Cyprus Category F visa

The Cyprus Category F visa is a permanent residence permit for a third-country national who can live in Cyprus on a secured annual income from abroad of at least €9,568, enough to live on without having to work here. No investment is required, and a rental agreement satisfies the accommodation document.

• Secured annual income from abroad of at least €9,568, raised by at least €4,613 for each dependent.
• Income from pensions, dividends on shares, interest on fixed deposits, rents and similar sources.
• No property purchase. A rental agreement is accepted in place of a title of ownership.
• A government fee of €500 for everyone named in the application, plus €70 for each person entering the Aliens' Registry for the first time.
• The residence right has unlimited validity. The card carrying it is replaced after ten years.
• The category is for people who do not need to work in Cyprus, because their income from abroad is enough to live on.

This page covers Category F on its own. For the other routes to a permanent residence permit, including the fast-track investment permit, read our guide to Cyprus permanent residency.

Cyprus Category F visa requirements

To qualify, the applicant must have at their disposal a secure annual income of at least €9,568, from abroad, increased by at least €4,613 for each dependent.

The income can come from pensions, dividends on shares, interest on fixed deposits, rents and similar sources. Buying property in Cyprus is not part of the test; a rented home is sufficient.

The application requires a rental agreement for a property in Cyprus or a home the applicant owns, and a Cyprus bank account.

The Migration Department requires the income to come from abroad and to be enough for a decent living in Cyprus, so the applicant does not need to work here.

The income floor is not a living budget. Prices here run well above €9,568 a year for one person, and our figures on the true cost of retiring in Cyprus set out what a month actually costs.

Dependent persons

The Category F permanent residence can cover a spouse and children under 18 years old. The secured annual income is increased by €4,613 for each of them.

Only the spouse and children under 18 are covered as dependents. Parents are not.

A parent can apply for a visitor residence permit as a relative of the permit holder or the holder's spouse, and an adult child can do the same until the age of 25 or for up to one year after finishing studies. The Department sets an income test of at least €24,000 a year for one person, with an increase for a spouse and for each child. A visitor permit gives no right to carry out an economic activity.

Category F and retirement in Cyprus

Cyprus has no permit with the word retirement in its name. A retired person can apply under Category F, because the Migration Department lists pensions among the income that may make up the secured annual income, and a pensioner does not need to work in Cyprus.

A couple living on pensions needs €14,181 a year between them, which is €9,568 for the applicant and €4,613 for the spouse. How that pension is taxed once you move is a separate question, and it turns on Cyprus tax residency rather than on the permit.

The temporary alternative is the Pink Slip, renewed yearly, which suits anyone who wants to test the island before committing. Our guides to retiring to Cyprus and the pros and cons of retiring here cover the rest of the move.

What a Category F permit does not give you

Category F answers one question, which is where you are allowed to live. It leaves four others open.

• No work track. Category F is for people who do not need to work in Cyprus. A person who plans to be employed or self-employed applies under another category or permit, such as the Cyprus work permit.
• No Schengen travel rights. Residence permits issued by Cyprus are not valid for travel to countries in the Schengen area, so the entry rules for your passport apply there. The country-by-country position is on our page about travel with a Cyprus residence permit.
• No citizenship. Naturalisation runs on its own timetable and its own conditions, set out in our guide on how to get Cyprus citizenship.
• No automatic change of tax position. Immigration status and Cyprus tax residency are decided separately, by days spent here rather than by the permit in your passport.

How long the permit lasts

The residence right granted under Category F has unlimited validity.

The card that carries it expires ten years after issue and is replaced then.

For underage dependents, the permit is valid until they reach the age of 18.

What Category F costs

The government charges €500 for the application, covering every person named in it.

A further €70 is charged for each person in the application who is not yet entered in the Aliens' Registry. It is a one-off registration fee, paid the first time a person applies for any Cyprus residence permit, and it produces the Aliens Registration Certificate with its ARC number.

Anyone who already holds an Aliens Registration Certificate from an earlier permit pays nothing further for it. The €70 is not charged again when the residence permit card is replaced after ten years.

Take a family of four, two parents and two children under 18, none of whom has held a Cyprus permit before. They pay €500 plus four times €70, so €780 in government fees at submission.

Other costs to budget for

Two other amounts belong in the budget. Adding a family member to an approved permit later costs €50 for that person, plus €70 where they are entering the Aliens' Registry for the first time.

And from 1 September 2026 the medical tests described below, their certification and any translation can add costs on top of the Department's fees.

What documentation is required to apply?

