Cyprus Insights/Legal & Tax Insights
Cyprus Citizenship in 2026: What Is Left After the Investor Programme Closed
Short answer: Cyprus citizenship by investment has been closed since 1 November 2020, and since December 2025 the legal power to grant it no longer exists. Buying a new-build for €300,000 under Category 6.2 gives you permanent residence, which is a residence permit; it neither starts nor shortens the citizenship clock. What remains for a property buyer is naturalisation by residence: 7 years of legal residence in the 10 years before the final 12 continuous months, which in practice means about 8 years of actually living in Cyprus, plus Greek at B1, an exam and a decision that rests with the authorities (all as of October 2026).
Cyprus citizenship by investment is closed, and the law behind it has been repealed
The Cyprus Investment Programme ended on 1 November 2020. Applications filed up to 31 October 2020 stayed in the system: 1,413 were pending at the closing date (691 investors and 722 family members), and by 31 July 2021 the interior ministry had approved 390 of them, according to Cyprus Mail's report of November 2021. I found no source that says what happened to the remainder, so this article does not state it.
The aftermath has been running for years. By 4 September 2025 Cyprus Mail counted 332 revoked passports (95 investors and 237 relatives), of which 112 had completed formal deprivation orders. An official inquiry found that 53% of the 6,779 citizenships granted under the scheme were unlawful. On 4 December 2025 parliament removed the cabinet's power to grant citizenship to investors, their spouses and their children, together with the power to grant honorary citizenship; the repeal was reported in force from 12 December 2025. The European Commission closed its infringement case on 11 March 2026.
As of October 2026, an offer of a Cypriot passport in exchange for a property purchase has no legal basis in Cyprus. Marketing that presents Category 6.2 as a route to a passport causes most of the confusion. Category 6.2 is a residence permit, and our guide to what Category 6.2 actually gives sets out the rights it carries.
Permanent residence, tax residence and Cyprus citizenship follow three different clocks
The three terms are mixed up in many sales conversations. Each runs on its own test, decided by a different office:
| Permanent residence (Category 6.2) | Tax residence | Citizenship by naturalisation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | An immigration status for a non-EU buyer of a new first-sale home | Your tax status for a calendar year | Membership of the state; a Cypriot and EU passport |
| Time you must spend in Cyprus | Enter Cyprus once every 2 years | More than 183 days in the year, or 60 days plus a Cyprus business or job link, a home available to you, no more than 183 days elsewhere and no tax residence elsewhere | 7 years of legal residence in the 10 years before the final 12 continuous months, with no more than 90 days away in those 12 months |
| Who decides | Migration authorities | Tax Department | Interior Ministry (Civil Registry) |
| What it gives you | The right to live in Cyprus; no passport | Where you file and pay income tax | A passport, with EU citizenship rights |
A Category 6.2 holder who enters Cyprus every two years keeps the permit, and that pattern leads neither to tax residence nor to eligibility for citizenship. A person who spends 184 days a year in Cyprus is tax resident, and the worked example below shows that this pattern fails the citizenship test. Only the citizenship clock counts days of actual presence over many years: the permit runs on a two-year entry rule, and the tax test starts again every January. Our guides to permanent residence in Cyprus and to Cyprus tax residency cover the other two clocks in detail.
How Cyprus citizenship by naturalisation works under the rules in force since December 2023
The Ministry of Interior lists the conditions that an adult applicant must meet cumulatively (form M127, as of October 2026):
- 12 months of continuous legal residence immediately before the filing date. Absences totalling up to 90 days do not interrupt the period.
- 7 years of legal residence in the 10 years before that final 12 months. The years are cumulative, so they need not be consecutive. Together this is 8 years inside an 11-year window. Law-firm summaries of the amended article add that residence means physical presence, and that time on a student permit or as an asylum seeker does not count.
- Good character. Summaries of the article list no serious criminal conviction (a foreign conviction counts if the act is also an offence in Cyprus), no pending serious criminal case, no Europol or Interpol notice, no sanctions listing, and lawful entry and stay. The European Commission's summary of the skilled-employee route adds that entering or leaving through closed ports or airports in the occupied north is disqualifying.
