Cyprus 2022 New Strategy with Incentives

О новой стратегии Кипра до 2022 года на русском языке читайте здесь.

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Cyprus 2022 New Strategy with Incentives to Attract News Investors, promote and incentivize innovation, tech and shipping industry and attract digital nomads to Cyprus.

The Cypriot government announced that from January 1, 2022, new rules for obtaining a passport will come into force. This initiative is part of a strategic plan to attract businesses from abroad to the country.

The purpose of the new policy is to assist foreign companies that plan to open their business in Cyprus or move it here from another jurisdiction.

Foreign companies will be provided with services for opening companies in Cyprus: company registration, name approval, registration with the Social Insurance Fund, the register of VAT payers and the Tax Service.

The Business Facilitation Unit, operating in Cyprus from 2020, will be reformatted into the so-called Business Facilitation Unit.

Work and residence permit

The Cypriot government has also revised the employment policy for third country nationals (non-EU) with regard to:

Companies with foreign capital already operating or planning to operate in Cyprus and having a separate full-fledged office on the island.

Cyprus shipping companies, high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies and biogenetics and biotechnology companies.

Businesses can hire third-country nationals for key positions, provided that:

the candidates have a specialized education or relevant work experience for at least two years
they have a salary of at least € 2,500
an employment contract of at least two years duration.

Work permits will be issued under an accelerated procedure within one month for up to three years.

If a number of criteria are met, it is also allowed to hire ordinary personnel (up to 30% of the total number of such personnel) with a salary of less than € 2,500. The validity of a work permit for this category is up to three years.

Family reunification

The new policy gives these employees the right to family reunification and their spouses the right to work. This rule does not apply to ordinary personnel with a salary of less than € 2,500.

Digital nomad visa

A new type of visa for third-country nationals who are self-employed or telecommuting employees whose clients or employers are located outside Cyprus. At the initial stage, Cyprus is planning to issue about 100 visas of this type. So you need to contact us fast in order to acquire 1 of the 100 visas.

Holders of a digital nomad visa will be able to stay in Cyprus for up to a year with the right to extend it for another two years. They will be able to bring their family here, which will receive a residence permit (but not work / business) for the same period as the main applicant.

To obtain a digital nomad visa, you must have a stable income of at least € 3,500 per month. As well as health insurance and clean criminal record. Spending more than 183 days in Cyprus in one reporting year, digital nomads will be considered tax residents of Cyprus if they are not tax residents of any other country. So they can ask tax authorities of the country they are registered at the time to give them tax exemption because now they will be tax residents of Cyprus. We can arrange a tax certificate for this purpose.

Tax initiatives

The new policy provides for the granting of a number of tax breaks to foreigners working in Cyprus. The relevant bills will be sent to parliament by the end of 2021 and should be approved in the first quarter of 2022.

In particular, the government proposes to cut income tax by 50% for those who live and work in Cyprus and earn at least € 55,000 per year.

Also, a tax break of 50% is proposed to be provided to foreign companies investing in innovative developments (need to show R&D activities). Its a good opportunity for international companies that with to establish their research and development company of the group in Cyprus.

Obtaining citizenship

The government proposes to reduce the acquisition of citizenship from seven to five or four years if the applicant can present a certificate of proficiency in the Greek language at a high level.

Conclusion

The strategy is not clear at the moment, as there are still some approvals pending and more details will be announced when the official strategy is published. What you can do to take advantage of this new strategy is to contact us as soon as possible so that we can begin the procedures required to be one of the first applicants when the new plan is officially announced.