Five years after the scandal-plagued Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) scheme was frozen, Cypriot lawmakers have abolished the final legal clause that still allowed the Cabinet to confer citizenship in "exceptional" economic cases. The amendment, adopted on 4 December and published on 5 December, removes ministerial discretion and limits future naturalisations to the standard residence-based route under the Aliens & Immigration Law.
Between 2007 and the programme’s suspension in late 2020, Cyprus issued more than 7,300 passports to investors and family members, generating an estimated €8 billion in real-estate inflows but drawing EU infringement proceedings after an Al Jazeera undercover exposé revealed lax due diligence. Although no new CBI passports have been granted since, the Cabinet retained power to naturalise investors for "special contribution"—a loophole Brussels said contradicted EU efforts to curb investor citizenship.
![Last back door to Cyprus’ ‘golden passport’ programme slammed shut]()
The new law also tightens honorary naturalisations: cultural or sporting figures will now require either a bespoke statute or an individual parliamentary vote. Existing investor-citizenships remain valid, but a dedicated audit unit continues to review past files; fraudulent cases face revocation and Schengen-wide alerts.
For private-wealth advisors, real-estate developers and relocation managers, the closure means Cyprus is no longer an ultra-fast passport option. High-net-worth clients must pursue the seven-year residency track, the Digital Nomad Visa (currently capped at 1,000 permits) or the EU Blue Card expected to launch in 2026. Property markets are likely to pivot from luxury one-off sales to long-term rental products aimed at tech expats.
Politically, the move is timed to ease EU legal pressure ahead of Cyprus’ turn at the EU Council Presidency in 2026 and to bolster the island’s push to join the Schengen area. It also signals a broader regional retreat from investor-citizenship models as Brussels and the OECD tighten scrutiny on mobility-for-money schemes.
Between 2007 and the programme’s suspension in late 2020, Cyprus issued more than 7,300 passports to investors and family members, generating an estimated €8 billion in real-estate inflows but drawing EU infringement proceedings after an Al Jazeera undercover exposé revealed lax due diligence. Although no new CBI passports have been granted since, the Cabinet retained power to naturalise investors for "special contribution"—a loophole Brussels said contradicted EU efforts to curb investor citizenship.
The new law also tightens honorary naturalisations: cultural or sporting figures will now require either a bespoke statute or an individual parliamentary vote. Existing investor-citizenships remain valid, but a dedicated audit unit continues to review past files; fraudulent cases face revocation and Schengen-wide alerts.
For private-wealth advisors, real-estate developers and relocation managers, the closure means Cyprus is no longer an ultra-fast passport option. High-net-worth clients must pursue the seven-year residency track, the Digital Nomad Visa (currently capped at 1,000 permits) or the EU Blue Card expected to launch in 2026. Property markets are likely to pivot from luxury one-off sales to long-term rental products aimed at tech expats.
Politically, the move is timed to ease EU legal pressure ahead of Cyprus’ turn at the EU Council Presidency in 2026 and to bolster the island’s push to join the Schengen area. It also signals a broader regional retreat from investor-citizenship models as Brussels and the OECD tighten scrutiny on mobility-for-money schemes.