- Greek at B1, shown by a certificate from the state examinations or from the University of Cyprus School of Modern Greek. A Greek-medium school-leaving certificate or degree replaces the exam.
- Knowledge of Cypriot political and social life, shown by a certificate with at least 60% from the Ministry of Education's exam.
- Suitable accommodation and stable, regular resources for the applicant and family. The official text names no euro amount for this route; the €2,500 monthly salary figure belongs to the skilled-employee route.
- Intention to reside in Cyprus.
Filing is on form M127 at a District Administration Office, signed before a Registrar, with a €500 fee and two stamps of €8.54 each; a further €500 is due if the application is approved. The checklist asks for a copy of the valid residence permit, passport pages with entry and exit stamps, a detailed record of arrivals and departures, and a Cyprus police clearance, so absences are checked against documents.
The authorities decide, and the law promises no result. No statutory deadline applies to this route; the 8-month limit belongs to the €5,000 fast track for skilled employees. The Audit Office report covering 2022, discussed in parliament in April 2025, found about 12,000 applications pending in November 2023 and average waits of about three years for residence-based applications. I found no newer official figure.
Worked example: buying on 1 March 2027 and the earliest date to apply for Cyprus citizenship
The inputs below are assumptions chosen for the illustration; the day counts are exact.
- Contract signed on Monday 1 March 2027 for a new-build apartment at €300,000 plus VAT; the buyer is a non-EU citizen who applies for Category 6.2.
- Permit issued on Thursday 1 July 2027, which is 122 days after the contract. Our guide puts a clean case at three to four months and up to five or six if the file needs follow-up.
- Days before the permit are visitor days and do not count: the rule asks for legal residence, and the application includes a copy of the residence permit.
- From 1 July 2027 the buyer lives in Cyprus continuously, apart from the absences listed in the second table.
| Step | Date | Day count |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Contract signed | Monday 1 March 2027 | Day 0 |
| 2. Category 6.2 permit issued; legal residence starts | Thursday 1 July 2027 | 122 days after the contract |
| 3. Seven qualifying years | 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2034 | 2,557 days |
| 4. Final 12 continuous months, no more than 90 days away | 1 July 2034 to 30 June 2035 | 365 days |
| 5. Greek B1 certificate and exam certificate (60% or more) in hand | At the sitting before filing; exams are held twice a year | Needed on the filing day |
| 6. Earliest filing | 1 July 2035 is a Sunday, so Monday 2 July 2035 | 2,923 days of residence; 3,045 days after the contract |
| 7. Decision | No statutory deadline; the audit's three-year average would mean around July 2038 | More than 11 years after the contract |
The second table shows what moves the filing date, measured against Monday 2 July 2035.
| What happens | Effect on the day count | New earliest filing date |
|---|---|---|
| 60 days away in the final 12 months, in two trips | Inside the 90-day allowance | Monday 2 July 2035 (no change) |
| One 100-day trip from 15 January to 24 April 2035 | 10 days over the allowance. If only the excess is pushed out of the window, the window must start on 25 January 2035 (exactly 90 trip days left in it) | Friday 25 January 2036 (+207 days) |
| The same 100-day trip, if the Department restarts the 12 months on the day you return | Return on 25 April 2035; a new 12 months from that date | Friday 25 April 2036 (+298 days) |
| Permit issued on 1 September 2027 instead (the longer end of our guide's range) | Residence starts 62 days later | Monday 3 September 2035 (+63 days; 1 September is a Saturday) |
| Category 6.2 minimum: one 7-day visit every 2 years | 358 days away in any 12 months against 90 allowed | 268 days over; no filing date until the buyer moves |
| 184 days a year in Cyprus (tax resident) | 181 days away against 90 allowed | 91 days over; no filing date |
The sources do not say how the Department counts a trip that pushes you over 90 days, which is why the 100-day trip has two dates. The seven-year block assumes full-time residence. The amended article is summarised as requiring physical presence, and I found no official text that explains how a pattern of part-year stays is counted, so a buyer who spends only part of each year in Cyprus should not assume those years count. A pending serious criminal case, or a missing certificate on the filing day, would also stop the application. EU citizens need no Category 6.2 permit and should ask their lawyer which date the Department treats as the start of legal residence.
