Category F (s.4)

This Category of visa is addressed to individuals who are not going to be employed or work in the Republic of Cyprus but they wish to enjoy the status of permanent residents of Cyprus which allows them to enter the country freely and live here. These individuals should earn their income from abroad which should be enough to cover their accommodation costs in Cyprus, with the minimum being at least €9.658,17 per annum and should be in a position to prove their income and that it is received from abroad.

This is a kind of permanent residence permit. There is no necessity to renew it; however the competent authority has the authority to proceed to an investigation regarding the application of the criteria at any time, and if it concludes that any of the criteria is not met any more than the residence permit will be revoked.

It is a requirement that within the period of 2 (two) years, the Individual must be in Cyprus at least for 48 hours.

The examination of the application and the issue of the residence permit take approximately 12 months.

In order to apply for this category the Individual should provide the following:

• Copy of a valid passport
• Copy of a temporary residence permit (if he lives in Cyprus)
• Rent or buy an apartment or house (submit title deeds or sales contract registered with Land registry or rental agreement)
• Deposit enough funds from abroad to a bank account to cover licensing expectations (bank statement)
• Present proof of income from abroad i.e either contract of employment or pension or dividends etc which prove that the individual has the financial means to support himself/ herself and to this effect to present original documents as proof of income and affidavit
• Curriculum Vitae

Official statement by the applicant that he/she does not intent to work or be engaged in any form of business in Cyprus

• Health insurance policy
• Criminal record Certificate (if the applicant resides abroad, the certificate must be issued from his country of origin, and submitted with an official and certified translation into Greek)
• Certificate of marriage (if applicable)
• Birth Certificate of your children(if applicable)

Accelerated Category (s.6(2))

This procedure is faster than the procedure described in category F (4-6 months). This Category of visa is also addressed to individuals who are not going to be employed or work in the Republic of Cyprus but they will stay in Cyprus as permanent visitors.

This Category is the improvement of the Category F. However this permit requires additional criteria to be applied. The individual should provide the following:

• Copy of valid passport
• Original letter from a financial institution confirming the deposit of €30.000 blocked for a period of 3 years, also verifying that the deposit was transferred from abroad.
• The individual should purchase an apartment or house with valuation of at least €300.000
• Declaration of a secured annual income from abroad of €30.000 at least (supported by original documents and affidavit or declaration)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Official Statements by the applicant and his/her spouse that they do not intent to undertake any sort of employment in Cyprus.
• Health insurance policy
• Original Criminal Record Certificate duly certified for the applicant and his/her spouse (if the applicant resides abroad, the certificate must be issued from his/her country of residence, and submitted with an official and certified translation).
• Marriage Certificate duly certified (if applicable)
• Children’s birth Certificates dully certified (official and certified translation)

The Individual’s income should derive exclusively from abroad and the Individual cannot earn any income in the Republic of Cyprus.

It is a requirement that within the period of 2 (two) years, the Individual will come to Cyprus at least for 48 hours.

In the above cases the individual can be in Cyprus before application is approved only as a visitor. He cannot use the receipt of the submission of the application in order to stay in Cyprus.

EMPLOYEES IN COMPANIES OF FOREIGH INTERESTS THE MAJORITY OF THE SHARES OF WHICH BELOGN TO THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS (BCS)

This Category addresses to individuals who wish to work in Cyprus as Employees of companies of foreign interests.

In this Category the Individuals must be employees and be registered with the Social Insurance and the Tax Department, paying taxes and social insurance contributions in Cyprus on the income earned in Cyprus.

Furthermore this kind of residence permit is temporary and should be renewed every 2 years.

In this case the Director of the company should make an Affidavit in the court in relation to the company's ownership.

The company should have offices in Cyprus, in suitable premises, separate from any private housing or other office, except in the case of business co-habitation.

