Bringing your personal belongings to Cyprus duty-free when you move
Checked: no change to the rule has been established since the check
In short
- Who it applies to
- People transferring their normal place of residence to Cyprus from a country outside the EU, having lived there for at least 12 continuous months. Citizenship is irrelevant: what matters is where you moved from, not which passport you hold.
- What it costs
- Nothing. The relief covers both import duty and VAT. It has no monetary threshold at all — not €150, not any other figure.
- How long it takes
- What is limited is not the processing time but the import window: goods may be brought in up to 6 months before the move or within 12 months after it.
- Where to apply
- Form Απ. 2, submitted at any customs station (Customs and Excise Department, Τμήμα Τελωνείων).
- If your case differs
- Moving from another EU country — the relief is neither needed nor applicable: there is no customs clearance inside the EU. Receiving a parcel from abroad — that is a different rule, and it changed on 1 July 2026 — it has nothing to do with relocation.
Deadlines and conditions
| Condition | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| at least 12 continuous months outside the EU | Reg. (EU) 1186/2009, art. 5 (duty) · Dir. 2009/132/EC, art. 5 (VAT). |
| the goods owned AND used for at least 6 months before leaving | Reg. (EU) 1186/2009, art. 4(a) (duty) · Dir. 2009/132/EC, art. 4(a) (VAT). |
| import up to 6 months before the move — against an undertaking to move, and against security | Reg. (EU) 1186/2009, art. 9(1) (duty) · Dir. 2009/132/EC, art. 9(1) (VAT). |
| import within 12 months after the move | Reg. (EU) 1186/2009, art. 7(1) (duty) · Dir. 2009/132/EC, art. 7(1) (VAT). |
| for 12 months after import the goods may not be sold, given away, hired out or pledged | Reg. (EU) 1186/2009, art. 8(1) (duty) · Dir. 2009/132/EC, art. 8(1) (VAT). |
| 1 private car per person, and that person must hold a valid driving licence | The customs page, the section on vehicles: “only one private use motor vehicle per person concerned”. |
Your case
If you are moving from a country outside the EU where you lived for at least 12 continuous months
The relief is yours: no duty, no VAT. You submit form Απ. 2 together with documents proving your ties to the former country.
If you are moving from another EU country
This relief does not apply to you and is not needed: goods move freely inside the EU and there is no customs clearance. Only the vehicle registration rules still concern you.
If you lived outside the EU for less than 12 continuous months
There is no entitlement to the relief; the goods are cleared on ordinary terms, with duty and VAT on their value.
What the relief does not cover
- alcoholic products
- tobacco and tobacco products
- commercial means of transport
- articles for use in a trade or profession, other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts
The six months of use count only if you and the item were in the country at the same time
Does not count:
- time when you were absent from your former country of residence
- time when the item or the car had already been handed to the shipper
- time when the car’s road tax or insurance had lapsed
- time when the circumstances show the item was not actually in use
Sources
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, consolidated version in force from 1 July 2026eur-lex.europa.euThe rule itself: Title II Chapter I, Articles 3–11 — every deadline and condition of the relief.
- Council Directive 2009/132/EC, consolidated version in force from 1 July 2021eur-lex.europa.euThe basis for the VAT exemption (duty comes from Reg. 1186/2009, VAT from this directive): Title II Chapter 1, Articles 3–11. The article numbering matches the regulation article for article — 4(a) possession, 5 residence, 6 exclusions, 7(1) window after, 8(1) disposal ban, 9(1) early import.
- Regulation (EU) 2026/382eur-lex.europa.euWhat exactly was repealed on 1 July 2026: Article 1 deletes Chapter V of Title II — consignments of negligible value. It does not touch the relocation relief.
- Cyprus Customs and Excise Department, “Transfer of normal residence”www.mof.gov.cyHow it is applied in Cyprus: form Απ. 2, exemption from both duty and VAT, and the clarification that the person and the item must have been in the country at the same time.