Other routes to Cyprus citizenship: marriage, Cypriot origin and the skilled-employee fast track
Marriage or civil partnership with a Cypriot citizen needs three years of marriage. If the couple lives in Cyprus, they must live there at least six months each year, with at least two years in Cyprus over the last three; couples living abroad can apply after three years of marriage. The fee is €300, and a declaration of harmonious cohabitation follows approval (Ministry of Interior, July 2025). Marriage does not confer citizenship automatically: in December 2025 the Supreme Constitutional Court upheld a refusal, and the interior minister takes the final decision. The Audit Office's average wait for marriage cases was about two years.
The Civil Registry also runs registration routes for people of Cypriot origin, for people born abroad who are registered through a consulate, and for minor children of Cypriot citizens. They depend on family documents, and a property purchase plays no part in them.
The only shortened residence route is for skilled employees of qualifying companies: 12 continuous months plus 4 years with Greek A2 or 3 years with Greek B1, at least two years in the job, and a gross salary of at least €2,500 a month, with an optional expedited examination of up to 8 months for €5,000. Category 6.2 does not permit salaried work in Cyprus, so a buyer holding only that permit cannot use it. The honorary and investor powers of the cabinet were repealed in December 2025, so no discretionary route remains.
Dual citizenship and a realistic plan for a Cyprus passport after buying property
Cyprus law does not restrict dual citizenship according to law-firm commentary, and a naturalised person is not required to give up another nationality. One practitioner guide notes a proviso that lets the Council of Ministers ask for renunciation on naturalisation, so confirm the point with the Department. Whether you keep your current passport depends on your home country's law; check that before you apply.
- Decide first whether you will live in Cyprus for most of every year for about eight years. If the answer is no, citizenship is an unrealistic goal, and Category 6.2 does the job it was built for: residence.
- If the answer is yes, start a day log on the day the permit is issued and keep boarding passes and stamps, because the file asks for a record of arrivals and departures.
- Book the Greek B1 and the 60% exam in the year before filing.
- Keep well under 90 days away in the final 12 months. A trip that ends exactly on the limit leaves no margin.
- Budget for several years of processing after filing and for the fees, translations and legal help.
Buyers comparing Cyprus with fast-passport countries will find the trade-off in our comparison of Cyprus and Turkey. The wider picture of moving to the island, from permits to health cover, is in our step-by-step guide to immigrating to Cyprus.
Beyond the items above, the checklist asks for the original birth certificate, a Cyprus police clearance valid for 6 months, a copy of your passport, copies of two consecutive notices in a daily newspaper announcing the application, and two passport photographs certified by the Community Leader. Documents issued abroad must be certified and translated.
The Ministry asks for suitable accommodation and lists a rental agreement with rent receipts among the accepted proofs, next to a title deed or purchase agreement. One law-firm summary states that ownership is required, so confirm with your lawyer before relying on renting.
On the general route each adult applies on their own and must meet every condition. Only the skilled-employee route allows a spouse or partner, and a dependent adult child with a disability, to apply alongside the main applicant. For minor children the Civil Registry has a separate registration procedure for children of Cypriot citizens; ask the Department about its details.
€500 at filing, two stamps of €8.54 and €500 on approval come to €1,017.08. Police certificates, Greek and knowledge exams, translations, newspaper notices and legal help are extra, and I found no reliable total for them.
A law-firm guide states that a refusal can be challenged by recourse to the Administrative Court and that the deadline is short, so contact a lawyer as soon as the decision arrives. The same guide notes that citizenship obtained through false statements can be withdrawn.
If you are looking at a new-build that fits Category 6.2, you can browse new homes in Cyprus for sale, or ask us to check a specific home against the permit rules before you sign.
