Business Facilitation Unit – Registration of Companies with Foreign Interests
ANNOUNCEMENT
Applications for entering the Foreign Interest Companies’ Register – kept at the BFU – and/or provision of facilities by the BFU, can be submitted online (solely) through the electronic form (effective from 17/11/2023). The online application can be found at the bottom of this page.
General Information
The Council of Ministers approved on October 15th 2021, the “Strategy for Attracting Businesses for Activities or/and Expansion of their Activities in Cyprus”.
The Strategy is a very important initiative towards attracting both international investments and talent. The existing investment policy has been radically reviewed, broadened and simplified to include a series of actions and reforms in several areas of intervention, aiming to enhance Cyprus’ position as an international high-growth business centre.
The careful and thorough planning ensures that the benefits derived from the successful implementation of the Strategy will significantly contribute to redefining the Cyprus growth model.
As of 1 January 2022 the current “Fast Track Business Activation Mechanism” will evolve into the “Business Facilitation Unit (BFU)”. The Unit will be the single point of contact for foreign companies.
The purpose of the new unit will be the fast and efficient processing of requests received from foreign companies for the establishment of a company in Cyprus or the expansion of activities of existing companies.
On 30/11/2022, the Council of Ministers approved the Amendment of the Policy for the Registration of Companies in the Register of Foreign Interest Companies.
The Decision modified the eligibility criteria of foreign interest companies and specifically includes the criterion of a company’s obligation to prove an initial investment in the Republic of at least €200,000, which should be proven by presenting the appropriate certificates.
The Decision entered into force on December 12, 2022.
Eligibility criteria
Please note the following,
The initial investment may be a deposit, by the shareholder or collectively by the company’s shareholders, of an amount of €200,000 in an account held by the company in a credit institution licensed by the Central Bank (in these cases, payment institutions are not included). Alternatively, the company can submit appropriate certificates as evidence of an investment amounting to €200,000, for the purposes of operating the business in Cyprus (e.g. bank statement at the time of deposit of the amount or proof of investment, invoices/receipts for purchase of office space and/or office equipment/machinery, it is noted that all receipts must be on the company’s name). Any form of investment must have taken place up to six (6) months prior to the date of submission of the application.
The initial investment criterion of €200.000 is applicable in all the cases described below.
Eligible businesses (e.g. registered local companies (HE) and registered branches of overseas companies (AE)) must meet one of the following criteria:
1. Majority share: the majority of the company’s shares are owned by third-country nationals (e.g. third-country shareholder/s collectively possess a nominal capital share 50% plus (+)).
2. Minority share: in case that, the percentage, of the company’s shares, owned by a third-country national is equal or less than 50%, the company is eligible if that, foreign, minority shareholder’s share has a value of at least €200.000 (e.g. the minority shareholder’s 5% nominal capital share has a value of at least €200.000). This requirement is additional to the initial investment of €200.000 as clarified above. In case of choosing the procedures of the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (DRCIP) in order to prove the relevant requirement, namely “Increase of Authorised Share Capital” (HE14) and/or “Reporting the Allotment of Shares” (HE12), the forms must be accompanied by the corresponding certificate of cash deposit (e.g. SWIFT, company bank account statement).
3. Public companies registered on any recognised stock exchange.
4. Companies of international activities (formerly off-shore), which operated before the change of regime, whose data are held by the Central Bank.
5. Cypriot shipping companies.
6. Cypriot high-tech/innovation companies*.
7. Cypriot pharmaceutical companies or Cypriot companies active in the fields of biogenetics and biotechnology.
8. Companies of whom the majority of the total share capital is owned by persons who have acquired Cypriot citizenship by naturalization based on economic criteria, provided that they prove that the conditions under which they were naturalized continue to be met.
9. Cypriot Private Institutes of Tertiary (Higher) Education licensed by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth.
* An enterprise qualifies as ‘High Technology Company’ if:
(a) it is already established and has a presence in the market, and
(b) it has a high level or experimental R&D intensity, and
(c) it developed product/s that fall into one of the following categories: products related to aviation and space industry, computers, information and telecommunication technology (ICT), pharmaceuticals, biomedical, research and development equipment, electrical machinery, chemicals, non-electrical machinery.
Services of the BFU
I. Provision of services relating to the establishment of businesses:
Ability to complete all registrations for the establishment of a business at the One-Stop Shop Section of the Business Facilitation Unit:
− Approval of company name and registration (in collaboration with the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property)
− Registration in the Employers’ Register (Social Insurance Services)
− Entry in the Tax Register for Indirect Taxation (VAT) and Direct Taxation (Tax Department)
II. Guidance regarding the necessary permits for the activation and establishment of businesses in Cyprus:
Guidance throughout the business’s life cycle, from the development of a business plan, the guidance on necessary licensing, the placement of the business in the market, the registration of the business entity and / or the trade mark of the business, the recruitment of employees and many other related issues.
