I got a message a few weeks ago from someone who'd been seriously looking at Portugal for a couple of years. Real estate route, family ready to relocate, the whole plan. And then Portugal kept moving the goalposts, and last month she finally gave up on the idea entirely. Her question to me was simple: "Is Cyprus actually still doing this, or are you about to change the rules too?"

It's a fair question. And it's worth answering properly, because what's happened across Europe over the past couple of years is something most people outside the immigration industry don't fully realise. The residency-by-investment landscape has changed dramatically, and Cyprus has quietly become one of the last places in the EU still offering what most people actually want.

Let me walk through what's been happening.

Spain — the door just closed

Spain ended its Golden Visa programme entirely on 3 April 2025. Not modified. Not restricted. Ended. The Prime Minister was explicit about why — he said the government wanted to make housing "a right instead of a speculative business," pointing out that 94 out of every 100 Golden Visas were tied to real estate in cities already struggling with affordability.

Twenty-two thousand visas had been issued since 2013. That entire pathway no longer exists for new applicants.

Portugal — still open, but not for property anymore

Portugal is more nuanced. The Golden Visa still exists, but the real estate route was removed back in October 2023 under the Mais Habitação reforms. Now you can only qualify through €500,000 in investment funds, €200,000 in cultural projects, R&D contributions, or job creation. Buying property doesn't count anymore. Hasn't for over two years.

And then this May, Portugal's President signed new amendments to the Nationality Law extending the citizenship pathway from 5 years to 10 years for most non-EU nationals. The clock now starts from when you receive your first residency card — which itself can take 12 to 18 months given current backlogs.

I'm not saying Portugal is a bad option. It still works for the right person. But it's no longer the simple "buy a property, get residency, become a citizen in five years" story it used to be.

Greece — still possible, but the price has jumped

Greece tightened its Golden Visa significantly in late 2024. The old €250,000 threshold is essentially gone for most of the country. Here's the new tiered structure:

€800,000Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, and islands with over 3,100 population

€400,000Elsewhere in Greece

€250,000Only for converting commercial property into residential, or restoring listed buildings

Properties also have to be at least 120 square metres now, and there are restrictions on using them for short-term rentals. So the option still exists, but the entry point in the locations most people actually want has more than tripled.

Italy — never had a property route

Italy's Investor Visa has been around since 2017 but it has never included real estate as a qualifying investment. To get it, you need €250,000 in an innovative startup, €500,000 in an Italian company, €1 million in a philanthropic donation, or €2 million in government bonds. Buying property in Italy is fine, but it doesn't give you residency.

It's also worth knowing that since July 2023, Italy has suspended its Investor Visa programme for nationals of certain countries. So depending on where you're coming from, this route may not be available at all.

And then there's Cyprus

Here's where it gets interesting. Cyprus has barely touched its programme.

The current rules: €300,000 in a brand-new residential property from a developer (or commercial real estate, including resale), plus a guaranteed annual income from abroad of at least €50,000. Processing time around 2 to 9 months depending on category. Permit is indefinite — you don't have to keep renewing it. You don't have to live here. You just need to visit once every couple of years to keep the status active.

The last meaningful change was in 2023, when the required income was raised from €30,000 to €50,000. That's it. No new restrictions, no shifting thresholds, no real estate route being yanked out from under buyers.

Cyprus is one of the very last EU countries where buying a property still actually gets you European residency. That used to be true of half the Mediterranean. Now it's basically just here.

Why I think Cyprus has held the line

I want to be careful not to make this sound like marketing copy, because there are real reasons behind why Cyprus has been different — and they're worth understanding.

Spain and Portugal closed or restricted their programmes because of acute housing pressure in major cities. The political backlash against foreign buyers in Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon became impossible to ignore. Cyprus hasn't had that same pressure at scale. The market is smaller, the population is smaller, and foreign demand — while significant — hasn't been viewed as a primary driver of an affordability crisis in the same way.

There's also a more honest reason: Cyprus's economy is more openly built on attracting foreign capital. Tourism, financial services, real estate, professional services — they all benefit from being open. There's a political consensus here, broadly speaking, that this is a feature not a bug.

Last month I wrote about the Interior Minister explicitly defending foreign property buyers and pushing back on proposals to restrict them. That wasn't a one-off. It's representative of how the people who run the country generally think about this.

The caveats — because nothing is perfect

I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't flag a few things.

The €300,000 has to be in a brand-new residential property if you're going the residential route — resale doesn't qualify under the fast-track Category 6.2. You also need to show the €50,000 income from abroad, which is real money you actually have to demonstrate, not a notional figure.

And there's a proposal that's been floated in Parliament to introduce mandatory verification of income sources for all foreign buyers. It's not law yet — it's still under consideration, with a roughly one-year review window. But it's the kind of thing that signals where the regulatory direction might be heading. Not towards closing the door, but towards making sure the people coming through it are well documented.

Worth knowing about. Not worth panicking about.

What this actually means

If you've been looking at residency-by-investment options in the EU and feeling like the goalposts keep moving — you're not imagining it. The whole landscape has tightened or shifted in the past three years. Spain is gone. Portugal works differently. Greece has tripled in price in the locations you'd actually want. Italy never had property as an option.

Cyprus is still doing what it was doing in 2023. Same investment level, same broad rules, same real estate pathway that's disappeared almost everywhere else. That doesn't make it the right choice for everyone — but for someone who specifically wants to combine an EU residency with a property they can actually use, the options have narrowed a lot, and Cyprus is now near the top of a very short list.

The friend who asked me whether Cyprus was about to change its rules too? My honest answer was: I don't see it. The political signals point the other way. The market is open, the programme is stable, and for now at least, the door is still open.

But "for now" is the operative phrase. Three years ago I would have said the same thing about Portugal.

Have questions about how the Cyprus market or residency process actually works in practice? Happy to share what I know — drop me a message anytime.