Cyprus citizenship by investment scheme has received increase in applications during first three months of 2019, as new stricter changes coming into effect on 15 May 2019.
Private sector offices providing such services under licence by the Ministry of Finance confirm that applications have risen in the first months of 2019, which was reported today by In Cyprus.
Cyprus will also be tightening vetting checks on citizenship applications as a part of new changes to the scheme effective in May 2019.
Phileleftheros has already announced, public tenders will open soon for a specialised foreign firms to carry out due diligence and background checks for each and every application.
Last year the Interior ministry announced hiring of three specialized due diligence firms to carry out an estimated 1500 due diligence reviews annually as a part of 2019 budget proposal. The contract will be for one year with an option to extend for another two.
The three most important changes done by Council of Ministers to tighten the cypriot citizenship scheme starting from May 15, 2019 are
- Requirement of Schengen visa requiring applicants first vetted by EU
- Holding of investments for 5 years with switching allowed
- Donation of EUR 150,000 to in the reserch and housing development of Cyprus
- Government bonds for citizenship repealed after this date
- Shipping sector investments newly introduced
Currently Cyprus has capped CIP applications to 700 annually.
So far, as of 2019 the Cypriot investment scheme has
- 1,864 foreign investors granted citizenship
- €6.6 billion total investments received with each investor investing €2 million euros or more
- 30% increased VAT revenues
- Over 2000 jobs created
- Over 550 Citizenship agents/consultants marketing the scheme
Deposits of non-residents in the Cypriot banking system recorded in 2018 a significant drop, close to 13%, as a result of stricter policies against money laundering, the Central Bank of Cyprus has said. Central Bank data show that on the basis of net transactions deposits of non-residents presented a drop of €1.4 billion.
The Cyprus investment scheme revitalized the construction and real estate sector with already €3.7 billion euros invested through the citizenship scheme creating over 2200 jobs.
In Jan 2019, the number of building permits increased by 8.2% compared to 2018, according to the CYSTAT. Building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.
The number of building permits authorized by the municipal authorities and the district administration offices during January 2019 stood at 544. The total value of these permits reached €117,8 million and the total area 107,0 thousand square metres provided for the construction of 548 dwelling units.
