separate application and fee, without the second spouse having to meet the criteria again. Unmarried children aged 18 to 25 in tertiary education abroad apply separately and stay valid past 25 afterwards. An adult child who is not financially dependent can be included only on a larger investment: the criteria multiply EUR 300,000 by the number of such children, so EUR 600,000 for one and EUR 900,000 for two.
If the permit granted to the investor is cancelled, the permits granted to the family are cancelled with it.
The sequence
What Is the Step by Step Process, and Which Forms Are Involved?
Two applications to two authorities. Form COMM 145 to the District Administration for permission to buy, and application form MIP2 to the Migration Department for the Immigration Permit.
The order below is the sequence, not a month by month programme. We publish the timings the two authorities publish and nothing more, because a date we had not measured would be a promise rather than a fact.
The sequence
- 1
Instruct your own Cyprus lawyer
An independent lawyer, not ours, and one who does immigration work as well as conveyancing. This route has two applications running against each other and the payment rule is the trap.
- 2
Reserve and sign the contract of sale
The payment stages, and any acceleration you need for the residency route, are set in this document. Read the payment section above before you agree them.
- 3
File the contract at the District Land Registry
Within six months of signature, under the Sale of Immovable Property (Specific Performance) Law 81(I)/2011. It protects the purchase, and paragraph 4.1 of the criteria wants the filed contract too.
- 4
Apply for permission to acquire, form COMM 145
To the District Administration for the district the property sits in, with the survey, title deed, planning consent, stamped contract, floor plans, proof of financial standing and passports. No fee. Two to three weeks.
- 5
Pay, and evidence the payments
At least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT, from your own account abroad into the seller's account at a Cypriot financial institution, with remittance evidence linking the money to the investment.
- 6
Assemble the personal pack
Income evidence, clean criminal record certificates, health insurance, the non employment declaration, and translations. Every supporting document has to be officially translated and duly certified.
- 7
Submit form MIP2 to the Migration Department
In person or through an authorised representative, by appointment. EUR 500 on submission plus EUR 70 per person for the Alien Registration Certificate.
- 8
Examination and decision
Handled under the expedited procedure and put to the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection. The criteria state an estimated examination period of about two months from a complete application.
- 9
Take up residence within a year
If you are living outside Cyprus when the application is approved, the permit ceases to be valid unless you and your dependants acquire residence in Cyprus within one year of approval.
What the permit is worth once you have it
- The residence right has unlimited validity for the holder and adult dependants. The card itself expires ten years after issue and has to be replaced. A minor's card runs until they turn 18.
- Evidence that the investment is still held has to go to the Migration Department every year.
- A clean criminal record certificate is required every three years, not annually.
- The annual proof of income requirement was abolished by the clarification published with the 4th Revision.
- Health insurance evidence is still required where the holder is no longer a GESY beneficiary.
- The permit ceases if the holder acquires permanent residence abroad, or is absent from Cyprus for two years.
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Our house against the criteria
What Does Our Stroumbi House Satisfy, and What Does It Not?
It settles the property conditions and the threshold. It settles none of the conditions about you, and the staged payment schedule is something you have to plan around.
What the property settles
The threshold, with nothing added
EUR 300,000 excluding VAT is the asking price of the three bedroom house at Stroumbi. It is not EUR 300,000 after options, and it is not EUR 300,000 once VAT is counted. It is the base price.
First sale from a development company
ConstruX Developments is the developer, the builder and the contracting seller. The house has had no previous owner, so paragraph 4.1(b) is satisfied on its face.
A dwelling, so Category A rather than Category B
It is a house on its own fenced plot, which puts it in the residential category with the tighter first sale rule and the from abroad income rule.
A contract filed at the Land Registry
We file the stamped contract of sale at the District Land Registry under Law 81(I)/2011. That is the protection step, and it is also the filing paragraph 4.1 asks to see.
One unit is enough
The two unit allowance is headroom you do not need here. One house reaches the number on its own.
What it does not settle, and we will not pretend otherwise
The payment schedule pulls against the payment rule
Our contract stages payment against construction milestones. The criteria want EUR 300,000 excluding VAT receipted before you apply. Those have to be reconciled in your contract, in writing, before you sign it.
The EUR 50,000 income test is about you
It is a test of your income from outside Cyprus and its evidence. Nothing about the house moves it.
The source of funds test is about your banking
The money has to come from your own account abroad and be traceable to the purchase. We can invoice and receipt correctly. We cannot arrange your remittances.
Criminal record, health insurance and the employment declaration
All personal, all outside anything a developer can influence.
The decision itself
The Deputy Ministry decides. A qualifying property is a precondition, not an outcome, and nobody who tells you otherwise is reading the same document.
The house has three bedrooms, which is worth checking against the bedroom condition in quality criterion 3.5 if your household is larger than the house.
Two regimes, not one
How Does the Reduced VAT Rate Interact With Residency?
It does not. Residency and reduced VAT are separate regimes decided by separate authorities against separate tests, and qualifying for one has no bearing on the other.
This is the confusion worth spending a paragraph on, because both regimes involve the same house and the same buyer and are decided in the same year. The Immigration Permit is granted by the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection under Regulation 6(2). The reduced VAT rate is granted by the Cyprus Tax Department under VAT Law N.42(I)/2023. Neither authority reads the other's decision.
There is one place they touch, and it runs the wrong way from what people assume. The EUR 300,000 threshold is measured excluding VAT, so a lower VAT bill does not reduce your qualifying investment and a higher one does not increase it. VAT sits outside the number.
The condition that catches people is the one attached to the 5 percent rate rather than to residency. The reduced rate applies to a primary and permanent residence in Cyprus, with a ten year condition, applied for on VAT Form 110 before you take possession. A buyer holding the house as a second home, or letting it, is not eligible for it whatever their residency status. The residency route pushes the other way. It asks you to take up residence in Cyprus within a year of approval and not to be absent for two years, so for a buyer who genuinely moves both can be true at once. For a buyer who does not, the 5 percent rate is the one that fails first.
| Permanent residency | Reduced VAT rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Decided by | Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection | Cyprus Tax Department |
| Legal basis | Regulation 6(2), Aliens and Immigration Regulations | VAT Law N.42(I)/2023, in force 16 June 2023 |
| The test | EUR 300,000 investment excluding VAT plus EUR 50,000 income from abroad | First 130 m2 of buildable area, up to EUR 350,000 of value |
| Caps | Up to two housing units, first sale only | Total transaction value up to EUR 475,000, total buildable area up to 190 m2 |
| Use condition | Take up residence within a year, no absence of two years | Primary and permanent residence in Cyprus, ten year condition |
| Form | MIP2 to the Migration Department | VAT Form 110 to the Tax Department |
| Effect on the other | None. VAT is outside the threshold | None. Residency status is not a VAT test |
Which VAT regime applies to this house
The one above. Transitional relief under the old 200 m2 regime runs to 31 December 2026, but it is only open where the planning permit was issued or applied for by 31 October 2023. Stroumbi sits under the Paphos planning decree of 2024 with a drawing set dated June 2026, so the transitional route is closed to it and the 130 m2, EUR 350,000, EUR 475,000 and 190 m2 conditions are the ones that apply. From 1 January 2027 they apply to everyone.
Cyprus Tax Department VAT 5 percent calculation tool
Not tax advice and not immigration advice. The house page works both VAT rates through in the open, including where the arithmetic is indicative rather than exact. Take advice from a Cyprus tax adviser before you sign.
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Timing
How Long Does the Whole Thing Take?
The two published timings are two to three weeks for permission to acquire and about two months for the Immigration Permit. Everything else on the list is yours and your lawyer's, and we do not have a measured figure for it.
We are not going to add up a total, because the only two numbers either authority publishes are the two above. Anything else you see presented as a programme length for this route, whether it is six months or eight, is somebody's average rather than a published figure.
| Stage | Stated duration | Who states it |
|---|---|---|
| Permission to acquire, form COMM 145 | 2 to 3 weeks | Cyprus Ministry of Interior |
| Immigration Permit examination, form MIP2 | About 2 months from a complete application | Cyprus Migration Department, criteria paragraph 8 |
| Filing the contract at the District Land Registry | Within 6 months of signature, a deadline not a duration | Law 81(I)/2011 |
| Construction of the house | About 6 months of works | ConstruX Developments specification |
| Assembling documents, translations and certifications | No published figure. It depends on your jurisdiction | Not stated |
| Taking up residence after approval | Within 1 year of approval, a deadline not a duration | Criteria, required action after approval |
The construction period and the application period are not necessarily one after the other, and the payment rule is what decides how they overlap. That is a conversation for your lawyer with the contract in front of them.
