The Republic of Cyprus has granted almost 30,000 “golden visas”, permanent residence permits in exchange for investments in the Cypriot economy, since 2014, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said on Friday.

In a letter addressed to Akel MP Giorgos Koukoumas published by business news website Stockwatch, he said that exactly 28,660 such visas had been granted.

Of those visas, he said that 10,100 were granted to Chinese nationals, 8,478 to Russian nationals, 1,822 to Lebanese nationals, 983 to Ukrainian nationals, 907 to Jordanian nationals, 699 to Iranian nationals, 586 to Egyptian nationals, 412 to Vietnamese nationals, 346 to Syrian nationals, 277 to American nationals, and 251 to British nationals.

These figures, he said, include dependants of the main visa holders, with a total of 14,646 individual applications having been filed in that time. Of those applications, 1,209 were rejected and 1,248 remain pending.

In the same letter, he wrote that a total of 61,128 residence permits of all kinds were issued to third country nationals between 2014 and 2025.

Cyprus’ residency by investment programme allows for applicants to gain permanent residency on the island by investing a minimum of €300,000 in real estate, shares, or funds, and by demonstrating an annual income of at least €50,000 after tax.

Holders of such residence permits can also acquire permits for their dependents, who must be either their spouse or child.

Children can be aged up to 18 years old under most circumstances, though children up to 25 years old may be considered dependents if they are unmarried and study at a university.

Holders are required to prove annually that they maintain their investment and that they and their dependents have health insurance, while they must present a clean criminal record every three years.

They are not allowed to acquire permanent residency abroad or be absent from the island for two years.