CIP Journal

The Republic of Cyprus is to further encourage Foreign Direct Investment and to attract high net worth individuals to settle and do business in Cyprus. Based on the strong investor interest, the Government of Cyprus has established and revised a “Scheme for Naturalization of nonCypriot investors by exception” or “citizenship-by-investment programme”on the basis of subsection (2) of section 111A of the Civil Registry Laws of 2002-2015.

 Investments

The applicant should have made the necessary investments such as invested €2,000,000  in real estate, cypriot companies, alternative investment funds (bonds, bills, securities) during the three years preceding the date of the application and must retain the said investments for a period of at least three years as from the date of the naturalisation.

The most popular route for families are real estate and government bonds.

Requirements

In addition to the following investment, applicants must satisfy these rules:

• Private residence: Own a private residence in cyprus €500,000 + VAT for family.
• Clean criminal record: Investor and family must hold clean criminal record and must pass due diligence.
• Residence permit in Cyprus: The applicant, prior to his/her naturalization as a Cypriot citizen must hold a residence permit in Cyprus. If the applicant does not already hold a residence permit, he/she may apply for an immigration permit on the basis of Regulation 6 (2) of the Aliens and Immigration Law, simultaneously with the application for naturalization for the sake of cypriot citizenship.
• EU Health insurance: Must hold heath insurance coverage for €50,000

The Decision of the Council of Ministers dated 13.9.2016 provides for the grant of the Cypriot citizenship to the spouse or partner of the investor, to the parents of the investor and to the financially dependent adult children of the investor as well. The minor children of the investor have the right to acquire the citizenship according to the provisions of section 110 (3) of the Civil Registry Law.

Spouse/ Partner

The investor’s spouse or partner may acquire the Cypriot citizenship after filing the relevant application (Form M127). In order to facilitate the procedure of the acquisition of the Cypriot citizenship by the investor’s partner or spouse, the Council of Ministers decided to allow the submission of the spouse’s or partner’s application along with the application of the investor, so that both spouses/ partners will be able to acquire the Cypriot citizenship simultaneously. Furthermore, the Decision of the Council of Ministers clarifies that for the purposes of the Scheme the term partner is interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Partnership Law 184(I)/2015. According to this law the State recognizes any civil partnership that had been concluded in the Republic of Cyprus, or any other state in accordance with the legislation of that state and is still in power

Minor Children

The application for the grant of the Cypriot citizenship to the children of the investor that are under the age of eighteen is submitted after the investor had acquired the Cypriot citizenship and provided that the other parent consents to the grant of the citizenship. The application is filed at the Civil Registry and Migration Department

Adult Children

The right to apply for Citizenship is also granted to the financially dependent adult children of the Investor. The Decision of the Council of Ministers has determined that it will regard as financially dependent adult children individuals belonging to one of the below categories: (a) students up to the age of 28 that are attending an institution of higher education aiming to obtain a diploma or an undergraduate or a master’s degree. The Decision excludes individuals who are studying for the acquisition of a professional qualification (e.g. chartered accountants or barrister). (b) children with severe physical or mental disability that renders them unable to work. The application can be submitted after the investor had acquired the Cypriot citizenship. These applications (Form M127) are filed at the Ministry of Interior.

Investor’s Parents

The parent’s of the investor may apply for citizenship after the investor had acquired the Cypriot citizenship. These applications (Form M127) are filed at the Ministry of Interior. In order for the investor’s parents to be able to apply for citizenship they need to hold a permanent privately-owned residence in the Republic of Cyprus, the purchase price of which must be at least €500.000, plus V.A.T. It is noted the investor and his/her parents, may collectively acquire a residence, provided that the total value of this home-property is at least €1.000.000, plus V.A.T.

The citizenship certificate (aka certificate of naturalisation) is issued for investors family and dependents. Cypriot passport can be obtained within few weeks on the basis on naturalisation certificate.  The new cypriot citizens can freely live, work, study, travel in all Euro countries with the official status as “EU citizen”.

