Cyprus permanent residency

Cyprus permanent residency is a legal status that entitles non-EU citizens and adult dependants to enter and live in Cyprus with no time limit. It is known as a Cyprus Immigration Permit or unlimited residency, often called Cyprus PR. This residency can cover your spouse and children under 18.

This status does not expire, meaning that holders are not required to renew it; the residence card must be replaced every ten years. The permit ends after two years away from Cyprus, among other grounds.

To become a permanent resident in Cyprus, you can invest a minimum of €300,000 in the country and have a secured income of at least €50,000 a year (the investment route), or have a secured income from abroad of at least €9,568 a year (Category F). The investment route is a fast track that can be completed in about six months.

Which route fits you

A non-EU national with €300,000 to invest or a secured income from abroad applies for an Immigration Permit; one with five years of legal residence may qualify for long-term resident status. EU citizens and their families, and family members of Cypriots, follow separate routes.

For a temporary permit to live here now, see our page on the Cyprus Pink Slip.

Your situation	Route	Main condition
Non-EU national with €300,000 to invest	The investment route	At least €300,000 in a new home, other real estate, new share capital in a Cyprus company with at least five staff, or units in a Cyprus investment fund (conditions for each), and a secured income of at least €50,000 a year, more with a family
Non-EU national with income from abroad	Category F	A secured income from abroad, fully at your disposal, of at least €9,568 a year plus €4,613 for each dependant, enough to live on without working or running a business in Cyprus
Non-EU national with five years of legal residence on another permit	Long-term resident status	Five years of legal and continuous residence on a valid residence permit, with some groups excluded
EU citizen or family member	EU permanent residence	Five years of continuous legal residence in Cyprus, for a family member with the EU citizen
Spouse or civil partner of a Cypriot	Residence by marriage	Marriage or a civil union with a Cypriot citizen. It gives a residence permit, not permanent residence.

For the investment route and Category F, the government fee is €500 per application, covering everyone on it, plus €70 for each person who needs an Aliens Registration Certificate (ARC). Every fee, including the lower fees of other routes, is listed under Cyprus permanent residency cost and processing time.

Benefits of Cyprus permanent residency

A permanent residence permit lets you and your spouse live in Cyprus with no end date and gives access to public healthcare once you live here. It does not make you a tax resident, and it gives no visa-free travel to Schengen countries.

• No end date. The right of residence has no end date for you and your spouse. The residence card that proves it is valid for ten years from issue and must be replaced when it expires. A minor child's permit is valid until the child turns 18.
• Family cover. Who can be on your permit is set out under Family members.
• Public healthcare. If you live in the areas under the Republic's control, permanent residence status makes you a beneficiary of the General Healthcare System (GeSY).
• Tax. Holding the permit does not make you a Cyprus tax resident: you become one by spending more than 183 days in Cyprus in a tax year, or at least 60 days if you meet the other conditions of the 60-day rule. Our page on Cyprus tax residency sets out both tests.
• Citizenship later. If you aim for citizenship, the conditions are in the section Permanent residency or citizenship?

Travel with the permit

A Cyprus residence permit does not grant visa-free travel to Schengen countries. Cyprus takes part in Schengen cooperation, but border controls between Cyprus and the other Schengen states have not yet been lifted.

For example, two countries outside the EU let you in on the permit:

• Serbia admits holders of a national passport with a residence permit of an EU country without a visa, for up to 90 days in a six-month period and within the permit's validity.
• Albania admits holders of a valid residence permit issued by an EU member state without a visa, if they leave at least three days before the permit expires; Iranian nationals always need a visa.

Our page on which countries you can visit with a Cyprus residence permit covers the rules country by country.

Cyprus permanent residency cost and processing time

Government fees for a permanent residence permit are €500 per application, and on the investment route the main cost is the investment itself, at least €300,000 (see the investment section). Processing times for each route are under processing time.

The government fees are:

Who	Application fee	Extra fee
The applicant, with the spouse and children under 18 on the same application	€500 for everyone on the application	€70 for each person who needs an Aliens Registration Certificate (ARC)
Each adult child on the investment route, on their own application	€500	€70 if they need an ARC
Adding a spouse or child to a permit already granted	€50 per person	€70 if they need an ARC

Other routes have their own fees:

Route	Fee
Long-term resident status	€30
Permanent residence card of a non-EU family member of an EU citizen	€20
Permanent residence document (UKW3) of a UK national, form MUKW3	€30 per person

A new home bought from a developer carries VAT on top of the €300,000. Whether the standard or the reduced rate applies is explained on our page on 5% VAT on property in Cyprus.

