Cyprus’s fast-track permanent residence route grants non-EU nationals and their families the right to live in Cyprus indefinitely, in exchange for a €300,000 (plus VAT) investment in a new-build residential property. It’s one of the more direct paths into long-term EU residence available anywhere in Europe, processed in a matter of months rather than years — but it comes with specific rules that catch people out if they don’t check them first.
What actually counts as the investment
The €300,000 threshold has to go into a new-build residential property purchased directly from a developer — resale property doesn’t qualify for this route, full stop. At least €200,000 of the price has to be paid before you submit the application, and the funds have to be transferred from outside Cyprus. You can spread the €300,000 across one or two properties, including from two different developers if you want to. Buying through a company is allowed too, provided you or your spouse is the sole owner.
The income requirement
Beyond the property itself, you need to show a secured annual income of at least €50,000 from outside Cyprus — this is separate from the investment and can’t be satisfied by rental income from the property you’re buying. That figure rises by €15,000 if you’re including a spouse, and €10,000 for each dependent child.
How long it actually takes, and what “permanent” really means
The Migration Department’s own published estimate is around two months for a complete application; in practice, most sources put the realistic range at two to six months once compliance and source-of-funds checks are factored in. Once granted, the residence right itself doesn’t expire — there’s no renewal requirement on the status, though you do need to visit Cyprus at least once every two years to keep it active. That’s a meaningfully lighter obligation than most comparable EU residence-by-investment programmes.
Who’s actually included
The permit extends to your spouse and dependent children — commonly up to age 25 if they’re enrolled as full-time students, though it’s worth confirming the current age cut-off directly, since family-inclusion rules are exactly the kind of detail that shifts between regulatory revisions.
Is this the same thing as a “Golden Visa”?
Functionally, yes — but worth knowing that Cyprus has never actually operated a programme officially called a “Golden Visa.” That’s informal shorthand, used constantly in press coverage and marketing, for what’s formally Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations. If you’ve been searching for Cyprus’s golden visa specifically, this fast-track investment route is what you’ve been looking for — the name is just unofficial.
This is residence, not citizenship
It’s worth being precise here, because the two get conflated constantly. This programme grants permanent residence — not a Cypriot passport, and not automatic EU free movement rights. Cyprus’s old Citizenship by Investment scheme, which did grant a passport directly, was abolished in November 2020. The route from permanent residence to citizenship today runs through ordinary naturalisation, which generally requires around seven years of legal residence — a separate, much longer process, covered in more depth on its own.
The alternative: Category F
There is a second, non-investment route to Cyprus permanent residence — Category F — which doesn’t require a €300,000 purchase and allows resale property. In principle it’s the “no big investment” path. In practice, multiple recent sources describe a substantial processing backlog on this route, with real-world waits running well beyond the timelines historically advertised for it. If you’re choosing between routes primarily on speed, that backlog is worth weighing seriously before assuming Category F is the lighter option just because the entry requirements look smaller.
Where this leaves you
If residence is any part of why you’re buying property in Cyprus, the practical takeaway is simple: it has to be new-build, from a developer, and it has to clear €300,000 before VAT. {New Developments in Cyprus} covers what’s currently being built, Apartments for Sale in Limassol covers what’s currently available to buy, and if tax treatment is part of your planning alongside residence, Cyprus Non-Dom Tax is worth reading next.