Golden visa in Cyprus

• This is the Immigration Permit under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations, called the expedited procedure for third-country nationals who invest in Cyprus. The Migration Department files it under permanent residence. It is for people who invest and live on income from abroad, not for people who plan to work in Cyprus.
• You must meet one of four investment criteria and the quality criteria. The quality criteria are a clean criminal record, health insurance for you and your dependants, and written confirmation that you and your spouse do not intend to take employment in Cyprus, except as a director of the Cyprus company you invested in.
• The permit covers your spouse and your children under 18 as dependants. Unmarried children aged 18 to 25 who study at a tertiary institution abroad and depend on you can apply separately; the policy lists no route for parents.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The investment test is about €300,000 in one of four forms. To be safe, have more than €310,000 invested. The money must be shown to have come to Cyprus from abroad, from your account or your spouse’s if the spouse is on the application, and paid from your account to the seller’s account at a Cyprus financial institution.
• The four forms are a house or apartment bought for the first time from a development company, other real estate such as offices, shops or hotels (resale allowed), shares in a Cyprus company that has a physical presence and at least five employees, or units in a Cyprus alternative investment fund. You may buy up to two homes if their combined market value meets the test.
• On top of the investment you must have a secured annual income from abroad of about €50,000. To be safe, have more than €51,000 a year; with a spouse the figure is about €65,000 (more than €66,000 to be safe), and each dependent minor child adds about €10,000. Income can be salary, pensions, dividends, deposit interest or rents, shown by a tax return from the country where you are tax resident or by certificates from an independent certified accountant.
• An adult child who is not financially dependent can be included only if the investment is multiplied: about €600,000 for one adult child (to be safe, more than €610,000) and €900,000 for two. Each adult child must also show an annual income of about €50,000, and for property at least 66% of the market value must be paid at application.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• For a property you submit the title deed, or a sale contract filed at the Department of Lands and Surveys, in your name or your spouse’s, with official payment receipts of at least €300,000 excluding VAT and evidence that the money came from abroad (remittances, foreign card receipts or a bank certificate) and not from borrowing in Cyprus.
• A purchase in the name of a company can count if you or your spouse are its sole shareholders or ultimate beneficial owners and it is established in Cyprus or another EU or EEA country. For a company investment you add the shareholders’ and incorporation certificates, a business profile, proof of payment and Social Insurance evidence of the staff; for fund units you add proof of the units, payment, CySEC confirmation and the fund’s memorandum.
• The quality documents are clean criminal record certificates for you and your spouse from your country of origin and, if different, your country of residence, and a health insurance policy covering inpatient and outpatient care. You also give a sworn statement of your annual income and of not intending to work, and show where you will live in Cyprus. Every supporting document must be officially translated and certified, and public documents from a state in the Hague Apostille Convention need an apostille.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• You file in person at the Migration Department in Nicosia, or through an authorised representative with a certified authorisation letter, after booking an appointment. The Department lists Regulation 6(2) permits among the services that need an appointment.
• If the criteria are met and the Department has no concerns about your criminal record or public order, the file goes to the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection for a decision. The Department estimates the examination takes about two months from a complete application.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The application fee is €500 on submission, plus €70 for each person on the application who needs an Aliens Registration Certificate. A spouse who wants a permit of their own applies separately and pays the fee again; adding a spouse or child to an approved permit later costs €50 each, plus €70 where the certificate is needed.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The right of residence has no end date for you and your adult dependants. The permit card expires ten years after it is issued and is replaced, and a child’s permit is valid until age 18.
• The permit stops being valid if you or your dependants take up permanent residence abroad, are away from Cyprus for two years, or (if you live abroad) do not take up residence in Cyprus within a year of approval. Selling the investment without immediately replacing it with one of equal or greater value also cancels the permit and your family’s permits.
• Each year you give the Department evidence that you still hold the investment and health insurance (unless you are covered by GESY, Cyprus’s public health system), and every adult in the family gives a clean criminal record certificate from their country of origin and residence. A 2023 clarification dropped the yearly proof of income. Failing to prove these cancels your permit and your family’s.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• This permit is itself a right of permanent residence with no end date; it does not lead through a temporary stage. The pages describe no step from the permit to Cypriot citizenship, so how many years it counts toward naturalisation is not stated.

Sources: Migration Department. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The Tax Department says more than 183 days in Cyprus in a tax year makes you tax resident. Its 60-day alternative needs at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other country, a business or job in Cyprus and a permanent home you own or rent.
• The Tax Department says people who are not domiciled in Cyprus, or who are not tax resident, are not subject to the special defence contribution on rental, interest and dividend income. You are deemed domiciled after 17 of the previous 20 years as a Cyprus tax resident. Rental income was subject to the special defence contribution up to and including the 2025 tax year and is not after that.

