Cyprus gives people with income from abroad an EU and Mediterranean base, built around a non-domiciled tax status and residency you can plan around. Permit routes cover retirees, investors, and remote workers.
Sources verified 2026-09-11
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The Category F permit accepts people living on secured foreign income of at least EUR 9,568 a year, including pensions, dividends, interest, and rents. Non-domiciled status can exempt the dividends and interest from the Special Defence Contribution while it lasts, and the contribution on rent ended after the 2025 tax year.
For people living on income sourced from abroad.
| Secured annual income | EUR 9,568/yr |
| Per dependent | EUR 4,613/yr |
| Tax residency trigger | 60 or 183 days |
Qualifying income can include pensions, dividends, interest, and rents.
For applicants placing at least EUR 300,000 in real estate or other qualifying assets.
| Minimum investment | EUR 300,000 |
| Secured annual income | EUR 50,000/yr |
Income rises EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per dependent minor child; for property-purchase applicants it must derive from abroad.
For non-EU nationals working remotely for employers or clients outside Cyprus.
| Net monthly income | EUR 3,500/mo |
| Tax residency trigger | 60 or 183 days |
These are decided by different authorities, under different rules, on different clocks. The one people get wrong is the second.
Granted by the immigration authority. Says nothing about tax.
Cyprus is unusual in offering a short way in: 60 days can make you a tax resident, against 183 days otherwise, if you keep a home and a business or job there and spend no more than 183 days in any other country. Becoming one is frequently the goal here rather than the risk, since non-dom status then shelters dividends and interest from the defence contribution. The residence permit itself decides none of this.
Tax residency, days in a year
The 60-day rule makes someone a Cyprus tax resident if they spend at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other country, carry on a business or job in Cyprus, and keep an owned or rented home there.
Cyprus Tax Department
A Cyprus resident for fewer than 17 of the last 20 years can claim non-domiciled status, exempting dividends and interest from the Special Defence Contribution; the contribution on rent ended for everyone after the 2025 tax year.
Cyprus Tax Department
The Category F permanent residence permit accepts people living on secured foreign income of at least EUR 9,568 a year, plus EUR 4,613 per dependent.
Migration Department
Naturalisation opens after at least 7 years of legal residence within the preceding 10, plus 12 continuous months before applying.
Ministry of Interior
A generic read against Cyprus's cited thresholds. Your plan weighs all six of your inputs against every destination.
Cyprus offers two tests for tax residency. The 183-day rule counts anyone present more than 183 days in a calendar year. The 60-day rule qualifies people who spend at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other country, carry on a business or job in Cyprus, and keep an owned or rented home there.
Tax Department
A Cyprus tax resident who has been resident for fewer than 17 of the last 20 years can declare non-domiciled status. Non-dom status exempts dividends and interest from the Special Defence Contribution, and the contribution on rent ended for everyone after the 2025 tax year.
Tax Department
From 2026, the Special Defence Contribution takes 5% of dividends and 17% of interest received by an individual, and the contribution on rent was abolished.
Tax Department
From the 2026 tax year, Cyprus taxes an individual's taxable income at 0% up to EUR 22,000, 20% up to EUR 32,000, 25% up to EUR 42,000, 30% up to EUR 72,000, and 35% above that.
Business in Cyprus
A Cyprus tax resident declares income arising in Cyprus or abroad, while a non-resident declares only income arising in Cyprus.
Tax Department
The Category F permanent residence permit suits people living on income from abroad. Applicants prove a secured annual income of at least EUR 9,568, plus EUR 4,613 per dependent. Qualifying income can include pensions, dividends, interest, and rents.
Migration Department
The fast-track investor permit under Regulation 6(2) clears faster than the normal track. It requires a minimum EUR 300,000 investment, most commonly a first-sale home or other real estate such as offices, shops, or hotels.
Migration Department
The fast-track investor must also prove a secure annual income of at least EUR 50,000. That figure rises by EUR 15,000 for a spouse and EUR 10,000 per dependent minor child. For property-purchase applicants the income must derive from abroad.
Migration Department
The Digital Nomad Visa admits non-EU nationals who work remotely for employers or clients abroad. Applicants prove stable monthly net income of at least EUR 3,500 after contributions and taxes.
