Russians rank first in the number of residence permits among non-EU citizens living in Cyprus.
As of September 30, 2025, Russian citizens had 40,735 residence permits out of a total of 175,677 issued to third countries. These data were released by Deputy Minister for Migration Nikolaos Ioannidis during the presentation of his department’s budget. According to him, today about 200,000 citizens of countries outside the European Union live legally in Cyprus.
Ioannidis also said that more than 16,000 asylum applications remain unresolved in the country, and another 16,153 were filed by persons who already have international protection. However, approximately 70% of asylum applications are ultimately rejected.
After Russians, the largest groups of residence permit holders in Cyprus are:
Great Britain - 16,279 people Nepal - 15,607 India - 14,237 Syria - 12,868 China - 9,407 Sri Lanka - 8,895 Philippines - 8,807 Ukraine - 6,172 Egypt - 4,860
Another 37,810 residence permits belong to citizens of other countries. The deputy minister also noted that the courts are considering about 6,500 additional cases related to migration, not counting cases of illegal residence.
Since the change in the status of Syria, 4,007 Syrians have left Cyprus, and a further 4,379 have applied to withdraw their asylum applications. Ioannidis presented the department’s budget structure: 65% is allocated to current expenses and 35% to development. €8 million has been allocated to strengthen the migrant return policy. €7.11 million will go towards providing guardianship for unaccompanied minors. €17.3 million is earmarked for the construction of new infrastructure.
Source: in-cyprus.philenews.com
