The Investment Migration Knowledge Platform
On Monday, Cyprus’ Council of Ministers decided to grant an exemption from the €150,000 donation requirement to those investors who began the CIP investment process prior to the new rules.
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Having lowered the minimum investment requirement for its citizenship by investment program in 2016, from €2.5 million to €2 million, Cypriot authorities have decided to add on a requirement for mandatory contributions amounting to 150,000. The Ministry of Finance reports that total revenues from the program since inception amount to €6.6 billion. Mandatory donations Applicants
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With 562 registered service providers, the Cypriot CIP has more accredited agents than all other citizenship by investment programs combined, but walk past a thousand Kittitians on the street and you’ll run into at least one licensee.
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In the first seven months of 2018, Cyprus had already received 521 applications for citizenship by investment. Unless it rejects an unusually large number of investors, the country will hit its self-imposed naturalization ceiling very soon. In 2017, the program’s busiest year so far, Cyprus naturalized 503 main applicants and 510 dependents under the program.
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During a debate among members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, earlier this week, President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus came out in defense of his country’s citizenship by investment program. As part of a broader debate titled the Future of Europe, the president commented on the parliamentarians’ repeated criticism of the Cyprus CIP in recent months,
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Due to the growing demand for the Cyprus Investment Scheme (citizenship by investment program), Astons felt the time was right to handle business first hand with the launch of a Cyprus local office. It is a strong testament to the firm’s commitment to support its clients – namely Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern – with
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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 his Ministry was considering the proposal, tabled
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In a draft report published yesterday, the European Parliament’s Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion, and Tax Avoidance Committee is calling for the “phasing out” of all EU golden visa and citizenship by investment programs. The pretext for the recommendation is these programs’ perceived threat to security in the Union, as well as their potential for “CRS
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Cyprus is preparing a response to the OECD, in an attempt to remove its citizenship programme (the Cyprus Investment Programme) from the organization’s blacklist of RCBI-schemes, London-based Greek Cypriot newspaper Parikiaki reported. According to Parikiaki, sources have informed the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that the Cypriot Ministry of Finance is preparing additional information on the
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Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice, visited Cyprus on Friday as part of a “fact-finding mission” intended to give her a better understanding of the inner workings of EU-country citizenship by investment programs. Speaking to reporters in Nicosia on Friday, Jourova once more confirmed the European Commission’s intentions to issue recommendations to member states
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Giorgos Perdikis, a Green Party MP in Cyprus, has stated he plans to introduce a bill to increase the transparency of the country’s citizenship by investment program by making program policy subject to Parliamentary oversight, according to the Cyprus Mail. The proposed bill would introduce a requirement for parliamentary approval of changes to the program’s regulations
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From Saint Kitts & Nevis in 1984 to Jordan, Moldova, and Montenegro in 2018; we’ve made a step-by-step guide to the history of citizenship by investment programs. The infographic, originally published in June 2017, has been updated to reflect the new citizenship by investment programs in Moldova, Montenegro, and Jordan. We’ve also expanded it to include
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Cyprus’ Committee of Supervision and Control for the Cyprus Investment Programme yesterday published the official list of licensed service providers. Populated chiefly by law firms and citizenship consultancies, it also contains the names of the large property developers on the island, a decision some have criticized as representing a conflict of interest. The registry lists
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The new Cypriot regulations are ambiguous as to whether the companies selling investments under the Cypriot Investor Scheme – mainly property developers – will be allowed to register as licensed advisors. If that is the case, Cyprus will become “the object of international ridicule”, says the Vice President of Arton Capital. “This is like allowing
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This article was contributed by regular columnist Stephane Tajick. For more articles by Stephane, see the “Tajick’s Take” column. The principal offering of any citizenship by investment program (CIP) is access to EU member states, be it visa-free travel within the Schengen area or the right of settlement in European countries. Since the source of
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Cyprus is standardizing the operation of its citizenship by investment program, the Cypriot Investment Scheme (CIS), and is increasingly taking a form similar to that of Malta and the Caribbean programs. By July 31st, the Ministry of Finance, together with Invest Cyprus, will publish online an official registry of accredited service providers, and are inviting
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Opinion of the editor: I have a dream. I have a dream that one day, I will be able to go for a whole week without seeing our industry maligned and slandered in the press. This is not that week. Jenni Russel, a columnist at the once-venerable Times of London writes (bold mine), […]the continent
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During the Cyprus Citizenship and Residence by Investment Conference in Limassol last month, Investment Migration Insider asked two Cyprus-based lawyers specializing in the program about the impact the new regulations of the Cypriot Investment Scheme would have on the program’s demand and practitioners. “The Cyprus government is very cautious in keeping in line with the observations of
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Note: This article is sprinkled throughout with comments in bold. They represent the personal opinions of the editor only. Several European lawmakers are calling for “regulation” of citizenship by investment programs among EU-member countries. Once again, CIPs are protested on the basis of an ideological opposition to the acquisition of nationality through monetary contributions: “If
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Cyprus’ Council of Ministers yesterday announced several significant amendments to the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme. The changes include capping the number of naturalizations at 700 a year, changing the program’s official name, and tightening due diligence. The cap on applications will come into effect already this year, according to the Cyprus Mail. The article
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