Income or deposit requirements for residency

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Robert
Posts: 196
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

Having just completed a 10 year plan (which fortunately took us a little less than 10 years) my wife and I (both EU passports, for now) find ourselves in the incredibly fortunate position of being able to retire early to Cyprus in the summer. This will mean that we'll both be under 45 years of age, not intending to work and without any pensions when we apply for residency.

I understand that when we arrive we'll make an appointment with immigration and we'll be looking to gain residency using the MEU1 form. Given our situation we'll be using the 'other' category on this form which means we need to prove (in addition to private healthcare):
(a) Fixed or adequate income from employment outside the Republic; or
(b) Fixed or adequate income from other legal sources; or
(c) Adequate deposits in financial institutions in the Republic or abroad.

This is where the confusion then starts. I have unsuccessfully tried to find out the physical amounts required to meet these requirements (both online and via contact with the migration department). I hope someone on this great forum may know or may be able to share their experience. My questions:
- While there are no income requirements listed for EU if I look at the Non-EU immigration permit route it states "The annual income required should be at least €9568,17 (CY£5,600) for a single applicant and moreover at least €4613,22 (CY£2,700) for every dependent person..." We can easily meet this requirement but would use interest and dividends only to achieve it. Does anybody know the actual minimum income for an EU couple? Has anybody used dividends and interest to prove this requirement?
- Does anybody know the minimum deposit requirement (or what they used)? Was this physical cash in a bank or were you able to use stocks/bonds to demonstrate the amount?

Any view points would be gratefully received and thanks in advance.
sueb
Posts: 163
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 8:06 am
Location: Peyia from Trawden Lancashire.

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by sueb »

Firstly Robert- Well impressed with what you both have achieved! Well done. Good luck with your move.

We came in April 2008 I was 49 and my hubby was 56. I did have a job to come to -earning around €1000 per month. Hubby was not working. We had private pensions that we were not drawing and some savings. We got our yellow slip. Did go back to UK for 4 years now back for good. Hubby now on OAP. I am retired and enjoying being so.

Where will you be based? Are you buying, renting or have a place already.

I hope some one else will be able to give you the answers.
Happy to be back on the Island!
PolemIan
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Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 8:50 am
Location: Polemi

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by PolemIan »

Robert, we were in exactly the same position. I took everything possible with me to my appointment last Immigration for my yellow slip. They did not quote a specific number, just wanted to see our Cyprus Bank balance, the letting agreements from our UK agent - I also took the last 3 months statements for each property from our letting agents and copies of the bank statement the funds are deposited in, and they were happy with that. They weren't interested in any other bank statements, investment accounts, savings accounts etc. The trick is to go armed with multiple copies of everything you can think of. Be prepared for them to ask for things that are listed on the list of required documents, it's a national sport here for the to find something wrong that you have now way of knowing you 'should' have with you.

Other points:
- go to Immigration office to book your appointment, you need a passport for each person who's applying with you when you make the appointment
- go into your CY bank on the day of your appointment and ask for a printed statement, any thing older than that day may be rejected as 'you could have spent ll the money since then, which is what happened to me
- similarly with your PMI, if like us you did it all via email, they decided the email wasn't good enough so I had to go and get the email stamped and signed by at the insurance office and charge back to Immigration
- take wedding certificates and, if relevant divorce papers

We did my wife's a few months after mine as i was out here first, so the lessons learnt above, combined with the fact that the Immigration officer who happened to call our number, lives about a mile from us, made it a stress free process the second time around!

Ian
Robert
Posts: 196
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

sueb wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:45 pm Firstly Robert- Well impressed with what you both have achieved! Well done. Good luck with your move.

We came in April 2008 I was 49 and my hubby was 56. I did have a job to come to -earning around €1000 per month. Hubby was not working. We had private pensions that we were not drawing and some savings. We got our yellow slip. Did go back to UK for 4 years now back for good. Hubby now on OAP. I am retired and enjoying being so.

Where will you be based? Are you buying, renting or have a place already.

I hope some one else will be able to give you the answers.
Thanks for your wishes Sue. We're planning on basing ourselves somewhere between Paphos and Peyia. Peyia being a favoured location.

Our plan is to rent for 6 to 12 months to better learn the area as 'holidays' are just not the same as living day to day. We're planning long term though and so provided we settle will look to buy a modest, used with title deeds, villa once we find the right one.