The fees are the same for Category F permits. Legal and translation fees are separate.

Processing time

The time varies by route, from months on the investment route to years under Category F:

Route	How long	Note
Investment route	About six months	The Migration Department's own estimate is about two months from a complete application
Category F	A few years in our practice	The department publishes no examination time
Long-term resident status	Six to twelve months	The published examination time
Permanent residence card for non-EU family members of EU citizens	Within six months	From a complete application; longer if documents are missing

Permanent residency by investment

On the investment route, you need two things: a qualifying investment and a secured yearly income. The Migration Department examines these applications under a faster procedure (the fast-track procedure under Regulation 6(2)).

Our guide to Cyprus residency by investment covers the route in more detail, and the Migration Department publishes its criteria for investors.

Here is an example of the Cyprus permanent resident card obtained through investment:

What you can invest in

The investment must be at least €300,000 in one of these four types:

Investment	Minimum	Conditions
A new house or apartment	€300,000 plus VAT	Bought from a developer as a first sale. You can buy up to two homes, from the same developer or different ones, if their total market value meets the threshold; a couple can buy up to two homes between them
Other real estate, such as offices, shops, hotels or related developments	€300,000 in total	The property can even be a resale.
Shares in a Cyprus company	€300,000	Share capital of a newly registered company, or a share capital increase in an existing one. The company must be based and operating in Cyprus, have a proven physical presence there and employ at least five people
Units of a Cyprus collective investment fund	€300,000	The fund holds its investments in Cyprus

For property, the application includes the title deed, or a sale contract filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys, in your name and/or your spouse's. The market value must be at least €300,000 (plus VAT, if VAT applies), and the payment receipts must reach at least €300,000 without VAT. The delivery date does not matter, so a home under construction counts.

The property can be bought in the name of a company whose absolute owner or ultimate beneficial owner will be the investor or his/her spouse. The company must be legally set up in Cyprus or in another EU or EEA state.

Keep the investment. If the investor wishes to sell the investment or the property, he/she must replace it at once with another of equal or higher value and follow all the above-mentioned conditions.

Where the money must come from

The payment must be made into the seller's bank account in Cyprus, and the money must be transferred from abroad. It must not come from a loan taken in Cyprus.

It can come from your bank account or your spouse's, if the spouse is on the application, or from the account of a company whose only shareholders are you and/or your spouse, as long as the shareholder is included in the application.

You can pay in two ways: directly from an account abroad to the seller, or from abroad into your own Cyprus account and then to the seller. Remittance (SWIFT) records, foreign card payment receipts or a bank certificate prove that the money came from abroad.

Income you must show

You must show a secured personal income of at least €50,000 a year, plus €15,000 for your spouse and €10,000 for each dependent child under 18 of you or your spouse. The spouse's income (if any) can be included in calculating income.

If you buy a new home from a developer, the income should come from abroad. For the other three types of investment, part or all of it may come from activity in Cyprus, if it is taxed in Cyprus.

Salaries, pensions, dividends, bank interest and rents count. You prove the income with a tax return from the country where you are tax resident, or with certificates from an independent certified accountant.

Family members

Your dependants on the permit are your spouse and your children under 18.

Your spouse can have their own permit instead of being your dependant: a separate application and fee, and the spouse does not have to meet the investment criteria. If the investor's permit is cancelled, the spouse's permit is cancelled too.

Children aged 18 to 25 can file their own application if:

• they are unmarried;
• they are students in tertiary education abroad on the date of the application;
• they are financially dependent on the applicant;
• the parents have an additional annual income of €10,000 for each child.

Children keep their PR if they exceed age 25 or no longer meet the above criteria (unmarried, financially dependent, students). Their future spouse or child cannot be added as dependents on their PR. It is cancelled if the parent's permit is cancelled.

