I am a Chinese citizen living in Mainland China. I heard that there have been some recent changes to the citizenship by investment program in Cyprus. What are they and how would these changes impact investors? Could the Cypriot programs expire?
Please be informed that the recent amendments in relation to the Cyprus citizenship by investment program apply to the service providers of the program. Currently, there are no changes affecting the passport scheme, the investment amount and the period to maintain the investment.
At the moment the proposed changes do not affect the criteria of naturalization. They are in essence administrative and procedural changes. It is not expected that the citizenship-by-investment program will expire any time in the near future.
The government decided to adopt additional due-diligence measures to further enhance investors' protection and the Cyprus investment program's (CIP) transparency through the stricter regulation of the CIP and the service providers, since government's intention is to continue to encourage foreign direct investment and to attract high net worth individuals to do business in Cyprus through the prolongation of the favorable CIP. The criteria for the obtainment of the Cyprus citizenship has not been amended and remains favorable and attractive to potential investors. More specifically, the cabinet decision provides for the establishment of a committee of supervision and control of matters relating to CIP. This committee will create a register with the names of service providers of services relating to CIP. All applications for the program should be submitted only by a registered service provider. A draft of a code of practice (the code) has been also approved. This code states the rules relating to the promotion of the CIP and the rules registered service providers must abide by. The applicants must submit with their application a signed and duly legalized declaration by which they will confirm that their service provider abides by the code, that they have received full advice and that they are aware of the consequences of not adhering to the provisions of the CIP. The service provider must also submit a declaration stating essentially that he/she has provided full advisory services and that he/she has informed the client on the provisions and requirements of the CIP and the code. By adopting the abovementioned measures, the government's aim is to further safeguard the security and the protection of the potential applicants/investors.
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