500 Britons become Cypriots in the shadow of a hard Brexit

[memory man]

More and more Britons who live in Cyprus (most of them pensioners) are looking to obtain a Cypriot passport as a result of Brexit.

According to a report from a Greek newspaper “NEA” about 500 Britons have obtained a Cypriot passport over the last months.

After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister applicants are growing rapidly, and the Cypriot government is trying to find ways to grant Cypriot citizenship to Britons without losing British citizenship.

The Greek newspaper cites a past report from a German newspaper Berlin Zeitung which said that in the event of a hard Brexit, a number of British-Cypriot issues are at stake, such as their residence status or recognition of official documents.

Thus, the government in Nicosia is preparing legislation that gives them a one-year transitional period, it said.

https://in-cyprus.com/500-british-becom ... re-brexit/

[mike strand2]

You can hold Passports for both countries; UK & Cyprus.

[Lofos-Jan]

I recently needed a Russian visa reasonably quickly and was told that it would not be possible using my British passport, that It would take at least 20 days and there were some problems with visas not being granted at all. Using my Cyprus passport we got a same day visa from the Russian consulate in Nicosia.

Jeanne

[Galini]

I would be VERY interested in getting a Cypriot passport.
Does anyone have any links to information on how to go about it please?

Or if someone who has done it would be kind enough to give a bit more info. ???

thanks

[WHL]

Remember getting a Cypriot passport will make you liable to some Cypriot laws which you might be exempt from now,

[Andromeda]

The British Consulate have also stated that in the event of any problems, in the case of Brits holding dual nationality, the consulate will be unable to assist.
Think I'll stick with my UK passport...

[WHL]

What are these people going to do if Cyprus exits the EU?
Harry.

Apply for an Irish passport.... every other person and his dog, seems to have...

[Loubychew]

I applied for Cyprus citizenship in August last year.

I had already noted what I thought would be required from this link here: http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/crmd/crmd.nsf ... enDocument

There is a link at the end to the application form which is in English.

I only had a short birth certificate and thought for sure they will want a long birth certificate.
I already had a copy of my marriage certificate issued by GRO previously.

Based on doing this in Limassol.

Visited Limassol Immigration in March 2018 and asked how to apply for Citizenship. Told to go to Limassol Town Hall to pick up the application form.

Went to Limassol Town Hall and saw a nice lady called Angeliki.

She asked me if I had at least my MEU1 and then she provided the M127 form and an extra document, written in Greek detailing all that is required to make the application plus a form to fill in detailing all times outside of Cyprus in the last 8 years. (1 year preceding the application and 7 years preceding that)

I informed her that as I am an EU citizen, I don’t have stamps in my passport to show my arrivals and departures plus I was concerned that I was not able to leave Cyprus even for a short holiday for the one year prior to my application.

She told me the info about stamps in passports is old now and has not been updated, short holidays are OK and just to photo copy all pages of the passport even though there is nothing on the pages.


Requirements:
Completed & signed M127 application form
Passport & copy
MEU1 or MEU3 & copy
ARC book & copy (if have one)
Birth certificate & copy - Apostilled by the country of issue
Marriage certificate & copy - Apostilled by the country of issue
Police Certificate of clean criminal record & copy
Copies of all the pages of all the passports showing arrivals and departures in Cyprus – even if there are no stamps – copy all pages front to back.
Detailed statement of arrivals and departures completed by the applicant – separate sheet provided. (I have copies of all flight bookings I had made for the last 10 years!)
Three referees, must be Cypriot citizens – not a lawyer/agent if you are using one for the application or a relative.
Copies of newspaper advertisements in two consecutive publications which report that the applicant has filed an application for naturalization. Instructions on the exact wording are on the application form. Plus the complete newspapers the ads were in.
Plus:
Two passport size photographs certified by village Mukhtar
8.54 Euros in stamps from the District Court & the application form stamped and signed by an officer or Judge of the District Court

Photocopy of receipt for the amount of 500 Euros cash paid as fees at the cashier’s office at the Town Hall.