The list comprises the following documents:

• Application form MIP2, taken from the Migration Department forms page;
• Copy of a valid passport of the applicant and their family members;
• Copy of a valid temporary residence permit (if the applicant is already resident in Cyprus);
• A brief CV;
• Original bank account statements from the Republic;
• Declaration of secured annual income: original documents and affidavit (sworn statement);
• Title of ownership or rental agreement, in original form or true copy;
• Where a property has been bought, the contract of sale with proof of payment, accepted in place of the title deed;
• Original criminal record certificate for the applicant and their spouse, duly certified and officially translated. An applicant living abroad has to obtain it from their country of residence;
• A marriage certificate (officially validated translation), original or authentic copy, and
• Children's birth certificate (officially validated translation), original or authentic copy.

A link to the documents required and other details can be found here: Immigration Permits - Migration Department - gov.cy.

Translation and certification

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

Copies are certified in the same way as originals.

A public document issued in a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961 carries an Apostille. A public document from any other country carries diplomatic certification, a chain that starts at the foreign ministry of the issuing country and ends at the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A document that is not public is certified by a certifying authority of the issuing state.

Two exceptions are listed:

• 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 in another EU member state, such as birth and criminal record certificates, need no Apostille or other authentication, but they still need a Greek or English translation, or the multilingual standard form where the issuing state provides one.

To check whether your country has joined the Apostille Convention, see the status table published by the Hague Conference on Private International Law at hcch.net.

Submission and examination procedure

The application goes to the Migration Department headquarters in Nicosia. Immigration Permit applications are examined only there.

The applicant files in person or through a legal or other authorised representative appointed by proxy.

Migration Permits (Categories A to F) need an appointment, requested by email; the Department's appointments page gives the address. The rule that sends residents of other districts to the central offices only through a representative with a Nicosia office does not apply to Migration Permits, so an applicant living in Limassol or Paphos files at the central offices in the same way as an applicant from Nicosia.

Every required document has to accompany the application. One that arrives without them all is not considered. Any change to the applicant's details during the examination must be reported to the Department immediately.

Biometric data and the decision

Biometric data (photograph and fingerprints) and a signature are taken on presentation of the application submission receipt and a valid travel document. This can happen at submission, or at any point afterwards, including after the file has been examined.

Two places take them: the Migration Department offices in Nicosia and the district unit of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police for the district where the applicant lives, which arranges its appointments by email. For a person who has not reached the age of six at the time of submission, only the photograph is taken.

The Immigration Control Committee examines the file and makes a recommendation. The Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection decides whether to grant the permit. Approval or rejection comes by letter, and a rejection letter gives the reasons.

Visa conditions and cancellation

There are further requirements concerning the Category F Cyprus permanent residence permit, as follows:

• The applicant and the spouse each file an original criminal record certificate, which has to be duly certified and officially translated. Under section 6(1)(δ) of the Aliens and Immigration Law (Cap. 105), a person who has not been pardoned and has been convicted of murder, or of a criminal offence for which a prison sentence of any length was imposed, is a prohibited immigrant if the Director considers that person an undesirable immigrant because of the relevant circumstances.
• The only family members covered by the permit are spouses and children under 18.
• An applicant residing outside Cyprus, with their dependents, must obtain residence in Cyprus within one year of the application being approved.
• The permit will only be handed to the applicant or their legal or authorised representatives.

An Immigration Permit ceases to be valid if the holder is absent from Cyprus for two years or acquires permanent residence in another country. The same follows where the holder was residing outside Cyprus and did not acquire residence here within one year of the approval.

What happens after approval

The decision arrives by letter. Where biometric data has not yet been captured, the applicant and their family members provide it before the permit and the Aliens Registration Certificate are issued.

The certificate carries the ARC number, which Cyprus uses as the identifier for a foreign resident in dealings with banks, the tax authorities, the health system and the Migration Department itself. Our page on the ARC number in Cyprus explains where it appears and what it is used for.

The permit itself does not expire. The card is replaced ten years after issue, and the €70 registration fee does not come round again with it.

Adding a family member later

A spouse or child can be added to an approved permit later. That runs on form MIP2 with:

• the holder's certified authorisation of the representative;
• passport copies;
• a copy of the holder's permit;
• the holder's proof of income from abroad;
• the spouse's criminal record certificate;
• the marriage and birth certificates;
• the medical test results that the Department's list for additions asks for.

A marriage certificate older than five years needs an updated certificate or a sworn declaration that the marriage continues, and a child whose other parent is not on the application needs a certified consent. The fee is €50 for that person, plus €70 if they are entering the Aliens' Registry for the first time.

Our Cyprus immigration lawyers prepare and file Category F applications, appear at the Migration Department by proxy, handle the certification and translation of foreign documents, and add family members to a permit once it is granted. The first consultation is free.