Cyprus Category F visa: the income route, not the investment one
The permanent residence route for people with income rather than capital, and why half the internet calls the investment route by its name.
Last verified 2026-10-22Next review 2027-01-222 official sources
Not sure which permit fits you?Ask us which permit fits
Cyprus Category F visa is permanent residence granted under Regulation 5 of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations to someone with a secured annual income from outside Cyprus who does not work here. It is not the EUR 300,000 investment route, and the difference is the whole point of this page.
Cyprus Category F visa, and the name everyone gets wrong
Search for Cyprus permanent residence and you will be told, confidently and often, that Category F is the EUR 300,000 property route. It is not. The Migration Department's own Immigration Permits page splits them:
- Category F, Regulation 5: a secured annual income from sources outside Cyprus, sufficient to live on without working here. Decided through the Immigration Control Committee, under the ordinary procedure.
- Regulation 6(2): the expedited procedure, on an investment of at least EUR 300,000 in one of four categories, with a target decision of about two months.
Both end in an Immigration Permit, which is what Cyprus calls permanent residence for a third-country national. They get there by different tests at very different speeds, so being sold one under the other's name is an expensive mistake.
Cyprus immigration Category F: what the income test says
The Migration Department page sets the income at at least EUR 9,568 a year for the applicant, plus EUR 4,613 for each dependant.
We flag those two numbers rather than present them as the answer. They are oddly precise in a way that suggests they were converted from Cyprus pounds before the euro and never restated, and firms handling these applications routinely work to income several times higher. Read them as the floor the regulation records, not as the amount that gets an application approved. We are checking the current practice with the Department and will restate this section when we have it in writing.
What is not in doubt is the shape of the test. The income has to come from outside Cyprus, it has to be secured rather than hoped for, and you must not take employment in Cyprus while you hold the permit.
Who Cyprus Category F residency actually suits
Pensioners and people living on rents, dividends or royalties from abroad. If your money arrives every month from somewhere else and you have no intention of taking a Cyprus job, Category F is the route whose conditions you already meet without buying anything.
It suits founders much less well. A founder who wants the 60-day tax residency result needs a business, employment or directorship in Cyprus, and Category F points the other way. Those two can be reconciled, but not by accident, and a Category F file that mentions a Cyprus salary contradicts itself.
Why most investors use Regulation 6(2) instead
Speed, and a published rulebook. The expedited procedure has a number on every condition: EUR 300,000 of investment, EUR 50,000 of secured annual income plus EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per minor child, a EUR 500 application fee, EUR 70 per person for the registration card, and a target decision of about two months. Category F has an Immigration Control Committee and no stated timetable.
If you have the capital, 6(2) is almost always the better file. If you do not, Category F is the one that exists for you, and its weakness is not the criteria but the waiting.
What we tell people before they file
Ask for the route by its regulation number, not by its nickname. A quote for "Category F" at EUR 300,000 is either the wrong route or the wrong name, and in both cases you want to know which before you pay a deposit.
Common questions
- Is Category F the EUR 300,000 Cyprus residency route?
- No. Category F sits under Regulation 5 and rests on a secured annual income from abroad. The EUR 300,000 investment route is the expedited procedure under Regulation 6(2). The two are often given the same name online, which matters because their conditions and their speed are nothing alike.
- How much income does Cyprus Category F require?
- The Migration Department page states at least EUR 9,568 a year for the applicant plus EUR 4,613 for each dependant. Those amounts look like converted Cyprus-pound figures and advisers commonly work to much higher numbers in practice, so treat them as the published floor rather than as what will succeed.
- Can I work in Cyprus on a Category F permit?
- No. The route is for people whose income comes from outside Cyprus and who do not take employment here.
- How long does a Category F application take?
- We do not publish a figure. Category F is decided by the Immigration Control Committee under the ordinary procedure rather than the expedited one, and the time estimates in circulation range from about a year to several years without a government figure behind them.
Not sure which permit fits you?
Cyprus law has several residence permit types, and each one has its own conditions and renewal rules. Send us your nationality and how you earn. We reply with the permit that fits, or we tell you if none of them does.
Sources
Every legal, fee and procedural statement on this page is taken from the sources below and was checked on 2026-10-22. Where they change, this page changes.
- Migration Department: Immigration Permits (gov.cy) — Category F under Regulation 5 and the expedited Regulation 6(2) procedure
- Migration Department: Immigration Permits for Investors, 4th revision in force 2 May 2023 (gov.cy) — The EUR 300,000 investment categories, the EUR 50,000 income requirement, fees and conditions
Related
This page is general information about Cyprus rules as published by the authorities named above. It is not legal or tax advice for your circumstances, and immigration outcomes depend on your nationality, documents and individual case. See our legal and tax information disclaimer.