Question:
Does a citizen of the Russian Federation, who is in Cyprus on the basis of a visa category F, have
the right to live in rented housing? Or he or she must only live in his or her own housing? Is
there some indication of this in the rules and what different types of permanent visas exist?
Response:
A citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to apply for Category F (permanent residence in
Cyprus) while having own house in Cyprus or renting one in Cyprus. The status of Category F is
the same and the applicant has the same rights in both cases. The different is that if somebody as
an owner of house in Cyprus can be surer that he will obtain Category F in comparison to the
case that he rents house in Cyprus. In order to approve application for Category F, when
somebody rents house in Cyprus, the Immigration Department is obliged to check how much the
applicant pays for rent, and the demands are stricter for the financial capacity of the applicant. Of
course, if the applicant meets all the requirements he will probably obtain Category F in Cyprus
either he has his own house or he rents house in Cyprus.
There are two different ways to obtain permanent residence in Cyprus, Category F and
Regulation 6.2. The difference is that somebody can obtain Category F in 6-9 months and can
obtain this through rented house as well. The Regulation 6.2 (fast-track procedure) takes 2-3
months only if applicant buys new house in Cyprus and only if he creates a bank deposit of
30,000 Euro in a Cypriot Bank, blocked at least for 3 years. When the applicant takes one of the
aforementioned permits, his rights in Cyprus are the same in both cases