On behalf of a client, we are looking to facilitate a purchase of agricultural land in the districts of Alambra, Lymbia, Nisou and/or Agia Varvara Nicosia, Cyprus where the total number of land will cover a minimum of 70 meters in width and 700 meters in length. Agents or prospective owners are requested to kindly contact us at info@ddlegal.co or via telephone at +35722100202

Εκ μέρους ενός πελάτη, αναζητούμε για αγορά γεωργικών τεμαχίων στις περιοχές Αλάμπρα, Λυμπιά, Νίσου και/ή Αγία Βαρβάρα Λευκωσίας, Κύπρου με τον συνολικό εμβαδό των οικοπέδων να καλύπτει τουλάχιστον 70 μέτρα πλάτος και 700 μέτρα σε μήκος. Παρακαλούνται όπως ενδιαφερόμενα μεσιτικά γραφεία  αντιπρόσωποι ή ιδιοκτήτες όπως επικοινωνήστε μαζί μας στο info@ddlegal.co ή τηλεφωνικώς στο +35722100202

The General Health Care System of Cyprus otherwise known as GHS  or ΓΕΣΥ covers a comprehensive package of healthcare services for the equal and equitable treatment of all citizens that are eligible to register under the platform.

For EU citizens residing in Cyprus:

• Reside in the areas that are controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.
• Being employed (registered with the Social Insurances) or having acquired permanent residence status.
• Being a member of the family of a beneficiary.
• Being insured in another EU Member State.

Third Country Nationals:

• Reside in the areas that are controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.
• Being employed (registered with the Social Insurances) or having acquired permanent residence status.
• Someone who has been granted refugee or supplementary protection status.
• Being a member of the family of a beneficiary.
• Being insured in another EU Member State.

The Enrolment Process

1 – Online Enrolment

• Via the Beneficiary Portal
• The Beneficiary must firstly create an Account via the HIO Website and activate the account.
• Once connected to the Portal, a set of instructions in to be followed.
• The enrolment process requires specific fields to be filed in for identification purposes (e.g., Address, Telephone Number etc.)

In case the beneficiary cannot be identified with the Registries, they are asked to submit an online beneficiary registration request, that must be printed and send it by post to the Health Insurance Organisation with all required certificates and evidence. Persons who do not have access to the internet can enrol with the help of third-party beneficiaries who have an account in the Portal provided that the procedure is done with the consent of the interested party.

2- Enrolment by visit to a Personal Doctor

Beneficiaries who do not have access to the internet can complete their enrolment by visiting a Personal Doctor of their choice. During such a visit the application of enrolment is then completed, and the Doctor will file the application in the Beneficiary Record. During the said visit the beneficiary can also complete their registration in the Personal Doctors List which is a subsequent procedure that follows upon successful registration.

Personal Doctors List

Beneficiaries who apply for registration in a Personal Doctors List:

• Beneficiaries under the age of fifteen (15) are registered in the list for children. Between the ages of fifteen (15) and eighteen (18) are either registered as children or adults.
• Beneficiaries who are above the age of eighteen (18) are registered as adults.
• Beneficiaries over the age of sixty-five (65) can be registered in the list of a personal Doctor as adults or to a personal Doctor who specialises in geriatrics.

There are two different ways to register with a Personal Doctor

• Online via the Beneficiary Portal: The applicant must send an online request to be registered in the list of a Personal Doctor of their choice whom they can find online (extensive lists exist through the HIO Website, Beneficiary Portal, or printed directories at announced places). If the Personal Doctor accepts the applicants request, they are then notified by email and/or through the Beneficiary Portal). Finally, a meeting is set up for the registration to be completed where a Form of Mutual Acceptance is signed which the Doctor sends to the HIO.
• By visiting a Personal Doctor: Beneficiaries who are already enrolled in the Beneficiary Registry can visit a Personal Doctor they wish to be registered with. The Personal Doctor then searches for the beneficiary through the Beneficiary Registry for identification purposes. Once identified the Mutual Acceptance Form is signed and a letter is sent to the HIO by the Doctor. Upon request and given that an email was provided through the Beneficiary Record a unique number is sent whereby the beneficiary can access their Beneficiary Record.

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) enables European Citizens to have access to, State provided, necessary medical treatments during a temporary stay in any of the EU member states including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It should be noted that third country nationals who reside on a permanent basis in one of the member states cannot use their EHIC in Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland and are only covered for emergency treatment in Iceland.

The EHIC card is issued for free and it only covers medical treatments which are provided through state facilities. In some member states there are standard fees and charges in public healthcare centres.

