Foreigners who are considering relocating to Cyprus have the possibility of completing this process with the assistance of professionals specialized in the law regulating immigration matters. The assistance of Cyprus immigration lawyers can be of use for natural persons who are seeking to relocate here for employment purposes, in the case of those interested in getting married in Cyprus or for those who want to invest here.
Our Cyprus immigration lawyers are ready to assist foreigners in numerous legal matters and they can present the list of documents that have to be prepared when one makes an application for a specific type of immigration document. Foreigners can also benefit from advice on the institutions they should contact as well as on any other aspects that must be completed upon their arrival in Cyprus.
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Foreigners can rely on the services provided by our team of lawyers when moving to Cyprus, regardless of their nationality. Persons who are citizens of the European Union (EU) benefit from simple rules as they are entitled to relocate here and to work in Cyprus following the same rights addressed to Cypriot nationals or to those who have obtained the Cypriot citizenship through naturalization.
Our lawyers can assist foreigners in the process of obtaining citizenship in Cyprus by naturalization. You can also rely on our team in the case in which you want to know the steps for becoming a citizen through the marriage with a Cypriot national.
If you have Cypriot ancestry, you are invited to send your inquiries to our team, who can help you the citizenship process as well.
We can also help foreigners in the process of acquiring Cypriot citizenship by marriage with a national of this country. This can be possible only when the spouses have been married for at least 3 years.
Those who are married for a period shorter than 3 years are required to wait until they reach their 3rd wedding anniversary in order to be eligible for the procedure.
For foreign applicants eligible for citizenship by marriage, residency requirements will be applied as well. Thus, an eligible candidate must be the holder of a residency permit in Cyprus for 2 years at the moment when the person decides to apply for citizenship.
There is an exemption from residency requirements, when the foreign applicant does not live in the country.
Depending on the type of citizenship you are interested in (and qualify for) you will need to provide evidence on having a residence permit in Cyprus that was issued on a permanent basis.
The requirements depend based on the category you qualify for; please mind that the processing of the citizenship application can take a long period of time – approximately 1 to 2 years.
However, other nationalities, outside the EU, can be imposed with various requirements when relocating to Cyprus. It must be noted that most of the non-EU nationals must apply for a visa when arriving here for tourism purposes, visiting friends or family, applying for a job and any other reasons. This requirement is applied for both short-term stays and long-term stays. Our Cyprus immigration lawyers can represent foreigners in legal matters such as:
• applying for a work permit in Cyprus, which can be issued as a general employment permit or it can be addressed to highly qualified persons;
• applying for a visa that grants the right of studying in this country;
• helping with the formalities related to the issuance of the registration certificate required for those moving to Cyprus for a period longer than three months;
• applying for a temporary residence permit, which grants the right of staying here for a period of one year;
• applying for Cyprus permanent residence – the document can be obtained after five years of residency in Cyprus;
• applying for the Cypriot residency through naturalization or through investments;
• our Cyprus immigration lawyers can offer assistance in getting married to a Cypriot national as a foreigner;
• providing legal representation in family reunification programs addressed to foreigners.
It must be noted that our Cyprus immigration lawyers can also provide legal advice on the types of visas foreigners must obtain prior to arriving here; foreigners can also request information on any visa exemptions that they can be entitled to (there are specific nationalities that do not have to apply for a short-term visa as per the Cyprus immigration law).
Although Cyprus is a small country, it has one of the highest immigration rates amongst the EU jurisdictions (calculated as a share of its population). In the last years, the country’s net migration (the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants) has maintained at a positive value, as presented by the Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus. The structure of the Cypriot society is comprised of the following:
• in 2018, the number of foreigners who were considered long-term immigrants increased to 23,442 persons;
• this represented an increased compared to 2017, when the number of long-term immigrants was of 21,306;
• Cyprus has the 3rd highest immigration rate at an EU level (measured for 2017);
• the share of foreigners moving to Cyprus is rather large compared to the total population, which was of 864,236 persons in 2018;
• in 2018, the Cypriot citizens, who were born or who acquired the Cypriot citizenship, accounted for 713,471 persons;
• the structure of the foreigners relocating to Cyprus was comprised of EU citizens (114,536 persons) and non-EU citizens (34,632 persons) in 2018.
Our Cyprus immigration lawyers can offer more information on how to move to this country.
The Cyprus migration legislation prescribes several categories of visas: the airport transit visa, the short-stay visa, the Pro visa, and the national visa. Our Cyprus immigration lawyers can present the characteristics of each type of document and the requirements one must fulfill when applying for the necessary documents.
The short-stay visa can be used for tourism purposes and it can be issued as a multiple entry document, its validity being of 90 days in a period of 180 days. Please contact our Cyprus immigration lawyers for more details on the types of visas available here, as well as on any other immigration services you can benefit from. You can rely on our team for advice on how to receive the Cyprus permanent residence permit as well.