Cyprus foreign interest company (BFU, BSC): rules and work permits

What a company of foreign interests is, and what BFU and BSC stand for

The Business Facilitation Unit (BFU) was set up in January 2022 under the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, as part of the government's strategy for attracting investment and talent. It keeps the Register of Companies with Foreign Interests. The unit works inside the Business Support Center (BSC), the ministry's first point of contact for investors, which is why both abbreviations appear on the forms.

Registration changes one thing: how the company hires from outside the EU. The Council of Ministers approved the strategy on 15 October 2021, and it has applied since 2 January 2022. Under it the Migration Department decides the residence and employment permits of a registered company's skilled staff within one month, with no labour market test.

The company itself is an ordinary Cyprus company or the registered branch of a foreign one. It is formed first, and the registration follows.

Who qualifies: ownership, the €200,000 investment and the office

The €200,000 applies in every case. It is a deposit that the shareholders send from abroad to the company's account with a credit institution licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus. The purchase of an office or of equipment for the business, invoiced to the company, counts as well. Accounts with electronic money institutions and payment institutions do not count. Property bought as the stock of an estate agency or a developer does not count either.

The deposit needs an account with a Cyprus bank before the application. Our bank application for a Cyprus company costs from €1,500 at each bank: bank account in Cyprus.

A sublease or a shared office is accepted where the agreement gives the full details of both parties and of the room the company uses alone. Those details are the office number, the floor, the street and the area.

Companies that qualify without the ownership test

• Public companies listed on a recognised stock exchange
• Former offshore companies that operated before the change of regime and whose data the Central Bank holds
• Cypriot shipping companies
• Cypriot high-technology and innovation companies
• Cypriot pharmaceutical companies and companies in biogenetics and biotechnology
• Companies owned mostly by persons naturalised on economic criteria, where those criteria are still met
• Private institutes of higher education licensed by the Ministry of Education

A high-technology company is one already on the market with products in fields such as aviation and space, computers, information and communication technology, pharmaceuticals, biomedical or research equipment, electrical machinery or chemicals. An innovative company is one with a high level of research and development.

How to register with the Business Support Center

1. Form the company or register the branch, and obtain the Registrar's certificate of its beneficial owners.
2. Open the company's account with a Cyprus bank and bring in the €200,000, or buy the office or the equipment.
3. Sign the lease or the purchase agreement for the office.
4. Create the company's own CY Login profile. Since 1 July 2026 the application is accepted through that profile and no other.
5. Complete the online form: the company's profile and activities, the tasks of its present staff, the expertise of the skilled staff it will hire, and its plans to expand.
6. Attach copies of the documents: the certificate of beneficial owners, the memorandum and articles stamped by the Registrar, the document for the premises and the proof of the investment. A company already operating adds its latest audited financial statements.
7. Follow the application by email and on the timeline in the company's space in the system.

Where the company qualifies and the file is complete, it is entered in the register within ten business days of the day the form was submitted. The confirmation letter arrives by email. The centre answers requests about specific cases and gives no view on hypothetical ones. Companies that were on the Migration Department's own register before 2022 keep their status and update their details with that department once a year.

Hiring third-country nationals: €2,500 a month, no quota, no labour market test

A registered company can employ any number of highly paid third-country nationals, and the Department of Labour does not test the labour market first. The old categories of directors, key personnel and specialists remain for statistics, and a specialist is not tied to a list of professions. Three conditions apply to each highly paid employee.

• Pay: a gross salary of €2,500 a month or more.
• Skills: academic qualifications relevant to the post, or two years or more of relevant experience.
• Contract: an employment contract of two years or more, even where the first permit is asked for one year.

Key personnel who already held permits on €2,000 or more renew with the same employer at that salary until 31 December 2026. Support staff, paid below €2,500, follow the general route: a labour market test and a contract sealed by the Department of Labour.

In return every company commits to bring Cypriot and other EU citizens to 30% of its staff within five years. The ratio of 70 to 30 is checked for new hires after 2 January 2027, and a company below it is assessed on the merits of its case.

