So-called «Golden Visas» are a very popular tool for investors to expand their opportunities.

Let us remind you what type of visa this is — this is a program for obtaining a residence permit by investment. They have begun to be actively introduced by many European countries in recent years, Cyprus is no exception.

The holder of such a document has a lot of opportunities — better education, infrastructure, a completely different standard of living, but most importantly — the opportunity to apply for European citizenship.

However, on November 9, the Cyprus Audit Service published a report on the results of an audit of the investment program for foreigners who purchased real estate or shares in Cypriot companies for an amount of at least 300,000 euros.

The check was carried out because European authorities do not want to allow unwanted persons to enter Europe, as well as people who break the law during the transaction process. As a result, a number of violations were identified:

foreign investors purchased property with 5% VAT, but did not reside in Cyprus

permanent residence permits were granted without complying with the criterion of exclusive ownership of the legal entity on whose behalf the transactions were made

In some cases, the investment property sale process was never completed or owner titles were not issued.

What to do in this situation?

The Migration Department has tightened the requirements for both new investors and those who received a permanent residence permit based on investments before the changes were introduced. To do this you must provide:

• Every year. Documents on ownership of real estate or shares of a Cyprus company, as well as a valid medical policy
• Every 3 years. a certificate of no criminal history issued by the authorities of the country of which the Cypriot permanent residence holder is a citizen, as well as a certificate from the authorities of the country of permanent residence.
• 1 time. Documents confirming income during the process of obtaining a residence permit.

And in conclusion, we would like to add that despite the measures taken to prevent investment programs, the efforts of the EU authorities did not achieve 100% results.