A child who wants to study in Cyprus applies through the college or university for a temporary student permit. When they finish their studies, regardless of age, they can apply for PR, provided they have an extra annual parental income of €10,000.

Adult children

Children over 18 who are not financially dependent on you can get their own permit if you invest more:

• The investment rises by €300,000 for each adult child on the same investment: €600,000 with one adult child, €900,000 with two.
• For adult children applying based on their parents' real estate investments, a payment certificate showing at least 66% of the property's market value must be submitted with the application documents.
• Each adult child files a separate application and must individually demonstrate that they have a secured annual income of at least €50,000. This amount increases if they have dependents (by €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each child under 18).
• The investment can be in your name alone or in joint names with the adult child.

Each adult child pays their own government fee.

Other conditions

Beyond the investment and the income, you must meet these conditions:

• You and your spouse provide a clean criminal record certificate from your country of origin and from your country of residence, if different, and should pose no threat to public order or security in Cyprus.
• You and your dependants hold health insurance covering inpatient and outpatient care.
• You and your spouse confirm that you will not take any employment in Cyprus, except as directors of the company you invested in.
• Where the investment is not in a company's share capital, you and/or your spouse may hold shares in Cyprus companies, take dividends from them and sit on their boards as unpaid directors.

Category F: permanent residency on income from abroad

Category F grants permanent residence without an investment to people living on a secured income from abroad. The applicant must show a yearly income of at least €9,568 for one applicant plus €4,613 for each dependent person.

The income must be fully at your disposal and sufficient to live on in Cyprus without having to earn anything here from a business, trade, or profession. Pensions, dividends, interest on fixed deposits and rents count.

The amounts specified as requirements are insufficient in practice for living in Cyprus, as the cost of living is higher.

The same dependants can be on the permit as on the investment route (see Family members). Our guide to Category F has more on this route.

Home and bank account

Cyprus permanent residency category F is flexible and does not require a strict property purchase. The application accepts a title deed or a sale contract with proof of payment.

You can apply for PR category F with a rented property. The application may be declined. Based on our experience, we recommend applying after purchasing a property.

Original statements of your bank account in Cyprus are part of the application. You cannot apply without a bank account in Cyprus. Our page on opening a bank account in Cyprus explains how.

Your stay and work during the application

Filing a Category F application does not give you the right to enter or stay in Cyprus. Until you receive a decision, you need a valid residence permit or visa.

How long the decision takes is under processing time.

In our practice, an applicant who already works in Cyprus signs a statement that they will stop working once the permit is approved, and their work permit ends upon approval.

Permanent residence after 5 years of stay

After five years of legal and continuous residence on a valid residence permit, a non-EU national can apply for long-term resident status.

The five years are the ones right before the application, spent in the areas under the Republic's control. Absences shorter than six consecutive months, and not more than ten months in total, do not break the period.

Some residents cannot apply:

• students and people in vocational training;
• people allowed to stay on subsidiary protection, or applying for it;
• asylum seekers;
• people here only on a temporary basis, such as unpaid domestic workers and seasonal workers;
• employees of a cross-border service provider, and people whose residence permit has been officially restricted.

You apply on form MLT3. In addition to other documents, the application requires health insurance covering inpatient and outpatient treatment in Cyprus, a brief CV, copies of your qualifications and work experience, a certificate of Greek at A2 level, and a certificate on Cyprus political and social reality. The fee is €30, and the first permit is valid for five years.

Among other grounds, the status can be withdrawn after twelve consecutive months outside the EU or six consecutive years outside Cyprus. Our page on long-term resident status after five years covers the documents and the process.

How to get permanent residency in Cyprus

You apply on form MIP2 for the investment route and for Category F alike, with the documents listed for your route.

Applications are only submitted at the Migration Department in Nicosia, not at the district immigration units of each city. The original documents go with them.

Translation and certification of foreign documents are under How foreign documents are certified. The current form MIP2, on the department's forms page, is a Word file dated 9 March 2026.

