North Cyprus, known for its stunning landscapes, rich history, and welcoming atmosphere, is an increasingly popular destination for expatriates and those seeking a second home in the Mediterranean. Obtaining a residence permit is essential for those who wish to live, work, or study on the island long-term. Here’s everything you need to know about the residence permit in North Cyprus.

Once entering North Cyprus you will receive up to 90 days visa. If you wish to stay longer after this time or are moving to the country you will need to apply for a residence permit.

Residence Permit in North Cyprus entitles you to live in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It is a very easy process and everybody is able to complete it without assistance.

 

 

IMPORTANT UPDATES REGARDING NEW RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION (29.05.20)

 

NEW IMMIGRATION PROCESS

 

 

As members will be aware, the on-line system for applications for Residency visa’s has not been productive for some time, and apparently only ever recorded ten applications having been made, despite what we feel sure, was a far greater number of applicants having submitted, what they thought were applications that had been accepted. The on-line system was subsequently withdrawn from use.

 

My colleague Peter Wilkins the Chairman of the BRS and myself, were today invited by the Director of Immigration to review and test the new upgraded on-line system which should be re-launched within the next two weeks approximately, once some final adjustments to the system have been completed.

Until such time as the new on-line system goes live, the Immigration departments at the regional police stations will remain closed for new applications. Once the new upgraded on-line system goes live, the application procedure will be as follows:

 

1) Once the announcement is made that the new upgraded system is going live, a link will be provided. You will visit the site, using the link provided, and enter some basic information, and submit that information.

 

2) You should almost immediately receive a text message allocating you a user ID and a temporary password.

 

3) You must then re-enter the site using the ID and the temporary (one-time use only) password that you have been allocated, then firstly you must change your password. Your user ID remains what you were allocated, and effectively becomes your identity in the system. Your new password must consist of a minimum of 8 characters, including one capital letter and one number. You will then be asked to enter some further information, which you will then submit.

 

4) You will then receive a further text message allocating you a specific appointment at the Immigration department of the regional police station that covers your residential address. Please ensure that you take your phone with you to the appointment, as this will contain proof of your allocated appointment. The same message will also advise you, based upon the information that you have provided so far, what copies of documents you will need to take with you when you attend your appointment at the police station. If you attend the police station at random without any appointment, then expect to be turned away.

 

5) From the time that you submit your documents, the new on-line system will keep you updated with information about your application, and at various times will prompt you to take further action, i.e. which clinic to attend for a blood test or time to make your payment, whether for the State Health Insurance and or for the Residency visa itself.

 

6) Towards the end of the procedure, you will be given an option of indicating whether you just wish an electronic record of your visa to be retained, in which case nothing appears in your passport, or whether you wish to have a printed copy for your own records as well. If you elect this option, then you will be provided with a link, which will allow you to print a copy of your visa off, for your own records. We would recommend that you do this.

 

To summarise the important changes.

You will no longer make a random early morning visit to your regional police station, to start queuing for the ticket machine to get the first available ticket.

You must start the entire process by registering via the new on-line system and submitting some basic information.

You will now only attend the regional police station by appointment only, which will be allocated to you.

You will be updated through the on-line system and follow all prompts and requests for action to be taken.

At the end of the procedure you will no longer visit the Immigration department in Lefkosa. You will have a choice of printing off a copy of your visa if you wish to have one. If not, then your visa will be recorded electronically, and your original passport will not carry any visa stamp inside it.

We are still waiting for clarification what alternative procedure will be in place, should any applicant not be able to commence the initial registration procedure, through as an example, not having access to a computer or Wi-Fi.

 

 

 

DETAILS OF RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS!!! (07.11.19)

 

The Ministry of Interior, never aims to deport anyone who normally and legally reside in TRNC. Ministry also never aims to make your life harder in TRNC. We are just trying to make this beautiful country more secure, more habitable place for everyone. As you can see below, we do our best to make new rules more practicable for everyone. In addition to the things below, we are still working to make things easier, especially the application process. We are also working on a brief guide to give all necessary information about the application process. This will include all the required documents too. So please dont ask about the documents now. I kindly request some patience, especially from those who have 1 year to get their permit. If you need an ugrent permit nowadays, a private legal advisor may help you, not me! Thanks for your patience.

Now. Yes. Some good news about the new residency rules!

1. There were some problems about health test requirement for the persons over 60. Today we resolved this. Policemen will not force to have blood test anymore. If they do, please let me know, even via a PM.

2. We resolved the Family Permit problem about the unmarried couples. Now we accept the partnerships. Moreover, this will include same sex partnerships as well! We will require a declaration from both parties. We prepared a standart form of declaration for this.

