Cyprus Immigration Services

Yes, but you now need a permit. Since Brexit, British citizens are third-country nationals here: you can visit for 90 days in any 180, and moving to Cyprus from the UK for longer means applying for a residence permit. Which one depends on your route: self-funded, employed, remote, or buying. In most cases it is routine, and thousands of British nationals go through it every year.

It depends on your route. Registration for EU citizens is usually the quickest, often a matter of days once the file is complete. Permits for non-EU applicants generally run from a few weeks to several months, and the investment route is normally faster than the income-based ones. Timings move with the workload at the Migration Department, so treat any estimate as approximate and checked at the date shown on this page.

No. Buying is only compulsory on the investment route. Every other permit accepts a long-term rental agreement instead, provided it is properly certified. What you cannot do is apply with no address at all: in most cases the file has to show either a title deed or a registered lease, which is why the property usually comes before the paperwork rather than after it.

That depends on which permit you hold. EU citizens who register have the same working rights as locals. The self-funded temporary permit does not allow work here at all. The remote-work route allows you to work only for employers and clients outside the island. Employment and business permits do allow work, but only within the terms written on the permit itself.

There is no single figure, because each route sets its own threshold. As a rough guide checked in August 2026, the self-funded temporary route looks for income from abroad of roughly €24,000 a year, and the remote-work route for around €3,500 a month. Both rise for a spouse and for each child. The Migration Department reviews these amounts, so we confirm the current ones with our partner lawyers before you apply.

Not directly, and not quickly. A residence permit gives you the right to live here, not a passport. After five years of continuous legal residence a non-EU national can usually apply for long-term resident status, and naturalisation is a separate application with its own conditions, including language. Anyone offering a fast passport through property is not describing the law as it stands.

Usually not, but you cannot disappear either. Most permits expect the island to be your genuine base and set limits on long absences, and those limits differ by route. Tax residency is a separate question with its own day counts. If you plan to split the year between two countries, say so at the consultation, because it changes which route suits you.

In most cases, yes. A spouse and children under 18 can usually be included, either in the same application or through family reunification afterwards. What changes is the money: income thresholds rise for every person you add, and the housing has to be big enough for the family. Adult children and parents are harder, and whether it is possible depends on your route.