Cyprus Golden Visa 2026: Rules, Costs and the Planned Tightening

The Cyprus golden visa is a permanent residence permit, issued under Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations, that a non-EU national obtains by investing at least EUR 300,000 in Cyprus and proving a secure income from abroad. Officially it is an Immigration Permit granted under an expedited procedure, and the current criteria are the fourth revision, in force since 2 May 2023.

In short: The Cyprus golden visa requires an investment of at least EUR 300,000 (plus VAT on new homes) and a secure annual income of EUR 50,000 for the main applicant. The government application fee is EUR 500. It grants permanent residence, not citizenship, and as at 5 October 2026 it does not give Schengen travel rights.

On 24 September 2026 the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, Nicholas Ioannides, told the House audit committee that Cyprus will tighten the programme before it joins the Schengen area, and that officials are checking whether the holders of around 12,000 permits issued since 2013 still meet the conditions. No new thresholds or dates have been published. This guide sets out the rules that apply today, what is and is not known about the changes, and the three points most summaries of the Cyprus programme get wrong.

Key facts at a glance

Table 1: Cyprus golden visa (Regulation 6(2) Immigration Permit), statutory requirements and government fees. Figures checked 5 October 2026 against the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection criteria (4th revision, May 2023) on gov.cy.

What can you invest in for the Cyprus golden visa?

The Cyprus golden visa accepts four investment categories under paragraph 2.1 of the May 2023 criteria, each with a EUR 300,000 minimum.

• New residential property. A house or apartment bought from a development company on first sale, worth at least EUR 300,000 plus VAT. Up to two units may be combined. Resale homes do not qualify unless the sale contract was filed with the Land Registry before 7 May 2013.
• Other real estate. Offices, shops, hotels or related developments with a total value of EUR 300,000. Unlike homes, these may be resales.
• Share capital of a Cyprus company. EUR 300,000 in a new or existing Cyprus company that has a physical presence on the island and employs at least five people.
• Units in a Cyprus collective investment fund. EUR 300,000 in an AIF, AIFLNP or RAIF whose investments are held in Cyprus.

Two conditions apply across all four. The money must be shown to have come from abroad, from the applicant’s or spouse’s account, and not from Cypriot borrowing. And the investment must be kept: selling it without immediately replacing it with an asset of equal or greater value cancels the permit under Regulation 6.

The residential route is by far the most used, which is also why it is the route most exposed to change. Parliamentarians who raised the programme at the 24 September hearing tied it to pressure on housing, and the deputy minister said officials are examining whether investment should also be directed to education, defence and innovation.

How much does the Cyprus golden visa cost in total?

The Cyprus golden visa costs more than EUR 300,000 for most buyers of a new home, because the threshold is set before VAT. The criteria require a market value of at least EUR 300,000 plus VAT, with at least EUR 300,000 (excluding VAT) actually paid at the time of application.

The standard rate of VAT in Cyprus is 19%, according to PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (last reviewed 4 August 2026). On a new home bought at exactly the threshold, that produces a minimum outlay of EUR 357,000 (EUR 300,000 plus EUR 57,000 VAT). This is our calculation from the two statutory figures, and it is the number to plan around rather than the headline EUR 300,000. No Land Registry transfer fee is charged where VAT applies.

The reduced 5% VAT rate is limited to a buyer’s main and permanent residence in Cyprus and is subject to size and value caps under Law 42(I)/2023. An investor who will not live in the property as a main home should budget on 19%.

Table 2: Cyprus golden visa, statutory minimum cost for a family of four (two parents, two children under 18) using the new-home route. Figures checked 5 October 2026.

Legal, conveyancing, translation and due diligence costs sit on top and vary with the file; they are confirmed in a personalised quote rather than set by law.

Adult children are where the arithmetic changes sharply. A child aged 18 to 25 who is unmarried, financially dependent and in full-time tertiary education can apply separately on the same investment, with EUR 10,000 more family income. An adult child who is not dependent needs the investment multiplied: under paragraph 6 of the criteria, one adult child means EUR 600,000 and two mean EUR 900,000.

What did Cyprus announce in September 2026?

On 24 September 2026 Deputy Minister Nicholas Ioannides told the House audit committee three things about the Cyprus golden visa, as reported by Cyprus Mail the same day.

• Cyprus will tighten the programme ahead of Schengen accession, and he has sent proposals to the other ministers involved.
• Around 1,500 golden visas were issued in the past two years.
• Officials are checking whether holders of approximately 12,000 permits issued since 2013 still meet the programme’s conditions.

What has not happened matters as much. No text of the proposals has been published, no new threshold has been announced and no cut-off date has been set. Until a decision is published, the May 2023 criteria remain the rules that apply.

The 12,000 figure also needs care. Data given to MPs in April 2026 showed 7,088 golden visas issued since 2013, all still valid, as IMI Daily reported on 28 September 2026. The deputy minister did not say which measure his figure uses. Some coverage described the 12,000 as passports. They are residence permits.