3. We resolved the problem about getting 90 days visa due to property ownership. We still cant accept any photocopy or digital copy of the title deeds or the sale contracts. But we made it possible to extend your 30 days visa to 90 days, by applying with your original documents to the Immigration Department. There was no such extension method before.

4. We cancelled the rule, that requires the spouses of the work permit holders to wait 1 year before they can get family permit. No more waiting!

5. More clarification for over 60's! Who is eligible for 1 year grace period?
A. Must be 60 years old before 23th OCT 2019.
B. Must be in TRNC, in last 1 year just before 23 OCT 2019. (Was not very clear how many days being in TRNC was enough. Now, even 1 day is enough)
C. No need to be in TRNC at the date of 23th OCT 2019.
D. Any exit and/or re-enter in 1 year grace period, does NOT affect eligibility. (This was not very clear too)

6. As explained before, do not take into consideration the 30, 60 or 90 days visa, if you are eligible to 1 year grace period described above!

7. Over 65's, who will reside with their children that are TRNC citizens, are now eligible to get 5 years exemption!

8. Normally, a TRNC citizen can be a sponsor to his/her own foreign parents to get them Family Permit. Now they can be sponsor for their foreign "parents in law" too! (Parents in law must be over 60)

 

RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS

 

Applications for a residence permit will be submitted to the Immigration Authority of the District Police Directorate responsible for the area where he/she resides within thirty days after the commencement of the period granted with the visa given while entering to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

 

Applications for renewal of a residence permit shall be made no earlier than sixty days and not later than twenty days before the expiry of the current residence permit.

 

The applications are first evaluated by the Immigration Authority of the District Police Directorate and then submitted to the Immigration Department within ten days, with a reasoned opinion whether it is appropriate to grant a residence permit or not.

 

After the application is received by the Department, the applicant submits a clean medical report to the Department and if no further examination is required, a residence permit is issued at that time.

 

If the clean medical report is not delivered to the Department by the applicant within thirty days starting from the date of application, a short message is sent to the applicant stating that his application has been rejected and that he/she has to leave the country within five days. Those persons who do not leave the country within five days will be considered as having stayed in the country without permission from the competent authorities and will be fined in accordance with the Law.

 

The information and documents required for each type of residence permit are determined by the Department and published on the official website https://icisleri.gov.ct.tr/.

In cases where possible, applications will be made through the official website of the Department.

 

 

Questions and answers regarding North Cyprus New Residence Permit Application Rules for property owners

 

“If I don't have title deed, I can't get this kind of permit” WRONG!

• If you have a sale contract and you prove that you paid at least 1/3 of the total sale price, you are still eligible for this kind of permit.

 

“We are a married couple. Title deed is in our names as ½ shares. One of us can get the permit and the other cannot.”.

• Yes. Both of you cannot get this kind of permit. But when one gets this kind of permit, the other one becomes eligible for the family permit, which is easier to get.

 

“We are a married couple. We need 2 times of minimum wage monthly income (1 minimum wage for each, total 2) WRONG.

• When one gets permit for ownership, the other is eligible for the family permit. Family permit rules dont require you to have your own income.

 

“I have savings but I dont have monthly income so I’m not eligible” WRONG.

• If you prove that “12 times of minimum wage” is in your bank account, to make a living, that will be enough for one year permit. This rule also applies to those who are not owners so who need to prove 3 times of minimum wage (12 times of 3 minimum wage)

 

 

 

RECENT CONCERNS CAUSED BY NEW RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCEDURE IN NORTH CYPRUS (03.11.19)

 

• Those UK Citizens who are over 60 years of age have up to one year to complete the process to obtain Residency.
   
• Persons under 60 years of age must continue to apply for Residency in the normal time frames using either the online system or previous ‘paper’ system. The exemption for blood tests did not apply to this group.
   
• There were issues with the Website which meant registration had not been easy, but during the discussion brought Emre Haci, the Director of Immigration into the meeting to provide him with an overview of problems being experienced. The Minister requested that we be patient for a few more days until the IT providers had resolved these issues. The Minister promised that we would be notified once the system was fully operational.

 

• The Minister understood that there had been issues with at the borders with Immigration Officers only giving a 30-day visa but stated that no-one would be fined or penalised should they exceed this limit.

