Can you imagine the world's most famous YouTuber wandering the streets of Cyprus, carrying his recently acquired Cypriot passport? And yet, rumor has it that PewDiePie could become a fellow citizen.

Although it’s not been confirmed until now, the Swedish online content creator may have recently visited Cyprus to initiate all necessary legal procedures in order to obtain a Cypriot passport and by extension, a European one.

The well-known YouTuber, whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, started his career back in 2010, while his fame began to skyrocket from 2012 and onwards. A few years later, in 2016, TIME magazine ranked him among the “100 most influential people in the world”. Currently, his YouTube channel has 111 million subscribers and a total of 29 billion views, even though he is going through a “soft retirement phase”, as he says. In recent years, he has developed various business activities outside of YouTube. Over the past year, he has been living with his wife in Japan.  

If the rumor is confirmed, PewDiePie will join a list of famous people who have done the same in the past, such as the former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, who applied for the Cypriot citizenship along with his wife and daughter, back to 2019-20. Another notable business personality is the billionaire Teddy Sagi (Forbes estimates his net worth at $5.6 billion), who is known for founding the extremely successful Playtech, a software gambling company. Two more cases are Yang Huiyan, a Chinese entrepreneur and billionaire, who was, at some point, the richest woman in Asia, as well as the 79-year-old Lebanese investor, Taha Mikati, brother of the current Prime Minister of Lebanon. Beyond that, the list includes mostly Chinese businessmen and Russian politicians, bankers and tycoons, most of whom are known for their direct ties to the top levels of power in Russia – including Putin. 

Despite the Cypriot passport ranks among the strongest in the world, specifically in the 15th place according to the 2022 Henley Passport Index, Cyprus and passports have a long and complicated relationship. This is the result of the most controversial investment initiative in the history of the Republic, the Golden Passport program, which was terminated in 2020.

Although the serious mismanagement of the program scrapped the whole initiative, several celebrities continue to seek their way into acquiring the Cypriot passport. The main reasons are a series of benefits, such as the fact that Cyprus allows dual citizenship, thus providing the opportunity for someone to still retain his country of origin passport. Free access to the EU and its other 26 member states is also significant, since it helps avoid many bureaucratic obstacles and complicated procedures in regard to taxation.

Furthermore, an additional advantage is that Cyprus offers access to 176 countries without a visa, one of the main reasons for the Cypriot passport’s high ranking placement among the strongest ones. Moreover, the island is an ideal place for conducting business activity, as the favorable tax regime attracts foreign investments from all over the world. In addition, the expenses associated with conducting business in Cyprus are comparatively low, which can be a significant advantage for entrepreneurs looking to set up or expand their businesses in the country.

Likewise, Cypriot citizens have the opportunity to study for free in the island’s public universities and obtain their undergraduate diploma. Cypriots can also study in other EU member states under the same conditions as local students, since the EU common market allows for mutual recognition of degrees and certifications; meaning that EU citizens have access to quality education at significantly lower tuition fees for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Finally, it is worth mentioning that in Cyprus, healthcare services are provided on a socio-economic basis, meaning that in certain cases services from public hospitals are free.

Taking the above into account, the Swede YouTuber, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, may seriously consider obtaining the desirable passport and being reintroduced as a Cypriot to his global audience. Would he also change his nickname to PewDiePie PewDiepie? This would be fun.