If you have purchased a property in Cyprus for the purpose of holiday making there is no need to apply for a residence permit. The visa granted on the grounds of property ownership will allow you to stay in the Republic of Cyprus altogether 180 days a year, 90 days every six months.
In case you plan to live in Cyprus on more or less permanent basis you should apply for a residence permit. Cyprus offers probably the best conditions in the European Union for this.
Perhaps you do not wish or cannot claim the status of a permanent resident of Cyprus but at the same time you have to stay in Cyprus for the most part of your time.
In this case you can achieve a status of a temporary resident for the period of one year, so-called Pink Slip. This immigration status assumes stay in the country up to 365 days a year.
Pink Slip may be extended for an unlimited number of times. To accomplish this one should submit documents for extension one month prior to the expiration of the current Pink Slip validity. Your application may be considered for 1-3 months. Over this period you will be staying in the country on a legal basis. If for some reason or other you have to leave the country after expiration of current Pink Slip validity but before obtaining a new one you will have to obtain a single visa or to use a multiple visa obtained earlier to be able to enter Cyprus again.
Temporary residence permit has two drawbacks as compared to permanent one.
- Firstly it should be extended on a yearly basis (that however is not a complicated procedure if assisted by a Cyprus lawyer)
- Secondly you cannot be absent from Cyprus for over three months. In case you leave the country and do not return (do not cross the border) within three months time then your Pink Slip becomes invalid. Subsequently you will have to enter the country on a visa and then to apply for a new Pink Slip all over again
Requirements for Applicant
In order to obtain Pink Slip one should submit the following documents to the Immigration Office:
- Property documents (Purchase Contract, Ownership Certificate or Rental agreement)
- Abstract of account at a Cyprus Bank showing transactions and current balance of cash assets. Transactions will show that your source of income is abroad while expenditures of money are made within the area of Cyprus. As to your account balance it is desirable to amount to approximately €15.000 per adult family member and €10.000 per minor (under 18) family member. Such balance shall be only at the time of bank statement. Subsequently you can dispose of that money at your discretion.
- Income statement
- Bank guarantee for at least 1 year. Issued by a bank after depositing €512 on an account (per person)
- Certificate from school stating that a child attends it for school-age children (if it is so)
- Medical insurance
Suppose you are not entitled to obtaining permanent residence permit according to simplified procedure. For example:
- You have purchased property the value of which is below €300.000
- You have purchased resale property
- Two families (yours and your adult child’s over 25 years old) purchased new property the value of which is over €300.000 but below €600.000. Respectively only one family may enjoy the simplified procedure but not the both
In those cases one can resort to the standard procedure of obtaining permanent residence permit. Besides documents for property, you have to prove sources of income outside of Cyprus and availability of funds in a Cyprus bank. The law does not stipulate precise figures of income and cash assets.
The timeframe for processing your application for permanent residence permit is again not stipulated. In practice it usually comprises 1 year. During that period you should have status of temporary resident of Cyprus (more information related to it is available in the next section).