The Cabinet revoked the citizenship of six foreign investors and 22 family members on Thursday, who had obtained Cypriot nationality through the controversial golden passport scheme.
Last week, the Cabinet had already stripped Cypriot citizenship from 26 people, comprising seven investors and 19 family members who obtained nationality through the Cyprus Investment Programme.
According to official data, since the current administration took office in March 2023, the Cabinet has made 41 decisions to revoke Cypriot citizenship affecting 150 people in total – 41 investors and 109 family members.
During the same period, the revocation process has been completed for five investors and 10 family members, with citizenship deprivation orders issued and their documents cancelled.
The revocations followed reports and evidence proving that legal requirements were not met, either because sanctions had been imposed on the individuals, they were wanted by authorities, or for other legal reasons.
The Cabinet also decided to issue additional citizenship deprivation orders for 69 people – 17 investors and 52 family members – whose initial revocation decisions were made between 2021 and 2023.
Total revocations reach 360 people since 2021
Since 2021, both the previous and current governments have decided to revoke Cypriot citizenship from 360 people in total – 101 investors and 259 family members who obtained nationality through the Cyprus Investment Programme.
For 112 of these cases involving 33 investors and 79 family members, the process has been completed with citizenship deprivation orders issued and documents cancelled.
Under the legal framework, the Cabinet must notify affected individuals in writing before issuing citizenship deprivation orders, informing them of their right to appeal to the Independent Committee for Examination of Citizenship Deprivation.
The Independent Committee advises the Cabinet on citizenship revocation matters through majority decisions, which are then considered before final deprivation orders are issued.
The Cyprus Investment Programme, suspended in 2020 following corruption scandals, had granted citizenship to wealthy foreign investors in exchange for property investments.
Read more: