Cyprus property residence: applying for foreign-buyer permission
Foreign-buyer permission, title transfer and investor residence serve different purposes. COMM 145 and the 2026 stamp-duty transition deserve separate attention.
Each process has its own purpose. Acquisition permission does not establish registered title or residence approval.
Buying property for a Cyprus investor-residence application involves more than checking the immigration criteria. The Ministry of Interior also operates a permission process for property acquisitions by non-EU buyers falling within the relevant law. Applications use form COMM 145 and supporting documents, submitted to the district administration where the property is located.[1]
Foreign-buyer permission, registration of title and an immigration permit serve different purposes. Approval under one process does not replace the others.[1][2][3]
Identify the buyer and the proposed acquisition
The Ministry’s guidance covers non-EU individuals and foreign or foreign-controlled companies within the statutory definitions. The relevant district follows the location of the property, rather than the buyer’s preferred future address.[1]
Its published conditions allow permission for up to two units, including two homes or a home combined with a shop or office within specified size limits. The restriction applies to a couple collectively. A separate category concerns land of up to 4,000 square metres for building an owner-occupied home.[1]
These are acquisition-permission conditions, not an alternative version of the investor-residence property test. Permission to buy a particular type of asset does not establish that it meets the Migration Department’s investment, property or documentary criteria. Both processes should be checked against the same proposed purchase.[1][3]
Build a coherent COMM 145 file
The published supporting list includes passports for the buyer and spouse, evidence of financial standing, title and property plans, and the sale contract. Planning documentation is relevant where a separate title has not yet been issued. Company buyers also need corporate and ownership information.[1]
A practical preparation method is to organise the file around three questions: who is buying, what is being bought and which documents establish the transaction. Check names, ownership entities and property descriptions across the file. Resolve discrepancies before submission rather than leaving the authority to infer whether different descriptions concern the same purchase.
The Ministry states that the permission itself carries no fee. This does not make the whole acquisition cost-free: legal work, registration and applicable taxes require their own budget.[1][2]
Do not repeat the old stamp-duty checklist unchanged
The Ministry’s property page still contains wording about stamping the sale contract. The Tax Department has separately announced that Law 239(I)/2025 repealed the former stamp-duty legislation from 1 January 2026. Documents signed by at least one party on or before 31 December 2025 remain subject to assessment under the former rules.[4]
For legacy documents that still require stamping, a further Tax Department procedure applies from 1 April 2026: submission through Tax For All, followed by stamping after assessment and payment. New contracts and older contracts spanning the change therefore need different treatment. A 2026 application date alone does not erase an older document’s obligation, and the former checklist should not impose abolished duty automatically on new documents.[4][5]
Permission still needs to connect with title and residence
The Department of Lands and Surveys lists the competent authority’s permission among the documents required when a transferee falls within the foreign-acquisition law. The title-transfer process also involves its own declaration and tax-clearance documents. Permission is part of that process, rather than proof that title registration has already finished.[2]
| Document or decision | Main purpose |
|---|---|
| Foreign-buyer permission | Authorises the relevant buyer’s property acquisition |
| Title-transfer and registration documents | Establish the transfer and registration of ownership |
| Investor immigration permit | Determines eligibility under the residence policy |
A useful transaction schedule tracks these three processes separately, showing the outstanding evidence for each. That keeps the purchase, registration and residence application tied to one coherent transaction without mistaking a single approval for completion of the entire file.
Official sources
General policy information; individual circumstances and the competent authority’s requirements govern each application.