Beyond the price
What Does It Cost Beyond the Purchase Price?
Two government fees are published and small: EUR 500 for the permit application and EUR 70 per person for the Alien Registration Certificate. Permission to acquire is free. Everything else depends on the professionals you engage and on your own circumstances.
We publish the fees the authorities publish, and we name the costs that exist without inventing figures for them. A legal fee, a translation cost or a health insurance premium quoted here as a range would be a number we made up, and this page is not the place for one.
| Item | Amount | Source or status |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration Permit application fee | EUR 500 | Criteria paragraph 7. Charged on submission |
| Alien Registration Certificate | EUR 70 per person included in the application | Criteria paragraph 7, where an ARC does not already exist |
| Permission to acquire immovable property, COMM 145 | No fee | Cyprus Ministry of Interior |
| VAT on the purchase | 5 percent or 19 percent, depending on eligibility | VAT Law N.42(I)/2023. Both rates are worked through on the house page |
| Stamp duty on the contract of sale | Payable, set by statute on the contract value | Cyprus Tax Department. Your lawyer calculates it on your contract |
| Legal fees, yours | Not published here | Set by the firm you instruct. Ask for a fixed quote covering both applications |
| Official translations and certifications | Not published here | Criteria paragraph 9 requires every supporting document to be translated and certified |
| Health insurance | Not published here | Quality criterion 3.2. Inpatient and outpatient cover for the whole household |
| Transfer fees and title transfer | Depends on the VAT position of the sale | Cyprus Department of Lands and Surveys |
| Options on the house | From EUR 2,000 to EUR 20,000 each | Priced individually on the house page. They do not change the qualifying price |
One thing worth saying about the options. Adding EUR 20,000 of facade upgrade to a EUR 300,000 house does not make it a EUR 320,000 investment for the purposes of the threshold unless it is in the contract value and receipted as part of the purchase. Ask your lawyer how your contract is structured before assuming either way.
The honest part
What Are the Real Limitations of This Route?
It is a residence permit with conditions attached for as long as you hold it, granted by an authority that is not us, and it does less than the marketing around it suggests.
- 1
Nobody can promise you the permit
The property qualifies against a published threshold. The decision belongs to the Deputy Ministry and it turns on your criminal record, your income evidence, your source of funds and the full policy. Any developer or agent who tells you the outcome is settled is telling you something they cannot know.
- 2
The investment has to stay in place
Disposing of the property without immediately replacing it with an investment of equal or greater value that meets the same conditions cancels the permit, under Regulation 6. This is not a route you exit by selling the house.
- 3
It is not a right to work in Cyprus
You confirm at application that you do not intend to take employment in the Republic, other than as a Director of a company you invested in under the policy.
- 4
It is not citizenship, and the citizenship route is gone
Cyprus terminated its citizenship by investment programme on 1 November 2020. Naturalisation is a separate process with its own residence and language conditions, and this permit does not shortcut it.
- 5
It is not Schengen, at least not yet
Cyprus was outside the Schengen Area as at 30 August 2026. Accession is progressing and is expected to reach the EU Council from September 2026, where it needs unanimity. That is a forecast. Do not buy on it.
- 6
You have to actually use it
The permit lapses if you fail to take up residence within a year of approval while living abroad, or if you are absent from Cyprus for two years. It also lapses if you acquire permanent residence in another country.
- 7
The obligations do not stop at approval
Annual evidence that the investment is still held, a criminal record certificate every three years, and health insurance evidence where you are no longer a GESY beneficiary. Failure to prove them cancels the permit and the family's permits with it.
- 8
The threshold could change
It has been revised four times. We have no basis to tell you when or whether it moves next, and we are not going to use the possibility as a reason to hurry you.
- 9
We are a developer, not an immigration adviser
We can evidence the property, the first sale, the contract, the filing and the payments. We do not give immigration or tax advice, we do not file your application, and we do not have a view on your prospects. Instruct an independent Cyprus immigration lawyer.
