Cyprus tightens its “golden visa” programme ahead of Schengen accession

The Republic of Cyprus is tightening its investment permanent residence programme (“golden visas”) as the country prepares to join the Schengen area. This was stated on 24 September 2026 at a parliamentary committee meeting by Deputy Minister of the Interior for Migration Nicolas Ioannides.

The authorities have already begun a strict review of about 12,000 investment permanent residence permits issued since 2013, to establish whether their holders still meet the programme conditions on the basis of which they were once granted status.

Over the last two years about 1,500 more “golden visas” were issued under the programme, which means interest in investment permanent residence remains high despite talk of tighter conditions.

At present the accelerated route to permanent residence requires an investment from €300,000. It is this threshold, and the rules linked to it, that the authorities intend to revisit as part of the reform being prepared.

The authorities are considering additional restrictions for the programme, as well as the possibility of redirecting part of the investment into specific areas that are priorities for the country: education, defence and innovation.

For now these are directions of discussion, not approved rules: the specific mechanism, and whether participation in such projects will be mandatory or one of the investment options, has not yet been determined.

The specific new criteria for the programme have not yet been approved; decisions on tightening it are only being prepared.

This means that the current conditions, including the threshold from €300,000, continue to apply unchanged, but applicants should allow time for possible new requirements and should not delay filing their documents if the decision to invest has already been made.