The current criteria are the fourth revision since the scheme began. One practitioner quoted by IMI Daily notes that in past reforms, investors who had signed a purchase agreement or paid a deposit before the cut-off usually kept the old terms. That is an observation about the past, not a rule, and nothing announced so far says how any transition would work this time.

Does the Cyprus golden visa lead to citizenship?

The Cyprus golden visa does not lead to citizenship on its own. It is commonly reported that Cyprus permanent residence leads to a passport after seven years. The actual position is that naturalisation requires at least eight years of physical residence in Cyprus, plus Greek at B1 level, because of how Article 111B of the Civil Registry Law, inserted by Law 149(I)/2023 and published on 19 December 2023, is drafted.

Article 111B(1) requires two separate periods. First, legal and continuous residence for the 12 months immediately before the application, with absences of no more than 90 days in total. Second, during the ten years before that 12-month period, legal residence adding up to at least seven years. Seven plus one is eight years of residence within an eleven-year window, which is how the European Commission summarised the law on 6 March 2024.

The decisive word is residence. A proviso to Article 111B(1) states that residence for naturalisation means physical presence in the Republic. A golden visa holder who visits once every two years to keep the permit alive accrues no meaningful qualifying time. The same article also requires B1 Greek, a test on modern Cypriot political and social life, suitable accommodation, stable resources and a stated intention to live in Cyprus.

The faster routes in Article 111B(2), four years of prior residence with A2 Greek or three years with B1, on top of the final 12 months, are reserved for highly skilled employees of companies designated by the Council of Ministers. They are not open to investors as such.

Cyprus has had no citizenship-by-investment route since the Cyprus Investment Programme closed on 1 November 2020. If a second citizenship in the EU is the real goal, Portugal’s Golden Visa fund route still counts as a path to naturalisation, although the clock is now ten years; our Portugal Golden Visa guide explains how that clock runs.

Does Cyprus permanent residence give Schengen access?

Cyprus permanent residence does not give Schengen access as at 5 October 2026, because Cyprus is not yet a full member of the Schengen area. A Cypriot residence permit lets its holder live in Cyprus; it does not on its own let a holder who needs a Schengen visa travel to France, Germany or Greece without one.

This is the most widely repeated error about the programme, and it is easy to see why: Cyprus is in the EU, and most EU residence permits do carry Schengen travel. Cyprus is the exception, alongside Ireland, which has a permanent opt-out.

Accession is closer than it has ever been. The European Commission confirmed Cyprus’s technical readiness in July 2026, after a monitoring mission in December 2025. Member states first discussed the file in the Council’s Schengen working party on 15 September 2026, according to IMI Daily. Joining needs a unanimous decision of the existing Schengen states, and no date has been set. The Green Line crossings and checks at the British Sovereign Base Areas remain open questions.

So the honest framing is this. Schengen access is a reasonable expectation for a Cyprus permit holder over the next few years, but it is not a feature of the permit today, and the government has said the programme will be tightened before it happens.

How often do you have to visit Cyprus to keep the permit?

A Cyprus golden visa holder must visit Cyprus at least once every two years. The permit ceases to be valid if the holder and dependants are absent from Cyprus for two years, or acquire permanent residence in another country, according to the Migration Department’s guidance on gov.cy.

Two further rules catch people out.

• The first visit. If you live outside Cyprus, you and your dependants must take up residence in Cyprus within one year of approval, or the permit ceases to be valid.
• Annual proof. Each year you must show the Migration Department that you still hold the investment and, where you are not covered by the national health system (GESY), that you hold health insurance. Clean criminal record certificates for the applicant and adult family members are now due every three years rather than annually. The annual proof of income was abolished in the clarifications to the 2023 criteria.

The September 2026 review of past permits is, in effect, a check on exactly these obligations. Anyone who holds a permit should make sure the file would stand up to scrutiny now: investment still held, visits documented, insurance current.

How are Cyprus golden visa holders taxed?

Holding a Cyprus golden visa does not make you tax resident in Cyprus. Tax residence depends on days and ties, not on the permit, and many holders remain tax resident elsewhere.

An individual becomes Cyprus tax resident under either the 183-day rule or the 60-day rule, according to PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (last reviewed 4 August 2026). The 60-day rule requires at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other single state, a business, employment or directorship in Cyprus, and a permanent home in Cyprus, owned or rented. From 1 January 2026 the former condition that the person is not tax resident anywhere else no longer applies.

For those who do become resident, the non-domiciled regime is the main attraction. A non-domiciled Cyprus tax resident is exempt from Special Defence Contribution on worldwide dividends and passive interest. Deemed domicile arrives after 17 of the last 20 years of tax residence. Since 1 January 2026 an individual who has become deemed domiciled can extend non-dom treatment for up to two further five-year periods by paying a lump sum of EUR 250,000 for each period, under the regime explained in Tax Department Circular 2/2026 of 29 May 2026.

For a founder planning a sale, the order of steps matters more than the regime. Our guide to liquidity-event tax planning explains why residence has to be settled before a transaction, not after.

How does Cyprus compare with Greece and Portugal?

Cyprus has the lowest general threshold of the three Mediterranean EU residence-by-investment routes (Greece’s EUR 250,000 tier is limited to conversions and listed buildings) and is the only one that grants permanent residence from the start, but it is also the only one without Schengen travel today.