I ordered a copy of my long birth certificate from the General Register Office, this cost 9.25 GBP

I sent my long birth certificate and marriage certificate to the FCO in UK to be apostilled, this cost 74.50 GBP

I put my two adverts in the Cyprus Mail on 1st and 2nd August. Cost 11.90 EUR

I had a police check done in at Nicosia HQ on 9th August. Cost 20 EUR, while you wait service.

This can be done at any police HQ and it comes back in 2-3 weeks.

Only at Nicosia HQ can you get it while you wait, mine took 20 minutes.
http://www.police.gov.cy/police/police. ... enDocument

For my referees I used a colleague from work, my vet and my husbands employer who had known me for 14 years at that time. I attached business cards for all of them.

I went to Limassol District Court on 16th August and had the application stamped and signed there.

Then I went back to Angeliki same day. She said all my documents were in order, I paid 500 EUR to the cashier.

Angeliki told me it takes about a year but 'if you know someone, you can get in sooner'.

I think at some point I have to go for an interview with Immigration or Ministry of Interior.

If citizenship is granted, they will inform me in writing, I will have to go for an interview and then a few months after that I will have to collect the certificate in person, plus pay another 500 Euros.

Angeliki told me there is no language test but they do ask about Cyprus history & culture, presidents past & current etc at the interview.

I chased up my application last week and was told that they are one year behind and applications from August last year will be taken out of archive and looked at this month. After this it could take up to another 8-10 months.

This is my experience of applying via Limassol Town Hall.

[WHL]

I applied for Cyprus citizenship in August last year.

I had already noted what I thought would be required from this link here: http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/crmd/crmd.nsf ... enDocument

There is a link at the end to the application form which is in English.

I only had a short birth certificate and thought for sure they will want a long birth certificate.
I already had a copy of my marriage certificate issued by GRO previously.

Based on doing this in Limassol.

Visited Limassol Immigration in March 2018 and asked how to apply for Citizenship. Told to go to Limassol Town Hall to pick up the application form.

Went to Limassol Town Hall and saw a nice lady called Angeliki.

She asked me if I had at least my MEU1 and then she provided the M127 form and an extra document, written in Greek detailing all that is required to make the application plus a form to fill in detailing all times outside of Cyprus in the last 8 years. (1 year preceding the application and 7 years preceding that)

I informed her that as I am an EU citizen, I don’t have stamps in my passport to show my arrivals and departures plus I was concerned that I was not able to leave Cyprus even for a short holiday for the one year prior to my application.

She told me the info about stamps in passports is old now and has not been updated, short holidays are OK and just to photo copy all pages of the passport even though there is nothing on the pages.


Requirements:
Completed & signed M127 application form
Passport & copy
MEU1 or MEU3 & copy
ARC book & copy (if have one)
Birth certificate & copy - Apostilled by the country of issue
Marriage certificate & copy - Apostilled by the country of issue
Police Certificate of clean criminal record & copy
Copies of all the pages of all the passports showing arrivals and departures in Cyprus – even if there are no stamps – copy all pages front to back.
Detailed statement of arrivals and departures completed by the applicant – separate sheet provided. (I have copies of all flight bookings I had made for the last 10 years!)
Three referees, must be Cypriot citizens – not a lawyer/agent if you are using one for the application or a relative.
Copies of newspaper advertisements in two consecutive publications which report that the applicant has filed an application for naturalization. Instructions on the exact wording are on the application form. Plus the complete newspapers the ads were in.
Plus:
Two passport size photographs certified by village Mukhtar
8.54 Euros in stamps from the District Court & the application form stamped and signed by an officer or Judge of the District Court

Photocopy of receipt for the amount of 500 Euros cash paid as fees at the cashier’s office at the Town Hall.