Documents for the investment route

For the investment route, the application includes:

• form MIP2, completed;
• copies of the valid passports of the applicant, the spouse and the children;
• the marriage certificate and the children's birth certificates;
• original criminal record certificates for the applicant and the spouse, from the country of origin and from the country of residence where they differ;
• for a UK certificate, it must be from the ACRO criminal record office (not DBS);
• a health insurance certificate covering inpatient and outpatient care for the applicant and dependants;
• for a property investment, the title deed, or the sale contract filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys, with payment receipts of at least €300,000 excluding VAT;
• bank SWIFT records and payment receipts showing that the money came from abroad;
• a recent search certificate from the Department of Lands and Surveys, where the sale contract was signed, or the title deed issued more than a year before the application;
• proof of income: a tax return from the country where you are tax resident, or certificates from an independent certified accountant, with an affidavit (a sworn statement) or an official statement on the income;
• a statement from the applicant and the spouse that they will not take employment in Cyprus, except as directors of the company they invested in;
• where a child under 18 is included and both parents are not applying, the other parent's consent declaration, signed before a Cypriot consular officer, stating that the parent consents to the child living permanently in Cyprus.

Documents for Category F

For Category F, the application includes:

• form MIP2, completed;
• copies of the valid passports of the applicant and dependants;
• a copy of a valid temporary residence permit, if the applicant lives in Cyprus;
• original statements of the applicant's bank account in Cyprus;
• a declaration of secured annual income, with the original documents and an affidavit;
• the title deed or sale contract with proof of payment, or a rental agreement, the original or a true copy (a certified copy);
• an original criminal record certificate for the applicant and the spouse, from the country of residence if the applicant lives abroad;
• for a UK certificate, it must be from the ACRO criminal record office (not DBS);
• the marriage certificate and the children's birth certificates;
• a brief CV of the applicant;
• the medical test results, for applications filed from 1 September 2026.

Medical tests

From 1 September 2026, applications under Categories A to F, including Category F, require original medical test results. The investment route is not one of these categories: the Migration Department confirmed to us by email in October 2026 that applicants do not submit these tests.

The documents are:

• blood test results, done abroad, showing that the applicant and each dependant are free of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV and syphilis;
• a chest X-ray for tuberculosis, issued in the applicant's country of origin or last country of lawful residence.

Both must be certified or legalised, except where a bilateral agreement between the states removes that step. A holder of a Cyprus temporary residence permit whose earlier test results are still on file does not repeat them.

How foreign documents are certified

Documents must be in Greek or English. Otherwise, they need an official translation by a sworn translator, a consular authority of the issuing country or a government department of that country.

The certification a foreign document needs depends on where it was issued:

• Public documents from countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention carry an Apostille.
• Public documents from other countries need diplomatic certification. Where Cyprus has an embassy or consulate in the issuing country, that country's foreign ministry certifies the document, the Cyprus embassy or consulate certifies the ministry official's signature, and the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs certifies the embassy or consulate official's signature.
• Non-public documents are certified by a certifying authority of the issuing country, for example, a certifying officer.
• Documents issued in Russia or Serbia need no certification if they are properly signed and bear the official seal of the issuing authority.
• Certain public documents issued by the authorities of an EU member state do not require an Apostille in Cyprus.

Application procedure

A representative, such as your lawyer, can file the application on your behalf.

Applicants must provide a photo, fingerprints, and a signature so the residence cards can be issued upon approval.

If you are in Cyprus that day, Form MIP2 asks you to attend for your photo, fingerprints and signature. If you are abroad, they are taken before the residence card is issued, at the Migration Department in Nicosia or at the Aliens and Immigration Unit of the Police in the district where you live. For a child under six, only a photo is taken.

Once the permit is approved, our lawyer collects the residence cards.

If the application is refused

Meeting the conditions gives no absolute right to the permit, and a refused applicant gets a letter giving the reasons.

The refusal can be challenged by a recourse (a court challenge) to the Administrative Court within 75 days of the day the applicant learns of it.

Keeping your permanent residence permit

The permit lasts as long as Cyprus is your home.

Yearly and three-yearly checks on the investment route

On the investment route you send the Migration Department proof, at set intervals, that you still meet the criteria:

• every year: proof that you still hold the investment, and health insurance for you and your family if you are no longer GeSY beneficiaries;
• every three years: a clean criminal record certificate from your country of origin and your country of residence, for you and the adult members of your family.

The requirement to submit annual proof of the required income level has been abolished. If you fail to prove these points, your permit and your family members' permits are cancelled.

