Moving abroad is a giant step for anyone, and many a future expat would probably like to get to know their future home before actually relocating there permanently. Luckily, as Cyprus relies heavily on tourism from all over the world, acquiring the right to visit the island is rather straightforward and uncomplicated.
As the nation is a member state of the European Union, visitors to Cyprus who are holders of an EU passport can freely enter the island without having to apply for an additional visa. The maximum duration of their stay is limited to three months.
Even though Cyprus is legally bound to become a member to the Schengen area, the implementation has been delayed due to the ongoing dispute between the North and the South of the country. Note that there is one exception. Third-country citizens, i.e. nationals of non-EU member states, can apply for a Schengen visa which does not only facilitate travel to Cyprus, but also to every other country which is part of the Schengen area. However, it is important to note that it is not possible to travel to Cyprus with a Schengen visa from outside the Schengen area. If you enter another Schengen country before traveling to Cyprus, you should not run into any problems.
If this is not an option for you, you can always directly apply for a Cypriot visitor’s visa. On the website CyprusVisa you can find detailed information on different visas and permissions and check whether you are a citizen of a country which is required to obtain a visa or not.
If you are relocating to Cyprus in order to take up gainful employment, your residence permit for Cyprus is inextricably linked with your work permit. As with entry visas, the process of obtaining a residence permit is considerably different for citizens of EU and non-EU countries.
Citizens of EU member states can expect things to go very smoothly, whereas there are a number of further requirements for nationals of so-called third countries. There are several criteria to be fulfilled and documents needed in order to obtain a residence permit and/or a work visa as well as the fact that the application cannot be made in Cyprus. More information can be found on the website of the Department of Labour.
We have taken a more detailed look at all the requirements and administrative steps for obtaining work and residence permits in our article on working in Cyprus.
EU nationals as well as non-EU citizens who would like to live in Cyprus for more than three months and/or take up employment need to officially register as residents. A registration certificate is needed in order to apply for a residence permit. The steps are as follows. First, you must apply for an Alien Registration Certificate (ARC) at the Immigration Office of the local police within eight days of arrival and pay the relevant fee. Second of all, you need to apply for a social insurance number to secure employment in Cyprus. Within the next three months, you must submit an application for a residence permit to the Civil Registry and Migration Department. A permanent residence permit should take 6–8 months to arrive. If you are already holding a temporary residence permit, you might even have to wait for 8–10 months.