Migration Department
Naturalisation opens after cumulative legal residence of at least 7 years within the preceding 10, plus 12 continuous months before applying. The route also expects Greek at B1, civics knowledge, and stable resources.
Migration Department
Cyprus does not force a naturalised citizen to renounce another nationality. Renunciation is voluntary and can only be filed by an adult who already holds the citizenship of another country.
Migration Department
Moving to Cyprus is four different jobs for four different people, and the order matters more than the choice of any one of them. Here is the sequence, what each person settles, and what to hold them to in writing.
Before you sell anything, move your family, or claim to have left
This is the one whose answer can make the rest of the plan pointless, so it is worth knowing before you spend anything on the rest. A residence permit somewhere else is not the same thing as having stopped being tax-resident where you are.
Ask for it in writing. A written residence and departure-date memo, with the tax on leaving set out asset by asset, and a list of the evidence your position depends on.
Six to twelve months before you intend to move
Routes look interchangeable from outside and are not. Which one you qualify for depends on evidence you may not have gathered yet, and gathering it is often the long pole.
Ask for it in writing. A route recommendation with the eligibility tested against your documents, plus a dated checklist of what is still missing.
Only after the lawyer has frozen the list
Ordering apostilles and translations before the list is settled is the most common way to pay twice. Certified documents also expire, so starting early can be worse than starting late.
Ask for it in writing. Authenticated originals and accepted translations, tracked so you know where every document physically is.
Once your status is approved
Approval is not the same as a working life. Banking, health cover, and a tenancy each have their own requirements, and several of them want the paperwork from the earlier stages.
Ask for it in writing. A working household: identity documents, an address, cover, banking, and a calendar of what renews when.
A licence is not the same as a good engagement. These are worth asking on the first call with anyone you find, in the Vetted Directory or outside it.
OmniFlag is not a law firm or a tax adviser. Experts are retained independently and their engagement letter defines what they advise on, what they file, and what they deliver.
A note for US citizens and green-card holders. US federal tax follows you wherever you live. A move to Cyprus does not reduce your US federal tax, and this page makes no such claim.
A Cyprus tax resident declares income arising in Cyprus or abroad, while a non-resident declares only income arising in Cyprus. Days spent in Cyprus can therefore pull your global income into the Cyprus base.
The 60-day rule holds only while the business or job lasts. Someone who stops carrying on a business in Cyprus, or whose Cyprus employment ends, during the year is not a Cyprus tax resident under that rule for that year.
Non-domiciled status is time-limited. A resident for 17 of the last 20 years is deemed domiciled in Cyprus, which ends the Special Defence Contribution exemption on dividends and interest. The exemption can be extended for two further five-year periods at EUR 250,000 each.
Naturalisation expects Greek at B1 and civics knowledge, so budget language-study time into the 7-year residence path rather than treating the passport as automatic.
Two tests decide it. The 183-day rule counts presence over 183 days in a year. The 60-day rule qualifies people who spend at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other country, carry on a business or job in Cyprus, and keep an owned or rented home there.
Tax Residency/Domicility (Tax Department, Gov.cy)
A Cyprus tax resident who has been resident fewer than 17 of the last 20 years can claim it. Non-dom status exempts dividends and interest from the Special Defence Contribution; the contribution on rent ended for everyone after the 2025 tax year.
Tax Residency/Domicility (Tax Department, Gov.cy)
Yes. Cyprus does not force a naturalised citizen to renounce another nationality. Renunciation is voluntary and only open to someone who already holds a second citizenship.
Renunciation of Citizenship / Nationality (Ministry of Interior, Gov.cy)
Naturalisation opens after at least 7 years of legal residence within the preceding 10, plus 12 continuous months before applying, with Greek at B1 and civics knowledge.
Cypriot Citizenship by Naturalization, form M127 (Ministry of Interior, Gov.cy)
Southern Europe
Passive-income and remote-work residence, a defined path to a passport, and dual citizenship kept.
Southern Europe
Residence for income earned abroad, a flat-rate tax window for new arrivals, and a defined route to a passport.
Central Europe
A tiered EU residence system, worldwide-income tax residency, and a defined path from permit to passport.
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OmniFlag helps you research and plan. It is not a law firm or tax advisor and does not give legal or tax advice. The filings go to licensed professionals you engage, and the order matters: a cross-border tax adviser where you are leaving, then an immigration lawyer in Cyprus.