Sources: Republic of Cyprus. Checked 17 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Cyprus
• Retirement visa in Cyprus
• Work permit in Cyprus
• Family visa in Cyprus

• Visas in Cyprus
• Cyprus

1. Categories of persons and countries whose nationals do not require a visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus (gov.cy). Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive copy of 6 December 2025. Lists Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States for a stay up to 90 days as bona fide visitors.
2. Cyprus country information for US travellers, Internet Archive copy of 9 July 2026, US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. Checked 16 October 2026. Up to 90 days without a visa for tourism or business, a temporary residence permit for longer; six months' passport validity recommended and two blank pages; sufficient funds and a return ticket; Cyprus is in the EU but not in Schengen; no residence permit for work or study for a US citizen who tests positive for HIV; enter and leave the Republic only at Larnaca and Paphos airports and the seaports of Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos. The page itself shows "Last Updated: January 21, 2025".
3. Immigration Permits for Investors: criteria for the expedited procedure (4th revision, May 2023), Internet Archive copy of 7 March 2026, Migration Department, Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection (gov.cy). Checked 17 October 2026. Page posted 29 December 2025; policy in force from 2 May 2023. Exact figures: investment of at least €300,000; secured annual income from abroad of at least €50,000, plus €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 for each dependent minor child; €600,000 of investment where one adult child is included.
4. Identity History Summary Checks (FBI criminal record check), Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 6 October 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Gives the US$18 fee and says the FBI does not forward requests to the State Department for the apostille, so the apostille is a separate step.
5. Apostille requirements, Internet Archive copy, US Department of State (Internet Archive copy of 24 June 2024). Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 20 May 2024.
6. Tax convention with the Republic of Cyprus (signed 19 March 1984; in force 31 December 1985), Internal Revenue Service (treaty text). Checked 16 October 2026. Article 4(3) lets each country tax its own citizens as if the convention did not exist; article 5 gives credits for tax paid to the other country; articles 17 and 18 cover independent and dependent services (183-day tests); article 23 pensions and annuities taxable only in the country of residence; article 24 social security payments taxable only in the paying country.
7. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Checked 15 October 2026. Reportable when the foreign accounts together exceed 10,000 dollars at any time in the calendar year.
8. Social Security agreements with other countries, Internet Archive copy of 10 October 2026, US Social Security Administration. Checked 16 October 2026. Lists the countries with a totalization agreement (the latest, Romania, in force from 1 September 2026); Cyprus is not on the list. Explains that US Social Security covers US citizens employed abroad by American employers, which can produce dual coverage without an agreement.
9. Cyprus travel advice and advisories (entry and exit requirements), Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 16 October 2026. Last updated 11 August 2026. Tourist and business visa not required for stays up to 90 days; student visa required; a Canadian passport must be valid at least 6 months beyond the date you expect to leave (Cyprus's own visa page asks for 3 months for visa applicants); customs may ask for a return ticket and proof of funds; ETIAS applications "not yet open", 30 European countries; an exit permit may be needed for dual citizens aged 16 or over or people eligible for Cypriot citizenship; entering through the north of the island is illegal; permits issued by the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" are not recognised.
10. Criminal record checks: processing times and fees, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Federal fee 25 Canadian dollars per check, collected with any local fingerprinting charge; 3 business days or less with no match, up to 120 business days if manual processing is needed.
11. Authentication of documents: requirements, Global Affairs Canada. Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. Global Affairs Canada authenticates and issues apostilles for Government of Canada documents and for documents issued or notarized in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and Yukon; the competent authorities of the other provinces issue apostilles for their own documents; documents must be paper originals with a recognised signature.
12. Improving authentication services in Canada (news release of 12 December 2023), Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. Canada joined the Apostille Convention on 11 January 2024; Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan issue apostilles for documents issued or notarized in their provinces, Global Affairs Canada for the rest.
13. Convention between Canada and the Republic of Cyprus for the avoidance of double taxation (signed 2 May 1984), text (CTS 1985 No. 12), Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada, Treaty Law Division). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. Article 4 residence and tie-breaker (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality); article 14 independent services taxable only in the country of residence unless there is a fixed base; article 15 employment taxable where the work is done, unless 183 days or less in the calendar year and either pay of C$3,000 or less or pay from a non-resident employer not borne by a local establishment; article 18 pensions and annuities (tax in the paying country limited above C$10,000 and 15%), and social security pensions taxable only in the paying country; article 24 relief from double tax; article 25 non-discrimination; no clause letting a country tax its own citizens living in the other (article 29 keeps only Canada's foreign-affiliate rules); the text gives no entry-into-force date.
14. Cyprus: pensions and benefits (Canada-Cyprus social security agreement), Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. Page dated 6 October 2026. Agreement on Social Security in force since 1 May 1991; covers the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security (not the Quebec Pension Plan); periods in either country can help you qualify for old age, disability and survivor benefits, each country paying only for its own periods; residence in Cyprus after age 18 can count toward OAS.