Terms
The Terms on This Page, Defined
These are the words the criteria and the Ministry pages use. Where the common phrase differs from the legal one, both are given, because the common phrase is usually the one people search for.
- Immigration Permit
- The permanent residence permit granted under Regulation 6(2). The legal instrument this page is about. Not a visa and not citizenship.
- Regulation 6(2)
- The provision of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations under which the Minister of Interior, having notified the Council of Ministers, may grant an Immigration Permit to a third country investor. Often written 6.2 or Category 6(2).
- Category A
- The investment category for the purchase of a house or apartment from a development company. The category with the first sale condition and the income from abroad condition.
- Third country national
- A citizen of a state outside the European Union, and for property purchase purposes also foreign companies and companies controlled by foreign nationals as defined in Cap. 109.
- Golden visa
- A marketing phrase, not a Cyprus legal term. Where it is used about Cyprus it usually means this Immigration Permit. Where it is used to mean a passport it means the Cyprus Investment Programme, which ended on 1 November 2020.
- COMM 145
- The application form a non EU buyer submits to the District Administration for permission to acquire immovable property under Cap. 109. No fee, two to three weeks.
- MIP2
- The Immigration Permit application form submitted to the Migration Department under the expedited procedure.
- ARC
- Alien Registration Certificate. EUR 70 for each person included in the application who does not already have one.
- Secured annual income
- Income the applicant can prove is settled and recurring: salary, pension, dividends, deposit interest, rent. For Category A it has to come from outside the Republic.
- First sale
- A dwelling sold for the first time by a development company. A property that has had a previous owner is a resale and does not qualify under Category A.
- Buildable area
- The area the building coefficient in the planning permit allows, and the measure the reduced VAT rate is applied against. It is not the covered area quoted in a brochure, which counts verandas.
- GESY
- The Cyprus General Healthcare System. The criteria require private health insurance evidence where the permit holder is no longer a GESY beneficiary.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can you get residency in Cyprus by buying property?
- Yes. A third country national who buys a first sale house or apartment from a development company for at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT, and who proves a secured annual income of at least EUR 50,000 from outside Cyprus, can apply for an Immigration Permit under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations. The purchase is one condition among several, and the decision belongs to the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection.
- How much of the price has to be paid before you apply?
- All of the qualifying amount. Paragraph 4.1 of the criteria in force since 2 May 2023 requires official payment receipts of at least EUR 300,000 excluding VAT at the point of application, regardless of the property's delivery date. Pages still publishing EUR 200,000 are quoting the rule that applied before that date.
- Does the EUR 300,000 include VAT?
- No. The criteria set the threshold at EUR 300,000 plus VAT and measure the payment evidence excluding VAT. VAT is charged on top at whichever rate you qualify for and does not count toward the threshold.
- Does a resale property qualify?
- Not under Category A. The dwelling must be sold for the first time by a development company. The only exception is a resale contract filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013. Resales are permitted under Category B, which covers offices, shops, hotels and similar rather than homes.
- Can you combine two properties to reach EUR 300,000?
- Yes. Paragraph 4.1(a) allows up to two housing units, and the criteria state they need not come from the same development company. The same limit applies to a couple taken together.
- Can you get a golden visa in Cyprus?
- Cyprus has no golden visa in law. What exists is the Immigration Permit under Regulation 6(2), which is permanent residence rather than a visa. The citizenship by investment scheme that the phrase is often used for was the Cyprus Investment Programme, and the government terminated it on 1 November 2020.
- Does Cyprus permanent residency lead to citizenship?
- Not automatically. Naturalisation in Cyprus is a separate process under different legislation, with its own residence and language conditions. Holding an Immigration Permit does not shorten it and does not grant it.
- Does the permit let you travel in the Schengen Area?
- Cyprus was not a Schengen member as at 30 August 2026, so a Cyprus residence permit is not a Schengen residence permit. The European Commission adopted a positive assessment of Cyprus on 14 August 2026 and the EU Council is expected to take the question up from September 2026, where the decision must be unanimous. Treat that as a forecast rather than a plan.
- Can you work in Cyprus on this permit?
- No. Quality criterion 3.3 asks the applicant and the spouse to confirm they do not intend to take any form of employment in the Republic, apart from acting as a Director of a company they have invested in under the policy.
- How long does the application take?
