A new bill was submitted to the House of Representatives on 7th October 2025, aiming to amend the Civil Registry Law 2002 (the “Law”) in order to permanently end the granting of Cypriot cizitenship to investors and their family members pursuant to the Cyprus Investment Program (the “Program”).
For context, the Program allowed foreign investors to obtain a Cypriot passport on the fulfillment of certain conditions, including making a qualifying investment of at least €2 million and purchasing a permanent residence of at least €500.000. You may find more information on the Program in our Article “Acquiring Cypriot Citizenship through the Cyprus Investment Program”.
The Program was suspended on 1st November 2020, following intervention by the European Commission which commenced violation proceedings against the Republic of Cyprus. In order to suspend the violation proceedings, the European Commission requested that the Republic amends the Law in order to eliminate the legal basis for reinstatement of a citizenship by investment program.
The bill seeks to amend the Law as follows:
- Deletion of the provision allowing the Council of Ministers to grant Cypriot citizenship to investors and their family members pursuant to such Program. [If, pursuant to a court decision, re-evaluation of citizenship applications submitted and/or related decisions issued under the Program is required, the deleted Article will apply only to the extent of such re-evaluation.]
- Introduction of a 60-day objection period for affected persons in relation to citizenship revocations, commencing from the date of receipt of the revocation notification.
- A new obligation on the Minister of Interior to publish the revocation of citizenship in the Official Gazette of the Republic, naming the affected person(s). The main purpose of this new requirement is to ensure that all relevant public and private bodies are well and timely informed of the revocation. In relation to data protection concerns arising from the public naming of the affected person(s), the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection has approved this practice as being in alignment with data protection legislation.
In light of the Program’s suspension since 2020 and the submission of this bill at the request of the European Commission, the likelihood of this bill receiving final approval is high.
Investors can still obtain permanent residency in Cyprus upon fulfillment of certain conditions and a qualifying investment. For more information on permanent residency in Cyprus, you may refer to our Article “Acquiring Permanent Residency in Cyprus”.
The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon or construed as legal advice on any matter. The information provided is valid as at the time of publishing and may not reflect the most current legal developments. Should you require legal advice, please contact us directly.
