Shattered dreams

@Toon "Dream Duly Shattered and P!ssed and Sh@t on,  Sadly"

My Spidey Sense tells me they will "Rue The Day" - and soon......

Am not so sure they will but those who enabled it wont be bothered.....  I say that because so far this year tourism is on the up .. despite mega expensive flights and hotel prices .. and some hotels in mega debts .. The  strength of the hotel voting lobby is having its impacts on short let's, complexes etc

As always in Cyprus money is at the root of everything no matter how short sighted their decisions may be.

Sadly the big money people are coming which is what those in power want  but the knock on effect is that Cyprus own people are suffering as a result affordable housing is a thing of the past. Am hoping that the bubble will burst in the next 12-18 months as it's a sellers market right now .. we have seen a massive 40%+ valuation increase in  our own property .... But we are not interested in selling..  quite happy where we are

@Toon

What is the criteria for those of us who moved here after Brexit but before these rule changes?

We renewed our temporary residency in February this year (still waiting for our ARC cards) and have been here since December 2021.

Surely the new rules can't be retrospectively applied.

I think if you are already accepted in the system on the basis of the criteria at the time you applied then you should be ok . I think the new criteria is only relevant to be applications from the date of new changes ..  However this is Cyprus and lots of things get lost in translation and also in interpretation. I would hope that they don't apply the new rules to those who are timeously renewing

I would genuinely like to have others experiences of renewals as and when they occur.

@Toon

This is good for Bulgaria and Portugal, so perhaps even more Brits will head there instead!

Bulgaria offers pensioners (of any age) a D visa and residence if their pension exceeds the statutory minimum wage (400 euros per month, roughly). Coupled with 10% flat rate income tax, and the lowest cost of living in the EU.

While Portugal offers the very popular D7 (passive income, including pensions) visa with income of approximately 9,000 euros per year (main applicant + 50% for spouse + 30% dependent child). I believe this includes a very favourable (10%) treatment for foreign-source income. Plus food, weather, and beaches almost as nice as in Cyprus. :-)

@gwynj yes currently "easier" regarding income requirements but what's the situation there regarding taxing pensioners since Cyprus is pretty low - IF you can get in of course!!!! ......?

I believe it's tax free for all non Portugal sourced income. There are special.10 year deals for NHR digital nomad working ..

@Toon I know that they did have something like, when I was considering Portugal a couple of years back, that as a sort of "golden visa" deal for ten years subject to property purchase but wasn't aware of any "general" 0% taxation for Pensioners so I must have another look at Portugal

"Residency in Cyprus before Brexit (Category F persons)

Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, retired British nationals and others could be granted residency in Cyprus if they had an annual income of at least €9,568"

Is this true? I thought as an EU citizen you can get a temporary residence visa by just showing the minimum funds in a bank (through the self sufficiency route) and address and health insurance etc.

It was true for uk nationals but not any more for uk nationals BUT IS still true for eu nationals ... ..UK left the EU and there are far more stringent criteria now for UK nationals as TCNs  ...UK nationals are now Third Country Nationals. Its what some people voted for....

So now to move here even as a uk pensioner under cat F you need to have and prove €24000 per year income for primary applicant and another €4800 per year for spouse...and to make things worse CyGov are discussing and considering a higher level of income criteria at approx €37000 per year... UK Nationals need to also have full healthcare cover...(as pensioners in receipt of state pension the UK form S1 is valid for that) but you will be required to have repatriation costs cover plus clear medical checks for HIV HEP B HEP C SYPHILLIS AND AND XRAY FOR TB.. . plus a clean police conduct check.

UK nationals are third place in the queue for jobs even part time jobs after Cypriots and EU nationals

But then if you have an Irish passport or your spouse has an Irish passport or can apply for one. Then that changes things considerably.... for the better as an Irish EU passport holder

@Toon but he said "as an EU citizen".... ?

Yes but the OP is English in his profile... I've amended my reply for clarity. Of course if the OP has dual citizenship in an EU country then that also changes things

As does an EU spouse of an UK national....

@Toon

I am lucky I have an EU spouse, plus separately I applied for a residence permit during the transition period and hope to exchange this soon for permanent residence soon,l (if I am not asked for evidence to prove I have been living there - but this is a separate topic)

I got confused in your original statement about before Brexit. I get it now, you are describing changes to third countries that make it even worse.....

As you have an EU spouse that makes it better for you as you must be treated the same as an EU national ....

@Toon Freedom of movement was such a massive gift to give away in the Brexit vote (although I dont remember it being talked about much in the debates).

Then there are a host of other things like your profession being recognized unilaterally, not having to replace driving licenses and on and on.

A multitude of benefits lost or should I say stolen .. but yes having an EU spouse is most beneficial.  Luckily for us we moved here in 2014.and took our PR in 2019... 

Anyway good luck

@Toon We are going through the renewal process as we speak, as we got our temporary residency before the criteria changed we do not need to have the medical checks or to undergo a police check.

We do need to have an income of €28,800 p.a, and a minimum of €6,000 in a Cyprus bank on application, medical insurance which includes repatriation (even though we are eligible for GESY), title deed/purchase of a property or a rental agreement, certified marriage certificate, Passports which are valid for at least 3 months after application and Passport showing the last entry date into Cyprus.

The income has to come from a recognised source and be paid into our Cyprus bank account. Periodic transfers are not included in the annual calculations. So our income is from our State Pensions, Army Pension and we each have private pensions. Income can include rental income from a UK property. You have to complete a declaration of income form to support the application.

When we came out we planned to keep all our income being paid into our UK bank account and  keep just enough in Cyprus to live on by doing periodic transfers through Revolt. I know lots of people do something similar. However, as TCNs we have to show the income coming into out Cypriot bank account as a regular source of Income. Periodic transfers don’t count as regular income.

As you have an EU spouse that makes it better for you as you must be treated the same as an EU national ....
-@Toon

But they have to go where the spouse goes, they don't have total freedom of movement as they had before.

@SimCityAT Agreed. Hence why I applied for a residence permit before the end of the transition, best 4 euros I have spent. Next stop permanent residence and then passport via marriage.

@SimCityAT fair point.. I assume you mean that the non EU spouse must be accompanied by the EU spouse when travelling withing the EU