- Routes
- Citizen by descent (Section 3)
- Dual citizenship
- Kept on every open route
- Comes with
- EU citizenship: the right to live and work in 27 countries
The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Mothers’ lines
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05The routes and the law
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Law changes
- 10Other doors
- 11Sources
01Who qualifies
Who qualifies, generation by generation
LIKELY
Can you claim Cypriot citizenship through a parent?
Citizen by descent (Section 3)
A child born abroad to a Cypriot citizen is Cypriot by descent and registers at the consulate.
What changes the answer
- LIKELY
If the parent is your mother and you were born between 1960 and 1998Born between 1960 and 1999 to a Cypriot mother, you did not acquire citizenship at birth, but the 1999 amendment lets you register as a citizen by descent.
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Cypriot citizenship through a grandparent?
Citizen by descent (Section 3)
Descendants of people born in Cyprus between 1914 and 1960 are entitled as adults to register as Cypriot citizens, without a parent registering first, on proof of the line and an oath of allegiance.
What would settle itWhether your ancestor was born in Cyprus between November 1914 and August 1960 to parents living there; how the Civil Registry applies the origin route beyond a grandchild should be confirmed before filing.
- A person born on or after 16 August 1960 who descends from someone born in Cyprus between 5 November 1914 and 16 August 1960 while their parents ordinarily lived there, or who became a British subject under the 1914-1943 annexation Orders in Council, is entitled, as an adult, to be registered as a citizen on application and a declaration of allegiance. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(4) ↗
- Citizenship by descent at birth reaches children of citizens; the origin route above is registration. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(2) ↗
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Cypriot citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Citizen by descent (Section 3)
Descendants of people born in Cyprus between 1914 and 1960 are entitled as adults to register as Cypriot citizens, without a parent registering first, on proof of the line and an oath of allegiance.
What would settle itWhether your ancestor was born in Cyprus between November 1914 and August 1960 to parents living there; how the Civil Registry applies the origin route beyond a grandchild should be confirmed before filing.
- A person born on or after 16 August 1960 who descends from someone born in Cyprus between 5 November 1914 and 16 August 1960 while their parents ordinarily lived there, or who became a British subject under the 1914-1943 annexation Orders in Council, is entitled, as an adult, to be registered as a citizen on application and a declaration of allegiance. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(4) ↗
- Citizenship by descent at birth reaches children of citizens; the origin route above is registration. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(2) ↗
02Dates that matter
The dates that matter
- 1960
- 1960
- 1960
03Mothers’ lines
How mothers’ lines were treated
In Cyprus’s rule, the answer changes when the line runs through a woman:
- LIKELY
If the parent is your mother and you were born between 1960 and 1998Born between 1960 and 1999 to a Cypriot mother, you did not acquire citizenship at birth, but the 1999 amendment lets you register as a citizen by descent.
In the law’s words
04Keeping your citizenship
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
05The routes
Every route, and the law behind it
The law
- A person born abroad on or after 16 August 1960 is a citizen if, at the birth, a parent was a citizen of the Republic; someone permanently resident abroad becomes one once the birth is registered. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(2) ↗
- A person born between 16 August 1960 and 11 June 1999 who would be a citizen only through the mother is registered as a citizen on applying as an adult. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(3) ↗
- A person born on or after 16 August 1960 who descends from someone born in Cyprus between 5 November 1914 and 16 August 1960 while their parents ordinarily lived there, or who became a British subject under the 1914-1943 annexation Orders in Council, is entitled, as an adult, to be registered as a citizen on application and a declaration of allegiance. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(4) ↗
- Citizenship by descent at birth reaches children of citizens; the origin route above is registration. Civil Registry Law 141(I)/2002, s.109 (citizenship by birth or descent), as amended, s.109(2) ↗
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether your ancestor was born in Cyprus between November 1914 and August 1960 to parents living there; how the Civil Registry applies the origin route beyond a grandchild should be confirmed before filing.
06The documents
The documents, as the rule lists them
Citizen by descent (Section 3)
Through a parent
- Your parent’s Cypriot birth certificate or citizenship certificate
- Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated
- Your parents’ marriage certificate
Through a grandparent or great-grandparent
- Your Cypriot ancestor’s birth certificate from Cyprus (1914-1960) or proof of British subject status under the annexation Orders
- Birth and marriage records for each generation to you
- Form M123 and the oath of allegiance
Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.
