A look at the proposed new citizenship framework for highly skilled professionals

The foundations for a modern legislative framework, aiming to help Cyprus remain competitive for the purposes of residence and work of specialised professionals in the tech field have been laid out in a bill by the law proposal on behalf of the DIKO parliamentary group by the party's president Nikolas Papadopoulos.

The legislation aims to amend the Civil Registry Law in order to modernise the existing legislative framework regarding the qualifications and criteria for the naturalisation of foreigners.

More specifically, the proposed law aims to modernise the legislative framework that governs the granting of citizenship of the Republic by virtue of naturalisation, with the ultimate goal of strengthening control and carrying out the proper investigation by the Civil Registry and Migration Department, but also to reduce bureaucracy and improve the prescribed procedures, especially with regard to the persons who possess highly specialised knowledge and qualifications.

At the same time, through the proposed law, the right to naturalisation is also granted to members of the applicant's family.

The great importance of the law proposal

After its discussion during six sessions of the House Interior Committee, the proposed law is being put to vote before the Plenum next Thursday, and given its exceptional importance in terms of Cyprus's effort to attract talents with knowledge and high-level specialised qualifications, its approval into law should be the only way to go for parties and MPs.

As Nikolas Papadopoulos characteristically mentioned when introducing the law proposal to the Interior Committee, the contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Cyprus by the technology and innovation sector, which employs highly qualified persons, has increased significantly in recent years.

He further indicated that by attracting the persons in question through the proposed legislative arrangements, the economy of Cyprus in general will benefit, as the specific sector contributes to the development of other sectors as well.

In the same context, and equally indicative of the importance of the proposed law, were the positions of the Chairman of TechIsland, Valentinos Polykarpou, during the discussion at the House Interior.

In particular, the Chairman of TechIsland highlighted the contribution of the technology sector to the GDP of Cyprus, which, according to the figures of the Statistical Service for the year 2022, amounts to 13%, as well as its contribution to other sectors of the economy, noting that 70% of the companies registered in Cyprus in the same year were of foreign interests.

Polykarpou further stated that an important factor for the development of the technology sector is the attraction of highly trained professionals from abroad, which contributes to the development of specialisations in general at the local level.

In addition, he pointed out that the proposed amendments are expected to create a modern legislative framework, so that Cyprus remains a competitive country for the purposes of residence and work of specialised professionals in the field of technology.

The consultation on the proposed law

As mentioned above, the draft law was discussed during six sessions of the Interior Committee, which took place on 8 and 29 June, 12 October, as well as 2, 16 and 23 November, 2023.

In the proposed law, as initially submitted to the Parliament by Nikolas Papadopoulos, the following was foreseen, among other things:

• The determination of the form of the naturalisation certificate granted to a foreigner who becomes a citizen of the Republic by virtue of naturalisation.
• The revision of the cumulative qualifications that a foreigner must amass for naturalisation purposes, in order to introduce additional qualifications that must be met, in order for a foreigner to acquire the status of a citizen of the Republic by virtue of naturalisation. These, among other things, concern the certification of sufficient knowledge of the Greek language at level C1, according to the Common Framework of Reference for Languages ​​of the Council of Europe, the possession of sufficient knowledge of the basic elements of modern and social reality and the financial situation of the applicant.
• The modification of the prescribed time condition regarding the years of legal residence in the Republic which are required for the purpose of naturalisation.

It is noted that, according to the basic legislation under amendment, a total residence in the Republic of at least seven (7) years is currently required in the case of, among others, students, self-employed and employees of Cypriot or foreign employers or offshore companies, who reside in the Republic solely for the purpose of work and at least five (5) years in the case of foreigners with any other status of legal residence.

However, with the provisions of the proposed law, it is proposed that a condition for naturalisation purposes be the continuous and legal residence of the applicant in the Republic during the immediately preceding period of twelve (12) months from the date of submission of the naturalisation application and in addition the residence of the applicant in the Republic for at least four or five years depending.

