Filenews 12 August 2025 - by Vasos Vassiliou
208 third-country nationals, who are employed by highly qualified companies, were granted Cypriot citizenship, following the approval of relevant legislation by the Parliament. At the same time, another 65 persons acquired Cypriot citizenship, as family members of the persons mentioned.
In addition, another 360 such applications are being examined by the Ministry of the Interior.
The data were provided by the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, who was responding to a question by MP Alexandra Attalidou, who had requested information on the occasion of the approval of the new legislation (On the Population Archive of Laws of 2002 to 2024). This concerns highly qualified employed persons and was approved in the context of attracting companies to operate or expand their activities in the Republic.
The minister's answer also records the following: "I refer to the above question and I inform you that following the amendment of the Population Registry Law and specifically after the introduction of the provisions of Article 111B(2) in the current Legislation, Cypriot citizenship was granted to 208 persons residing in the Republic, for the purpose of employment in highly qualified companies, while 360 such applications are currently being examined by the Ministry of the Interior. The persons who acquired Cypriot citizenship, as members of the families of the persons mentioned, amount to 65".
Ms. Attalidou had also asked for the names of the companies in which the naturalized individuals work, as well as the number of naturalizations per company, but the Minister of the Interior replied that these are not available as the data are kept in total, based on the provision of the Law under which the application is submitted, and not in relation to the employer company.
Among the conditions that a foreigner must have in order to be naturalized as a Cypriot citizen are the following:
- He/she has legal and continuous residence in the Republic for the period of the immediately preceding 12 months from the date of submission of his/her naturalization application
- He has not demonstrated with deeds or words a lack of loyalty or contempt for democracy
- It has not behaved in a manner that constitutes an acceptance of the illegal administration in the areas not controlled by the Republic, does not hold any office related to it, and does not hold, has it unlawfully entered, caused damage or interfered with immovable property located in those areas which belongs to another lawful owner
- No criminal case is pending against him in the Republic or abroad for an offence that carries a prison sentence of three years or more
- It does not pose a danger to public order and public security of the Republic.