Table 3: Cyprus, Greece and Portugal golden visa routes compared, main investment thresholds and conditions. Figures checked 5 October 2026.

Greece is the closest comparison, and practitioners quoted in IMI Daily expect Cyprus to move towards Greek-style regional thresholds. Our Greece Golden Visa guide and Portugal versus Greece comparison set out those two routes in full.

Is the Cyprus golden visa worth it in 2026?

The Cyprus golden visa is worth it in 2026 for a family that genuinely intends to spend time in Cyprus, wants permanent status quickly and is buying property it would want to own anyway. It is a poor fit for someone whose real aim is Schengen mobility today or an EU passport.

When clients raise Cyprus with us, the first question we ask is how many weeks a year the family will actually be on the island. The answer usually decides it. For a family who will live there, Cyprus offers permanent status in about two months on paper, a workable tax regime and a citizenship route that rewards real residence. For a family who will visit occasionally, the permit is a useful plan B, but Greece offers Schengen travel now and Portugal offers a recognised path to citizenship without relocating.

On timing, we would not rush a purchase to beat a tightening whose shape is unknown. Buying a EUR 357,000 home to secure a residence permit is sensible only if the home makes sense without the permit. If it does, and the family is ready, acting under known rules is preferable to waiting for unknown ones. If it does not, the announcement changes nothing.

For the wider picture of where a move to the Mediterranean fits, see our guide to retiring or relocating to Europe, and for Malta, the other island route, our Malta permanent residence and citizenship guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum investment for the Cyprus golden visa in 2026?

The minimum investment for the Cyprus golden visa is EUR 300,000, as at 5 October 2026. For a new home the threshold is EUR 300,000 plus VAT, so the minimum outlay at the standard 19% rate is EUR 357,000.

Is Cyprus closing its golden visa?

Cyprus is not closing its golden visa. On 24 September 2026 the Deputy Minister of Migration said the programme will be tightened before Schengen accession, but no new rules or dates have been published, and the May 2023 criteria still apply.

Can I buy a resale property for the Cyprus golden visa?

A resale home does not qualify for the Cyprus golden visa unless the sale contract was filed with the Land Registry before 7 May 2013. Resale commercial property, such as offices, shops or hotels, can qualify.

Can my parents be included in a Cyprus golden visa?

Parents are not listed as dependants under the current Cyprus golden visa criteria. The permit covers the spouse and children under 18, with separate applications possible for dependent student children aged 18 to 25 and, on a higher investment, adult children.

Can I work in Cyprus on a golden visa?

A Cyprus golden visa holder and spouse must confirm they will not take employment in Cyprus, except as a director of a company in which they invested under the programme. They may hold shares in Cyprus companies and receive dividends.

How long does a Cyprus golden visa application take?

The Cyprus golden visa criteria state an examination period of about two months from submission of a complete application. Gathering certified, translated documents usually takes longer than the examination itself.

Does the Cyprus golden visa count towards Cypriot citizenship?

Time on a Cyprus golden visa counts towards citizenship only if you physically live in Cyprus. Naturalisation under Article 111B of the Civil Registry Law needs at least eight years of residence within eleven years and B1 Greek.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Investment migration rules and tax rules change frequently and depend on your personal circumstances. Figures are correct as at the date shown and should be confirmed before you act. Speak to a qualified adviser, and contact Citizenship360 for guidance specific to your situation.

Figures verified 5 October 2026.

Sources

• Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection, Migration Department, Criteria for granting an Immigration Permit within the scope of the expedited procedure to applicants who are third country nationals and invest in Cyprus, 4th revision, in force 2 May 2023, with additional clarifications, gov.cy/mip-md. Checked 5 October 2026.
• Civil Registry (Amendment) Law of 2023, Law 149(I)/2023, Official Gazette Annex I(I) no. 4974, 19 December 2023, Article 111B, cylaw.org. Checked 5 October 2026.
• European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, Cyprus: New citizenship legislation, 6 March 2024. Checked 5 October 2026.
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Cyprus, Individual: Residence and Individual: Other taxes, last reviewed 4 August 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• KPMG Cyprus, Circular 2/2026, Extension of the non-dom regime, 17 June 2026, summarising Tax Department Circular 2/2026 of 29 May 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• Cyprus Mail, Cyprus to tighten golden visa scheme ahead of Schengen entry, 24 September 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• IMI Daily, Cyprus to Tighten Golden Visa Before Schengen Entry, Reviews 12,000 Permits, 28 September 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Cyprus, Individual: Taxes on personal income (non-domiciled exemption and 17 of 20 years rule), last reviewed 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• Al Jazeera, Cyprus abolishes citizenship through investment programme, 13 October 2020 (closure effective 1 November 2020). Checked 5 October 2026.
• EU Perspectives, Cyprus ready for Schengen, Commission confirms, 15 July 2026. Checked 5 October 2026.
• International Bar Association, The Greek Golden Visa after the 2024 to 2026 overhaul, on Law 5100/2024 thresholds. Checked 5 October 2026.