Permanent residence in Cyprus: the routes and the costs
Five routes, different laws and very different prices — €300,000 invested, or five years of legal residence for €30. Including the one never decided.
"Permanent residence" in Cyprus is not one thing. The Migration Department lists several separate routes to it, written under different regulations, with different prices, different waiting times, and — the part that catches people — different rights at the end.
One of them costs €300,000 and takes two months. Another costs €30 and takes up to a year. One of them forbids you from working in Cyprus. One of them lets you work anywhere. Choosing on price alone is how people end up with the wrong one.
The routes at a glance
| Route | For whom | Headline requirement | Fee | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration Permit, Reg. 6(2) | Third-country investors | €300,000 invested + €50,000 annual income | €500 | ~2 months |
| Immigration Permit, Categories A–F | Third-country nationals, no fast track | Category F: €9,568 a year from abroad | €500 | Not decided in practice |
| Long-term resident status | Anyone third-country, after 5 years here | 5 years legal continuous residence | €30 | 6–12 months |
| MEU3 | EU/EEA citizens and their EU family | 5 years uninterrupted legal residence | — | — |
| MEU3B / UKW3 | Non-EU family of EU citizens; UK nationals | 5 years uninterrupted legal residence | — | — |
Route 1 — the investor permit, Regulation 6(2)
The fast one. Current criteria are the 4th revision, in force since 2 May 2023.
The investment: €300,000 in one of four categories
(A) A house or apartment. A first sale from a development company, worth at least €300,000 plus VAT. You may buy up to two units, including as a couple, provided the total meets the threshold, and they need not be from the same developer.
(B) Other real estate. Offices, shops, hotels or related developments, or a combination, totalling €300,000. Resales are allowed here — this is the practical difference between (B) and (A).
(C) Share capital of a Cyprus company. €300,000 into a new company, or as an increase in an existing one, that is based and operating in Cyprus with genuine physical presence and at least five employees.
(D) Units of a Cyprus collective investment organisation (AIF, AIFLNP, RAIF), €300,000, with the fund's investments held in Cyprus.
Where the money comes from is itself a criterion. It must be proved to have been transferred to Cyprus from abroad, from your own or your spouse's account — or from a company in which the two of you are the sole shareholders — and paid into the seller's account at a Cyprus financial institution. Domestic borrowing does not qualify.
The income, on top of the investment
- €50,000 secured annual income for the applicant
- +€15,000 for a spouse
- +€10,000 for each dependent minor child
Under (A) this income must come from abroad and is proved by a tax return from the country where you are tax resident, or by certificates from an independent certified accountant. Under (B), (C) and (D), all or part of it may come from activities inside Cyprus. A spouse's income counts towards the total.
The quality criteria
- A clean criminal record certificate for applicant and spouse, from the country of origin and of residence
- Health insurance covering inpatient and outpatient care, for the whole family
- A declaration that you do not intend to take up employment in Cyprus — with one exception: you may be a director of the company you invested in
- You may hold shares in other Cyprus companies and draw dividends from them, and may be an unpaid director there
- Evidence of accommodation — and if the investment property has too few bedrooms for your family, you must name another property that will house them
Who is covered
The permit covers the applicant, spouse, and children under 18. Each spouse may hold a separate permit on a separate application and fee, without the second one having to meet the criteria again.
Children aged 18–25 studying full-time abroad and financially dependent may apply separately, with €10,000 additional annual income each. Once granted, that permit survives: it stays valid past 25, past marriage, past the end of financial dependency. But their own future spouse and children cannot be added to it.
Adult children who are not dependent can be included only by multiplying the investment: €600,000 for one, €900,000 for two, and so on. Each must independently show the €50,000 income, and for real estate at least 66% of the value must already be paid.
Fees and time
€500 on submission, plus €70 per person for an Alien Registration Certificate where one is not already held. The estimated examination time is about two months from a complete application.
What happens afterwards
The residence right has unlimited validity. The card expires ten years after issue and must be replaced; a minor's card runs until they turn 18.
Every year you must show the Migration Department that the investment is still held and that you hold health insurance if you are no longer a GESY beneficiary. A clean criminal record certificate is required every three years — the annual income proof was abolished in the clarifications to the 4th revision.
Selling the investment without immediately replacing it with one of equal or greater value cancels the permit.
Route 2 — immigration permits, Categories A to F
The older route under Regulation 5. The Immigration Control Committee examines the application and recommends; the Deputy Minister of Migration decides.
| Category | Who | Capital or income required |
|---|---|---|
| A | Self-employed in agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry or fish farming | ~€430,000 |
| B | Self-employed in mining | ~€350,000 |
| C | Self-employed in a trade or profession | ~€260,000 |
| D | Self-employed in a profession or science | Sufficient funds or secured income |
| E | Offered permanent employment in Cyprus | — |
| F | Living on secured income from abroad, without working here | €9,568 a year, plus €4,613 per dependant |
Category F reads like the answer to everything, and in practice it is not available. On paper it is the pensioner and rentier route: €9,568 a year from abroad, no investment at all, roughly a thirtieth of the investor threshold. The criteria are still in the Regulations and still on the Department's page.
The Migration Department accepts Category F applications and does not decide them. Files are taken in and sit. We are not aware of any announcement withdrawing the category — which is exactly why it keeps being recommended by people working from the published criteria rather than from experience.
Treat it as unavailable when you are planning. If you have five years of legal residence behind you, long-term resident status is the route that actually completes — and it costs €30 rather than €500. If you do not, and you cannot invest €300,000, the honest answer is that no permanent route is currently open to you, and the sensible plan is a temporary permit that accumulates the five years.
