The Cypriot Nationality Laws dates back to 1967. It is mainly based on jus sanguinis.
Acquisition of Cypriot citizenship
There are several ways to become a Cypriot citizen :
Marriage to a Cypriot National
The first, being married to a Cypriot national, requires one to be married for at least 3 years, and have completed 2 years of residency in Cyprus prior to the date of the application. In the case where the Cypriot national is living abroad, the applicant must either have been married to the Cypriot national for 3 years and submit an accompanying letter explaining why citizenship is desired, or have been married to the Cypriot national for 5 years and have at least one child. The documents required are:
Birth certificate of the applicant
Certificate of clean criminal record of the applicant
Marriage certificate
Birth certificate of the couple's children
Certificate of acquisition of the Cypriot citizenship of the Cypriot spouse
Statement of harmonious cohabitation signed before an Officer of the District Administration Office or the diplomatic authority
Statement of cohabitation from the local authority
The application should be submitted in duplicate and one of the two application forms should bear two stamps worth.
Photocopy of receipt for the amount of paid as fees
Having Cypriot Origins
To apply through this method, one must be over 18 years old, and naturally, have Cypriot origins, as long as one was born abroad after the 16th of August 1960, with one's parent at the time of birth a Cypriot citizen. One can apply in this way if one is an individual born after the 11th of June 1999, whose mother was a Cypriot citizen at the time of one's birth. Accompanying the application must be:
Birth certificate of the applicant
Marriage certificate of the applicant's parents
Photocopy of the applicant's and the applicant's parents' passports
is referred to as the process for which a non-citizen of a country, in this case Cyprus, may become a citizen of that country. The process may be done via a statute or an application to the relevant authorities. In March 2014, the Cyprus Council of Ministers revised the "Scheme for Naturalisation of Investors in Cyprus by Exception" as part of the government's attempts to attract foreign investors to the country. One of these attempts included a program that granted applicants the right to live, work and study in Cyprus and in the European Union. On September 13th, 2016 Council of Ministers of Cyprus approved a new program of financial criteria for investors wishing to obtain citizenship of Cyprus. Applicants applying for Cypriot citizenship through this citizenship-by-investment option must actively invest in the Cyprus economy, by primarily purchasing real estate at a minimum value of m which must be held for at least 5 years, thereafter the property may be sold however they must maintain a property of at least indefinitely. Citizenship by investment includes the main applicant and his her spouse and unmarried dependents aged 28 and under. The main applicants parents can also be added for an additional investment of According to recent amendments also the applicants on approval need to make donations of total of 150.000 euros. The recent amendments also make a condition that the applicants holds a valid schengen visa. Following recent amendments to procedures, citizenship is now only approved after 6 months rather than 3 months as before.
By Birth
According to the Republic of Cyprus Citizenship Law of 1967, anyone born on or after 16 August 1960, and with at least one parent being a Cypriot citizen, automatically acquires Cypriot citizenship. Those who were born between 16 August 1960 and 1999 to a Cypriot mother abroad however, do not automatically become citizens of Cyprus, but they may register after they turn 21 years old.
Dual citizenship
Cyprus allows its citizens to hold foreign citizenship in addition to their Cypriot citizenship. Some countries, however, do not permit multiple citizenship e.g. adults who acquired Cypriot and Japanese citizenship by birth must declare, to the latter's Ministry of Justice, before turning 22, which citizenship they want to keep.
Cypriot citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 173 countries and territories, ranking the Cypriot passport 16th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index. In 2017, the Cypriot nationality was ranked twenty-fourth in the Nationality Index. This index differs from the Visa Restrictions Index, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition to travel freedom, on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.