The following points were raised with the Minister:

1. When travelling to the TRNC from the South, it was an offence to carry documents of sale or kocans. The Minister admitted she was unaware of this.
2. There are many couples in the TRNC who are co-habiting and as the TRNC has no legal ability to class these persons as married. The Minister stated that they will be prepared to look at introducing some form of document which certifies that they are in a relationship but not married. This would be applicable for both heterosexual and same sex couples. The Minister said they would also look to review the financial requirements of these individuals to bring them in to line with ‘family residency’
3. Currently a property owner, who is 60 years or over and married would apply for a residency visa for ‘immovable property’ (whether the property is in joint names, or not) but this would effectively then be treated based on it being a Family visa. The other spouse’s subsequent application would be treated based on it being a part of the same Family visa. Although we have not yet seen how the two applications would be linked together within the online system, there is obviously a procedure for the linking together. The first applicant of a Family visa would be required to prove income equivalent to that of the current minimum TRNC wage which is 3400tl, approximately £458 according to current exchange rates. The second applicant would not be required to prove any income.
   For applicants who are 60 years or over, and renting property to live in, the same procedure as outlined above will apply, except for the first applicant, sufficient income equivalent to that of three (3) times the current minimum TRNC wage which would be 9,450TL would need to be proved, with the second and any subsequent applicant under the Family visa, not having to prove sufficient income.
   As an alternative to proof of income, applications can be made that demonstrate savings equivalent to 12 times the minimum monthly wage. In the case of a property owner 37,800TL or if renting property 113,400TL.
4. We requested that a ‘help desk’ be provided for persons still requiring clarity on certain points. The Minister confirmed that she had requested English (and Russian) speaking support workers to provide such help and once in place the contact details would be circulated. Ogur confirmed that he would continue to take Q and A’s from the North Cyprus Expat Group.
5. We mentioned the concern this had caused as UK citizens were used to receiving more information prior to the implementation of new Regulations, but she again reiterate that this was why the ONE YEAR transition period had been put in place.

 

Just to reiterate those points from our previous Interim Newsletter that we have now had confirmed.

 

A ‘guidance’ document is currently being translated into English and once we have that it will be circulated. This document will outline the ONLINE system and confirm the current system for those who cannot use the ONLINE system.

 

It will also contain other useful information.

 

• The registration for the ONLINE process can be accessed via https://icisleri.gov.ct.tr/. On the right-hand side of the screen is a ‘house’ icon. This is your link to the registration part of the process. This is still not fully operational, and we will inform you once it has been confirmed to be fully working.
• All UK Citizens staying in the TRNC in excess of 90 days will have to register for Residency, irrespective of age.
• There will be a ONE-year transition period for persons over 60 to complete the application. This is until 22nd October 2020
• Over 60s can elect to apply for either 1,2 or 3 years
• Initial requirements WILL NOT include a medical check (blood test) for persons over 60 years of age, although those UNDER 60 years of age will continue to be required to undergo this test.
• The financial requirements will be based on either -
  (a) Savings to the value of the average TRNC annual minimum wage OR
  (b) Income equivalent to ONCE the average monthly minimum wage if you own property OR, THREE times the average monthly minimum wage if you rent.
  (c) The cost of residency will be the current yearly fee (currently 447tl per annum)
• Application will be online OR as the current ‘paper system’
• Visitor visa’s will be for 30,60 or 90 days depending on the reason for the stay.
  (a) 30 days purely for tourist holidays
  (b) 60 days if staying with a relative or
  (c) 90 days if you own property and wish to subsequently apply for residency
• You will only be able to stay 90 days in each 180-day period.
• The completed residency permission will NOT be in your passport. If you make your application ONLINE your will be able to print your Residency document at the conclusion of the process. For NON-ONLINE applications it will be a separate paper document.
• The ONLINE process will not necessitate a trip to the Immigration Offices in Lefkosa, the NON-ONLINE process will remain as it currently is.

 

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE PREVIOUS ‘PAPER’ SYSTEM WAS DIFFERENT IF YOU WERE OVER 60 YEARS OF AGE.

THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE AND REVERTS TO THE ORIGINAL SYSTEM STARTING AT THE POLICE STATION. PLEASE REFER TO THE WEBSITE FOR THIS INFORMATION.

 

• The Government has come under intense pressure from all Communities regarding the ‘upper age’ at which you do not need to renew residency, and we are hoping to be able to get this reviewed as we did for the Blood Test.
• Members who currently have Residency will not be required to register on the NEW system until the current document expires.
  In relation to our members who are ‘swallows’ we would advise that you apply for Residency through the online system. It will then allow you unfettered access for the period of that residency.
• We have been assured that the Immigration Officers and Police have been informed to be lenient during the transition period and we have seen a document which confirms this fact.
  The situation regarding UK citizens who have resided here for many years was also discussed and we were advised that the ‘Permanent Residency’ rules were also under review to make this easier to obtain.

 

Special thanks to North Cyprus Expats Group for sharing so important information!

 

For more information please download this English PDF file "Visa and Residency" and read section "Residence" on the 4th page.

Additional information is presented on PDF file "Residency Current as at 31st October 2019"