The pensions bit is the problem. I know a lot of people retire to Cyprus with defined benefit and/or state pensions so an income is pretty easy to prove. We'll have neither but instead plan to live off the dividends that are spun off our investments.
Robert
Posts: 196
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

PolemIan wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:00 pm Robert, we were in exactly the same position. I took everything possible with me to my appointment last Immigration for my yellow slip. They did not quote a specific number, just wanted to see our Cyprus Bank balance, the letting agreements from our UK agent - I also took the last 3 months statements for each property from our letting agents and copies of the bank statement the funds are deposited in, and they were happy with that. They weren't interested in any other bank statements, investment accounts, savings accounts etc. The trick is to go armed with multiple copies of everything you can think of. Be prepared for them to ask for things that are listed on the list of required documents, it's a national sport here for the to find something wrong that you have now way of knowing you 'should' have with you.

Other points:
- go to Immigration office to book your appointment, you need a passport for each person who's applying with you when you make the appointment
- go into your CY bank on the day of your appointment and ask for a printed statement, any thing older than that day may be rejected as 'you could have spent ll the money since then, which is what happened to me
- similarly with your PMI, if like us you did it all via email, they decided the email wasn't good enough so I had to go and get the email stamped and signed by at the insurance office and charge back to Immigration
- take wedding certificates and, if relevant divorce papers

We did my wife's a few months after mine as i was out here first, so the lessons learnt above, combined with the fact that the Immigration officer who happened to call our number, lives about a mile from us, made it a stress free process the second time around!

Ian
Thanks for the hints Ian.

Could you give an order of magnitude idea of how much you had sitting in each of your Cyprus bank accounts on the day? I could easily muster 3 years living expenses but after that I'd be selling down stocks/bonds which I'm reticent to do as I want the dividends rather than the derisory interest from bank accounts.

I have no investment properties and as I'm still working my dividends are just compounding in my investment accounts. In a similar style to yourself I guess I could also just print off the dividends accrued in each investment account over the last 12 months on the day of the interview. Whether that's good enough is the question though.
Poppy
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:49 am

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Poppy »

I don' t mean to be rude but as you are quite young to "retire" and not work,what exactly will you do with your time? Cyprus is quite a small Island and you definitely need some sort of hobby or something to do with your time. You definitely seem to be planning well but do remember this aspect of your lives!!
Robert
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Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

Poppy wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:19 pm I don' t mean to be rude but as you are quite young to "retire" and not work,what exactly will you do with your time? Cyprus is quite a small Island and you definitely need some sort of hobby or something to do with your time. You definitely seem to be planning well but do remember this aspect of your lives!!
Not rude at all. I actually took it as a complement :)

When I said "not intending to work" I should have maybe been more specific and said work is optional but I'm still at the same place as far as immigration is concerned. I've had a killer run into early retirement and am absolutely exhausted mentally and physically from my work. My initial plan is to decompress for 6 to 12 months while also getting myself back to peak physical fitness (gym, cycling, running, hiking, swimming). From there I'd like to write a book (already have one self published) which I want to write because I'd enjoy it rather than I need to earn money from it. In parallel we want to do plenty of travel in the early years. That will fill the first couple of years then we'll go from there. I currently run a blog which I enjoy and might take that to a new level if time permits. My better half has a small online business on the go which she's really enjoying.

All of the above earns beer money, thus we can't use them for immigration, but we do them because we enjoy them rather than need them to put food on the table.
geoffreys

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by geoffreys »

Best of luck. I think I am right in saying that to get your yellow slip you will be required to have taken out private health insurance.
You will not be covered for health care by the Cyprus "NHS".
Cover required for that is quite reasonably priced.
However, to buy full health insurance (advisable!) can be very expensive.
You need to go into all that.
Geoff.
daveg
Posts: 573
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 2:58 pm

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by daveg »

With regard health insurance, it has certainly paid us to have both ,in patient and out patient cover.
We are 60 and 63 health insurance​ costing €2400 a year for us both.
Unfortunately we've had a few problems in the last 3 yrs where the insurance company have paid out around €18k....
Robert
Posts: 196
Joined: Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:58 pm
Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

@geoffreys, Hudswell, daveg
For private health insurance I've come down on the side of Atlantic when I think very long term. They'll cover post 70 (with a 15% co-pay) which some don't seem to do. They also at our age require a health check as part of the initial underwriting process which indicates that it's a real policy. Cost at our age looks like EUR1,000 each annually for the best policy which seems to be inline with what you're mentioning.

One thing we were considering was putting an excess on the policy. A EUR500 excess would give 15% reduction from the premiums. Thinking we then just pay the EUR35 or similar at the Peyia Medical Centre for minor ailments and then just use the private in the event of something major. Still haven't decided here yet though.