III. Registration of companies in the Register of Companies with Foreign Interests
Evaluation by the Unit whether companies wishing to employ nationals from third countries fall under the criteria of companies of foreign interests, as defined below. In case of eligibility, these companies will be registered in the above-mentioned Register, which will be notified to the Civil Registry and Migration Department (CRMD).
Application procedure
Businesses wishing to transfer their operations or expand their activities in Cyprus, must follow the following procedure :
a) Submit the BFU Application e-form (at the bottom of the page).
The e-form requests a letter of expression of interest for the establishment or expansion of their activities in Cyprus. The “Letter of Intent” should include a brief description of the company’s profile, activities (nature of business as stated in the Articles of Association), number of staff, expansion plans and be supported by the necessary documents required in the e-form (Annex I, only copies of the certificates are required in electronic form).
b) The Unit will notify the applicant of the receipt of the application and of consecutive changes in the status of the application by email.
c) If the applicant is eligible and the application fulfills the requirements the registration to the Register of Companies with Foreign Interests will be completed in no more than ten (10) business days from the date of duly submitting the e-form.
d) A confirmation letter of the registration will be sent by email.
Annex I
| 1 |
Certificate of Incorporation (signed and stamped by the Department of Registrar of Companies & Intellectual Property (DRCIP)) |
| 2 | Certificate of Registered Office Address (signed and stamped by the DRCIP) |
| 3 | Directors’ Certificate (signed and stamped by the DRCIP) |
| 4 | Shareholders’ Certificate (signed and stamped by the DRCIP)
In the case where legal entities (e.g. local or foreign companies, trusts) are the shareholders, a shareholders’ structure diagram presenting the whole chain of ownership up to the final owners (natural persons who are the ultimate beneficial owners) should be declared and documented. |
| 5 | “Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) Search” Certificate by the Companies Section of the DRCIP (must reflect the current UBO state) through GOV.CY |
| 6 | Ultimate Beneficial Owners’ valid passport(s) |
| 7 | Articles of Association of the company (signed and stamped by the DRCIP) |
| 8 | Immovable property title/deed or a purchase agreement or rental agreement (at least 12-month duration) for the business premises of the company. Please note that, business premises must be separate from any kind of residence (separate from a shareholder’s residential property).
Regarding rental agreements: Sublease documents and shared-spaces agreements are acceptable given that the full details/addresses of both parties are included in the agreement/document submitted (office number, floor, street, street number, area). Please also note that, a rental agreement must be duly stamped if its value equals or exceeds the annual amount of €5,000. |
| 9 | Latest Audited Financial Statements (AFS) for existing companies already operating in Cyprus (AFS for 2022-2023) |
| 10 | Tax Clearance Certificate for the company, for existing companies already operating in Cyprus |
| 11 | Deposited amount of at least €200.000, supported by a bank SWIFT or other equivalent document, which proves that the sole shareholder/one or more of the company’s shareholders, has/have transferred the required amount from abroad to the company’s corporate bank account in Cyprus.
Purchase of offices and/or equipment for a total amount of €200,000 are also considered eligible as proof of investment. Purchase invoices and other equivalent documents must be submitted as proof. Any form of investment must have taken place up to six (6) months prior to the date of submission of the application. Α nominal capital increase of €200,000 (more information in “Eligibility Criteria”, Criterion 2.) is acceptable if accompanied by the corresponding certificate of the financial transaction (e.g. supported by SWIFT document from the bank and bank statement). |
Contact information
Business Facilitation Unit (BFU)
Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry
Trade Service Building (3rd Floor)
10 Andrea Araouzou Str.,
1421 Nicosia
FΑΧ: +357 22376493
- Email :
bfu@meci.gov.cy
PLEASE NOTE THAT TELEPHONE ENQUIRIES WILL BE ANSWERED ONLY BETWEEN 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Contact information for enquiries regarding:
- BFU’s policy & registration stipulations :
Mrs. Katerina Solomou
Tel.: +357 22867193
Email: ksolomou@meci.gov.cy
- Taxation
Ms. Maria Nicolaou
Tel. :+357 22308006
Email: manicolaou@tax.mof.gov.cy
- Social Insurance
Ms. Chrystalla Paraschou-Constantinou
Tel. : +357 22409731
Email: cconstantinou@sid.mlsi.gov.cy