Cyprus Eases Startup Rules, Greece Extends GV Deadlines, UAE Unveils Superyacht Golden Visa, ++

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Investment Migration This Week

Summaries prepared by James Nuveen

Cyprus has significantly enhanced its startup visa program by extending residence permits to three years, reducing share capital requirements to 25%, and increasing foreign workforce allowances to 50%. The program now requires visa renewal applicants to meet specific but lenient growth benchmarks. These modifications, which took effect after Cabinet approval on December 18, 2024, are designed to attract startups at all development stages, with 21 startups already approved under the program.

Greece has extended its golden visa property contract completion deadline to February 28, 2025, preserving roughly 3,000 pending real estate transactions worth €750 million in deposits placed before August 31, 2024. The extension allows these investors to retain access to the previous lower investment thresholds (€250,000 to €500,000) rather than the new minimum requirements of €800,000 in prime locations and €400,000 in other regions. Katerina Saranti of MIBS Group notes that the government has improved efficiency by distributing applications across regional authorities in 2025.

Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited has appointed four fund managers to each manage approximately HK$150 million from its Capital Investment Entrant Scheme funds. Targeting areas like low-altitude economy, gerontechnology, and smart living technologies, the fund managers will seek to continue the CIES's successful relaunch in March, which has raised US$2.5 billion from 670 applications, with HK$3 million from each HK$30 million investment being allocated to HKIC's portfolio. Siren Chen, Cert (IM) of 环球出国 says the government seeks “optimal returns.”

Abu Dhabi has introduced the Golden Quay initiative, a new pathway under the UAE golden visa program that offers 10-year renewable residency permits to owners of superyachts over 40 meters and key maritime industry executives. This first-of-its-kind asset-based Golden Visa pathway includes benefits such as tourism support, marina access, and family inclusion, adding to the UAE's existing categories for investors, scientists, academics, and other professionals.

The US EB-5 program experienced significant growth in fiscal year 2024, with a 40% increase in new investors contributing over $3 billion to the US economy, record-high visa issuances, and a tripling of I-829 petition approvals compared to 2023. Regional Center projects dominated the applications with only a 3% denial rate compared to 50% for direct EB-5 investments. Chinese investors and their families receiving 69% of the visas, followed by Vietnamese (12%) and Indian (6%) recipients. Varvara Latyntseva of Second Wind states that USCIS processing efficiency has increased dramatically as well.?

Australia will replace its Global Talent Independent Visa with the National Innovation Visa (NIV), a two-track system that offers direct permanent residency pathways for exceptional individuals in target industries and high-achieving entrepreneurs. The NIV, which Siren Chen, Cert (IM) says builds upon elements from programs like the US EB1A and Canada's Start-Up Visa, features a refined prioritization framework that favors international award winners and government-nominated innovators, while being less restrictive than other Australian visa programs but maintaining higher achievement thresholds.

Graph of the Week