Do any of you use Atlantic?

@Hudswell
Would you be willing, even maybe by PM, to give an indication of how much income your public sector pension spins off? Even just is it less or more than €9568,17 for the first + €4613,22 for each additional person would be most helpful. I'm also starting to think there isn't a rule for EU, particularly given I can't get an answer directly from immigration.
geoffreys

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by geoffreys »

Regards Atlantic we used them before I received the UK State Pension; I had to in order to obtain the yellow slip (pink slip as it was then prior to Cyprus joining the EU) and of course to have health cover.
They were a super Company, very helpful including a home visit by a sales rep, and I would recommend them. We did have other quotes etc.
Once I reached 65 and got the State Pension we discontinued it as we were from then entitled to health care under the Cyprus "NHS".
Geoff.
Robert
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Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

geoffreys wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2017 11:39 am Regards Atlantic we used them before I received the UK State Pension; I had to in order to obtain the yellow slip (pink slip as it was then prior to Cyprus joining the EU) and of course to have health cover.
They were a super Company, very helpful including a home visit by a sales rep, and I would recommend them. We did have other quotes etc.
Once I reached 65 and got the State Pension we discontinued it as we were from then entitled to health care under the Cyprus "NHS".
Geoff.
Many thanks for the testimonial geoffreys. Medical is one area I am not prepared to compromise and would even be prepared to pay a little over the top for no quibble good medical. This is not me everywhere and I am prepared to 'cut corners' in a lot of areas such as internet where I'll go with low price WiFi (at least initially) rather than Cyta wired.
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Polemi Dave
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Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Polemi Dave »

Robert wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:17 pm
I understand that when we arrive we'll make an appointment with immigration and we'll be looking to gain residency using the MEU1 form.
Can I clear up one thing about the MEU1a. This is certificate that you as an EU national have registered your presence in Cyprus see http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/re ... dex_en.htm. As an EU national you do not need to gain residency - while the UK remains in the UK.

Gaining residency of the permanent type (MEU3a) is only available to EU nationals who can prove with lots of documentation they have lived legally in Cyprus for a period of 5 years or more. see http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/re ... dex_en.htm As no member state has ever left the EU, long term status for MEU1a or even MEU3a holders is unknown.

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules on income. All immigration is looking for is proof you have sufficient income/ savings and health insurance that you will not become a burden on the state, so individual circumstances are taken into account. My advice is arrive and make the immigration appointment, obviously get the health insurance and the other things of the list you will be given when you make the appointment. Most often the meu1a is issued on the spot, but sometimes applicants are sent away for more documents. In Cyprus things do get sorted in the end if you have the patience and EU citizens are not being deported ever.
Robert
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Location: South East England (for a few more months)

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by Robert »

Polemi Dave wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2017 3:51 pm Can I clear up one thing about the MEU1a. This is certificate that you as an EU national have registered your presence in Cyprus see http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/re ... dex_en.htm. As an EU national you do not need to gain residency - while the UK remains in the UK.

Gaining residency of the permanent type (MEU3a) is only available to EU nationals who can prove with lots of documentation they have lived legally in Cyprus for a period of 5 years or more. see http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/re ... dex_en.htm As no member state has ever left the EU, long term status for MEU1a or even MEU3a holders is unknown.

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules on income. All immigration is looking for is proof you have sufficient income/ savings and health insurance that you will not become a burden on the state, so individual circumstances are taken into account. My advice is arrive and make the immigration appointment, obviously get the health insurance and the other things of the list you will be given when you make the appointment. Most often the meu1a is issued on the spot, but sometimes applicants are sent away for more documents. In Cyprus things do get sorted in the end if you have the patience and EU citizens are not being deported ever.
Many thanks for that Dave, particularly the first link. Unfortunately it doesn't cover self sufficient but if it's anything like pensioners then this statement is particularly relevant - "Proof you can support yourself without needing income support: resources may come from any source". That would imply dividends are ok.
daveg
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 2:58 pm

Re: Income or deposit requirements for residency

Post by daveg »

Re Atlantic for health insurance, you really need comments from those who have claimed from them....As with all insurance ,it's only when you come to claim ,do you find out how good / bad they are.
Having claimed around €18k from our insurance company ,Cosmos, i am relieved that it was relatively straightforward to claim.
I would again stress that you consider cover for in and out patient....Some of the bills for out patient can be pretty expensive...IE CT scan €650 etc..
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