Cyprus Investment Program

The Cyprus Investment Program (CIP) (Greek: Κυπριακό Επενδυτικό Πρόγραμμα, ΚΕΠ) was an immigrant investor program conceived by the Government of Cyprus in order to attract foreign investors in exchange for Cyprus citizenship. Details of the scheme were made public after a leak of documents, the Cyprus Papers, to Al Jazeera which caused a controversy in Cyprus and led to the end of the program.

Background
The program was initiated in 2007. From 2007 to November 1, 2020 just over 7,000 people received Cypriot citizenship. The minimum investment was 2 million euros and citizenship was extended to the family of the investor as well. In 2013, the required minimum investment for citizenship was lowered from 25 million in 2007 to 2,5 million. Applicants did not need to physically stay in Cyprus or pass a langugage test to acquire citizenship.

Corruption and investigations
One of the reasons for citizenship by investment is tax evasion and visa free travel.

An independent inquiry committee later found that more than half of the passports were wrongly issued. In 22 August 2022 a report by the Audit Office of Cyprus revealed that the Ministry of the Interior did not disclose required information about applicants to the Council of Ministers, and that the improper granting of citizenship had resulted in recorded losses of €200 million in taxes and €25 million in non collection of fees. Furthermore, investment contracts worth €1 billion had been canceled, while contracts worth €3.5 billion had not yet materialized.

Effects on the local population
The influx of foreign investors has created a number of problems for the local communities that are priced out from rentals as well as gentrification. Russians have been the top foreign buyers of Cypriot properties. Other studies have shown that there are detrimental effects on the local landscape and environment due to the increase demand of buildings to be sold to foreign investors and especially an increase in inequality between the locals and the rich investors. After the imposition of sanctions on mainly Russian companies in the Republic of Cyprus, many investors have moved to the occupied northern part of the island, where there is a growing presence of Russians, 39,000 according to estimates, and Iranians. The area of Trikomo has been especially built up with luxury hotels, apartments and casinos for a foreign clientele including Russians and Israelis, most of the land belongs to Greek Cypriots that were displaced during the 1974 Turkish invasion. The unregulated development has also caused environmental damage to the area, such as the dumping of the waste of these developments on the roadside.

Revocation of passports due to US/EU sanctions
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cyprus revoked the passports of some Russians that were blacklisted in the EU for sanctions. As of January 2023, 222 holders of so-called "golden passports" had had their citizenship stripped. Five "golden passport" holders have been targeted by US sanctions for arms dealing.