In accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers on the revision of the Cyprus Investment Program, which was adopted on February 13, 2019, and which was put into effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on February 26, 2019, where some criteria were introduced and changed and documents that are required to apply, and which will enter into force on May 15, 2019.
The main changes are as follows:
• After acquiring citizenship, the Investor in the framework of the project must retain his investment for 5 (five) years, instead of 3 (three), as it was previously determined in the framework of the project.
• The investor has the right to replace his investment within 5 years after acquiring citizenship, having previously obtained permission from the Ministry of Finance.
• The investor must comply with the new financial criteria, A1 and one of the criteria A2-A5 (main investment criteria). Based on the new criterion A1, the Investor is obliged to contribute 150,000 euros (one hundred fifty thousand euros) as charity, as follows: a) EUR 75,000 to the Research and Innovation Fund. Provided that if the applicant wishes to deposit more than 75,000 euros, the additional amount will be included in the total amount of investments, according to criteria A.2 - A.5.
b) EUR 75,000 - to the Cyprus Land Management Organization (KOZ) for the promotion of projects, housing, affordable housing and for other housing projects. Provided that if the applicant wishes to deposit more than 75,000 euros, an additional amount will be included in the total investment amount, in accordance with criteria A.2 - A.5. • When applying for citizenship, the Investor and members of his family should not have any refusal to obtain citizenship in another Member State of the European Union.
• A criterion was added according to which the Investor must have a valid Schengen visa. This excludes third-country nationals who are not required to apply for an entry visa to EU member states, as well as applicants who are citizens of a European Union member state.