The Council of Ministers approved on Friday afternoon a proposal by the Ministry of Interior for the revision of third country nationals' migration permit criteria. Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, in statements to the Press after the meeting explained that the proposal is mainly aimed at strengthening the control mechanism on the investments of persons granted such permits.
The Minister said that the revision of the criteria relating to the expedited procedure for granting an Immigration Permit to third country nationals investing in Cyprus provides for stricter parameters in terms of the checks required for the granting of an Immigration Permit, while control and verification mechanisms are defined, Ioannou added.
The aim, he noted, is to "shield the process and eliminate weaknesses that have been observed. The differentiated investment and quality criteria approved by the Council of Ministers stipulate that, among other things, applicants will be required to provide evidence on an annual basis that they continue to maintain the initial investment and the required income established for them and their family.
"In cases the immigration permit holder fails to produce required documents, the immigration permit of the individual and his/her family will be cancelled," stressed Ioannou.
The Interior Minister also said that the amount of investment is not changed, but a control mechanism is established to maintain the investment, while the income criteria were also revised. Consequently, as the Minister explained, the income for each person applying should be pound 50,000, instead of pound 30,000, while for each minor child it should be pound 10,000, instead of pound 5,000, and pound 15,000 for spouses. Finally, he noted that with this revision, permits will not be granted in one act to parents, in-laws and adult children.
Source: Cyprus News Agency