What the programme was
The Cyprus Investment Programme granted full EU citizenship in roughly six months in exchange for an investment of EUR 2,000,000, most commonly in residential or commercial property, alongside mandatory donations to state research and land development funds. There was no residence requirement in any meaningful sense: an applicant needed to hold a residence permit and visit once, not live there.
That combination made it the fastest route to an EU passport that has ever existed at scale. It also made it the most heavily criticised, and eventually the reason it was shut down.
Why it closed
In October 2020, Al Jazeera published undercover footage showing officials and intermediaries discussing an application on behalf of a fictitious businessman with a criminal conviction. The government announced the programme's termination within days.
The footage was the trigger rather than the cause. The European Commission had already opened infringement proceedings against Cyprus over investor citizenship, and a subsequent domestic inquiry examined naturalisations granted between 2007 and 2020 and found a substantial proportion had not met the criteria in force at the time. Revocation proceedings followed for a number of holders.
What happened to people who already had it
Citizenship granted under the programme was not cancelled wholesale. Revocations were pursued individually, on grounds such as an applicant failing to meet the stated criteria, providing false information, or having been convicted of offences that should have barred them.
The practical lesson for anyone weighing a current programme elsewhere is worth stating plainly: citizenship obtained through a scheme that is later found to have been administered improperly is not automatically permanent. Due diligence standards, and the credibility of the issuing state, matter more than processing speed.
What Cyprus still offers
Cyprus continues to run a permanent residency by investment route, most commonly through the purchase of new-build residential property at a set property threshold, with proof of secured overseas income. It is a residence permit, not citizenship, and it does not confer the right to live or work elsewhere in the EU.
Permanent residents can pursue naturalisation, but the qualifying period runs to several years of actual physical residence in Cyprus. That is a genuine relocation, not an investment product. If your objective is an EU passport without moving, Cyprus does not offer one at any price.
Full detail on the residency route is on our Cyprus residence page.
What to look at instead
The honest answer depends on what you were actually buying.
If you wanted an EU passport quickly: nothing replaces it. Malta's programme has also ended, and no remaining EU member state sells citizenship outright. Any agency telling you otherwise is describing a residence permit and hoping you do not read closely.
If you wanted EU residence and eventual citizenship: the Portugal Golden Visa remains the strongest option, because its physical presence requirement is unusually light and it leads to naturalisation. The Greece Golden Visa is cheaper to enter but its naturalisation path is considerably harder.
If you wanted travel mobility and a second passport quickly: the Caribbean programmes deliver a passport in months rather than years at a fraction of the cost, without EU rights. See our Caribbean comparison.
A useful framing is on our citizenship versus golden visa page, since the two are routinely marketed as interchangeable and are not.