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Cyprus Has Approved 28,660 Golden Visas Since 2014 · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cyprus has issued 28,660 golden visas since launching its residency by investment program in 2014.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Finance Minister Makis Karavnos revealed an official correspondence on Friday.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: The letter to Akel MP Georgos Kukumas shows that Chinese nationals dominate the program, receiving 10,100 permits, followed by Russians at 8,478.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Lebanese citizens received 1,822 permits, Ukrainians 983, Jordanians 907, Iranians 0,699, and Egyptians 586.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: The Middle Eastern presence extends further through Syrian nationals receiving 346 permits.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Asian participation includes Vietnamese citizens obtaining 412 approvals while Western applicants remain comparatively modest, as American nationals received 277 permits, and British citizens secured 251 visas.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: The numbers include family dependence, as the government processed 14,646 individual applications over the 11-year period.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Authorities rejected 1,209 applications and maintained 1,248 pending cases in their current pipeline.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Cyprus's program requires minimum investments of 300,000 euros in real estate, shares, or funds.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Applicants must demonstrate annual post-tax income of at least 50,000 euros to qualify for permanent resident status.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: The program restricts qualifying purchases to new properties, meaning foreign buyers seeking residency do not compete directly against Cypriots purchasing resale homes.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Recent parliamentary discussions have examined foreign property investments' impact on housing affordability, though no official proposals exist to abolish the Golden Visa Program.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Immigration lawyer Demetries Demetriades notes the government views the program within the context of regulation, not cancellation.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Visa holders face ongoing compliance requirements, including annual proof of maintained investments and health insurance coverage.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: The government demands clean criminal records every three years and prohibits permanent residency elsewhere or absences exceeding two years.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Cyprus has simultaneously expanded its immigration offerings through recent policy changes.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: The government modified its startup visa program in January, extending residence permits to three years and reducing share capital requirements to 25%.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Parliament is also reviewing a proposed 250,000 euro independent means visa-targeting financially independent individuals who can demonstrate 40,000 euro annual income.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: The letter also revealed that Cyprus issued 61,128 residence permits of all types to third country nationals between 2014 and 2025.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: This encompasses various visa categories beyond the investment-based golden visa route.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: This means that nearly half of all the residence permits Cyprus issued during that period were investment-based visas, a very high rate by global standards.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Ahmad Abbas on IMIDaily.com.
• 3:20
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• 3:26
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