We are considering moving to Cyprus, my wife is retired and I am 51 years old. Do we need a certain amount of income to be allowed to live in Cyprus? Thanks Paul and June
Update Nov 2011 - It's much easier to move to Cyprus now than when we did in 2005. For starters, you no longer need to have a private medical insurance policy and the immigration paperwork,once done, gives you a permanent residency permit rather than onoe that only lasts for 5 years.
Many people make use of various agencies, especially in Paphos, that will co-ordinate all the relevant paperwork for you. This will save you time but in my view are VERY expensive. For instance, Gwennie's agency in Paphos recently wanted over 300 euros to process permanent residency for us after our 5 year permits had expired. We did it ourselves by making an appointment at immigration and although we had to wait 2 hours (the agencies jump the queue!), it was completed for free!
EU citizens wishing to move to Cyprus need to apply for the appropriate permit and, if retired, need to show that they can support themselves.
The minimum income required to gain "citizenship" (and your residence permit) is approximately 9,500 euros/7060 pounds. This can be through any means of income including pensions, investment interest etc.
I will be adding pages on moving to Cyprus in the next few months once I have checked out all the changes. In the meantime, you may want to take a look at AngloInfo Cyprus which has lots of useful information on moving to Cyprus.