The fee is €500 covering everyone on the application, plus €70 per Alien Registration Certificate. Adding a family member to a permit already granted costs €50 per person.
The same endings apply as for Route 1: unlimited residence right, a card expiring after ten years, and the permit lapsing if you fail to take up residence in Cyprus within one year of approval, acquire permanent residence abroad, or stay away two years.
Route 3 — long-term resident status
This is the EU-wide status, and it is the cheap one.
Who qualifies. Third-country nationals who have lived in the government-controlled areas legally and continuously for the five years before applying, holding a valid residence permit.
Absences do not automatically break it. They count towards the five years as long as each is shorter than six consecutive months and they total no more than ten months across the period.
Who is excluded. Students and people here for vocational training; people with or applying for subsidiary protection; asylum seekers; people here only temporarily, such as unpaid domestic workers and seasonal workers; employees of cross-border service providers; and people covered by the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic and consular relations.
The application. Form MLT3, submitted only at the Migration Department in Nicosia, with all documents officially translated and certified. An incomplete file is not accepted for consideration at all. Biometrics — photo, fingerprints, signature — are captured at submission or afterwards, in Nicosia or at the district Aliens and Immigration unit.
Fee €30. Examination 6–12 months. The first permit is valid for five years.
Why people choose it anyway. Long-term residents have free access to the labour market: an employer does not need a permit to employ you. That is the single biggest practical difference from an investor permit, which requires you to declare you will not work.
How it is lost. Fraudulent acquisition, including a marriage of convenience; expulsion measures; twelve consecutive months' absence from the EU; grounds of public order or security; acquiring long-term status in another member state; or six consecutive years' absence from Cyprus.
Routes 4 and 5 — EU citizens, their families, and UK nationals
EU and EEA citizens, and family members who are themselves EU or EEA citizens, apply for a permanent residence certificate on form MEU3(A) after five years of uninterrupted legal residence.
Third-country family members of an EU or EEA citizen use form MEU3B. UK nationals and their family members covered by the withdrawal arrangements use UKW3.
These are declaratory routes: five years of lawful residence is the requirement, not money.
The comparison that actually decides it
| Investor permit | Long-term resident | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to apply | €500 + €300,000 invested | €30 |
| Time | ~2 months | 6–12 months |
| Wait before applying | None | 5 years of residence |
| Work in Cyprus | Not permitted | Free access to the labour market |
| Ongoing conditions | Keep the investment, insurance, records every 3 years | None comparable |
| Lost after | 2 years' absence | 6 years' absence from Cyprus |
If you are already living here on a permit and can wait, long-term resident status is cheaper, gives more, and asks less afterwards. The investor permit buys speed and a defined outcome for someone who is not here yet.
What none of these is
Permanent residence is not citizenship. It is a right to reside, renewed by a card, revocable on absence. A Cypriot passport is a separate application to the Ministry of Interior under its own conditions, including a Greek language requirement. Anyone selling you "citizenship by investment" is describing a programme that no longer exists.
It is also not automatic protection against absence. Both immigration permits lapse on two years away; long-term status on six.
Where it goes wrong
Paying from the wrong account. The money has to arrive from abroad, from you, your spouse, or a company you two wholly own. A transfer from anywhere else fails the criterion no matter how genuine the investment.
Buying a resale under category (A). First sale from a development company only. If it is a resale, it has to qualify under (B) instead.
Forgetting the property must house the family. Too few bedrooms and you must name a second property.
Assuming the €50,000 can come from Cyprus. Under (A) it cannot.
Missing the one-year rule. Approval is not the end. If you are abroad and do not take up residence in Cyprus within a year, the permit ceases to be valid.
Letting the card lapse and thinking the right lapsed too. The right is unlimited; the card runs ten years and must be replaced. They are different things.
Treating "permanent" as unconditional. Two years away ends an immigration permit, whatever the word suggests.
Not sure which of these applies to you? The residence permit finder asks six questions and shows every route that fits, with what each costs and whether it lets you work.
How we can help
We work out which route actually fits before anything is paid for: the criteria you already meet, the ones you do not, and what the difference costs. Then we prepare the file — forms, the document list in full, official translations and certifications, the affidavits and declarations the Migration Department requires — and submit in Nicosia, in person or as your authorised representative.
Afterwards we keep the permit alive: the three-yearly criminal record certificates, the annual evidence on the investment, the ten-year card replacement, and the biometrics appointment for everyone on the application.
Each permanent route has its own page, with the criteria, the fee and the realistic timing: immigration permit 6(2), long-term residence, and MEU3 for EU citizens and their families.
If you are not yet sure which family of routes is yours, start at Cyprus residence & immigration, which sorts them by nationality.
Common questions
300,000 euro under Regulation 6(2), in one of four permitted categories, plus proof of a secured annual income of at least 50,000 euro for yourself, 15,000 euro for a spouse and 10,000 euro for each dependent minor child.
In practice, one: long-term resident status, after five years of legal continuous residence, for 30 euro. Category F asks only for 9,568 euro of annual income from abroad and no investment, but the Department accepts those applications and does not decide them.
No. The applicant and spouse must declare they do not intend to take up employment in Cyprus, other than as directors of the company they invested in. Long-term resident status is the route that gives free access to the labour market.
About two months for the investor permit under the expedited procedure. Long-term resident status takes six to twelve months.
Yes. An immigration permit lapses if you acquire permanent residence abroad or are absent from Cyprus for two years, or if you dispose of the investment without replacing it. Long-term resident status is withdrawn after twelve consecutive months outside the EU, or six consecutive years outside Cyprus.
No. It is a right to reside, not a passport. Citizenship is a separate application to the Ministry of Interior with its own conditions, including a Greek language requirement.