Other routes to residence

Two other routes lead to a stay in Cyprus: residence as the spouse of a Cypriot, and work-based permanent residence permits under Categories A to E.

Residence by marriage to a Cypriot

Marriage or a civil union with a Cypriot gives a residence permit, not permanent residence. The permit's length is set by the family member's residence status, at most five years for those who work, and it must be renewed to keep living in Cyprus.

A family member of a Cypriot citizen can live in Cyprus with no time limit, as long as the conditions of residence are still met and they hold a valid residence permit.

Family members of a Cypriot citizen are:

• a non-EU spouse or civil partner;
• children of the Cypriot citizen or of the spouse who are under 21 or dependent on the Cypriot citizen;
• dependent parents of the Cypriot citizen or of the spouse;
• a non-EU parent of a Cypriot child under 18, as long as a court has not taken away their parental care and any right of contact with the child.

Our page on residence by marriage to a Cypriot lists the forms and documents, and our page on the Cyprus spouse visa covers the visa.

Residency with the right to work

Categories A to E of the permanent residence permit are for people who work in Cyprus, but in practice companies now bring in non-EU staff on a work permit through the Business Facilitation Unit instead. Two of these categories are:

• Category C, for a self-employed person in a trade or profession who holds the relevant licence and has about €260,000 freely at their disposal, or a lower sum set by the Immigration Control Committee. The work should not harm the economy of Cyprus.
• Category E, for a person offered a permanent job in Cyprus that will not create undue local competition in that type of work.

Our pages on the Cyprus work permit and the Cyprus business visa cover those routes.

Permanent residence for EU citizens and their families

EU citizens do not need a permanent residence permit. After five years of continuous legal residence in Cyprus, they have the right of permanent residence, and so do non-EU family members who lived legally with them in Cyprus for those five years.

For the first three months, an EU citizen needs only a valid ID card or passport. To stay longer, the citizen must keep a valid ID card or passport and work or be self-employed in Cyprus. A citizen who does neither must have enough money so the family does not rely on social assistance and full sickness insurance in Cyprus, or be enrolled to study in Cyprus with full sickness insurance and a declaration of sufficient funds.

UK nationals covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, and their families, have a separate permanent residence document. They apply on form MUKW3, and the fee is €30 per person.

Permanent residence card for non-EU family members

A non-EU family member of an EU citizen applies for a permanent residence card on form MEU3 after five uninterrupted years of legal residence in Cyprus.

They prove those years with official documents and show that they did not become a burden on social assistance. The EU citizen must be present with them when the application is filed.

For this card, family members are:

• the spouse or civil partner of the EU citizen;
• children of the citizen or of the spouse or partner who are under 21 or dependent;
• dependent parents and grandparents of the citizen or of the spouse or partner.

The fee is €20. The card is valid for ten years and is renewed on application. How long a decision takes is under processing time.

Permanent residency or citizenship?

Aim for citizenship if you want rights across the EU, but it usually takes eight years of legal residence (four or five for highly skilled employees of qualifying companies). Citizenship of Cyprus makes you an EU citizen, with the right to:

• move and live freely in the other member states;
• vote and stand as a candidate in European Parliament and municipal elections in the member state where you live, on the same terms as its nationals.

Conditions for citizenship by naturalisation

To apply for citizenship by naturalisation, you must meet all of these conditions:

• legal and continuous residence in Cyprus for the 12 months right before the application, where absences of up to 90 days in total do not break it;
• legal residence of at least seven years in total during the ten years before those 12 months;
• good character;
• Greek at B1 level, where a school diploma from a recognised secondary school taught mainly in Greek, or a degree from a programme taught in Greek, replaces the certificate;
• a pass of at least 60% in the examination on Cyprus political and social reality;
• suitable accommodation and stable, regular income enough for you and your family;
• the intention to live in Cyprus.

An adult who has worked for at least two years at a qualifying company, and holds a highly skilled post there on the day of application and examination, has a shorter route. They need at least four years of legal residence in the ten years before the 12 months with Greek at A2, or three years with Greek at B1, instead of the seven years and B1. The other conditions stay the same.

Apply on Form M127 at your local District Administration Office. Our pages on how to get Cyprus citizenship and the Cyprus residency vs citizenship comparison cover the process and the differences.