07What it takes
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Citizen by descent (Section 3)
- Time
- 6–12 months for the registration decision, then a passport.
- Cost
- About $300–700: registration fees, apostilles and certified translations.
- The hard part
- If you were born between 1960 and 1999 to a Cypriot mother rather than a father, you were not a citizen automatically at birth; the 1999 amendment lets you register now, but it is an extra step, not a formality.
- Who decides
- The Civil Registry and Migration Department, through the Cypriot High Commission or embassy for your address.
- The first record
- Your parent’s Cypriot birth certificate or citizenship certificate, from The Civil Registry and Migration Department. Request the certified copy with the name, date and place of birth; older records may need the district office where the family lived. moi.gov.cy ↗
How it’s filed
- Where
- The Embassy of Cyprus in Washington, or the Consulate General in New York for CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI and VT; the Civil Registry and Migration Department in Nicosia decides office list ↗
- How
- In person; you appear in person
- Fee
- About $32
- Decision
- 6–18 months
What goes in the file (7)›
- Form M121 with an €8.54 revenue stamp affixed, signed before a Cypriot consular officer (or a Registrar of Court in Cyprus)
- Member's original birth certificate, apostilled
- Copy of the parents' marriage certificate (original shown for verification), or the father's sworn acknowledgment and the mother's consent if the parents were not married
- Copy of the member's passport
- Copies of both parents' passports
- Copy of the Cypriot parent's certificate of registration/citizenship, where applicable
- Receipt for the €20 fee
What goes wrong (6)›
- Right to apply: born abroad after 16 August 1960 with at least one parent a Cypriot citizen at the birth (MOI). On approval citizenship is acquired and a consular birth certificate issued.
- Adults of Cypriot origin whose parent was not a citizen at the birth (e.g. descendants of people born in Cyprus 1914–1960) use form M123 instead: €50 fee + two €8.54 stamps, filed in two copies, signed before a consular officer.
- Children of Cypriot mothers born 1960–1999: rulebook and takes say the 1999 amendment lets them register; which form applies to them was not confirmed on the pages checked.
- Canberra High Commission: processing in Nicosia takes at least nine months. The U.S. figure is not published; widened.
- The signature is made before the consular officer, so the member appears in person. From GB: the High Commission in London. From CA, AU, ZA, BR: the Cypriot mission there (Ottawa, Canberra, Pretoria, Brasilia take biometric passport applications).
- Form M121's field list (above) is read from search-quoted section headings of the form itself, corroborated by a second mirror; snippet confidence, verified 2026-09-25. Booking mechanism for either U.S. post (email, phone, online) was not found.
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.
08Where the records live
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth
Civil Registry and Migration Department (Ministry of Interior), Nicosia, and the District Administration offices for older local registrations.
The Cypriot parent's birth record by name, date and place; older records may sit with the District Administration where the family lived (takes).
- Ask
- Through an agent, in Greek
- Takes
- 4–17 weeks
Good to know (3)›
- A certified copy of the Cypriot parent's birth or citizenship certificate is what M121 needs; if the family holds the parent's Cypriot passport or ID, start there.
- Channel and fee for ordering from abroad not verified this pass; in practice a relative or lawyer in Cyprus requests it. Widened.
- The holding office's Nicosia address: Civil Registry and Migration Department, Arch. Makariou III Avenue 90, Nicosia 1077 (search-sourced, snippet confidence, verified 2026-09-25).
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
Translations
- Into
- Greek
- Who may translate
- Any certified translator
- About
- $0–$75 a page
M121/M123 documents must be 'officially translated and duly certified/authenticated'. U.S. records are in English. Foreign documents need an apostille (Canberra High Commission guidance). Whether English records need a Greek translation for M121 was not stated on the pages checked; unverified.
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
The passport
- Where
- A Cypriot mission with a biometric station (in the U.S.: Washington or New York), in person, or through the gov.cy platform once registered. Adult fee not verified this pass (about €70 is commonly cited); treat as an estimate.
- Fee
- About $80
- Time
- 3–13 weeks
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
09Law changes
Recent and pending changes
The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Cyprus.
The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.
10Other doors
If descent doesn’t reach you
5 residence programs lead to Cyprus without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.