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I am a British national (yeah, I don't like admitting to it so please forgive me).

My dream is to win Euromillions so that I can buy a plot of land in Cyprus, build a nice villa with pool and move out there.

What would I need to do to be able to live out there as a Cypriot national?

From what I've read on the interweb, the UK Government is extremely reluctant to allow one of its net contributors (i.e taxpayers) to jump ship and make you leap through hoops to even get anywhere close to leaving.

Any advice?

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    I wish your dream comes true but how does British nationality impede that?
    – Hanky Panky
    Nov 4, 2018 at 18:06
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    As an EU citizen you might consider moving to another EU country now and hope for a good grandfathering clause when Brexit comes around. We don't know what Brexit will bring but both sides have promised not to harm expats.
    – o.m.
    Nov 4, 2018 at 18:51
  • As others have explained, you really don’t need to relinquish your nationality. But if you do, make sure you get a new one that has at least the same advantages (in terms of visa-free travel, consular assistance...).
    – jcaron
    Nov 5, 2018 at 1:13
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    It's as easy as pie to leave the UK - they don't mind at all. The hard part is getting the permission to live in the new country. Good luck!
    – Fattie
    Nov 5, 2018 at 5:43

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The UK government doesn't have a say about where you choose to live. If you can find another country which will grant you residency or even citizenship, you can choose to live there instead and there's nothing the UK government can possibly do about it. You don't even have to tell them you're leaving.

This isn't necessarily true for all countries, there are some countries around the world where a citizen needs permission to leave their home country. However, the UK and all other Western democracies do not restrict their citizens in this way.

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  • It may be useful to add that although few countries require their citizens to ask for permission, many do require their citizens to inform the home country of their departure.
    – gerrit
    Nov 5, 2018 at 14:22
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Holding UK citizenship is not something you need to give up for any reason, other than on the grounds of wanting to 'burn your past'.

UK citizens (unlike US citizens) are only taxed by the UK government on income earned while resident in the UK. So if you upped sticks and went to live the life in Cyprus, you would have no further obligations to the UK.

Furthermore, giving up your UK citizenship is remarkably easy. I almost did it by accident once (not really! But they told me how to go about it, and said that it was not difficult) at the British embassy here in Bangkok.

It is possible to relinquish your UK citizenship right now before you win the Euromillions, should you so desire. But that would leave you stateless, and would make moving around afterwards very difficult (since you would not have a passport any more).

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    Abit nitpicky, but I'm not sure you are actually allowed to relinquish a citizenship if you don't have another one.
    – DJClayworth
    Nov 5, 2018 at 2:51
  • Read the link I included to 'statelessness' on Wikipedia. They specifically cite some cases where people were told to renounce their current citizenship before they had acquired a new citizenship - and they were not successful in acquiring their new citizenship, leaving them stateless. The British embassy seemed very matter-of-fact when I asked about how to renounce citizenship. Apparently you can do it on the Home Office website! All I really wanted from them was a document stating that I was prepared to renounce my current citizenship after I was successful in gaining a new citizenship.
    – Scott Earle ♦
    Nov 5, 2018 at 3:34
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    @DJClayworth every country makes its own rules about the circumstances under which citizens can renounce their nationality. The convention on the reduction of statelessness doesn't forbid individuals from voluntarily renouncing their only nationality, and the universal declaration of human rights includes a right to change one's nationality, which by implication includes a right to become stateless.
    – phoog
    Nov 5, 2018 at 5:14
  • "no further obligations to the UK" overstates it slightly. You may not have to pay tax, but that doesn't guarantee that they won't require you to send in a tax return every year.
    – Peter Taylor
    Nov 5, 2018 at 14:23
  • Not if you tell Inland Revenue that you intend to be non-resident. I’ve lived abroad almost 15 years, and never heard a peep from anyone
    – Scott Earle ♦
    Nov 5, 2018 at 22:30
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If you have Cypriot house worth over €1.5 million, then you can buy Cypriot citizenship.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/countries-where-you-can-buy-citizenship-or-residency-2017-6/

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