The new criteria of the Cyprus Investment Programme (CIP) were approved by the Council of Ministers on 13th February 2019 and have been published in the Cyprus Gazette on 26th February 2019. The revised CIP has been effective since 15th May 2019.

The CIP has been recently revised, following the meeting of the Council of Ministers on the 25th July 2019, as published in the Cyprus Gazette on 23rd August 2019, as follows:

1. Investors who apply for Naturalization under the Cyprus Investment Programme from 15th May 2019 onwards must satisfy the financial criterion A.1 which provides for a donation of at least €75.000 to the Research and Innovation Foundation and a donation of at least €75.000 to the Cyprus Land Development Corporation. It is clarified that the donation will be paid into the accounts of the two organizations that have been announced, following the approval of the Application for Naturalization by the Council of Ministers.


2. Under the combination of investments (criterion A.5) the applicant can purchase securities on the secondary market of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) up to €200.000.

Also, the Council decided that it will not allow the granting of Cypriot citizenship through the Programme to persons who fall into the categories of high-risk, as follows:

1. Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), who are divided into the following subcategories:
   
   
   1. Persons who hold political positions.
   2. Persons who have held a political position during the last five years.


2. Persons subject to criminal investigation without being charged.


3. Persons who are subject to criminal proceedings and are defendants in a criminal case which is pending.


4. Persons sentenced to prison for serious offences (e.g. public bribery, tax evasion, etc.) and the set conviction does not appear on record (Criminal Record).


5. Persons affiliated with legal entities which have been restricted by the European Union (EU) e.g. shareholders or senior executives of companies that are included in a list of sanctions.


6. Persons who were affiliated with legal entities which have been restricted by the European Union (EU) but are no longer associated e.g. former senior executives of companies included in the list of sanctions, and were associated with those companies when the sanctions regime was imposed. It is understood that, even if the person resigned when the restrictive measures were imposed, the application will still be rejected. Those who have resigned before the imposition of restrictive measures are excluded.


7. Persons who have been sanctioned by non-EU countries (e.g. USA, Ukraine, Russia).


8. Persons associated with legal entities subject to sanctions by non-EU countries.


9. Persons being investigated / charged for criminal offences and being sought across Europe by EUROPOL or internationally by INTERPOL.


10. Persons who have been investigated / indicted for criminal offenses and have being sought across Europe by EUROPOL or internationally by INTERPOL and are no longer sought.


11. Persons subject to sanctions by the United Nations Security Council.

The CIP applications which have already been submitted since 15th of May 2019 onwards, involving persons of high-risk, will be subject to the above regulation.

Originally published on 09 September 2019 on the Michael Kyprianou website by  Polina Polycarpou.