Does permanent residence lead to a Cyprus passport?

Not by itself. Permanent residence is an Immigration Permit issued by the Migration Department. Naturalisation is a separate decision by the Ministry of Interior under different law, and years on a permit do not convert themselves into citizenship.

Is there still a Cyprus citizenship by investment scheme?

The citizenship-by-investment programme was terminated in 2020. What exists now is permanent residence by investment under Regulation 6(2), which is a residence permit and not a passport. Anyone selling a Cyprus passport for an investment today is selling something that does not exist.

Do I need Greek for naturalisation?

A language and civics requirement has been reported, but we have not read the current rule or its level on a government page, so we do not state it as fact here.

Cyprus citizenship fee, and the cost that is not a fee

What is actually established about becoming a Cypriot citizen, and the figures we refuse to invent.

Last verified 2026-10-22Next review 2026-12-153 official sources

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Cyprus citizenship fee and naturalisation, decided by the Ministry of Interior

Cyprus citizenship fee is a number we are not going to give you, because we could not read the current published figure on the Ministry of Interior's own pages when this page was written. What we can tell you is who decides, what your residence permit does and does not lead to, and which claims about Cyprus passports are simply false.

Cyprus citizenship fee: why this page refuses the number

Every page on this site has to name the government source behind each figure. The naturalisation fee is set under the Civil Registry Law and published by the Ministry of Interior. When preparing this page the Ministry's naturalisation pages did not load for us, and the figures circulating on advisory sites disagree with each other.

Not established as of 22 October 2026: the naturalisation application fee, the Cyprus passport fee, the exact years of legal residence currently required, the conditions of the accelerated route for highly skilled workers, and whether a Greek language and civics examination applies and at what level. We are chasing each of these with the Ministry and will restate this page when they are in writing. Until then, treat any figure you read elsewhere as unverified, including on sites that look authoritative.

If that reads as unhelpful, compare it with the alternative. A fee quoted from memory on a page about acquiring a nationality is the kind of detail people build a five-year plan around.

Cyprus citizenship application: who decides it

This part is settled. On 17 June 2024 immigration and asylum moved to the new Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection, whose Migration Department now issues residence permits. Citizenship, identity cards and passports stayed with the Ministry of Interior.

The practical consequence is that your residence file and any future citizenship file sit with two different authorities, on two different timetables, under two different laws. The office that granted your permit has no say in the other decision.

Your permit does not become a passport

The route that gets sold hardest is permanent residence by investment, and the thing it is sold alongside is a hint about citizenship later. The Immigration Permit under Regulation 6(2) is a residence document. It is granted for life, the card renews every ten years, and it lapses on its own conditions: no residence taken up within a year, two years' absence, permanent residence acquired elsewhere, or the investment sold without replacement.

None of those conditions is a step towards naturalisation, and nothing in the investor criteria mentions citizenship. Years of permanent residence may form part of a later naturalisation case, but that is a separate application, assessed separately, and nobody taking your fee for a residence permit is in a position to promise the outcome.

Cyprus passport cost: the claim to walk away from

Cyprus ran a citizenship-by-investment programme and terminated it in 2020. It has not been reinstated. What replaced it in the market is permanent residence by investment, which is a different product with a different name and no passport attached.

So if an agent today offers you a Cyprus passport for an investment, at any price, on any timeline, that programme does not exist. The honest version of that conversation is permanent residence in about two months for EUR 300,000 plus a EUR 50,000 income, and silence about citizenship.

What we actually do here

We file residence and tax applications. We do not file naturalisation applications, and we will not take a fee for a plan whose final step is a decision we cannot see the rules for. When clients ask about citizenship we say what is on this page and point them to a Cypriot lawyer who does that work.

Common questions

What is the Cyprus citizenship fee?: We do not state one. The fee is set under the Civil Registry Law and published by the Ministry of Interior, and we could not read the current published figure on the Ministry’s own pages when this page was written. A number repeated from a blog is not an answer, so we have left it open and are chasing it.
Does permanent residence lead to a Cyprus passport?: Not by itself. Permanent residence is an Immigration Permit issued by the Migration Department. Naturalisation is a separate decision by the Ministry of Interior under different law, and years on a permit do not convert themselves into citizenship.
Is there still a Cyprus citizenship by investment scheme?: The citizenship-by-investment programme was terminated in 2020. What exists now is permanent residence by investment under Regulation 6(2), which is a residence permit and not a passport. Anyone selling a Cyprus passport for an investment today is selling something that does not exist.
Do I need Greek for naturalisation?: A language and civics requirement has been reported, but we have not read the current rule or its level on a government page, so we do not state it as fact here.

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.

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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.

Ministry of Interior (gov.cy) — Citizenship, identity cards and passports remained with the Ministry of Interior after immigration moved in June 2024
Cyprus Mail: Deputy Ministry for Migration begins work, 17 June 2024 — The split of responsibilities between the Migration Department and the Ministry of Interior (secondary source)
Migration Department: Immigration Permits (gov.cy) — Category F under Regulation 5 and the expedited Regulation 6(2) procedure

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.