- The criteria state an estimated examination period of about two months from the submission of a complete application. Separately, the Ministry of Interior states that permission to acquire the property on form COMM 145 takes two to three weeks. Neither authority publishes a figure for assembling the documents, and neither do we.
- What does it cost in government fees?
- EUR 500 on submission of the Immigration Permit application, plus EUR 70 for each person included who does not already hold an Alien Registration Certificate. Permission to acquire the property on form COMM 145 carries no fee.
- Do you have to live in Cyprus to keep it?
- You have to take up residence within one year of approval if you were living outside Cyprus when it was granted. After that, the permit ceases to be valid if you acquire permanent residence abroad or are absent from Cyprus for two years.
- What has to be renewed?
- The residence right itself has unlimited validity, but the card expires ten years after issue and has to be replaced. Evidence that the investment is still held goes to the Migration Department annually. A clean criminal record certificate is required every three years. The annual proof of income requirement was abolished by the clarification published with the 4th Revision.
- Does the ConstruX house at Stroumbi qualify?
- It meets the property conditions. It is a first sale from a development company, it is a dwelling, and it is priced at EUR 300,000 excluding VAT with no top up required. It does not settle the income test, the source of funds test or any of the personal conditions, and our staged payment schedule has to be reconciled with the requirement to have EUR 300,000 excluding VAT receipted before you apply. Bring both to your own lawyer.
Sources
Every residency figure on this page comes from the list below. The first two are primary: they are the Republic of Cyprus stating its own rules. The rest are named Cyprus law firms and reported news, used to corroborate the primary text rather than to replace it.
- Cyprus Migration Department, criteria for granting an Immigration Permit under the expedited procedure, 4th Revision, May 2023
Primary. The investment categories, the EUR 300,000 threshold, the payment evidence rule, the EUR 50,000 income test, the quality criteria, the fees, the two month examination period, form MIP2, the monitoring obligations and the rules on taking up residence and absence. Page dated 29 December 2025, read 30 August 2026.
- Cyprus Ministry of Interior, purchasing property
Primary. Permission for a non EU national to acquire immovable property, form COMM 145, the absence of a fee, the two to three week processing time, the 4,000 m2 plot limit and the two unit limit, and the supporting documents.
- Acquisition of Immovable Property (Aliens) Law, Cap. 109, consolidated text at CyLaw
Primary legislation behind the permission to acquire, linked from the Ministry page itself.
- Cyprus Tax Department, VAT 5 percent calculation tool for the purchase or building of a house
Primary. The reduced rate conditions and the department's own calculator, which is the figure that counts rather than any developer's estimate.
- Michael Kyprianou and Co LLC, new revised criteria for granting immigration permits under Regulation 6(2)
Second source on the EUR 300,000 excluding VAT payment evidence, the two unit allowance, the first sale condition, the income figures, the three yearly criminal record certificate and the indefinite residence right.
- A.G. Erotocritou LLC, fast track Permanent Residence Permit under Regulation 6(2)
Second source on the investment categories, the income requirement and its origin, the post grant obligations and the treatment of students aged 18 to 25.
- Michael Kyprianou and Co LLC, Cyprus VAT on first homes and the extension of transitional relief to 31 December 2026
The current reduced rate conditions, the transitional regime, the dates that decide which regime applies and the 1 January 2027 cut off. Published 28 April 2026.
- Cyprus Mail, Cyprus Schengen accession to go before EU Council in September
The Schengen position. Cyprus was outside the Schengen Area when this page was written, and accession requires a unanimous EU Council decision.
- Al Jazeera, Cyprus abolishes citizenship through investment programme
The termination of the Cyprus Investment Programme, announced 13 October 2020 and effective 1 November 2020. The reason a golden visa in the passport sense no longer exists here.
Ask About the Property Side
Tell us where you are in the process and we will answer the part we can answer: the price, the contract, the payment schedule, the filing and the evidence we can produce for your lawyer. If you want an opinion on your own prospects, that is a question for a Cyprus immigration lawyer, and we would rather say so than guess.
Enquiries answered in English
ConstruX Developments is a property developer and construction company. We are not immigration advisers, tax advisers or lawyers, we do not file residency applications, and nothing on this page is advice on your circumstances. Instruct an independent Cyprus immigration lawyer before you commit to anything.