Cyprus CIP Seeking DD-Partner, May Raise Program Price to Fund Housing Subsidies
The Cypriot government says it may raise the Cyprus citizenship program’s minimum investment requirement by EUR 50,000 to finance rent subsidies for vulnerable households, and that it plans to invite tenders to find an official due diligence service provider soon.
Interior Minister Constandinos Petrides told Parliament on Monday
Considering Cyprus’ upper limit of 700 applications a year, the additional fee could raise as much as EUR 35 million annually without affecting fiscal policy or debt levels.
Read also: Cyprus MP: Boost Transparency in Citizenship Program to Avoid Foreign Criticism
The Interior Minister further revealed the government would soon be inviting tenders from firms specializing in due diligence in order to find an official partner to help “tighten up the screening” of CIP applicants.
The Ministry, moreover, had set aside funds to purchase a user license for Thomson Reuters’ WorldCheck database, a tool commonly used by CIP-jurisdictions to conduct background verification on applicants.
The Cyprus citizenship by investment program (officially, the Cypriot Investor Scheme), has raised close to EUR 5 billion since opening in 2014.
Christian Henrik Nesheim is the founder and editor of Investment Migration Insider, the #1 magazine – online or offline – for residency and citizenship by investment. He is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, documentary producer, and writer on the subject of investment migration, whose work is cited in the Economist, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, and Business Insider. Norwegian by birth, Christian has spent the last 16 years in the United States, China, Spain, and Portugal.