Cyprus company formation

Cyprus company formation is the process of incorporating a legal entity, commonly called the company, in the Republic of Cyprus. People describe it as registering a company, or as opening or starting a business in Cyprus.

A private limited company is the structure most foreign founders use, and there is no residency or nationality requirement to hold shares or act as a director.

Since 1 January 2026, a company incorporated in Cyprus, or one that has moved its registered office or seat here, is tax resident in Cyprus by default, and only a double tax treaty can provide otherwise. Where a treaty applies, its own rules decide residence, so we recommend a Cyprus tax-resident director who runs the company from Cyprus.

The process has two stages:

1. an application for name approval, which takes 1-3 working days;
2. the Registrar of Companies processing the registration.

The company will be incorporated within 7-10 working days.

Company formation involves the procedures and steps taken before registering the company. Company incorporation requires preparing the Memorandum and Articles of Association, which set out what the company is for and how it is run.

A Cyprus lawyer who forms a company is bound by the anti-money laundering law. The lawyer verifies the identity of the client and of the company's beneficial owners before taking on the work. Where the risk is low and a delay would interrupt the normal course of business, the check can be completed during the engagement, as soon as possible after first contact.

Company formation procedure

The company formation procedure in Cyprus begins with the appointment of a licensed lawyer who will undertake to prepare all necessary incorporation documents and register the company. Under the Advocates Law, Cap. 2, drafting a company's memorandum and articles and the documents filed for its registration is practising law, so only licensed Cyprus lawyers can prepare them. The lawyer who forms the company swears the statutory declaration that the Cyprus Companies Law has been complied with, form HE1.

The existence of each company begins with the Registrar of Companies issuing the certificate of incorporation.

The Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property

All Cyprus companies are registered with the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (DRCIP), which maintains the Register of Companies and must be notified of any company changes. The DRCIP operates under the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry.

Cyprus company name approval

The first step is to apply for approval of the desired company name. The name must include the abbreviation Ltd or Limited at the end and not be unreasonably similar to an existing company name.

The Registrar searches the name against business entities and trade marks in Cyprus and abroad. The most common reasons for refusal are:

• the name is the same as or too similar to an existing one, and the existing entity has not consented in writing;
• the name is misleading, for example implying a scale of business the company does not have;
• the name is undesirable under section 18 of the Companies Law;
• the name is only a general description of an activity, a quality or a place, with nothing distinctive in it.

A name with a restricted word needs the consent of the competent authority: the Central Bank for "bank", and the education ministry for "school", "college", "university", "academy" or "polytechnic". The consent is filed with the name application or, at the latest, with the incorporation application.

Usually, we recommend using unique names and adding the owners' initials in the front to get Cyprus company name approval from the register more quickly. We keep a list of already approved company names that can be used for immediate Cyprus company registration.

The name approval procedure takes 1-3 working days. An approved name is reserved for six months, and the company must be registered within that time.

Required documents for Cyprus company registration

The Documents to be prepared by the lawyer and submitted to the Registrar of Companies for registration of a Cyprus company are the following:

• Memorandum of Association
• Articles of Association
• A statutory declaration by a Lawyer (HE1)
• Forms HE2 and HE3

Public companies file form HE5 as well, with an extra fee of €20. It does not apply to a private limited company, which is the usual structure covered here.

The memorandum and articles are filed signed in the Greek language, with a solemn declaration from the person who witnessed the signatures. A company that adopts Table A as its articles files a document naming the regulations it adopts.

Memorandum of Association

The memorandum is the document the company is incorporated on. Under section 4 of the Cyprus Companies Law, Cap. 113, it states:

• the company name as approved, ending in Limited or Ltd;
• the objects of the company, meaning the business it may carry on;
• that the liability of its members is limited;
• the share capital and its division into shares of a fixed amount, with each founder taking at least one share.

A private company limited by shares can register as a commercial company of general objects instead of listing its activities. It can then carry on any lawful business that needs no licence from a regulator, so the memorandum does not have to be amended each time the business changes.

From the date on its certificate of incorporation, the company is a legal person separate from its shareholders, who are not personally liable for its debts.

Articles of Association

The articles are the company's internal rules: how directors are appointed and take decisions, and how shares are issued and transferred. A company with shares can adopt the model rules in Table A of the First Schedule to the Companies Law, in full or in part, or file its own articles. The memorandum and the articles together bind the company and every member.

A statutory declaration by a Lawyer (form HE1)

Form HE1 is a statutory declaration that the registration requirements of the Companies Law have been met. The lawyer entrusted with the formation signs it and swears it before the court.

Form HE2: the registered office

The form HE2 provides the company's registered office address. Every Cyprus company must maintain a registered address in Cyprus. The lawyer can optionally offer this service. At this address, all notifications to the company can be officially served.

