Employment Permits in Cyprus - Expert Assistance

A. Employment Permit for non E.U. Nationals

For a company to employ non E.U. nationals it must be a Cyprus company of foreign interests.

A company is considered to be of foreign interests when the majority of the company’s shareholders are non-E.U. nationals. In the case of shareholders whose beneficial owners are foreign companies, evidence of identity of ultimate beneficial owner/s should be submitted with the Civil Registry and Migration Department (CRMD).

1. Eligibility to employ

a. The company should operate from their self-contained offices in Cyprus, which should be located in suitable distinct premises, not part of a private residence or another office, except from cases of companies that share lodging. b. When the company applies for the employment of their first non E.U. national they must submit,  among others, the following with CRMD:

Constitutional documents in original
Profile describing the nature of the company’s business and activities
List of employees
Documents evidencing the chain of ownership
Deposit of €200.000 to be made by the shareholder with funds originating from abroad.
Title deed or rental agreement of the office premises.

2. A non E.U. national, subject to the relevant qualifications and experience, can be employed to one of the following positions:

I. Executive director. This includes directors of partners, general managers of branches and subsidiary of overseas company and department managers of companies operating from Cyprus for at least two years.  Criteria: The minimum acceptable monthly gross salary is €4000. Applicant must be at least 24 years old with suitable qualifications evidenced by relevant documentation.

II. Middle management staff, executive staff and any other key personnel.

This includes non-executive directors, middle management/executive staff and other managerial or technical personnel.   Criteria: The minimum acceptable monthly gross salary is €2000. Applicant must be at least 24 years old with suitable qualifications evidenced by relevant documentation.

III. Specialists.

This includes the following professions:

Software and System Engineers
Application and Data Architects
Information and Communication Technology and Enterprise Solution Architects
Technical Assurance Professionals
Telecom and Space Engineers
Data scientists
Machine Learning Engineers
Web Developers and designers
UX User Experience Professionals
Quantitative Analysts
Quality Assurance Analysts
Mobile Application Developers
Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality Programmers
Digital Marketing Specialists
Video Production Multimedia Specialists for Mobile Apps and Software
Analysts for Mobile Apps and Software
Designers of Prototype for Mobile Devices
DevOps Engineers
Cyber Security Specialists
Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Big Data Specialists
Pharmaceutical Formulation Technologists
Pharmaceutical Engineer Validation Specialists
Pharmaceutical Patents Specialists
Pharmaceutical Regulatory and Quality Assurance Professionals
Marine Engineers
Naval Architects

Criteria: The minimum acceptable monthly gross salary is €2000. Applicant must be at least 24 years old with suitable qualifications evidenced by relevant documentation.

IV. Supporting staff.

 This includes any other type of personnel not covered by the above. Criteria: For this category, the companies should first seek to employ local or EU personnel.

GENERAL NOTES:

The employment permit for non-E.U. nationals is issued for a maximum of two years and may be renewed at such intervals indefinitely.
The applications for renewal of permits are submitted to the CRMD together with a certificate of the annual movement of the company’s accounts that prove the normal functioning of the company by the Registrar of Companies and the tax clearance issued by the Inland Revenue Department in addition to list a of documents provided upon request.

The company is capped at five (5) executive directors and (10) middle-management staff and specialists based on annual turnover:
≤€1 million: 5 employees
>€1 – €3 millions: 10 employees
>€3 – €5 millions: 20 employees
>€5 – €10 millions: 30 employees
>€10 – €20 millions: 50 employees
>€20 – €30 millions:100 employees
>€30 millions: 200 employees
List of documents for company and personnel may be provided upon request.

The anticipated processing times by the CRMD following submission of the application for employment permit are as follows:

First employ and company registration: 20 business days
Any other employ and family members: 20 business days
Work permit renewal applications: 20 business days

B. General Employment
C. Intra-corporate Transfer
D. Start-up Employment Permit
E. Family Reunification Permit
F. Visitors Permit

Visitor permit is issued for persons who wish to reside in Cyprus for longer than 3 months and are not allowed to be engaged in any business in Cyprus. The minimum annual income from abroad is €10.000 for the main applicant and €5.000 for each dependent person to be proved. The main applicant will have to have a Cyprus bank account where the annual income form abroad is credited. For the submission of the application the presence of the applicant and applicant’s family members is required and as of the day of submission they be allowed to reside in Cyprus until the review of the application and finally the issuance of the card (visitor residence permit). Although the main procedure is not complicated, local District Offices may have different or additional requests with respect to the procedure. It is therefore encouraged to seek independent advice on the relevant requirements when applying.

Employment Permit