80% of Families and individuals applying for maltese citizenship, under individual investor program (IIP), chose to lease a property in Malta. Leasing or purchasing a property in Malta is one of the key requirements for IIP program where all applicants are required to have an address in Malta to qualify for citizenship.

IIP regulations require €350,000 for purchased property or €16,000 per year when leasing. Many IIP applicants choose to lease as it is a cheaper route. EU citizens also qualify for Maltese citizenship under IIP regulations.

In the Third Annual Report published by Malta Government, from the launch of IIP to June 2016, only  34 purchased a property (20%), 143 chose to lease (80%).  In the case of purchased properties the most popular areas were Sliema and its immediate vicinities.  Sliema and St Julians are the most popular areas for leasing.

Between July 2015 and June 2016 the value of the 27 purchased properties amounted to €28,322,519.93, averaging €1,048,982.22.

In the case of leased property the rental value for the duration of the 5-year contract is projected to be €13,412,036.95, averaging €125,346.14 per contract. On an annual basis this boils down to an average of €25,069.23 per lease.

Source: https://oriip.gov.mt/en/Documents/Reports/Annual%20Report%202016.pdf

St Kitts and Nevis have made the following changes to its citizenship by investment program (CIP) effective from 2017.

1. Sugar Industry Contribution Fund

Minimum contribution required for SIDF for qualified persons

2. Dependents

1. Age of parent treated as dependent lowered to 55 from 65 .
2. Children who are not more than 30 years of age will be considered dependent. This age limit increased from 25 years to 30 to be included in the application.

The once oldest and most popular economic citizenship in the Caribbean is on a decline!

St Kitts has received only 150 CIP applications in 2016 compared to  2000 citizenship by investment cases in 2014, according to this news report.

Many see big competition and cheaper prices in the citizenship-by-investment market from Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua, Grenada attracting clients away from St Kitts. Dominica and St Lucia donation contribution is only half the price USD 100,000 onwards, while Antigua and Grenada cost USD 200,000 under donation. St Kitts is the most expensive of all.

Another reason is, many citizenship agents in China woo and divert chinese clients coming for St Kitts to Dominica Antigua, or St Lucia. Chinese investors are the key for success of economic citizenship programs. Infact over 80% of applications for Portugal golden visa, Canada Quebec  and United States EB-5 received from Chinese.

Citizenship consulting companies quote St Kitts & Nevis one time donation amount of USD 250,000 and for Antigua & Barbuda USD 200,000. It may look like Antigua is cheaper than St Kitts. What many clients dont know is, Government fee ($50,000) for main applicant  is included in $250,000, where as for Antigua, you have pay extra USD 50,000 additional government fee. The bottomline is the donation amount for both the countries are the same.

The real estate investment prices are also expensive in St Kitts and Antigua which is about USD 400,000 plus various other fees. Dominica requires only USD 200,00 investment in real estate for passport, St Lucia only USD 300,000 Grenada only USD 350,000.

Nonetheless, the value of St Kitts passport just went up in rankings at par with Antigua. In 2017 Henley visa restrictions index, both St Kitts and Antigua passports rank 30th powerful passports in the world with visa free travel to 136 countries. One key difference Antigua passport has visa free access to Canada, South Africa while St Kitts passport does not. Likewise visa not required for St Kitts passport holders to travel to travel to Argentina, Israel while visa needed for Antigua passport holders.

Source: https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/caribbean-st-kitts-and-nevis-citizenship-by-investment-applications-hit-bottom/

Iran nationals can apply for citizenship in Antigua & Barbuda, if they meet the following requirements under the new rules:

1. Have permanent resident status or other long term visa in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States or a jurisdiction with which Antigua and Barbuda has visa free entry arrangements.
2. Have resided outside of Iran for at least three (3) years prior to the application for citizenship by investment.
3. Demonstrate that the funds to be invested in Antigua and Barbuda were substantially earned outside of Iran.

Source: http://cip.gov.ag/citizenship-by-investment-option-to-iranian-nationals/