Form HE3: directors and secretary

The form HE3 provides the company's officials, director, and secretary. A private company must have at least one director and a public company at least two. Every company has a secretary, and a sole director cannot act as secretary except in a private company with a single shareholder.

The director can be any natural person or company and does not need to be a shareholder. The same applies to the secretary. A director or secretary who is a natural person must be at least 18 years old. Both the above might be offered as a service by licensed lawyers.

Submission of documents to the Cyprus Registrar

All the above documents are submitted to the Cyprus Registrar of Companies for approval. On approval, the Registrar issues the certificate of incorporation.

For a further fee it issues the certificates of shareholders, of directors and secretary and of the registered office, with certified copies of the memorandum and articles and of the certificate of incorporation.

The company certificates can be in English or Greek.

For €160 the Registrar opens a file of translations, so that it can issue certified copies of the Articles and Memorandum in English. The translation is confirmed by an affidavit before the court from the lawyer or other person who translated it, or certified by a sworn translator. Once the file is open, every later special or ordinary resolution and every form HE16 has to be filed with a certified English translation.

Registration timeline

The approval and registration of the company take 2-4 working days after submission. That is the Registrar's processing step only. Counting name approval and document preparation, incorporation runs about 7-10 working days, and being ready to trade, once the bank account and tax registrations are in place, takes two to four weeks.

The Registrar does not ask for a bank account to register a company, so the account is opened after incorporation, with the company's certificates. A company that will register as a company with foreign interests and makes its €200,000 investment as a deposit needs an account with a credit institution licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Registration schemes and fast-track routes

A company majority owned by third-country nationals can go one step further after incorporation and enter the Register of Foreign Interest Companies.

Where a third-country shareholder holds 50% or less, the company qualifies if that stake is worth at least €200,000. That requirement comes on top of the €200,000 initial investment described below. Seven other categories qualify on their own terms.

The €200,000 initial investment

In every category the company first makes an initial investment of €200,000 within the six months before it applies.

The money has to still be there on the day the company applies. It is either a deposit by the shareholders into the company's account with a credit institution licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus, or the purchase of an office and/or equipment strictly for business use.

A deposit is proved by a SWIFT or similar bank document showing the transfer from abroad and a bank statement showing the balance on the filing date, and a purchase by invoices in the company's name. Electronic money institutions and payment institutions do not count, and real estate bought by a property business does not meet the test.

Hiring staff from outside the EU

Registration gives the company a simpler and faster route to recruit skilled staff from outside the EU through the Migration Department.

The Migration Department's document list sets a gross salary of €2,500 a month as the floor for highly skilled posts. Below it the post counts as support staff, and the employment contract has to be sealed by the Department of Labour.

How the company applies

The application goes to the Business Support Center through the online service on gov.cy, filed from the company's own CY Login profile. If the company is eligible and the application meets the requirements, registration is completed within ten business days of the duly submitted e-form.

Nine categories of company qualify, from shipping and high technology to private institutes of tertiary education.

Our page on the Cyprus Business Facilitation Unit sets out the categories, the €200,000 investment rules, the premises conditions and the documents. The employee side, meaning permits, fees and renewals, is on the page about the Cyprus work permit for non-EU staff.

How much does it cost to set up a company in Cyprus?

The total company formation cost is between €1,899 and €2,099, or between €2,059 and €2,259 if you choose to have documents in English. The legal fees within this range are subject to 19% VAT.

The fees payable for forming a Cyprus private company with share capital, with accelerated processing, are the following:

• Company name approval €30
• Company registration (incorporation forms HE1, HE2, HE3) €265
• Company certificates (Incorporation, Directors & Secretary, Shareholders and Registered Office), with a certified copy of the Memorandum and Articles €220
• HE1 stamp payable to the Cyprus Bar Association €49
• Courier €35
• Registrar fee for a file of translations, so certified copies of the Memorandum and Articles are issued in English, optional €160

Legal fees range from €1,300 to €1,500, plus 19% VAT.

After incorporation: tax, VAT and yearly filings

Within 60 days of incorporation, the company registers with the Tax Department and gets its tax number. It registers for VAT once its taxable supplies pass €15,600 over 12 months, or are expected to pass that figure in the next 30 days. A company that employs staff registers as an employer with Social Insurance Services.

Yearly filings and corporate tax

Every year the company files an annual return with its financial statements at the Registrar of Companies, and audited accounts with its tax return at the Tax Department. Its beneficial owners are recorded in the Registrar's register of beneficial owners and confirmed electronically every year between 1 October and 31 December.

Company profits are taxed at 15% from 1 January 2026, as set out in our guide to the Cyprus tax system and rates. The €350 annual levy that companies used to pay the Registrar was abolished from 2024 by Law 25(I)/2024. Only unpaid levies for 2011 to 2023 can still be collected.