You can employ any nationality you want, depending on several conditions for each case and depending on the route you will choose for such employment. The minimum requirement for the CBI is five Cypriots or EU citizens.
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If a do a business investment for my Cyprus citizenship application, who must I employ?
I want to start a business for my citizenship-by-investment, and I know I can employ Cypriots. But what about others? Can new EU immigrants qualify? Can they be citizens of other countries or work remotely?
Answers
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If a person wishes to invest by purchasing or participating in companies or organizations established and operating in the republic of Cyprus, it should be proven to the authorities that the said companies/organizations have physical presence in Cyprus, with significant activity and turnover and employ at least five Cypriots or citizens of the European Union who have legally and continuously resided in Cyprus five years prior to the application submission date. The employment of third-country nationals, additionally to the above five Cypriots or EU citizens, is not prohibited by the respective law.
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First, you cannot set up a new business as part of your Cyprus investment. Rather, you must invest in an established business, which must have been in place for at least five years and which employs at least five Cypriot or EU employees.
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In order to qualify for the criterion of setting up a business in Cyprus, the requirement is to employ at least five Cypriot or EU nationals that have been residents in Cyprus in the past five years.
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With regards to applications for citizenship filed prior to the May 15, 2019, the business must employ at least five Cypriot nationals or European citizens, who for the prior five years were resident in Cyprus. With regards to applications for citizenship filed after May 15, 2019, the business must employ at least five Cypriot nationals or European citizens. The employees need not have been residents in Cyprus or pay taxes in Cyprus prior to their employment. This does not mean that employment of third-country nationals, additionally to the above five residents, is not possible. Kindly note that there are two schemes available: foreign companies - employment of third-country nationals in Cyprus (quota of employment of third-country nationals depends on the number of locals employed, requires consent of the labor department). Second is the start-up visa scheme, where eligible/ successful enterprises may be able to hire personnel without the consent of labor department, and where they may obtain up to 150 visas for this purpose. In this respect new EU migrants will qualify. With regards to third-country nationals, they can work remotely without visa requirements, but they will not form part of the five employees needed for the application. Furthermore, with regards to the remote employment of third-country nationals, it must be taken in to account that such employment may give rise to a permanent establishment of the company in question in the country where the employee is situated, and in this respect the tax aspects/social security must be also taken into account.
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If you operate under any companies, these companies must have proven physical presence in Cyprus with activities, turnover and employment at least five EU or Cypriot citizens (any combination). The employees of the companies need to have legally and continuously resided in Cyprus during the five years preceding the application submission date. These employees can therefore work remotely but must be Cyprus residents fulfilling the above criteria.
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You can employ anyone you wish. There are some immigration criteria that are required to do in order to employ Europeans or non-Europeans. The main criteria that you need to cover for citizenship-by-investment is that your company's capital need cover the required investment. For the employees, they can be Cypriots, Europeans or non-European, but as I explained, some criteria need to be covered for them in order to employ them. There are some limitations to non-Europeans as to the number whom you are allowed to employ.
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The investor must have made an investment of at least 2 million euros in the purchase, creating or participating in businesses or companies, that are based and operating in the republic. The investment funds must be used for the financing of the investment objectives of the relevant businesses or companies exclusively in Cyprus, on the basis of a business plan. In addition, the investor must have a residential property of minimum 500,000. Thus, the total investment amount is 2.5 million. These businesses or companies should evidently have a tangible presence in Cyprus - namely by maintaining offices in Cyprus - have substantial activity and turnover, and also employ at least five Cypriot or EU citizens. For the employment of non-EU citizens, particular procedures need to be followed.
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