What the minimum salary costs the employer

The 15.4% is made of social insurance, the health contribution and three funds. The guide on how payroll works in Cyprus breaks it down, and we run the monthly payroll for you with payroll in Cyprus.

The residence and employment permit: steps, fees and time

1. Entry. A highly paid employee enters with a visa from a consulate of Cyprus, or with an entry permit that the employer applies for. Support staff enter with an entry permit only.
2. Application. After arrival the employee registers in the Aliens' Register and applies for a temporary residence and employment permit at the Migration Department's headquarters in Nicosia. Every supporting document is officially translated and certified.
3. Biometrics. A photograph, fingerprints and a signature are taken with the application or shortly after, against the payment receipt and the passport.
4. Decision. A complete application is examined within one month. The department sends a notice to collect the permit, or a letter with the reasons for a refusal.

The permit follows the length of the contract, up to three years, and it is renewed online between 90 and 30 days before it expires. A highly paid employee can live in Cyprus with no time limit while the permit is valid. The employee can move to another company of foreign interests, provided the new job is found within one month of the end of the old one. A permit holder who stays outside Cyprus for more than three months cannot re-enter on the permit.

Family members and the path to citizenship

Directors and key personnel of a company of foreign interests can bring their family under family reunification. It covers the spouse, married for a year or more and aged 21 or over, and unmarried children under 18. For these employers the Migration Department can waive the two years of prior residence that the law otherwise asks of the sponsor. It can also accept an application from family members who entered on a visa.

Each family permit costs €200, and the first registration in the Aliens' Register €70. The first permit runs for one year and is renewed up to the end of the sponsor's own permit. The spouse or civil partner has free access to paid employment in a Cyprus company and may not work as self-employed. A spouse or child who does not yet meet the conditions can stay on a dependent visitor permit.

Time in Cyprus counts towards citizenship faster for highly skilled employees. They can apply after four years of residence with Greek at level B1, or after five years with level A2. The last 12 months before the application must be spent in Cyprus without a break.

Tax for the company and for the staff it relocates

The company pays 15% corporate tax on its profit from 1 January 2026, like every Cyprus company: the guide to Cyprus corporate tax shows how the profit is computed. Half of a salary is exempt from income tax for 17 years on three conditions. The job is the employee's first in Cyprus, pays more than €55,000 a year and follows 15 years or more without Cyprus tax residence.

An owner who moves to Cyprus is taxed on dividends by the Cyprus non-dom rules, with no defence contribution for 17 years. The office, the staff and the board that this registration asks for are also what a bank and the tax office look at: economic substance in Cyprus.

The EU Blue Card in Cyprus: who qualifies, the €43,632 salary and the steps

The EU Blue Card is a residence and work permit for specialists from outside the EU, issued in Cyprus under Law 111(I)/2024 of 1 August 2024. Any employer can sponsor it, with no quota, in three sectors: information and communication technology, pharmacy for research, and shipping other than captains and crew.

• Salary: €43,632 gross a year or more, set by decree K.D.P. 457/2024.
• Qualification: a higher education degree, or for ICT managers and professionals three years of relevant experience within the last seven.

1. Entry. The employee enters with a visa from a consulate of Cyprus, or with an entry permit that the employer applies for.
2. Application. Within 7 days of arrival the employee registers in the Aliens' Register and applies for the card at the Migration Department in Nicosia.
3. Decision. A complete application is examined within 90 days, and the card is issued for 24 to 36 months.

The state charges €110 for the entry permit with the card, €95 to issue or renew a card and €70 for the first registration. In the first 12 months a holder who changes employer starts the new job 30 days after applying, later at once.

The card is one of the routes to live in Cyprus: residence permits in Cyprus sets them side by side.

BFU route or EU Blue Card: which permit fits

The two permits side by side: the Blue Card is open to any employer in three sectors, at a higher salary.

The Blue Card also lets its holder move to another member state for work after 12 months. For a company that will hire several people outside those three sectors, the BFU register is the route, and registering a company in Cyprus is its first step. We form the company from €1,699 before VAT.