The Cypriot Foreign Minister, Mr Nicos Christodoulides, is reported as being confident that in the course of the current year the US will agree to Cyprus being added to the list of nations whose residents qualify for visa free access to the US under the ESTA system. ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) currently allows national of 39 countries access to the US for business or tourism for visits of up to 90 days.
Most EU Member States are included under the EST scheme and subject to meeting certain criteria on security, crime and terrorism the Cypriot are hopeful Cyprus will join the list later in the year.
Holders of Cypriot passports currently enjoy visa free access to 122 countries with a further 44 countries granting visas on arrival and 32 countries requiring pre-arrival visas. With the expected addition of ESTA visa free US access, this will further increase the desirability of a Cyprus passport.
February 2020
November 2019:
In response to criticism from opposition parties the Cyprus government responded by confirming that the Investment Programme operates within regulations to ensure supervision, control and is continuously evaluated and, when necessary, reinforced. The government’s objective being to ensure that ‘…the whole programme becomes more trustworthy and transparent’. As part of the process of re-evaluation additional safeguards were introduced in the February 2019 revision.
In November 2019 it was reported that the authorities would strip 26 individuals of citizenship that they had received under the Investment Programme. This tightening of the vigilance over the Programme is considered to be a good thing, in that tightening of compliance obligations will ensure the quality of the citizenship scheme going forward.
Real estate
Earlier this month the first online digital auction of Cyprus took place and successfully sold real estate worth almost €9.5million. Over 220 bidders registered for the auction of 55 properties across the island of both residential and commercial premises as well as development opportunities. The operator of the digital auction stated that the results confirm strong demand across the board for real estate in Cyprus.
Cooperation
The Finance Ministers of Cyprus and Greece recently met to discuss closer economic cooperation between the two states.
The Ministers agreed that the countries continue to follow similar economic policies with the Greek minister stating his intention that Greece follows Cyprus example in pursuing a swift economic recovery to establish economic stability and political strength in the broad eastern Mediterranean.
For more information about Citizenship and Residence services in Cyprus, or elsewhere please contact Simon Huxford: s.huxford@rosemont-mc.com or request or Citizenship and Residence e-brochure.
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