On Friday, July 31, 2020, the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus voted in favor of the revised legislation and regulations of the Investment Program for obtaining the Cyprus citizenship and passport. The new revised legislation is expected to be officially published this week.

Plan of published amendments and additions voted on:
1. The financial criteria for the program remained the same, that is, an investment of € 2,000,000 plus the acquisition of an additional residence for personal residence of at least € 500,000 plus VAT is required.
2. In the event that an investment of € 2,000,000 is invested in residential real estate in Cyprus, another residence is not required to be acquired.
3. Important. The investor is no longer allowed to set up a land development company in accordance with his investment plan.
4. Donations increased from € 150,000 to € 200,000 (€ 100,000 and € 100,000 respectively).
5. The parents of both the investor and his / her spouse can now apply for Cypriot citizenship, provided that they receive a residence permit when purchasing a property of at least € 500,000 plus VAT for each party.
6. The new amended rules also provide the option to purchase a combined property, which will amount to 1,000,000 plus VAT for all additional properties.
7. Funds in relation to investments must be transferred to Cyprus from the investor's private account and / or his / her company account.
8. The definition of a politically exposed person has been clearly defined and any investor is eligible to apply if he / she resigned from his / her public office 12 months before the application date (instead of 3 years).
9. A certificate of no criminal record can be issued 6 months before the filing of the application (earlier than 3 months).
10. The government has the right to revoke Cypriot citizenship if certain conditions arise that are clearly defined in the new rules. An independent committee should be formed to consider such cases and present an opinion to the Council of Ministers.
11. All applications that were submitted after December 31, 2019 can be considered based on the new rules.