Important notes:

• It is not an alternative to travel insurance schemes as it only covers medical emergencies.
• Does not cover any costs if the expressed purpose of travel is to receive medical treatment.
• Does not guarantee free services.
• Insured individuals who move their habitual residence to another member state, should register with the S1[2] form instead of using the EHIC.

In Cyprus the EHIC can be acquired from any Citizens Service Centre or the Local Post Office Centres.

Required Documents:

• The relevant form titled APPLICATION EHIC 20.
• Identification Card or Birth Certificate or Confirmation of Registered European Citizen or Permanent Residence in the Republic.
  • Must be registered with the GHS. FOLLOW OUR ARTICLE ON REGISTERING WITH THE GHS (ΓΕΣΥ)
• Must provide a copy of the form “Mutual Acceptance for Registration in a Personal Doctor Beneficiaries List” or the digital notification titled “Registration request to Personal Doctor” which is received upon successful registration with a Personal Doctor.

The applicable law relating to trusts in Cyprus is based on the Trustee Law chapter. 193 and on the International Trust Law 1992 to 2013 as amended law 2012, hereinafter collectively referred to as “The Law”.

Cyprus international trust is a form of estate planning, which is usually used by wealthy individuals irrespective of their domicile (place of residence) who wish to ensure the security of their assets for their family, while benefiting from the international tax planning.

A Trust is a legal arrangement where the settlor passes ownership of the assets pretrained in the trust to the Trustee for the benefit of the beneficiaries.

1. The Settlor is the creator of the Trust.
2. The Trustee is a legal or natural person, who holds or has trust property transferred to him or will be held by him, or is deemed to hold or have had trust property transferred to him, or is expected to have trust property delivered or transferred to him, to be held by him:
   1. for the benefit of a beneficiary irrespective of whether the trustee is also beneficiary of the trust; and/or
   2. for any purpose which is not for the exclusive benefit of the trustee.

3. The beneficiary may be a legal or natural person including a person not yet born, such as a grandchild, at the time of the creation of the trust, or a person who is part of a class of people entitled to a right or interest in property which is subject to the trust.

A trust can be created in two forms:

• An individual Trust, where an official Trustee is appointed under the Trustee Law.
• Corporate Trust, where a corporation is appointed by the Court in any case to be a trustee, or a trust company is registered under the Companies Law.

Criteria of Cyprus international Trusts

The Cyprus International Trust regime offers overseas individuals who are not residents of the Republic to create a Trust in Cyprus in which they benefit from provisions of non-taxed residents of Cyprus. The trust may be classified as an International Trust when the below criteria are met:

• The settlor, being either a natural or legal person, is not a resident of the Republic during the calendar year immediately preceding the creation of the trust
• At least one of the trustees is a resident in the Republic during the whole duration of the trust
• No beneficiary, whether a natural or legal person, other than a charitable institution, is a resident of the Republic during the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the trust was created.

Exception: A trust shall not fail to qualify as an international trust by reason only that any of the parties involved is a company or a partnership. The exception offers opportunities for high net worth individuals and investors, to maintain full control of the management of the trust, by using a Cyprus Company as the sole trustee in which the assets are transferred and held.

Validity of a Trust:

In general, it is noted that there are no formalities needed in creating a Trust in Cyprus, except where the trust is created by a Will. 

The Three Certainties test:

Although there are no formalities needed for the creation of a trust the below criteria of the 3 certainties must be satisfied:

• Certainty to intention-the settlor needs to express an intention to create the trust
• Certainty to subject matter-The trust property must be readily identifiable otherwise the trust is void for uncertainty.
• Certainty of objects-The identity of all the beneficiaries of the trust must be ascertained or ascertainable at the time of setting up the trust.

Stamp Duty Expenses: An instrument creating an international trust shall be liable to stamp duty of the amount of 430 Euro to the Commissioner of Stamp Duty.

Other benefits of Cyprus International Trust

• Confidentiality – No information may be disclosed to any person who has no right by law to have knowledge of such documents and information, unless an Order for disclosure is issued by the relevant Court.
• Duration – Trust do not have an expiration date.
• A Trust setup may be used to protect assets against risks, future claims by governments or creditors.
• There is no registration or reporting requirements.
• It is possible for the Settlor and the Beneficiaries to relocate to Cyprus after the establishment of the Cyprus International Trust as the law allows them to do so on the condition that they were not residents of Cyprus before the establishment of the Trust.
• Taxation – If a Beneficiary is a resident of the Republic of Cyprus and of whom profits of International Trust are earned from sources within and outside the Republic shall be taxed. Moreover, in the event that the Beneficiary is not a resident in the Republic then profits earned from sources within the Republic of Cyprus shall also be taxed.

