Cyprus · Residency by investment
Permanent Residence Permit — Regulation 6(2) (Category 6.2, fast track)
Cyprus's accelerated permanent residence route under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations. The May 2023 policy revision tightened income evidence and dependant rules; the EUR 300,000 threshold and EUR 50,000 secured income requirement remain in force.
The cleanest cost-to-speed ratio in the EU: a permanent, non-expiring status for EUR 300,000 in 2–3 months. But read the physical presence clause carefully — permanent presence is not required only so long as the investor does not intend to naturalise. The moment citizenship becomes the goal, the entire economics change and Cyprus stops being cheap.
Qualifying routes
plus VAT; must be a first sale, not a resale
resales may qualify in this category
company must have physical presence in Cyprus and at least five employees
AIF, AIFLNP or RAIF; investments must be held in Cyprus
The facts
- Minimum investment
- €300k
- Total landed cost
- EUR 300k investment plus VAT where applicable, plus application and immigration fees and legal costs — typically EUR 10–20k of fees for a family. The EUR 50,000 secured annual income is an ongoing evidential requirement, not a cost.
- Timeline
- 2–6 months — the fast track is genuinely fast — 2–3 months is commonly achieved
- Physical presence
- No permanent presence required; the holder must visit Cyprus at least once every two years to keep the permit alive
- Family
- spousedependent children under 18dependent children 18–25 in full-time education (as separate applicants under conditions)
- Permanent residency
- Immediate — the permit is issued as permanent and does not expire
- Citizenship
- Naturalisation requires genuine long residence (broadly 7–8 years of physical presence, reduced to 5 under conditions), Greek language competence and full integration. The PR permit does not accelerate this and, if the holder never lives in Cyprus, never gets there.
- Language test
- Greek — required for ordinary naturalisation
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- qualifying investment of at least EUR 300,000 in one of the four categories, maintainedsecured annual income of at least EUR 50,000 from sources outside Cyprus, plus EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per dependent childclean criminal record for the applicant and adult family membershealth insuranceconfirmation the applicant does not intend to work in Cyprus (directorship and dividends from the invested company are permitted)visit Cyprus at least once every two years
- Cyprus PR gives no Schengen access — Cyprus is an EU member but not yet a full Schengen member, so the permit does not deliver the mobility clients assume they are buying.
- The EUR 50,000 secured annual income must come from abroad, and rises by EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per dependent child — a recurring evidential burden, checked at renewal of dependants' status.
- The new-build first-sale restriction on the residential route means you are buying from developers at developer pricing, in a market where golden-visa premiums are well documented.
- Lose the investment and you lose the status: the EUR 300,000 must be maintained.
- This is a residence permit, not a route to a passport. The 2–3 month timeline is for the permit; naturalisation is a different decade-long question requiring Greek and real presence.