Cyprus work permit for non-EU staff: what the employer files

A Cyprus company registered as a company of foreign interests can hire third-country nationals without proving that no local candidate was available. This page is written for the employer doing the hiring: what goes in the file, what it costs, how long the department takes, and what happens at renewal.

Registration of the company itself is a separate step and comes first. It runs through the Business Support Center, and our page on the Cyprus Business Facilitation Unit covers the eligibility categories, the €200,000 and the ten-day decision.

Key takeaways

• The BFU route removes the labour market test for a company's highly paid non-EU staff.
• The Migration Department's target for a duly completed application is one month. The legal limit is four months.
• The permit follows the employment contract and can run up to three consecutive years. A highly paid employee may stay without a time limit for as long as the permit is valid.
• Applications go in at the department's headquarters in Nicosia. Biometrics are taken at the District Immigration Unit of the Cyprus Police where the employee lives.
• The legislation on the employment of third-country nationals in Cyprus is the Aliens and Immigration Law, Cap. 105.

The labour market test, and when it does not apply

Outside this route, an employer who wants to hire a third-country national has to show the Department of Labour that the post cannot be filled locally. The vacancy is published in the local press through the District Labour Offices, the offices investigate, and the file moves only when there has been no positive response from a Cypriot or EU candidate.

The department publishes no fixed period for that publication. Once it issues a positive recommendation letter, the employer takes it with the signed employment contracts to the Migration Department, which decides on the permit.

A company of foreign interests skips all of that for its highly paid staff. Support staff do not skip it.

Who you can hire on this route

The employee has to meet four conditions:

• A gross monthly salary of at least €2,500. Staff hired under the older regime on at least €2,000 can renew on that figure until 31 December 2026, after which the €2,500 floor applies to everyone.
• Relevant academic qualifications, or at least two years of experience relevant to the position being filled. One of the two is enough, and the department accepts either.
• An employment contract running at least two years, duly signed. A permit for one year still needs a contract of two.
• Where the contract covers a regulated profession, documents showing that the conditions Cypriot law sets for practising it are met.

Anyone paid below €2,500 a month is support staff. The labour market test, the sealed contract from the Department of Labour and the general restrictions on employing third-country nationals all apply to them, and entry is allowed only with an entry permit.

The old Director, Key Personnel and Specialist labels survive for the department's records. They no longer decide who qualifies, because the salary does.

The documents, before and after arrival

The Migration Department splits its checklist by what the employee is applying for. The common core is the application form, published on the department's forms page as form BCS and still carrying the file name MBCS4, plus the authorisation of representative and the declaration of mailing address. Every document goes in in Greek or English, or with a certified translation into one of the two.

Public documents issued abroad need ratification. Where the issuing country has signed the 1961 Hague Convention, that means an apostille. Where it has not, the document needs diplomatic certification, which starts with that country's foreign ministry and runs through the Cyprus embassy or consulate there to the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Documents issued in Russia or Serbia are exempt under bilateral agreements.

Before the employee arrives

For an entry permit, which the employer applies for:

• A copy of a valid passport or other travel document. It must stay valid at least six months beyond the permit applied for, and twelve months in any case.
• A short CV, with copies of academic qualifications or evidence of at least two years of relevant professional experience.
• A copy of the employment contract, of at least two years' duration, duly signed.
• A declaration by the employer covering the cost of returning the employee to their country.
• An original criminal record certificate from the country of origin, or from the country of residence where the applicant lives elsewhere. It needs ratification, except where a bilateral agreement provides otherwise.
• Original medical test results showing the employee is free of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis by chest x-ray. Ratification applies here too.

After the employee arrives

For registration in the Aliens' Register and the first temporary residence and employment permit:

• The original entry permit, form M70, where the employee entered on one.
• A copy of the passport page showing the latest arrival in the Republic. The original passport is presented at submission for verification.
• The original employment contract, of at least two years, duly signed, plus two copies.
• Original results of medical tests performed in Cyprus and certified by a specialised doctor here.
• A title deed or rental agreement for the employee's house or apartment.
• A valid health insurance certificate for inpatient and outpatient care and the transport of remains, on Plan A and automatically renewable, or a registration certificate in GESY with private cover.
• Employer's liability insurance with automatic renewal.

