Cyprus finally joins the Schenghen zone!

In 2016 the Republic of Cyprus might join Schenghen area together with Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (official source).

So far, the Cyprus Police Academy have extensively been participating in special trainings. From August 2015 about 850 officers have completed training on all questions related to the Schenghen agreement. A similar course was taken previously by 380 police officers.

Today the Schengen area includes 22 states out of the 28 members of the EU. Four states – Cyprus, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria, which are still not included in the Schengen area, out of six (UK and Ireland are not part of it), are required to join it, while the terms have already been specified.

What does the accession of Cyprus in the Schengen area mean and how does it affect tourism, residence permit and the acquisition of permanent residence for citizens of Russia and the Newly Independent States?

Cyprus is the island of unique exotic beauty, which attracts many tourists from Russia and the Newly Independent States not because of the first-class recreation, but because of the simple system of getting visa.

To visit Cyprus today, tourists from Russia or Ukraine just need to get a pro-visa, which is issued online for free. It takes maximum 1 day to obtain it. This visa is valid for 30 days during six months.

If you consider Cyprus as not only the place for first class holidays, but also for purposes of running a business and permanent residence, just now You have a wide choice of legalization on the island through getting a residence permit, permanent residence, and, surely, the nationality.

Among existing options of getting a visa the most popular ones are those allowing your family, in the presence of a certain financial securirity to complete legal residence for a period of 1 year or more.

The main opportunities are:

1. Temporary residence permit – Pink Slip (for permanent residency for the period of 1 year).
2. Category F visa, which enables you to get permanent residence permit without a right to work.
3. Category E visa, allowing you to get permanent residence permit with a right to work.

Besides, it should be noted that Cyprus has the program “Citizenship Through Investment”, which gives the potential investor the opportunity to get a citizenship of Cyprus really quickly and easily. Cyprus is a member of the European Union, which means that it has all the prerogatives of being a part of the EU.

After the admission of Cyprus in the Schenghen area, lucky owners of Category F and E visa can live not only on Cyprus territory, but travel to the Schenghen area without the need of getting additional visas.

It should be noted that all these opportunities are relevant right now. So when Cyprus enters the Schenghen area (free movement area between borders of member countries) certain changes can occur, therefore we will keep you informed on them.

If you are considering Cyprus to be your new house and country and to come across worthy opportunities, contact our professionals to learn more about the arrangements of  the residence permit, permanent residence and citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus.