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The step-by-step plan for Cyprus

From "we want this" to being settled, in 35 steps. Read phase 1 in full here. Test your departure date along the way. Then you'll know whether you want the rest.

35 steps5 phases51 official sources8 only for your situationchecked on 9 September 2026

Phase 1 starts below ↓The whole plan: € 199 one-off, no subscription.

What it looks like

Not a PDF, not a checklist. A plan that knows what needs to happen now.

Every step sits in its place in the order, with the lead time, the counter and the official source. You tick off, your partner ticks along, and the plan counts back from your departure date: what has to start when, and what is running now.

Below is phase 1, exactly as it appears in the plan.

The dashboard of the step-by-step plan for Cyprus: the current phase, the open steps, the next step and the deadline bar.

The route

  1. 1
    Orientation

    5 steps

    Open · You are here

  2. 2
    Closing the Netherlands

    14 steps

    In your plan

  3. 3
    The move

    3 steps

    In your plan

  4. 4
    Registration in Cyprus

    6 steps

    In your plan

  5. 5
    Arrival

    7 steps

    In your plan

Phase 1 is the question "can we, and do we want to?". From phase 2 the arranging begins.

Phase 1 · Orientation

5 of 5 steps open

Cyprus is five hours' flying, English at every counter and famous for its tax — but the new treaty with the Netherlands has overtaken the brochures, the island is divided, and water is scarcer there than the sun suggests. This phase puts reality next to the brochure.

By the end of phase 1 you know the Cypriot chain, you know what the 2021 treaty does to the 5% scheme, the choice of region has been made and the family stands behind the decision.

Step 1.1

Understand the system: the yellow slip, within four months

Lead time:
reading step
Costs:
none

As an EU citizen you need no permit, but for a stay longer than three months you do need a registration: the certificate everyone calls the yellow slip, applied for with form MEU1 at the immigration service of your district — within four months of arrival, in person and by appointment, for € 20 per person. Registering late can result in a fine; the slip itself never expires after that.

The chain around it has one Cypriot peculiarity that almost no site mentions: the rental contract you need as proof of address only counts once it has been stamped at the tax office. First the home, then the stamp, then the appointment — the step-by-step plan holds that order for you.

Checked against the official source

The official sources for this step

Step 1.2

Choose your Cyprus: Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos — and why not the north

Lead time:
an evening of research, and the conversation about it
Costs:
none

Limassol is the engine: shipping, fintech, the highest rents. Larnaca is the sober middle way with the biggest airport. Paphos is the pensioner west: cheaper, greener, British-tinted. Nicosia is the capital without sea. And then the north: since 1974 the island has been divided, and the north, recognised only by Turkey, is no option for this route — property there often rests on land of owners who fled and you never buy it legally safely, and entering via the northern airport Ercan counts for the Republic as illegal entry. Crossing over for a day is simply possible, at the official checkpoints. Live and buy in the south.

Checked against the official source

The official sources for this step

Step 1.3

Get a picture of what it's going to cost

Lead time:
1-2 hours with the calculator
Costs:
none

The paperwork is cheap here — € 20 per yellow slip. The money is in the home (Limassol asks double what Paphos does), in the crossing of everything that doesn't fit in a suitcase (a container via the port of Limassol, or the summer ferry for the car), and in the international school if children are coming along. Work it out with your own choices.

Step 1.4

Take the decision together

Lead time:
no fixed one; take your time
Costs:
none

Cyprus feels like an eternal summer, and four things deserve an honest conversation. The water: the island recently went through the worst drought since records began and runs largely on desalination — being frugal is a lifestyle there, not a campaign. The summer heat: the interior reaches forty degrees, for months. The distance: five hours' flying is no weekend back. And the scale: no trains, limited buses — without a car you live on an island that's bigger than it looks. Also discuss who carries the income in the first months.

Step 1.6

Choose your target date

Lead time:
five minutes, below
Costs:
none

Choose below the date on which you want to be in Cyprus. The step-by-step plan works out whether that's feasible with what still has to happen, and from that moment watches the clocks that exist: four months for the yellow slip, the days around the car registration, and — if you're buying — the six months to deposit the purchase contract.

Phase 1 read

You know what you're getting into. Now the arranging begins.

You've read phase 1 of the step-by-step plan for Cyprus. The full plan has another 30 steps ready for you: Closing the Netherlands, The move, Registration in Cyprus and Arrival.

The plan counts everything back from your departure date, watches your deadlines and documents, and shows only the steps that apply to you.

The step-by-step plan for Cyprus

€ 199

one-off · no subscription · instant access

Continue with the full plan · € 199

Also included: deadlines watched · documents with expiry dates · only your steps · your partner ticks along · all cancellation letters · questions to Auke.

✎ Auke reads along

Stuck somewhere? Ask your question at the step. Auke reads it himself and answers within two working days.

