Cyprus Implements New Citizenship Rules To Attract Foreigners

In a bid to streamline the naturalization of highly skilled employees and introduce a new residency system, the government of Cyprus has amended its Civil Registry law to attract skilled foreign workers to the country. These changes include easy residency requirements and language proficiency criteria.

After just one year of changes in its Civil Registry Law aiming to attract skilled and specialised foreign workers to Cyprus, the country is planning to streamline the naturalisation process of highly skilled employees and their families, thereby introducing a new pathway for naturalisation based on the number of years in Cyprus.

According to the European Commission,  “the relaxations introduced relate to the amount of time a foreign national would need to reside in Cyprus before applying for naturalisation, as well as knowledge of the Greek language. Applicants would still need to have a working knowledge of the Greek language, to be financially self-sufficient, to have no criminal record and to be ‘of good character.”

family members of candidates who were lawful residents of Cyprus for twelve months will also be eligible for citizenship, with a maximum eight-month processing time.

As per the modified legislation, persons who meet specific criteria and are highly skilled and employed by a Foreign Interest Company may apply for Cypriot citizenship.

Applying for citizenship in Cyprus requires that a person have a suitable location to reside, be of good character with no criminal record, and have lived in the nation for a year without leaving for more than ninety days. Along with having academic or professional credentials, knowing how to navigate the political and social terrain of Cyprus, and having intermediate knowledge of Greek, they must also enter and exit the nation through authorized ports.

 The European Commission noted that “A family member of a person who meets the above criteria and applies for naturalisation under them may apply for naturalisation based on years of residency in the Republic, after residing for eight years in Cyprus, within the 11 years preceding their application.”

 The recent modifications bring about an updated naturalization process for those who are lawfully residing in Cyprus under different residency schemes. These people must, depending on their years of residence, have lived in Cyprus for eight of the previous eleven years before filing their application.

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