Cyprus Investment Program -Focus Investor’s Family Members-update May 2018
Per Council of Minister’s decisions dated, 13 September 2016, 9 January 2018 and 21 May 2018 the position as to the Family Members of the Investor are as follows:
1. Spouse/ Partner
Spouse or a Partner may acquire Cypriot citizenship without requiring additional investment. To facilitate the acquisition of the Cypriot citizenship by the Investor’s spouse or partner the Council of Ministers decided to allow the submission of the spouse’s partner’s applications along with the application of the investor, so that both spouses/partners will be able to acquire Cypriot citizenship simultaneously.
The term Partner for the purposes of the Program has the meaning attributed to it by the Civil Partnership Law 184 (I)/2015. According to this law the State recognizes any civil partnership that had been concluded in the Republic of Cyprus, or any other state in accordance with the legislation of that state and is still in power.
2. Investors Parents
Can only apply for citizenship after the investor acquires the Cypriot citizenship via submitting M127 application form to the Ministry of Interior (the “MI”).
To be able to apply under this head the investor’s parents need to hold a permanent privately -owned residence in the Republic of Cyprus, the purchase price of which must be at least EURO 500.000 plus VAT.
For this purpose, the investor and his parents may collectively acquire a residence, provide the value of the home property is at least EURO 1.000.000, plus VAT.
3. Adult Children
The right to apply for citizenship is granted only to the financially dependent adult children of the investor.
The Council of Ministers defined the term financially dependent adult children as:
a) The students up the age of 28 that attend an institution of higher education aiming to obtain a diploma or an undergraduate or master’s degree. The decision excludes individuals who are studying for the acquisition of professional qualification i.e. barristers, accountants, solicitors etc.
b) Children with severe physical or mental disability that renders them unable to work.
4. Minor Children
The application is submitted after the investor acquires the Cypriot citizenship. It is necessary that the other parent agrees to the grant of the citizenship and unlike any other application which is submitted to the Ministry of Interior the application form M126 is submitted to the Civil Registry and Migration Department, where it is processed.
5. Technical points – Submission of the Application
a) The application of both the investor and adult members of his family needs to be submitted to the MI together with EURO 2,000 in fees;
b) Prior the submission of the application the appointment must be arranged via the email address esavva@papd.mof.gov.cy;
c) The original application together with the required documents in their original form and additional photocopy of such are to be submitted to the MI;
d) The documents should strictly appear in order as indicates on the Investor Application Check List;
e) All documents submitted must be translated to English or Greek and must be authenticated and apostilled or bear a diplomatic ratification by the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in the country of issue as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus.
f) If the applicant meets the criteria and conditions of the Decision, the MI presents the case to the Council of Ministers for final decision;
g) Expected time of examination of the application is 6 (six) month and maximum number of citizenships granted to investors at 700 (seven hundred) per year.
For further information on this topic please contact
Mrs. Liza Bokova( lbokova@pittaslegal.com) at SOTERIS PITTAS & CO LLC,
by telephone (+357 25 028460) or by fax (+357 25 028461)
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advise should be sought about your specific circumstances.
