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Family reunification in Cyprus: bringing your spouse, children and parents

A foreign resident can bring a spouse and children after 2 years in Cyprus; the decision takes up to 9 months. Foreign-interest company staff and Cypriot and EU families have their own rules.

Documents in Cyprus Checked: no change to the rule has been established since the check

In short

Who it applies to
Non-EU nationals living in Cyprus on a work or other permit who want to bring a spouse and minor children, and Cypriot and EU citizens whose spouse or children hold no European passport. Visitors and digital nomads bring their family under their own rules — with them, on dependent permits.
What it costs
For family reunification: €200 for the entry and residence permit, the same for each renewal, plus €70 for first entry in the Aliens' Register. A 10-year guarantee from a Cypriot bank is required: €550 for Russian and Ukrainian nationals. Families of Cypriot citizens pay €50 or €80, families of EU citizens €20.
How long it takes
A reunification decision comes within 9 months, 3 more in complex cases. Until it arrives, the family waits abroad. Families of Cypriot citizens get an answer within 4 months, families of EU citizens within 6.
Where to apply
The reunification application is filed by the person the family is joining — at the Migration Department's central offices in Nicosia, without an appointment. The family enters on an entry permit, not a tourist visa, and after arrival registers in the Aliens' Register and gives fingerprints.
If your case differs
Your spouse may work on the same terms as you. After 5 years in Cyprus, the spouse and grown-up children are entitled to a permit of their own, independent of yours. Until then their permit never runs longer than yours and ends with it.

Your case

If you are a foreign national living in Cyprus on a work or other temporary permit

You may bring your spouse and children under 18, including adopted children and your spouse's children where you or your spouse has custody. Parents and adult children are not covered by reunification. Your own conditions: 2 years of lawful residence, a permit valid for at least a year and a prospect of permanent residence. Neither the law nor the department names a euro income threshold — income, housing and the cost of living are assessed together; your employment contract must run 18 months ahead or be open-ended. The family's documents — passport, marriage or birth certificate, criminal record certificate (from 16) and medical tests — are translated into Greek or English and certified. If children travel without the other parent, a court custody order or that parent's consent is needed.

If you work for a foreign-interest company or hold an EU Blue Card

The procedure is the same — a reunification application in Nicosia — but you need not wait 2 years: for staff of foreign-interest companies the director may waive that condition, and for Blue Card holders the law requires no period of residence, no minimum permit length and no prospect of permanent residence. For staff of foreign-interest companies the director may accept the application once the family has entered on an ordinary visa; where an exception is applied, the decision comes within 5 months. A spouse who does not yet meet the conditions — for example, married less than a year — gets a dependent visitor's permit. Parents, parents-in-law, a partner and adult children up to 25 can also come as dependent visitors if your income is at least €24.000 a year plus an uplift for each person. The spouse of a foreign-interest company employee may take paid work without Labour Department approval, but not self-employment; a Blue Card holder's family may be employed or self-employed.

If you are a Cypriot citizen

This is not reunification but a separate, more lenient procedure for families of Cypriots. Family means a spouse or civil partner, children — yours and your spouse's — under 21 or older if you support them, your and your spouse's parents whom you support, and the parent of a minor Cypriot citizen. There is no two-year condition. The spouse enters on a visa or on an entry permit that you apply for, and files the application together with you. A spouse and the parent of a Cypriot child may take paid work and be self-employed — once they hold a residence and work permit.

If you are a citizen of another EU or EEA country or Switzerland

Your family relies on your right of free movement — under European law, not the reunification rules. Family means a spouse or partner, children under 21 or older and dependent on you, and dependent parents. The first three months need no formalities; after that the family member applies for a residence card (form MEU2), and you come along and show your income. The card gives free access to work, including self-employment. Failing to apply carries a fine of up to €2.500.