15. Lived or living outside Canada: do you qualify for CPP and OAS, Government of Canada. Checked 16 October 2026. Opened 16 October 2026. OAS pension abroad needs 20 or more years of residence in Canada after age 18; the Guaranteed Income Supplement is payable abroad for 6 months only.
16. Cyprus travel advice, Internet Archive copy of 12 October 2026, Smartraveller (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Checked 16 October 2026. Page updated 23 July 2026 and marked still current at 13 October 2026: Australians do not need a tourist visa for stays of up to 90 days in a 6-month period; anyone staying longer must apply for a visa, which can be done in Cyprus; overstayers can be put on a stop list and refused re-entry for up to five years; advice is to exercise a high degree of caution; Australia does not recognise the Turkish Cypriot administration in the north.
17. National Police Checks, Australian Federal Police. Checked 16 October 2026. A National Police Check can be used for working overseas; each application costs 57 Australian dollars, or 114 with fingerprints; identity documents worth 100 points are needed. The page does not say whether Cyprus accepts it, and the Cypriot list does not name the document.
18. Notarial services (legalising documents) in Australia, Internet Archive copy of 12 March 2026, Smartraveller (Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 4 March 2026: DFAT legalises Australian public documents and notarised copies by apostille or authentication for 105 Australian dollars; it cannot say whether the overseas authority needs it, so ask that authority.
19. Income tax treaties: treaties in force (Australia), Australian Treasury. Checked 16 October 2026. Table last updated 24 March 2026: no entry for Cyprus, so there is no income tax treaty between Australia and Cyprus.
20. Social Security Agreement between Australia and Cyprus: text, Internet Archive copy of 19 November 2024, Department of Social Services (Australian Government). Checked 16 October 2026. Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 read: the agreement covers Australian age pension, disability support pension for the severely disabled, widows' pensions and carer pension, and Cyprus social insurance benefits for age, invalidity and work injury, survivors and funerals; a person working in Cyprus is insured under Cypriot law even if they live in Australia; residence in Cyprus counts as residence in Australia for claiming.
21. Annex 1: list of third countries whose nationals need, or are exempt from, a visa to cross the external borders (hosted on gov.cy), Cyprus Government Portal (gov.cy), linked from the Visas page as the list for ordinary passports. Checked 16 October 2026. Part B, the list of third countries whose nationals are exempted from holding a visa when crossing the external borders, includes New Zealand. The PDF is dated by its upload folder (January 2026).
22. Criminal records: get your own, Ministry of Justice (New Zealand). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened on 16 October 2026. The Ministry aims to respond to criminal record check requests within 20 working days (Privacy Act 2020); if a country asks for the record to be Apostille-certified, you send the record you get to the Department of Internal Affairs Apostille service.
23. Use your NZ documents overseas (apostille and authentication), New Zealand Government (govt.nz), Department of Internal Affairs Authentication Unit. Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 15 September 2026. Lists Cyprus as an apostille country; NZ$37 for one apostille certificate and 15 working days; an urgent service of 5 working days costs NZ$120.
24. Tax treaties (New Zealand double tax agreements in force, signed and under negotiation), Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 16 October 2026. Opened on 16 October 2026. 41 agreements in force; Cyprus is on none of the lists (in force, signed, or being negotiated).
25. Living overseas if you get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development). Checked 16 October 2026. Updated 24 June 2026. You can't get these payments once you leave New Zealand unless you apply and meet criteria; call International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. In a country without an agreement you may get your full payment depending on months lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65; no New Zealand tax on the payment but you may owe tax where you live.
26. Immigration Permits (categories A to F): procedure, fees and categories, Internet Archive copy of 31 August 2026, Migration Department, Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection (gov.cy). Checked 17 October 2026. Page posted 29 December 2025. Gives the €500 fee, the €70 Aliens Registration Certificate fee, the €50 fee for adding a family member, and the rules on duration and loss of the right.
27. Document certification and apostille, Migration Department, Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection (gov.cy). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened live on 16 October 2026. Documents must be in Greek or English or carry an official translation by a sworn translator, the issuing country's consular authority or a government department; public documents from states that ratified the Hague Apostille Convention must carry an apostille; copies are certified in the same way; non-public documents must be certified by a certifying authority of the issuing state.
28. Appointments at the Migration Department, Migration Department, Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection (gov.cy). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened live on 16 October 2026. An appointment is required only for Migration Permits (Categories A to F), Regulation 6(2) permits, long-term resident status, card renewals for those permits, and the student service point; the nomad permit is not on that list. Submission of other applications, biometrics and collection of documents are served without an appointment, first come first served, Monday to Friday 08:00 to 14:30 (last entry 14:00). People who live outside the Nicosia district are served by the district units of the Aliens and Immigration Unit, while the nomad page says to file at the central offices in Nicosia.
29. Tax Residency/Domicility, Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Finance, Tax Department. Checked 17 October 2026. Page posted 8 July 2026. 183-day rule, 60-day rule, domicile for Special Defence Contribution, 17-of-20-years rule, and the tax consequences for non-domiciled and non-resident individuals.
30. Guide for the completion of the income tax return for individuals 2025, Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Finance, Tax Department. Checked 17 October 2026. Part 3 (tax residence) and Part 4A1 codes for first-employment allowances (50% for 17 years, 20% capped at 8,550 euros for 7 years) and for employment outside the Republic for over 90 days. Written for the 2025 tax year.