Citizenship and Investment – Northern Cyprus opens its arms
I think that today this program is the main motivating mechanism for foreign buyers of real estate in Northern Cyprus who are not EU residents.
Since its launch, that is, in five years, the economy of Northern Cyprus has received about €5 billion – 20% of the country’s GDP. At the same time, the conditions of the program became more and more attractive: for example, initially applicants had to invest as much as €5 million...
And today the program for granting citizenship to investors is not a cheap pleasure, but it is unique in many respects. The main thing is that the period for obtaining a Cypriot passport for an investor is seven to eight months. The second advantage is broad investment opportunities: a program participant can invest in financial assets of companies, residential or commercial real estate, and development projects. Third, the investor is not obliged to renounce his current citizenship, that is, dual citizenship is acceptable. Fourth, the applicant does not need to reside permanently in the country. And finally, after three years, the investor has the right to sell his assets at a profit (resell the property), with the exception of one piece of real estate worth at least €500 thousand.
Let me separately remind you about the Residence Permit program, which allows you to obtain a permanent residence permit and live comfortably in the country without any restrictions. Subject to the purchase of new real estate worth at least €300 thousand, the period for obtaining a residence permit under the accelerated procedure is a maximum of two months.
Please note that the residence permit in Northern Cyprus is permanent and is issued for life, it is valid for the whole family and does not require you to constantly be in Northern Cyprus (you only need to visit the island once every two years). Finally, the holder of a residence permit can obtain a Cypriot passport through naturalization - for this it is necessary to live continuously in the country for seven years.
Every year, our company assists about twenty clients in obtaining Northern Cyprus citizenship. But the question that confronts them is often not limited to actually obtaining a passport. After all, if an investor wants to purchase not one, but several properties worth more than €2 million in total, then the task becomes not only an immigration one, but also an investment one.
This is what I would like to talk about. Below are several scenarios for those wishing to obtain citizenship status and residence permits.
A famous proverb says: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” In the case of real estate, never invest your money in any one project. Therefore, we usually advise spreading your investments over several projects.
So, to obtain a Cypriot passport, an investor needs to spend at least €2 million. The first decision is to purchase one property for this amount. This option is attractive for those who intend to use the property themselves, usually as a summer residence. Sometimes for such investors, having a passport is much more important than the real estate itself.
To obtain a residence permit within two months, according to an accelerated procedure, the buyer must purchase real estate worth at least €300 thousand in a new building. You can buy one or two objects, provided that they are purchased from the same developer.
Pay attention! If the value of the purchased property is less than €300 thousand (or you are buying properties on the secondary market), a residence permit can be obtained in another way on a general basis. Then, in addition to documents confirming property, you need to provide data on sources of income outside of Cyprus and funds in a Cypriot bank account. The annual required income must be at least €10 thousand.
The processing time for an application for such a residence permit is not specified; in practice, it ranges from 10 to 14 months.