Deadlines and conditions

  • you have lived in Cyprus lawfully for at least 2 yearsCap. 105, s. 18ΛΒ(α): the sponsor must «να έχει παραμείνει νόμιμα … για περίοδο δύο τουλάχιστον ετών»; for employees of a company approved to hire foreign staff the director may waive it.
  • your permit is valid for at least 1 yearCap. 105, s. 18ΚΙ(1): the sponsor holds a permit «διάρκειας ισχύος τουλάχιστον ενός έτους» and has «εύλογη προοπτική να αποκτήσει δικαίωμα μόνιμης διαμονής».
  • the marriage took place at least 1 year before the applicationCap. 105, s. 18Λ(1)(α): the spouse — «υπό την επιφύλαξη ότι ο γάμος τελέστηκε τουλάχιστον ένα έτος πριν από την υποβολή της αίτησης».
  • the spouse is at least 21Cap. 105, s. 18Λ(5): the director does not admit a spouse «αν αυτός/αυτή δεν έχει συμπληρώσει την ηλικία των είκοσι ενός ετών».
  • the children are under 18 and unmarriedCap. 105, s. 18Λ(2): children «πρέπει να είναι κάτω των δεκαοκτώ ετών και μη έγγαμα»; s. 18Λ(3): those aged 15 to 18 only if they do not live independently.
  • the decision comes within 9 months of filingCap. 105, s. 18ΛΑ(5): the decision is given «το αργότερο εντός εννέα μηνών από την ημερομηνία υποβολής της αίτησης»; s. 18ΛΑ(6): in exceptional cases extended by three months. The department's page gives the same 9 months.
  • in complex cases the time limit is extended by 3 monthsCap. 105, s. 18ΛΑ(6): the time limit «δύναται να παρατείνεται για περίοδο τριών μηνών» where the case is complex; the applicant is informed.
  • where the director applies an exception, the decision comes within 5 monthsCap. 105, s. 18ΛΑ(5Α): where the decision rests on the director's discretion (family already in Cyprus, or the sponsor has not lived here 2 years) — «το αργότερο εντός πέντε μηνών».
Show all conditions (32)
  • the entry and residence permit and each renewal cost €200The department's page on family reunification (FR), “Fees and duty stamps” (modified 17.09.2026): “Issuance of entry permit and residence permit: €200”, “Renewal of residence permit: €200”.
  • first entry in the Aliens' Register is €70, onceThe same page: “Registration in the Aliens’ Registry (only in cases of first registration): €70”.
  • the bank guarantee for Russian and Ukrainian nationals is €550The FR list of documents (15.03.2024), item 17: “Original letter of guarantee issued by a bank in Cyprus, with validity of 10 years … The amount depends on the country of origin”; the department's “Bank guarantee” page: €550 for Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Moldova.
  • the guarantee runs for 10 yearsThe FR list of documents, item 17: “with validity of 10 years, covering possible repatriation expenses”; at renewal it is not needed where the sponsor holds long-term resident status.
  • your employment contract runs at least 18 months from the application, or is open-endedThe FR list of documents, item 10: “Valid contract of employment of the sponsor … for the minimum duration of 18 months from the date of application, or of open duration”.
  • the family member's passport is valid 6 months beyond the permit applied forThe FR list of documents, item 2: the family member's passport is valid “at least six (6) months after the requested validity of residence permit … (Minimum acceptable document expiration period: 9 months)”.
  • the family's first permit is issued for 1 yearCap. 105, s. 18ΛΓ(2) as amended by Law 4(Ι)/2025: «Ο Διευθυντής χορηγεί στα μέλη της οικογένειας άδεια διαμονής διάρκειας ενός έτους»; s. 18ΛΓ(3) — no longer than the sponsor's permit.
  • after 5 years the spouse and grown-up children may get a permit of their ownCap. 105, s. 18ΛΕ(1): a spouse and children who have come of age, after «πέντε έτη» of residence, may obtain «αυτόνομη άδεια διαμονής η οποία θα είναι ανεξάρτητη από την άδεια του συντηρούντος».
  • online renewal is filed 90 to 30 days before the permit endsThe FR page: online renewal “from 90 to 30 days prior to the expiry date of the existing permit”, through a verified CY Login; the department's announcements of 06.07.2026 and 14.10.2026: online FR renewal covers families of long-term residents and of staff of foreign-interest companies, online only from 01.01.2027.
  • an income of at least €24.000 a yearThe department's page on families of employees of companies under the Strategy: parents and parents-in-law, partners and adult children are accepted as dependent visitors where the sponsor has an “annual income of at least €24000, which is increased by 20% for the spouse or partner and by 15% for each child and dependent ascendant”; the same on the Blue Card page.
  • a spouse or partner adds 20% to the sumThe same page: the sum “is increased by 20% for the spouse or partner”.
  • each child and each parent adds another 15%The same page: “by 15% for each child and dependent ascendant”.
  • adult children up to 25, or within a year of finishing their studiesThe same page: adult children — “provided that they are up to 25 years old or have not completed 1 year since the completion of their studies”.
  • a dependent visitor's permit costs €70The same page, “Fees”: “Issuance or renewal of a residence permit: €70”.
  • a permit without employment costs €50The department's page “Family Members of Cypriots” (modified 13.08.2026), “Fees”: without employment — “Issuance or renewal of a residence permit: €50,00”; plus €70 for first registration.
  • a permit with the right to work costs €80The same page: with paid employment — “Issuance or renewal of a residence and work permit (including change of employer): €80,00”.
  • families of Cypriot citizens get an answer within 4 monthsThe same page, “Examination time”: “within four months from the date of submission of the application, provided that the applications are duly completed”.
  • children under 21, or older if you support themThe page “Family Members of Cypriots”: “Direct descendants … who are under age of 21 or are dependent”; the MEU2 page and s. 2 of Law 7(Ι)/2007 — the same for families of Union citizens.
  • the residence card of an EU citizen's family member costs €20The department's MEU2 page: “The application fees are €20”.
  • the application is due within 4 months of entryThe MEU2 page: the application is filed “within four months from the date of entry into the Republic”; Law 7(Ι)/2007, s. 11.
  • the card decision takes up to 6 monthsThe MEU2 page: the decision is issued “within six months, provided that the application is duly completed”; Law 7(Ι)/2007, s. 12.
  • the card is issued for 5 yearsThe MEU2 page: the card is valid “for five years from the date of the issue or for the envisaged period of residence of the Union citizen, if this period is less than five years”.
  • children under 6 give only a photographThe FR page: from those under 6 at the time of filing, only a photograph is taken.
  • failing to apply carries a fine of up to €2.500The MEU2 page: “Noncompliance with the requirement of applying for a Residence Card shall render the person concerned liable to a financial penalty up to €2,500”.

Whether your permit qualifies

The law admits to reunification only those with a “reasonable prospect” of permanent residence, but neither the law nor the department lists which permits qualify. Before gathering the family's documents and arranging the bank guarantee, ask the Migration Department whether an application will be accepted on your type of permit.

Where to file if you live outside Nicosia

The reunification page says applications are accepted only at the central offices in Nicosia. Another page of the same department — on appointments — says residents of other districts are served by the Aliens and Immigration Unit of their district, and in Nicosia only through a representative. Before you travel, ask the Migration Department where you in particular should go.

Sources

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