• The introduction into the basic legislation under amendment of provisions regarding the naturalisation of persons residing in the Republic for the purpose of highly skilled employment in companies determined by decision of the Council of Ministers, in the context of attracting companies to operate and/or expand their activities in the Republic or a similar framework for attracting companies and/or talented human resources, as well as the naturalisation of family members of said persons.
• The determination of the criteria on the basis of which it will be demonstrated that the applicant meets the qualification of good character, in order to be able to acquire the status of a citizen of the Republic by virtue of naturalisation.
• The processing of the examination of the naturalisation application of a person who will fall within the scope of the above-mentioned Decision of the Council of Ministers, through an expedited examination procedure, not exceeding four (4) months.

Observations, concerns and suggestions

In the context of the discussion that followed at the meetings of the competent parliamentary committee, the representatives of the Ministry of the Interior agreed in principle with the proposed amendments, however, at the same time expressed concerns and reservations, as well as formulating recommendations regarding various issues.

On the part of the Legal Service, observations were submitted for the purposes of clarification and legal technical improvement of the provisions of the proposed law, while on the part of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, a proposal was submitted that within the framework of the proposed law, specific certificates should be defined, which prove the possession of the appropriate level of knowledge of the Greek language.

In addition, the Ministry of Education proposed amending the stipulated condition for applicants for naturalisation to have sufficient knowledge of the basic elements of modern and social reality, so that this condition is not limited to the level of knowledge of basic elements.

The revised text by Nikolas Papadopoulos

On the basis of the above, the president of DIKO subsequently proposed individual amendments and improvement changes, submitting a revised text of the proposed law, so as to include, among other things, the following:

• Adoption of the suggestion made by the Interior Ministry to leave it to the discretion of the Interior Minister to allow on humanitarian grounds the submission of an application for naturalisation by a person who does not meet the criterion to their full capacity.
• Revision of the prescribed criteria according to which it will be considered that the applicant for naturalisation meets the qualification of good character, in order to be able to acquire the status of a citizen of the Republic by virtue of naturalisation, based on the previous discussion before the Committee.
• Adoption of the recommendation submitted by the Ministry of the Interior, so that the knowledge of the Greek language at level B1 is considered sufficient for the persons interested in naturalisation.
• Determination of the required language proficiency certificates, for the purposes of proving the required level of knowledge of the Greek language, by decree of the Minister of the Interior.
• Issuance of the required language proficiency certificates, following submission of the applicant for naturalisation to a written examination, which will be conducted at regular intervals, in accordance with a decree by the Minister of the Interior.
• Elimination of the provisions of the proposed law regarding the naturalisation of the minor children of persons who reside in the Republic for the purpose of highly skilled employment, in accordance with the aforementioned decision of the Council of Ministers, so that the acquisition of citizenship of the Republic in the said cases is regulated by the establishment of a special, expedited procedure, which will be determined in the said decision of the Council of Ministers.
• Clarification in the text of the proposed law that family members of persons residing in the Republic for the purpose of highly skilled employment may be naturalised, provided that, in addition to the other prescribed criteria and conditions, they also meet the qualification of legal and continuous residence during period of the immediately preceding twelve (12) months from the date of their naturalisation application.
• Clarification in the text of the proposed law that the spouses and partners of persons residing in the Republic for the purpose of highly skilled employment will be able to be naturalised, provided that the family exists at the time of submitting the application for naturalisation and in this regard the family ties were created before submission thereof.
• Publication of the above-mentioned decision of the Council of Ministers, with its notification in the Official Gazette of the Republic, as well as the introduction of a provision, so that the decision in question can be revised.
• Adoption of the proposal submitted by the Ministry of the Interior, so that the completion of the process of rapid examination of the application for naturalisation of a person who will fall within the scope of the above-mentioned decision of the Council of Ministers does not exceed eight (8) months, instead of four (4) months, as suggested.
• Processing of pending applications for naturalisation in accordance with the provisions of the proposed law, respecting the established order of priority for their examination based on the current regime and regardless of the submission of additional information on the applications.
• Provision of the possibility of deprivation of the status of a citizen of the Republic by family members of a person who was naturalised as a person residing in the Republic for the purpose of highly skilled employment and who was subsequently deprived of said status, given that they acquired the status of a citizen of the Republic as persons connected with it.

Based on the above, the final proposal of the law was formulated and will be put to a vote in the Plenary Session of the Parliament next Thursday, You can read it, in Greek, in its entirety HERE

(Source: InBusinessNews)