Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship planning, has announced that Cyprus recently introduced key revisions to its Citizenship-by-Investment Program framework, making it a highly attractive investment proposition than before.
The revisions consist of three main advancements: the required minimum investment value, the investment requirements and the increased benefits for investors.
The main revision to the program is the decreased minimum investment value, which is now set at EUR 2 million, excluding VAT. This represents a 60% decrease, down from the original investment requirement of EUR 5 million.
The second revision is regarding the investment requirements. All applicants must now hold a residence permit in the Republic of Cyprus. If the applicant does not already hold a residence permit, an application must be submitted along with the citizenship application.
Lastly, the investor’s parents are now also entitled to apply for Cyprus citizenship, provided that they own a permanent residence valued at EUR 500,000 minimum, excluding VAT. The investor and their parents also have the option of acquiring a single private residence, if the total value amounts to at least EUR 1 million, excluding VAT.
Bata Racic, Manager of Henley & Partners in the Middle East, said, “Cyprus continues to be one of the leading citizenship-by-investment programs in the world. We see very high demand for Cypriot citizenship from the MENA region, in fact, the Cyprus Program saw over a 100% increase in demand in 2015. Following the recent changes, we expect to see even further increases in regional demand from HNWIs, investors and entrepreneurs.”
One of the key attractions for the Cyprus’ Citizenship-by-Investment Program is that Cyprus is a member of the European Union (EU). Therefore, Cypriot citizens are also citizens of the EU and receive all the benefits that entails, and the right to live, work and buy property across all EU member countries. Also, following a separate key revision in 2015, Cyprus is the only citizenship-by-investment program in Europe to offer non-domiciled investors tax free profits.
Cyprus continues to be one of the leading citizenship-by-investment programs in the world, according to Henley & Partners’ Global Residence and Citizenship Program (GRCP) Report for 2016. The annual report, which systematically analyses and ranks the leading citizenship-by-investment programs available throughout the world, has ranked Cyprus as the second best available program for two consecutive years.