Two further scenarios have their own lists on the same checklist: a temporary residence permit where the employee is already in Cyprus and changes status from visitor, which needs a letter explaining why, and renewal due to change of employer.

How the application runs

A highly paid employee may enter Cyprus on a visa from the consular authorities of the Republic abroad, or on an entry permit issued by the Migration Department on the employer's application. The employer applies for it on the same form BCS, and the permit issued is known as form M70. Support staff enter only on an entry permit.

After arrival the employee registers in the Aliens' Register and applies for the temporary residence and employment permit. An employee who came in on an entry permit has seven days from arrival to register and give biometrics. Applications can be submitted only at the department's headquarters in Nicosia, with the supporting documents and the fees.

Biometric data, meaning a photograph, fingerprints and a signature, are given with the payment receipt and a valid travel document. That can happen at the same time as submission or shortly after, at the District Immigration Unit of the Cyprus Police for the district where the employee lives. Renewal needs biometrics again.

Approval brings a notice to collect the permit. A refusal comes as a letter setting out the reasons.

An employee who leaves Cyprus with an application still pending can re-enter on the stamped payment receipt. With a valid permit in hand, re-entry needs the permit and the passport, provided the absence has not run past three months.

Fees

• Entry permit and residence permit valid one to three years: €70.
• Issue or renewal of a residence permit valid one to three years: €80.
• First registration in the Aliens' Register: €70.
• Stamp duty: none on an employment contract or a rental agreement signed on or after 1 January 2026. For a document signed before 2026, the duty due under the old rules is paid to the Tax Department before the file goes in.

The Migration Department's published checklist has not been revised since the repeal and still lists stamp duty on these documents. If a counter asks for stamp duty on a 2026 contract, call us before you pay.

How long the permit lasts

The permit follows the length of the employment contract and can run up to three consecutive years. It is renewable, and there is no cap on the number of renewals for highly paid staff.

A highly paid employee of a company of foreign interests may reside in Cyprus without a time limit, as long as they hold a valid temporary residence and employment permit. Support staff fall under the general restrictions on third-country nationals instead.

After five years of lawful residence an employee can look at long-term resident status, which does not depend on the employer.

Changing employer

A highly paid employee may move to another company of foreign interests at any point, whatever the length of stay, provided the new job starts within one month of the previous one ending and the new employer is itself on the register.

Moving to an employer that is not a company of foreign interests is possible too, but only before the maximum duration of stay for the category the employee is moving into has been reached, and only where the conditions of that category are met.

Family and dependants

The employee sponsors the application to the Civil Registry and Migration Department. The family members who can join are the spouse and minor children, including adopted children and children of either partner where that parent has sole custody and the child depends on them. The marriage must have taken place at least one year before the application goes in, and the spouse must be 21 or over.

The spouse or civil partner of a highly paid employee gets free access to paid employment, with no sealed contract from the Department of Labour, where the conditions for a single employment permit are met. That access covers employment by a Cypriot company. It does not extend to self-employment.

Relatives who fall outside family reunification can apply for a temporary residence permit as a dependent visitor. Since the visitors' policy was revised the department accepts applications for parents and parents-in-law, partners in a proven continuing relationship, and adult children up to 25 or within a year of finishing their studies. The sponsor needs an annual income of at least €24,000, raised by 20% for a spouse or partner and by 15% for each child.

The route to Cyprus citizenship

Employment at a qualifying company shortens naturalisation. The ordinary route asks for eight years of residence. On this one the employee can apply after four years in total holding a B1 certificate in Greek, or five years in total with A2, counting twelve continuous months of residence immediately before the application.

Two more conditions sit alongside the language certificate: at least two years of employment at a qualifying company, and a pass in the state examination on the political and social reality of Cyprus. The periods and the paperwork are on our page about how to get Cyprus citizenship.

On the tax side, a new resident on more than €55,000 a year may claim a 50% exemption for 17 years. The conditions, the other exemptions and the company's own reliefs sit on the BFU page and on our guide to the Cyprus tax system and rates in 2026.

Staff who are EU nationals do not use any of this. They register on a yellow slip. For highly qualified non-EU staff at a company that is not on the register, the EU Blue Card is the alternative, and the general employment rules are set out in our note on employment and labour law in Cyprus.