After the company has received approval from the migration authorities and registered as a company with foreign capital, you can begin the process of obtaining an employment visa for employees. Two options are possible here:
1) A potential employee is already in Cyprus (for example, works in another company or resides on a different visa);
2) An employee is located in a third country and needs to obtain the right to enter Cyprus.
Depending on the situation, procedures vary slightly, but in both cases the process begins with the execution of an employment contract for a period of at least one year. The contract itself must be prepared in three originals, one for an employee, one for an employer, one for migration authorities. When submitting documents to the migration authority, two copies of the employment contract will be required.
Before the employee arrives in Cyprus, he needs to collect the following package of documents:
1) Foreign passport (the validity of the passport must be at least two years at the time of submission of documents to the migration authorities);
2) Certificate of criminal records. If the employee only now moves to Cyprus, a certificate will be required from the country of his permanent residence. After receiving the certificate, it must be translated into English or Greek and the translation must be certified. If the employee has already lived in Cyprus for more than six months, it is enough to get a certificate from Cyprus police;
3) The results of medical tests (the results must be negative and certified by a doctor in Cyprus): fluorography for tuberculosis, a blood test for hepatitis B and C, AIDS and HIV, as well as syphilis.
4) Higher education diploma with a certified translation into English or Greek;
5) A brief CV in English or Greek;
6) Two photographs of a passport format.
These documents usually are prepared before moving to Cyprus, but, if necessary, can be prepared on the island. For example, a consulate can issue a criminal record (in English right away), tests can be taken in a public or private clinic and certified there, a certified translation of the diploma can be done at the Press and Information office (see address).
If an employee needs to obtain the permit to enter Cyprus, one step is added to the algorithm for obtaining an employment visa – obtaining an Entry permit (Entry visa) or the employee receives a regular tourist visa at the Consulate of Cyprus in his country.
After the employee arrives on the island, the employer prepares the following documents:
1) Medical insurance for the employee;
2) Bank guarantee for the employee (the size depends on the country of citizenship of the employee, for example, for citizens of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine it is EUR550);
3) Employer liability insurance with automatic renewal;
4) The list of employees of a company with foreign capital by categories.
The employee, being on the island, must rent or buy an apartment, the lease must be signed for at least one year. Also, a company can rent housing for an employee. The lease itself must be duly certified by a certifying officer in Cyprus.
Simultaneously with the registration of the company in the migration authorities as a company with foreign capital, the company has the right to apply for a work visa for the first foreign employee, applications for all of the following employees are submitted separately. To apply the company provides the following set of documents to the migration authorities:
1) Filled in form MBCS3_2020;
2) All documents of the employee indicated above, including originals of certificates with proper translation and certification;
3) The list of employees of the company with foreign capital;
4) Confirmation of payment of Annual levy by the company;
5) Employer liability insurance certificate.
From the moment of arrival on the island, the employee is required to submit documents to the migration authorities within 7 days. The presence of an employee at the filing stage is mandatory. At this stage, an officer of the migration department carries out a preliminary check of the documents, makes sure that the complete set is full, the company is registered as a company with foreign capital and makes a decision on the preliminary approval of the application or on the need to provide any additional documents/information.
Next step is the payment of state fees. If a visa is obtained for an employee for the first time, but such employee is already on the island based on any visa, then the fee will be EUR 200 for one year and EUR 330 if the visa application is submitted immediately for two years (see full information on the amount of state fees).
If the migration officer accepts documents for further review, then biometrics are collected (fingerprints and photographing) and the employee is issued a registration certificate – Alien registration certificate (abbr. ARC) – along with a receipt of payment of a fee confirming the submission of the necessary documents. Based on these documents the employee will be able to legally stay on the territory of the Republic and fly out or into the country until a full permit is issued in the form of a plastic card. It is important to note that an employee residing in Cyprus on the basis of an employment visa cannot stay out of the island for more than 3 consecutive months. The period of preparation of the card depends on the workload of the migration department and on average is about two weeks, however, recently there have been delays of up to six months.
When obtaining employment visas for employees of a company with foreign capital, it is also important to take into account the restrictions established by the migration legislation on the number of foreign employees that the company can hire and the requirements for their minimum salaries:
– No more than 5 senior management employees with a minimum salary of EUR3, 872.00 before taxes per month;
– No more than 10 middle managers with a minimum salary of EUR1, 936.00 before taxes per month;
– Ordinary employees, whose number is not limited, but for their recruitment you must provide proof that employees with the necessary qualifications could not be found in Cyprus and the European Union.
The number of employees may be increased by the migration authority and this issue is considered by the migration authority individually for each company, taking into account such factors as the company’s turnover, the ratio of local and foreign specialists employed by the company, as well as the duration of the company’s activity in Cyprus.
