Cyprus permanent residency through property investment

All figures on this page come from the Civil Registry and Migration Department criteria document for Immigration Permits for Investors, which is the current 4th Revision, in force since 2 May 2023. Checked on 12 August 2026.

How much do I need to invest to get Cyprus permanent residency?

The minimum is €300,000, and the criteria are explicit that this figure is net of VAT. The official payment receipts you submit must total at least €300,000 excluding VAT, whatever the delivery date of the property.

That wording matters more than it first appears. If a marketed price is quoted inclusive of VAT, the amount that counts towards the threshold is the price before VAT is added. At the €370,000 to €380,000 level this is a documentation question rather than a real risk, but it is worth confirming the net figure with your lawyer before you sign, because the receipts are what the Migration Department assesses.

We are a seller, not a law firm, so treat this page as a starting point for your own checks rather than as advice. Everything below is linked to the source it came from, so you can confirm any of it yourself.

The investment can be split across up to two housing units, and they do not have to come from the same developer, provided their combined market value meets the minimum.

Does the property have to be a new build?

For the residential route, yes. The property must be a first sale from a development company. A resale dwelling qualifies only if the sale contract was filed with the Department of Lands and Surveys before 7 May 2013, which in practice excludes almost every resale on the market today.

There is a separate category for commercial real estate such as offices, shops and hotels, and that one does permit resale. It is a different application route with different rules, and it is not the one most apartment buyers use.

Both remaining residences at A. DomeNik Residence are first sales direct from the owner of the development, which is the position the criteria require. You can see the full specification for each residence including the measurement breakdown.

What income do I need to show?

You need a secure annual income of at least €50,000. That rises by €15,000 for a spouse and by €10,000 for each dependent minor child.

On the residential property route the income has to come from abroad, evidenced by a tax return from the country where you are tax resident. Income earned inside Cyprus does not count towards the threshold on this route. The other investment routes, covering share capital, Cyprus companies and investment funds, treat Cyprus-sourced income differently.

The €50,000 base was raised from €30,000 in the May 2023 revision. Older articles still quoting €30,000 are describing rules that no longer apply.

Who can I include on the application?

The permit automatically covers your spouse and your children under 18. Beyond that the rules tightened considerably in May 2023.

• Children aged 18 to 25 who are unmarried, financially dependent on you and enrolled in tertiary education abroad can apply separately, with an additional €10,000 of income shown for each.
• Adult children who are financially independent need their own qualifying investment. In practice this multiplies the investment requirement, so including one adult child means investing €600,000 rather than €300,000.
• Parents and parents-in-law are no longer listed as eligible dependants. Before May 2023 they could be included. They cannot now, and this is the change that most often catches families out.

How much does the application cost and how long does it take?

The application fee is €500. There is a further €70 per person for the Alien Registration Certificate where one does not already exist. The Migration Department gives an estimated examination period of approximately two months from the point a complete application is submitted.

Two months is the department's own stated timescale for examining a complete file. It is not a guarantee, and it does not include the time you will spend assembling documents, obtaining certified translations and getting a lawyer to file. Budget realistically for longer overall.

What are my obligations after the permit is granted?

The permit is not passive. Four conditions decide whether you keep it.

1. You must keep the investment. Disposing of it without immediately replacing it with an investment of equal or greater value cancels the permit.
2. You must not work in Cyprus. The applicant and spouse have to confirm they will not take up employment, with one exception: acting as a director of a company in which they have invested under this policy.
3. You must not be absent for two years. The permit ceases to be valid if the holder and dependants are absent from Cyprus for a period of two years. This is a light obligation compared with most residency schemes, but it is a real one.
4. You must take up residence within a year. If you are living abroad when the permit is approved, you have one year to take up residence in Cyprus or the permit lapses.

The right of residence itself is of unlimited duration. The physical residence card is renewed every ten years, and a minor's card runs until they turn 18.

Does permanent residency lead to a Cyprus passport?

Not by itself. Permanent residency and citizenship are separate processes with very different requirements, and this is the point where marketing material is least reliable.

Naturalisation by residence, under the Civil Registry (Amendment) Law of 2023 in force since 19 December 2023, requires cumulative legal residence of seven years within the preceding ten, including a final continuous twelve months during which absences must not exceed 90 days. It also requires Greek at B1 level and a Cyprus civics test. The full requirements are set out on the Ministry of Interior naturalisation page.

In short, the residency permit asks you not to be absent for two years. Citizenship asks you to genuinely live in Cyprus for seven. Anyone presenting the property route as a fast path to an EU passport is misreading the law.

Do the A. DomeNik Residence apartments qualify?

Yes, on the investment threshold. The Penthouse Suite at €370,000 and the Rooftop Suite at €380,000 both sit above the €300,000 minimum, both are first sales from the development, and both are being sold directly by the owner rather than through an agent.

Meeting the investment threshold is one of several conditions rather than the whole test. The income requirement, the source of that income and the dependant rules are assessed separately, and a purchase that qualifies on price can still fail on income. A Cyprus immigration lawyer should review your circumstances before you commit.

Could the rules change before I buy?

They have changed before and they will change again. The current criteria are the 4th Revision, in force since 2 May 2023, which raised the income threshold from €30,000 to €50,000 and removed parents and parents-in-law as automatic dependants.

There is ongoing public discussion about raising the minimum investment from €300,000 to somewhere between €400,000 and €500,000, often linked to Cyprus joining the Schengen area. As of 12 August 2026 no official announcement has been made and no revised criteria have been published. Treat any figure above €300,000 that you see quoted as speculation until it appears on the Migration Department's own page.

We have not put a countdown on that, and we would be sceptical of anyone who does. A pending change nobody has announced is not a deadline, and using one as a reason to hurry a several-hundred-thousand-euro decision would not be honest.

Verify the current position yourself before acting. The criteria document is published at gov.cy and is the only source that governs an actual application.