Cyprus has made important changes to the citizenship by investment scheme. The amendments were approved by the Council of Ministers and voted by the House of Parliament in Cyprus as published in the Official Cyprus Gazette on 18th August 2020
The Minimum investment of 2 million euros remains the same but changes implemented will apply to eligibility conditions. Applicants must make a donation of additional 200,000 euros. This means the minimum for Cyprus CIP becomes €2.2 million euros.
Here are the important changes made to the citizenship scheme.
Prices increase by €50,000 to €2.2 million
There is a small increase in donations in addition to the real estate investment. The new prices apply as follows
- Research and development – 100,000€ (instead of 75,000€)
- Housing development – 100,000€ (instead of 75,000€)
Eligibility Criteria
The following list of categories are high risk applicants, who cannot apply for the CIP.
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs) who held positions atleast 12 months prior to application (previously this was 5 years).
- Applicants who have been imprisoned for 5 years abroad
- Sanctions imposed on individuals or companies by European Union or UN
- Citizenship application denied by another EU country.
- Schengen visa requirement is a must apply (no changes)
Financial Criteria
- All funds for investment purposes must come from bank account abroad
- Investments cannot be made on no building zones or restricted areas.
- Service providers will be required to make Enhanced due diligence (EDD) and AML checks before boarding clients.
International due diligence reports from internationally acceptable third parties (eg World Check, LexisNexis Diligence, Regulatory DataCorp Inc. etc) will be accepted by Ministry of Interior.
Parents
Now parents of spouses can apply for citizenship in addition to applicants parents, if they buying a additional €500,000 home plus VAT
Naturalization Deprivation
Independent Citizenship Deprivation Examination Committee established under the provisions of paragraph (6) of Article 113.
The Council of Ministers may by its Decree deprive any citizen of the Republic who is a naturalized person under the provisions of Article 111 or Article 111A or a registered person under the provisions of paragraph (2) of article
110, as a citizen of the Republic
- Within ten (10) years from its registration or naturalization was sentenced in the Republic or any other country to imprisonment for a serious criminal offense, which carries a prison sentence of five (5) years and above or for another serious offense or for a dishonorable or morally offensive offense.
- Wanted person by Europol or Interpol
- Conditions of the Cyprus investment program (CIP) are not met.
Annual Reports
The Ministry of interior will publish annual reports to public every year on approved and rejected applications under the Cyprus investment scheme (CIP) making one of the transparent citizenship scheme in Europe. The name of investors will not be made public to protect the privacy of investors.
Russia Double Taxation
Cyprus and Russia double taxation agreement likely to come into effect from Jan 1, 2021. The agreement will exempt withholding tax applies on interest payments from corporate bonds, government bonds and Eurobonds. The Withholding tax of regulated entities, such as pension funds and insurance undertakings to be nil or 5%
This is important as CIP is very popular among Russians investors.
