Subsidiary Ltd or branch in Cyprus: liability, tax, registration. Owner residence: BCS, Digital Nomad, Reg. 6(2) permanent residence, Blue Card, citizenship.
A foreign company enters the Cyprus market in one of two ways: it forms a subsidiary private Ltd, or it registers its place of business as an overseas company (branch) with the Registrar of Companies within one month of opening it, for a €380 fee. A subsidiary Ltd is a separate Cypriot entity with its own liability; a branch is part of the foreign company, and its profit is taxed in Cyprus at 15%. The owner gets no residence from either form. Residence is a separate application to the Migration Department: the companies-of-foreign-interests scheme (BCS) to work in your own company, or investor permanent residence under Reg. 6(2) from €300,000. Citizenship by investment is abolished.
Last verified 9 October 2026 against the Registrar of Companies, the Migration Department and Asylum Service pages on gov.cy, and the consolidated Companies Law Cap.113, Income Tax Law and Civil Registry Law on cylaw.org. Our own fees and turnaround are excluded because they depend on the form and scope. Processing times below are the authorities' own.
Planning the Cyprus market? INNOVA compares forms of presence for your sales model, registers the chosen structure and assesses residence routes for the owner and team separately. Request a tailored proposal for Cyprus.
| Criterion | Subsidiary Ltd | Branch (overseas company) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Separate Cypriot entity | Place of business of the foreign company in Cyprus |
| Liability | Limited to the Ltd's assets | The parent company is liable |
| Registration | Cypriot lawyer, form HE1, Greek articles, €165 fee | Within 1 month of opening the place of business; forms AE1, AE2, AE3; €380 fee |
| Parent documents | Not needed unless the parent is a shareholder; a corporate shareholder files apostilled documents | Apostilled articles, translated into Greek unless in Greek or English |
| Profit tax | 15% on all profit if the company is Cyprus resident | 15% on profit attributable to the Cyprus permanent establishment |
| Reporting | Annual return, audit or review, T.D.4 return | Financial statements to the Registrar, audited accounts and a return to the tax authority |
| Tax number | Within 60 days | Within 60 days |
Sources: Registrar, overseas company, after the branch is established, ITL ss. 2, 4.
The most flexible form for hiring, contracts with Cypriot and European clients, banking and a future sale of the business. A foreign company may be the shareholder, and a director may be an individual or a company. A Cyprus Ltd managed in Cyprus is Cyprus tax resident and uses Cyprus treaties. Cyprus levies no SDC on dividends to a non-resident parent, except for recipients in low-tax (5%) and EU non-cooperative (17%) jurisdictions (SDC s. 3).
Hiring third-country staff, including the owner, under the companies-of-foreign-interests scheme (BCS) requires the employer company to meet the criteria of the state business-attraction strategy; we check whether a given structure qualifies before registration. A step-by-step look at incorporation, tax and reporting is in the guide Company formation in Cyprus.
A branch is registered as a place of business of an overseas company within 1 month of being established in Cyprus. The filing includes the parent's articles with an apostille (translated into Greek unless in Greek or English), form AE1, AE2 with the directors and secretaries, AE3 with the persons authorised to act in Cyprus, and a report by the authorised person. The fee is €380, plus €100 expedited. Afterwards: a tax number within 60 days, and every year financial statements to the Registrar plus audited accounts and a tax return.
We found no separate "representative office" form at the Registrar: any place of business of a foreign company in Cyprus registers as an overseas company. If the aim is market research only, we check the permitted scope of activity for the specific model before launch.
A branch suits a parent that wants unified reporting when the Cyprus activity continues its existing business. Where separate liability, local partners or BCS hiring are needed, a subsidiary Ltd is the usual choice.
Cyprus is an EU member outside the Schengen area. All residence applications are filed in Nicosia at the Migration Department head office, with officially translated and certified documents. A temporary residence permit lapses after more than 3 consecutive months outside Cyprus (MD, entry in Cyprus).
| Route | Key conditions | Right to work | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Companies of foreign interests (BCS) | An employer company meeting the strategy criteria; employee salary from €2,500 gross a month, a degree or 2 years' experience, contract of at least 2 years; processing 1 month; the company commits to 30% Cypriot and EU staff within 5 years | With the employer company | MD, legislation and policy |
| Digital Nomad | Remote work for a foreign employer or foreign clients; net income from €3,500 a month; apply within 3 months of entry; processing 5–7 weeks; cap of 500 permits; 1 year, renewable up to 2 years | Only for foreign employers and clients; family members may not work | MD, digital nomads |
| Investor permanent residence, Reg. 6(2) | €300,000 from abroad in new housing from a developer, commercial property, the capital of a Cypriot company with 5 employees, or units of Cypriot funds; income from €50,000 a year plus €15,000 for a spouse and €10,000 per child; processing about 2 months; the investment must be retained | Only as director of the company invested in | MD, investors |
| Category F (permanent, no work) | Secured income from abroad, per MD from €9,568 a year plus €4,613 per dependant | No | MD, immigration permits |
| EU Blue Card | Salary from €43,632 a year; without quotas only ICT, pharmaceutical research and the maritime sector; processing 90 days; card for 24–36 months | With the employer | MD, EU Blue Card |
| Startup Visa | Prior approval by the Deputy Ministry of Research and Innovation, then residence; the scheme runs until December 2026 per MD | In your own startup | MD, Startup Visa |
| Visitor | Financially independent residence; processing usually up to 4 months | No | MD, visitors |
Why the "Cyprus golden visa" in 2026 means only Reg. 6(2) permanent residence: citizenship by investment is closed, only applications filed by 30 October 2020 are examined, and the provision was deleted from the law in 2025 (CRL s. 111A). Housing counts under Reg. 6(2) only when new and sold by the developer for the first time. The permit is revoked if the holder does not settle in Cyprus within a year or stays away for 2 consecutive years.
The Asylum Service extended temporary protection automatically to 4 March 2027: no new biometric permit is needed, the extension notice is collected in person in Nicosia, and new applications are accepted in person only (Asylum Service). The EU Council extended protection to 4 March 2028; on the verification date we found no separate Cypriot decision for that period.
Three limits matter for business planning: time under temporary protection does not count towards citizenship; temporary protection holders cannot apply for a Blue Card; and we found no mechanism on gov.cy for switching from temporary protection to another permit. A move to BCS, Digital Nomad or Reg. 6(2) is a new application under the general rules, and eligibility is checked case by case.
An individual is Cyprus tax resident after more than 183 days in a year or under the 60-day rule (at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any single other state, business, employment or a directorship of a Cypriot company throughout the year, and a home in Cyprus) (ITL s. 2). The 2026 scale: 0% up to €22,000, then 20, 25, 30 and 35%. New residents earning over €55,000 who were not resident for 15 consecutive years exempt 50% of salary for 17 years (ITL s. 8(23A)). A resident without domicile pays no SDC on dividends and interest. How this fits with tax in the country of departure is covered in the guide The owner's tax residency.
Fees and schedule are fixed in a written proposal. Describe your Cyprus project.
This material is for general information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Accurate as of the publication date.
