On 9 November 2023, the Cyprus Audit Office proposed that the Cyprus "** visa" program should be abolished altogether, along with regular compliance checks for all 5,800 beneficiaries, and that those who violate the scheme would have their permanent residency status revoked.
The number of real estate transactions in Cyprus reached a 15-year high
Cyprus' real estate market is on the verge of its best year since the onset of the global property crisis in 2008, driven by foreign buyers, with 12,825 sales contracts as of October, up 36 from last year, according to data2%。
Limassol dominates in absolute numbers of sales (4225). From January to August, Nicosia had the lowest average selling price at 180,000 euros, far behind the Limassol district (with an average selling price of 32.).60,000 euros).
02. Many EU countries have cancelled the visa policy for permanent residence for house purchases
In March 2022, the European Parliament approved a report urging the EU to stop the ** visa program by 2025!
Since 2018, the EU has begun to force relevant EU countries to raise the threshold or even shut down visa-related policies on the grounds of "public security, money laundering, tax evasion, and tax evasion". Cyprus, Malta and other countries' ** visa programs have changed, stopping the ** passport program, only retaining the permanent residence project, and even the United Kingdom suddenly announced the cancellation of its T1 investment immigration program in early 2022.
In 2023, Ireland and Portugal announced the cessation of the ** visa policy for home purchase immigrants, Spain is under discussion, and Greece has announced a **double.
The era when you can immigrate to the EU by buying a house is actually about ten years, and after this window period, it will become much more difficult to immigrate to the EU in the future.
03. Cyprus investment immigration, the audit department recommends that it be abolished directly?
On November 9, 2023, the Cyprus Audit Office stated that the Cyprus "** visa" program should be completely abolished, along with regular compliance checks for all 5,800 beneficiaries, and those who violate the program will have their permanent residence status revoked.
04. What is the comment of the Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus on this?
part.1 Views of the Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus
On November 2023, the Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus stated that it had "agreed with the recommendations of the Audit Department in its report on the visa program for stricter inspections, but did not comment on the fact that the audit service report called for ** to consider abolishing the program." ”
In its response to the report, the Home Office said:
Agreed to strengthen the review of the proposal for third-country nationals to apply for the Fast Track Visa Program (i.e., the Immigrant Investor Residency Program), and said that the new immigrant visa director has been working on the relevant issues since the new ** came to power in 2023.
Acknowledging the indications of the investigation recorded by the audit in the special report, and indicating that the directive indicates that the program is flawed and there is a risk of abuse.
It is for this reason that Minister of the Interior of Cyprus, Constantinos Ioannou, has called for immediate measures to support the program through a stricter immigration policy.
The Minister of Home Affairs stressed that the purpose of introducing stricter investment screening criteria is "to correct existing distortions and to better and more effectively monitor the scheme to ensure that its investment objectives are met." ”
part.2 Cyprus Audit Sector Perspective
The main reasons for this remark are as follows:
1.Not satisfied with the results of random sampling.
"Given the large and serious number and severity of the problems identified in the randomly selected sample, we believe that carelessness and inadequacy of control mechanisms in the overall drafting and implementation of the plan can be reasonably inferred," the Cyprus Audit Department said. In view of the above position of the European Commission, we recommend that the Ministry of the Interior seriously consider the possibility of abolishing the scheme altogether".
2.Accusing the USCIS of failing to conduct regular inspections.
The Cyprus Audit Department stated:
From the investor's application and assessment stages to ongoing compliance and monitoring, a number of issues were uncovered. But by far the most important finding is that the Department of Population and Immigration Records (TAPM) did not conduct regular checks to verify compliance with the criteria after granting an immigration permit. This means that if the applicant no longer complies with the requirements, they will not be able to cancel their immigration permission.
3.There is a risk of abuse.
The newly revised standards of the USCIS stipulate that investors need to provide a clean criminal record in their country of origin every three years, as well as "provide evidence that the investment funds came exclusively from the applicant and his or her spouse and were not carried out by a third party", ending the observed abuses in this way, mainly to avoid sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine.
part.3 What's new in the investment immigration program
On November 9, 2023, the Cyprus Audit Department urged the Ministry of the Interior to "seriously consider the possibility of abolishing the ** visa scheme"!
The audit department stressed that if the program is not abolished, the civil registry and immigration department should "strictly apply the relevant legislative ...... on the granting and maintenance of visa conditions."and regularly inspect to verify compliance with the relevant standards, and if any violation of the standards is found, the permanent residence card will be revoked if the conditions are met."
The recommendations come after the release of an investigative report on the **Visa Program, in which those who invest €300,000 in Cyprus will receive permanent residency in the country. To date, about 5,800 people have been granted permanent residency through the program.
A post-survey by the Cyprus Audit Department on a random sample of visas found that the Cyprus Immigration Service was "unable to ensure that the investor obtains permanent residency in another country or resides in a third country outside Cyprus for more than two years".
In addition, they said that the department "does not carry out any periodic inspections to verify compliance with the criteria after obtaining a residence permit." ”
They also found that the department issues permanent residence cards if investors buy real estate without obtaining title deeds and only provide "unofficial proof of payment".
In addition, the Audit Department also found that a person was granted a residence permit after presenting evidence of a relative's investment!
They added, "Given the size and severity of the randomly sampled sample, we believe it is reasonable to conclude that the drafting and implementation of the plan was generally sloppy and with insufficient checks and balances." Therefore, the Ministry of Audit of Cyprus stressed that "the Ministry of the Interior of Cyprus should seriously consider the complete abolition of the program." ”
If you want to know more about Cyprus Investment Immigration, welcome to stay tuned to Green Field!