I ordered a copy of my long birth certificate from the General Register Office, this cost 9.25 GBP

I sent my long birth certificate and marriage certificate to the FCO in UK to be apostilled, this cost 74.50 GBP

I put my two adverts in the Cyprus Mail on 1st and 2nd August. Cost 11.90 EUR

I had a police check done in at Nicosia HQ on 9th August. Cost 20 EUR, while you wait service.

This can be done at any police HQ and it comes back in 2-3 weeks.

Only at Nicosia HQ can you get it while you wait, mine took 20 minutes.
http://www.police.gov.cy/police/police. ... enDocument

For my referees I used a colleague from work, my vet and my husbands employer who had known me for 14 years at that time. I attached business cards for all of them.

I went to Limassol District Court on 16th August and had the application stamped and signed there.

Then I went back to Angeliki same day. She said all my documents were in order, I paid 500 EUR to the cashier.

Angeliki told me it takes about a year but 'if you know someone, you can get in sooner'.

I think at some point I have to go for an interview with Immigration or Ministry of Interior.

If citizenship is granted, they will inform me in writing, I will have to go for an interview and then a few months after that I will have to collect the certificate in person, plus pay another 500 Euros.

Angeliki told me there is no language test but they do ask about Cyprus history & culture, presidents past & current etc at the interview.

I chased up my application last week and was told that they are one year behind and applications from August last year will be taken out of archive and looked at this month. After this it could take up to another 8-10 months.

This is my experience of applying via Limassol Town Hall.

What a great post.... thank you.

[Loubychew]

It certainly is not for the faint hearted and applying for MEU1 & 3 seemed like a doddle in comparison.
It took me from March till August to get everything in place to be ready to submit my application. I had been thinking about it for 2 years and thought it's now or never.
My husband has dual Irish/British nationality so he didn't apply.

[josef k]

I have applied and am waiting for 18 months (I was told) for the papers to be assessed. However, the nice woman in the Paphos District Office (this is where you apply if in Paphos District) said my papers were OK and would forward them on.
Otherwise my experience was the same as that detailed by Loubychew.

One point I would stress, they took and will keep my original birth certificate, not the copy. However, afterwards I ordered another original from the UK just to be on the same side.

[Jim B]

My wife had her interview on the phone in Lidl car park one Saturday lunchtime. She did eventually receive hers a month or so later.

Jim

[Loubychew]

I don’t qualify for Irish citizenship even though my husband has it, otherwise I would have done this instead.

[Galini]

Thank you Loubychou for the very detailed post - it must have taken you a long time to write

[outasite]

What are these people going to do if Cyprus exits the EU? Harry.

Ain't going to happen. Cyprus, like most EU countries, knows which side it's bread is buttered.

Yup, they'll stay with the demon barber. Short back and sides for your bank accounts. Bargain.

[Loubychew]

Thank you Loubychou for the very detailed post - it must have taken you a long time to write

Yes it did but I had already posted it on another forum a while back. I just copied it and updated with the latest after chasing last week.
Wish me luck!

[The Aquila]

Admittedly Cyprus needed a shake up but if the EU had been stronger with Greece and not written off the majority of the debts, including those to Cyprus, then Cyprus would not have been in quite the state it was then this success story would have been here sooner.

[outasite]

Yup, they'll stay with the demon barber. Short back and sides for your bank accounts. Bargain./

Thank yer lucky stars the EU was there to bail out a failed and bankrupt island nation. Were it not for the Troika all the banks would have likely failed; developers too...and then what else?

The EU gave Cyprus rules to live by and get its house in order; which is why we witness the success story we have today.

The European Union did not have the right to take funds from any private bank account in any Cyprus bank. It rode roughshod over the country and stole money from those who were unlucky enough to have excess funds in their accounts. So the Cyprus success story of today has been built on the fact that Cyprus was pressured into taking money it was not entitled to. Still, I expect nothing less from an unaccountable entity.

[josef k]

A recent survey indicates increased support for the EU within the Cypriot community. The majority of Cypriots want to remain in the EU.