Malta & Cyprus Citizenship Programs Compared

Malta and Cyprus are the only two European countries, which Country have their official citizenship by investment programs running in Europe . Investors can apply for EU citizenship in any these countries through a qualifying economic investment. The question is : which country has the better EU citizenship program . Malta or Cyprus ?

Below we will highlight the major differences between the two citizenship by investment programs , Malta Individual Investor Program (MIIP) and Cyprus Citizenship by Investment program .

Malta & Cyprus Citizenship Programs Compared

Country	MALTA	CYPRUS
Population	430,835	1,179,551
GDP (PPP)	$17.2 billion	$19.81 billion
Currency	Euro (€)	Euro (€)
Program	Citizenship by Investment in Malta OR Malta Individual Investor Program (MIIP)	Citizenship by Investment in Cyprus
PROGRAM BENEFIT	EU freedoms, settlement, Schengen mobility and excellent visa free travel Right to reside, work and travel freely within the EU	EU freedoms, settlement, Schengen mobility and excellent visa free travel Right to reside, work and travel freely within the EU
Languages	Maltese, English	Greek, Turkish Also, English, French and German are widely spoken
Language proficiency tests	No language proficiency tests	No language proficiency tests
Restricted countries	Afghanistan, Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen	N/A
Family members: Spouse Children parents	Yes Yes Minor children,and unmarried dependent adult children under age 27). Yes (under certain conditions).	Yes Yes Minor children (under age18 ) and (students under age 28). Yes (under certain conditions).
Model	Contribution + Mixed Investment	Mixed Investment
Minimum investment: Contribution Government Bonds Real Estate	€ 900,000 € 650,000 € 150,000 Min. Rent €16,000 yearly or Purchase min. €350,000	€ 2,000,000 0 €500,000 (Optional) €500,000
Additional Investment	N/A	€1.5 million min. investment in real estate / €2 million in a combination of investments
TERM OF INVESTMENT Contribution Real Estate Government Bonds	Non - Refundable 5 years 5 years	Not Applicable 3 years (but must retain possession of a permanent residence of at least €500.000 for life). 5 years for bonds and stocks (Optional).
EU membership	Yes	Yes
Schengen membership	Yes	No
Time to Citizenship	Fast track residence cards within 1-3 weeks with Schengen mobility for 18 months. Citizenship approved after 4 months processing time. A total of 12 months to issue passport (inclusive of processing time) from the date of initial residency.	Approval in Principle- 3 months. Once investors have held their PR cards for a total period of six months their new Passports/ID’s can be collected in Cyprus or at a Cyprus embassy.
Passport validity	10 years	10 years
Health insurance	Coverage must for a minimum of EUR 50,000 per dependent	Coverage must for a minimum of EUR 50,000 per dependent
Personal visit (Physical Residence)	the Main applicant only is required to be physically present (even on an intermittent basis) for at least 3 weeks over the 12 month period.	One visit every 7 years
Program limits	1800 applications	No limits
Refusal rates	one in four applicants (Malta citizenship program has high refusal rates )	Low
Dual citizenship	Dual-citizenship permitted and the acquisition of citizenship in Malta is not reported to other countries	Dual-citizenship permitted and the acquisition of citizenship in Cyprus is not reported to other countries
Visa free travel countries	168 countries and territories	158 countries and territories
Visa not required and / or eVisa / Visa on arrival	Australia, Canada, EU member states, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom	Australia, Canada, EU member states, New Zealand, United Kingdom
Visa required	China, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia	China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United States
Taxes	The Maltese tax system subjects persons to tax on the basis of domicile and residence – not citizenship. Residence for tax purposes is established by demonstrating an intention to reside in Malta indefinitely and definitely on the basis of a day count of 183 days	An individual is considered to be a tax resident in Cyprus, if she/he resides in Cyprus for a period which in aggregate exceeds 183 days.
Permanent Living(Do you need to reside there)	No	No

For more information on Malta’s Individual Investor Program, please click here.

For more information on Cyprus’ Citizenship by Investment Program, please click here.

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