The staff is divided into three categories: Directors,  Middle management executives and other key personnel and Specialists. A Specialist must be in the following professions:

• Software and System Engineers
• Application and Data Architects
• Information and Communication Technology and Enterprise Solution Architects
• Technical Assurance Professionals
• Telecom and Space Engineers
• Data scientists
• Machine Learning Engineers
• Web Developers and designers
• UX User Experience Professionals
• Quantitative Analysts
• Quality Assurance Analysts
• Mobile Application Developers
• Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality Programmers
• Digital Marketing Specialists
• Video Production Multimedia Specialists for Mobile Apps and Software
• Analysts for Mobile Apps and Software
• Designers of Prototype for Mobile Devices
• DevOps Engineers
• Cyber Security Specialists
• Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Big Data Specialists
• Pharmaceutical Formulation Technologists
• Pharmaceutical Engineer Validation Specialists
• Pharmaceutical Patents Specialists
• Pharmaceutical Regulatory and Quality Assurance Professionals
• Marine Engineers
• Naval Architects

The salary of the alien employees should be as follows:

• For Directors: at least €4.000 per month
• For middle management executives and other key personnel and Specialists: €2.000 per month

The maximum number of employees a company can employ has changed as below:

• Up to 5 Directors can be employed.
• Up to 10 Middle management executives and other key personnel can be employed.
• In relation to Specialists, the maximum number allowed is based on the annual turnover of the company, as following:
• In case the turnover is less or equal to 1 million, 5 Specialists can be employed.
• In case the turnover is greater than 1 million but less than 3 millions, 10 Specialists can be employed.
• In case that the turnover is greater than 3 millions but less than 5 millions, 20 Specialists can be employed.
• In case the turnover is greater than 5 millions but less than 10 millions, 30 Specialists can be employed.
• In case that the turnover is greater than 10 millions but less than 20 millions, 50 Specialists can be employed.
• In case the turnover is greater than 20 millions but less than 30 millions, 100 Specialists can be employed.
• In case that the turnover is greater than 30, 200 Specialists can be employed.

The company should present to the competent authorities:

• Certificates of the company
• Original certificate of the company which will proof that the foreign participation in the company is more than 50% of the total share capital. In case that the participation in the company is less or equal to 50%, the participation in the share capital must be equal or more than €200.000.
• Description and information of the nature of the activities of the company
• Deposit funds from abroad to a bank account of at least €200.000. This amount should be introduced directly or indirectly from the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of the company. Please note that this amount is not blocked and can be used by the company to cover its expenses and finance its set up in Cyprus.
• Copy of valid passport of the beneficial owners
• Company’s Memorandum
• Rental or Sale Purchase agreement connected to the lease or purchase of offices for the company in Cyprus.
• Statement regarding the employees of the company (including current employees applicants for whom residence permit is requested)
• Financial Statements for companies which already have activities in Cyprus
• Tax Clearance (for companies which already have activities in Cyprus)
• Receipt of payment Levy for the company

The Individual employee should present to the authorities:

• Passport
• CV and diplomas
• List of company’s third country personnel
• Declaration for covering return cost
• Blood tests and chest x-ray for tuberculosis
• Original Clean Criminal Record Certificate (if the applicant lives in other country than the country of birth, the certificate must origin from the resident country)
• Rental or purchase Agreement of a house or apartment for the employee
• Employer’s Liability Insurance
• Original Employment agreement
• Certificate of Medical Insurance
• Copy of the page of the passport in which is appears the last time the applicant has come in Cyprus

Note that all the above documents must be translated and apostilled by the issued country.

Furthermore, please note that upon submission of the application in this case, the Individual can come and stay in Cyprus.

A holder of BCS residence permit can apply after 2 years for acquisition of the category E

This kind of resident permit is addressed to individuals who already have a temporary permit (BCS) for two years and they work as employees in Cyprus; this permit is renewed every 5 years.

VISITOR

The residence permit of Visitors relates to third country nationals who enter the Republic of Cyprus and wish to stay for more than three (3) months, without employment rights.

Such residence permit can be issued when the applicant present at the competent authorities proves that he has adequate funds in order to live in Cyprus.

The residence permit of visitor is valid for one year

The requested documents are the below:

• Rental Agreement
• Bank guarantee letter for each person
• Original Bank Statement in a Cyprus Bank in which illustrated that the applicant has sufficient balance to live in Cyprus.
• Swift copy of the wire transfer of the funds to the bank account in Cyprus as well as proves and receipts of these funds
• Passport with their last arrival in Cyprus
• Medical Insurance for each person
• Birth certificate of the children
• Marriage certificate (in case of family)

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