Power of the Settlor

A Settlor has the ability to reserve certain powers and rights, which does not affect the validity and execution of the Cyprus International Trust. Such powers include:

• to revoke or amend the terms of a trust or any trusts or powers arising wholly or partly under it;
• to advance, distribute, pay or otherwise apply income or capital of the trust property or to give directions for the making of such advancement, distribution, payment or application;
• to exercise the powers of a director or officer or issue binding directions as to the appointment or removal of a director or officer of any company, wholly or partly owned by the trust;
• to give binding directions to the trustee in connection with the purchase, retention, sale, management, lending, pledging or charging of the trust property or the exercise of any powers or rights arising from such property;
• to appoint or remove any trustee, enforcer, protector or beneficiary;
• to appoint or remove any investment manager or investment adviser;
• to change the applicable law governing the trust or the forum for the administration of the trust;
• to restrict the exercise of any power or discretion of a trustee by requiring that they are only exercisable with the consent of the settlor or any other person expressly specified in the terms governing the trust.

Divorce in Cyprus – Following the latest statistical analysis conducted by the Ministry of Finance, for the year 2018 a total of 2.114 divorces were issued in the Republic of Cyprus[1]. The crude divorce rate was calculated at 2.43 per 1,000 population, amounting to a substantial increase in the expected divorce rate by 295.6 per 1,000 marriages from 1980 to 2018.

Dissolution of Marriage

A dissolution of marriage is defined[2] as a divorce of a political or religious marriage that has been hierologized in accordance to the religious rules of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Grounds for a divorce

The existence of an irretrievable breakdown of a marriage must be proven when applying for the dissolution of a marriage[3], such as:

• Four years of continuous separation
• Infidelity
• Violence and physical abuse
• Immoral behaviour
• Imprisonment of the spouse
• Refusal on the spouse to have children
• The breakdown of the marital relationship,
• Absence of one of the spouses for two or more years

Stages of a divorce

Stage 1:  The procedure is initiated with the submission of a notice to the district bishop stating the intention to file a divorce petition, as per Annex A of the Law[4].

Note: The above obligation is only necessary for marriages conducted by the Greek Orthodox Church and not for civil marriages.

Stage 2: After the Bishop has received the notification for the dissolution of marriage, the Bishop invites the parties for a counselling meeting, in the aspiration of reconciling their marriage. In the event that the Bishop is unsuccessful, any of the 2 parties may proceed in filing a divorce petition at the relevant District Court.

Stage 3: Following a lapse of three months from the receipt of the notification by the Bishop, the parties may file a petition for the dissolution of their marriage. The petition must be accompanied with the original notice receipt from the Bishop and the certificate of dissolution of the Spiritual marriage from the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus[5].

Stage 4: Once filed, the divorce petition is serviced to the spouse of the applicant who must respond within 15 days. Where no defence is filed by the spouse, and provided the Court is satisfied that the petition has met the relevant requirements, the divorce will be issued within 1 to 2 months.

Important Tips:

When the parties have conducted both civil and religious marriage in accordance with the rules of the Greek Orthodox Church, the applicant must request in the divorce petition the dissolution of both marriages.

Failure to do so, will result to the parties remaining legally married.

Footnotes:

[1] Republic of Cyprus – Ministry of Finance Demographic Statistics 2018

[2] The Family Courts Procedural Rules of 1990

[3] The Family Courts Law of 1990(23/1990) Article 14

[4] The Law on Attempted Conciliation and Spiritual of Marriage of 1990 (22/1990) Annex A

[5] Spiritual Dissolution of Marriage Law 22/90 3(3)

Countries such as the United Kingdom fall within category C and therefore citizens travelling to Cyprus will be required a Flight Pass prior to boarding.

To find out if you are eligible click here

The requirements defined by the Ministry of Health are dependant on a number of factors about you and your visit.

To receive a Cyprus Flight Pass each passenger (over 18 years old) will need to:

• Create an account
• Enter personal information such us: 1) Flight details 2) Reason for travel 3) Personal information and contact details 4) Where you will be staying in Cyprus 5) Emergency contact details.
• Add your flight details
• Make legal declarations 
• You may be required to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test
• If travelling with minors (<18 years old) they can be added to your application as companion travellers

On successful completion of your application you will receive a report including your Cyprus Flight Pass and all relevant information which will be asked to present prior to boarding and on arrival at immigration.