Not ready yet? Send yourself your date and phase 1 →

Phase 2 · Closing the Netherlands0 of 14 steps open

The familiar list, with the treaty lesson this route carries. Until 2024 the Netherlands had no treaty with Cyprus; the new treaty has a threshold of € 15,000 — and above that the Netherlands may keep taxing your whole pension-plus-AOW. The famous 5% scheme is thereby an empty shell for most Dutch people. What remains is still worth it: no inheritance tax, non-dom on your assets, and one of the lowest cost levels in the eurozone.

  1. 2.1Arrange your healthcare: the basic insurance stops on moving daystart 2-3 months before departure; the CAK application takes about 4 weeks
  2. 2.2Pension and the new treaty: the € 15,000 thresholdthe sum is an evening; work it out before every decision
  3. 2.3The tax wind-up: M return and the protective assessmentthe M return follows in the year after departure
  4. 2.4Stop allowances and child benefitan hour
  5. 2.5Deregister with the municipalityfive working days before departure, not earlier
  6. 2.6DigiD, bank and your vote: keep the lines to the Netherlandsan afternoon
  7. 2.7Documents: multilingual extractsextracts within a week
  8. 2.8Partner comes along without a job of their ownonly if this applies to you
  9. 2.9Partly staying in the Netherlands: the eight-month ruleonly if this applies to you
  10. 2.10The house in the Netherlands: sell, let or keeponly if this applies to you
  11. 2.11Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the houseonly if this applies to you
  12. 2.12Cancel what stops: job, rent, energy, subscriptions and schoolstart three months before departure; most notice periods are one month
  13. 2.13Stay reachable: DigiD, your phone number, your bank and your postarrange it before you leave; afterwards it takes weeks
  14. 2.14Student debt, remote work or your own business: what moves with youreport it before you leave; the consequences run for years
Open all steps · € 199
Phase 3 · The move0 of 3 steps open

You reach Cyprus in five hours' flying — but everything that doesn't fit in a suitcase goes by sea. The household goods by container via Limassol, and the car with a peculiarity: the passenger ferry from Greece only sails in the summer season. And the island drives on the left — that weighs in the question of whether the car should come at all.

  1. 3.1Plan the journey: flying for you, the sea for the restquotes 4-6 weeks ahead; the ferry only in the summer season
  2. 3.2The car: driving on the left, and the question of whether it should comeonly if this applies to you
  3. 3.3The pet: EU passport and a chip that can be readonly if this applies to you
Phase 4 · Registration in Cyprus0 of 6 steps open

The chain, in the only order in which it works: home, stamp at the tax office, and only then the MEU1 appointment. After that the tax number via Tax For All, healthcare via GeSY and the bank that has checked everything twice since 2013. The clock stands at four months — ample, but the appointment diaries aren't.

  1. 4.1Find your home — and have the contract stampedsearching 2-6 weeks; the stamp is a counter visit
  2. 4.2The MEU1: the yellow slip, within four monthsthe appointment is the wait; the slip follows with a complete file
  3. 4.3The tax number: the TIC via Tax For Allonline; count on days to a few weeks
  4. 4.4GeSY: register and choose a GPthe registration is digital; the choice of GP decides your access
  5. 4.5The bank account: expect questions, and have the answers readydays to weeks, depending on the file
  6. 4.6Utilities and the proof of residencea week
Phase 5 · Arrival0 of 7 steps open

The papers are in; now it becomes a life. The car gets its Cypriot number plate, the return its annual pension choice, and the island its own lessons: never buy without a title deed check, cross the Green Line only at the checkpoints, and learn to live with water as a precious thing.

  1. 5.1The car: registering at the DRTonly if this applies to you
  2. 5.2Work: Limassol pays, the rest is modestongoing
  3. 5.3Tax in practice: the annual choice and the non-domthe return follows annually via Tax For All
  4. 5.4Family: school in English or Greekonly if this applies to you
  5. 5.5Buying: never without a title deed checkwhen the time comes; the deposit clock stands at six months
  6. 5.6The divided island: the rules of the Green Linereading step
  7. 5.7The small print: water, heat and the rhythmspread over the first year

8 of these 30 steps only appear when your answers call for them: a pet, a car, a partner without a job, children staying in the Netherlands. That is the difference between a step-by-step plan and a checklist.

Three questions

Can't I find all this for free?

Yes. Everything in the plan comes from official sources, and they're listed at every step. Phase 1 above is the proof. What you buy is the work around it: which of the 30 following steps apply to you, in which order, with which deadline, and a nudge when something needs doing.

Does this apply to my situation too?

The plan first asks who is coming along, what is coming along and how you're leaving the Netherlands. Steps that don't apply to you don't appear; steps that only apply to you do. Is your situation slightly different from what's written? Ask your question at the step; you'll get an answer within two working days.

What if the rules change after I buy?

Then your plan changes with them. Twice a month we check every source; whatever changes is in your plan the same week, with the date. Your access lasts for your whole departure.

Ready to begin?

The step-by-step plan for Cyprus: 35 steps, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.

Start your step-by-step plan · € 199Read more about Cyprus first