Cyprus Category F Residence Permit in 2026: Income Requirement, Documents, Fees and Medical Tests

Category F is the Cyprus immigration permit with the lowest published income floor of the non-EU residence routes: a secured annual income from abroad of at least €9,568 for the applicant and €4,613 for every dependant, no property to buy and no business to run. The Migration Department's page does not say how long an application takes, and it does not say what the Immigration Control Committee counts as “a decent living” above the floor. This guide sets out what the Department publishes (its Immigration Permits page of 29 December 2025, the Category F document list, the dependants list and the announcement on medical examinations that applies from 1 September 2026, all read on 5 November 2026), works out the income test for four household sizes, compares the fees with the pink slip over five years and marks what is reported only by law firms.

What Cyprus Category F is: the immigration permit for secured income from abroad

Category F is one of six categories, A to F, of the Immigration Permit under Regulation 5 of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations. Categories A to E cover people who farm, mine, trade, practise a profession or take permanent employment in Cyprus. Category F covers persons who possess and have fully and freely at their disposal from abroad a secured annual income of an appropriate amount to allow a decent living in Cyprus, without having to engage in any business, trade or profession in the Republic. The Immigration Control Committee examines the application and recommends to the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, who grants the permit. The residence right is of unlimited validity for the holder and adult dependants, which sets Category F apart from the one-year pink slip. The routes are compared in the permanent residency guide. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens register instead, as explained in our yellow slip (MEU1) guide.

Cyprus Category F income requirement: €9,568 plus €4,613 per dependant

The Department states the floor as “at least €9,568 for the applicant and moreover at least €4,613 for every dependent person”, amounts converted from CY£5,600 and CY£2,700. Dependants are the spouse and children under 18 (Regulation 8). The income may include pensions, dividends from shares, fixed-deposit interest and rents. It has to come from abroad and be secured, which in practice means documents that show it will continue.

These are floors. The Department names no ceiling and does not publish how the Committee judges “a decent living” above the floor, so read the table as the minimum for filing, which promises nothing about approval; a Cyprus lawyer can tell you what level of income current files show. The document list asks for two proofs: original statements of a bank account in the Republic, and a declaration of a secured annual income supported by original documents and an affidavit. Unlike the pink slip, whose checklist sets €2,000 a month of remittances into a Cyprus account, the Category F list states no monthly remittance figure.

Documents for a Cyprus Category F permit

Applications use form MIP2 and are submitted only at the Department's offices in Nicosia, in person or through an authorised representative. All accompanying documents must be officially translated and duly certified, an application without all required documents is not accepted, and any change in your data while the file is examined has to be reported at once. Biometric data (photo and fingerprints, the photo only for children under six) are captured when the card is issued, at the Nicosia offices or at the district unit of the Aliens and Immigration Service. Filing an application gives no right to enter or remain in the Republic without a valid permit or visa, so the stay of someone already in Cyprus has to stay lawful while the file is examined.

Category F medical tests: what changed on 1 September 2026

An announcement of the Migration Department makes medical examinations part of the supporting documents for all Immigration Permit applications under Categories A to F submitted from 1 September 2026. The applicant and every dependant need original blood-test results done abroad showing no hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV or syphilis, and an original chest X-ray for tuberculosis screening issued in the country of origin or the last country of lawful residence. The documents must be certified or legalised unless an intergovernmental agreement exempts them. The exemption in the announcement covers an applicant who already holds a temporary residence permit in Cyprus under which the same examinations were submitted and are still kept in the administrative file. Someone who passed through a pink slip first may therefore not repeat the tests, provided the results are in the file; confirm that before you book anything.

Cyprus Category F fees, validity and what happens after approval

Cyprus immigration firms report queues of roughly 12 to 24 months for Category F files. That figure comes from the market and the Department does not confirm it. The rules on residence and absence are the reason the permit suits someone who really lives in Cyprus: a holder who spends two years away loses it, whatever the income.

Category F worked example: a retired couple and a family of four

A British couple, both over State Pension age, live on the pensions used in our UK guide: £12,547.60 State Pension plus £7,500 of private pension each, which at an assumed £1 = €1.15 is €23,054.74 each and €46,109 for the couple. The exchange rate and the private pension are assumptions for illustration.

The couple clears the published floor by more than three times. The same pensions would also clear the pink slip's €28,800, but the pink slip is renewed every year. Over five years the official fees are close: the pink slip costs 2 × €70 for the permits and 2 × €70 for the cards at the start and 2 × €70 at each of four renewals, which is €280 + €560 = €840; Category F costs €640 once. The €200 gap is small beside translations, tests, insurance and legal fees, so the choice between them rests on income, time and rights and rarely on the state fee. What a UK State Pension alone is worth against this floor is shown in our UK State Pension and S1 guide.

A family of four, two parents and two children under 18, needs €9,568 + 3 × €4,613 = €23,407 a year, which is €1,951 a month. The pink slip would ask for €24,000 × (1 + 0.20 + 0.30) = €36,000 for the same family, so the Category F floor is 65% of it. The filing fee is €500 + 4 × €70 = €780. A child born later is added for €50 + €70 = €120. The children's permits are valid until they turn 18; the Department's page does not say what status follows, so plan that step with a lawyer well before the birthday.

What Cyprus Category F does not give

• Work or business. The category is defined by not engaging in any business, trade or profession in the Republic. The Department's page does not discuss remote work for a foreign employer; if that is your plan, read the digital nomad visa guide and ask a lawyer before you rely on this permit.
• Schengen or EU free movement. It is a Cyprus residence permit and gives neither.
• Citizenship. Citizenship follows separate rules, covered in citizenship after the investor programme closed.
• Tax residence. Where you pay tax follows the 183-day rule or the 60-day rule, not the permit; see tax residency in Cyprus.
• Automatic public health care. The Category F list asks for no insurance certificate, but you need cover from the day you arrive, and GESY enrolment depends on documented ordinary residence. See GESY explained and health insurance in Cyprus.

Cyprus Category F, pink slip or investor permit: which route fits

Many retirees hold a pink slip while a Category F file is examined; the Category F list itself anticipates applicants who already live in Cyprus on a temporary permit. Whether that sequence suits you depends on how long the Committee takes and on your income: the pink slip is the one that needs the higher income, Category F the one with the longer wait. The investor route, with its own worked family example, is in the permanent residency guide.

Questions about Cyprus Category F

Sources (read on 5 November 2026): Migration Department of the Republic of Cyprus (gov.cy/mip-md), “Immigration Permits” (posted 29 December 2025), “Immigration Permit required documents Category F”, “Required documents for addition of dependants, Reg. 5” and the announcement “Submission of medical examinations as part of the required supporting documents for applications for Immigration Permit (Categories A–F)” applying from 1 September 2026. Not checked and therefore left out: the processing time in practice, the level of income the Committee accepts above the floor, the status of a child after 18, and the treatment of remote work.

Planning to buy a home for a Category F retirement? Send us your budget and city and we will shortlist new-builds and introduce you to independent Cyprus lawyers who can prepare the permit file; the legal review of any purchase stays with your own lawyer.