1. On 10 October, 2011, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus (“Cyprus”) set new criteria for providing Cypriot citizenship for high-net worth individuals. In this respect, in order to qualify for Cyprus citizenship by exemption, an applicant has to satisfy any one of the following criteria:

a. the applicant should have direct investments in Cyprus of at least EUR €10 million (noting that direct investments include, but is not limited to, the purchase of real estate, businesses/companies etc ); or

b. the applicant should have established in Cyprus a company/ companies (controlled by him) with a total turnover of an average of at least EUR €10 million per year (according to its audited accounts) in the three years preceding the application year and/or at least 1/3 of the applicant’s employees are citizens of Cyprus; or

c. the applicant should prove that by his activities he introduced on a large scale new and innovative technologies in major sectors of the Cyprus economy or created a significant research centre on a large scale for locally conducted research; or

d. the applicant should have personal deposits in Cypriot banks or deposits of privately owned companies or trusts (controlled by him) in Cyprus of at least EUR €15 million with a five year duration period. It is noted that failure to observe the five year maturity period on the deposits, may result in the revocation of citizenship; or

e. the applicant should have, minimum assets of EUR €15 million, by a combination of the conditions set out in paragraphs (a) – (d) above; or

f. the applicant should have established in Cyprus a company/ companies, the management of which is exercised in Cyprus, noting that for the three years preceding the application year he should have contributed to the Cypriot economy at least EUR €500,000 on average per year by way of:

(i) income tax or VAT payments to the Cyprus government; and/or

(ii business services fees (legal, accounting, auditing, banking fees and otherwise).

2. It is noted that in addition to satisfying any one of the above conditions, the applicant must:

a. be at least 30 years old;

b. have a clean criminal record; and

c. own a permanent residence in Cyprus worth in excess of EUR €500,000.