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Please note. Information notice published as of 03/25/2022
Cyprus announced the procedure for obtaining Temporary protection (Temporary residency) for Ukrainian refugees in Cyprus.
In accordance with Article 5 of the Council Directive 2001/55/EC dated 20.07.2001, the Republic of Cyprus adopted a decision to approve the entry into the territory of Cyprus of the following categories of temporarily displaced persons:
(1) Holders of biometric and non-biometric passports of citizens of Ukraine for travel abroad, regardless of their expiration date.
(2) Holders of ID cards.
(3) Holders of passports of citizens of Ukraine;
(4) Holders of temporary travel documents issued by the Government of Ukraine (if the documents listed above are not available).
(5) Minor children whose information is entered in the mother’s passport. A child’s birth certificate is accepted on the condition that its validity is certified by a diplomatic mission of Ukraine.
If a child is not accompanied by parents, a written permission from both parents with translation into Greek/English is required.
These nationals are exempted from the obligation to fill out a “Cyprus Flight Pass”, in addition, they are exempted from testing for Covid-19 before departure to Cyprus, however, upon arrival in Cyprus they will have to undergo a test for Covid-19 at public expense.
The application form for granting temporary protection must be filled out and submitted to the district migration police of the city where you live. A citizen of Ukraine must apply in person.
- Nicosia: Asylum Service, 79 Arch. Makarios III Avenue, Afemia House 1077 Nicosia
- Larnaka: 34 Tasou Mitsopoulou, Larnaka 6027
- Limassol: 223 Fragklinou Rousvelt, Building “D. Nikolaou”, 2nd floor, Limassol 3046
- Paphos: Corner of Eleftheriou Venizelou & Kanigkos 22, 2nd floor, Paphos, 8021
- Famagusta: 83 Eleftherias Street, TAPOLOS Bld, Deryneia Plaza, 1st floor, Deryneia 5380
The application can be submitted online. The solution will also be provided online.
What is temporary protection?
Temporary protection is an accelerated mode of granting protection against opposition
from the asylum procedure, which is more complicated.
Available only to citizens of Ukraine who arrived in Cyprus after February 24, 2022.
Ukrainians staying in Cyprus on a work visa will have their stay in the country automatically extended.
Ukrainians who stay in Cyprus for 90 days and left Ukraine before February 24, 2022, that is, arrived in Cyprus before February 24, 2022, will be allowed to stay in Cyprus for another 90 days.
Rights of citizens of Ukraine who will receive Temporary Protection:
- residence permit;
- access to the labor market;
- housing;
- medical assistance;
- access to children’s education in public schools.
Portal for assistance to Ukrainians in Cyprus https://cy4ua.com/
Ukrainians in Cyprushttps://ukr.cy/
Here is a brief description of the actual situation:
You can apply for Temporary Protection at any “immigration unit” in all major cities. You need to come to the district migration office of the district where your address of residence is located (which you indicated in the application form). For example, if you indicate an address from the Paphos area, you cannot come to the migration office in Limassol. You will be sent to Paphos.
Today, applications are being accepted from Ukrainians who flew to Cyprus after February 24. For “stuck tourists” – we are waiting for a separate order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Cyprus or the migration service.
Applications are submitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Depending on the workload, you may receive documents on the same day or set a date/time for submission on another day.
Immigration offices are open from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays. As a rule, people who came before 1:30 p.m. are accepted “to the victorious end”.
In Limassol, the queues are long and the application process is quite slow. People write that they came before 9:00 and left around 4:00 p.m.
In Limassol, in order to enter the building for serving, you must have a recent rapid test for Covid (even vaccinated). In Nicosia, vaccinations are not required to be tested. The test can be done in almost any pharmacy for 4-6 euros, but it is better to take care of it in advance because
after receiving the result of the test itself, you still need to download the QR code nand site
For small children who are not able to sit on a chair for taking photos, it is advisable to have a photo with you for documents.
After submission, you will be issued with two documents:
– Check-confirmation of acceptance of your questionnaire for consideration
– ARC – Alien Registration Certificate (yellow paper) – certificate of your registration as a foreigner in Cyprus. His number (05……..) is your primary number in Cyprus. With this document, you can immediately search and get a job.
After some time (from several weeks to months), you will be sent a letter to the specified address with an invitation to receive a Plastic Residence Permit (VZH) card.
To receive social assistance and register for medical care, you need to contact the District Office of your province.
Cyprus implements EU Council decision 2022/382 on granting Ukrainians Temporary Protection. Next, it describes how the implementation of this directive and the rights it gives to Ukrainians who fall under its protection (as of 03/18/2022) in reality in Cyprus.
Entrance
Official: Cyprus has simplified entry into the country for Ukrainians by abolishing the need for visas and Cyprus flight passes, as well as allowing entry with internal documents (Ukrainian ID cards and Ukrainian internal passports).
According to the fact: Most of the time, this is done, but there are rough spots: there are no official documents about simplifying the entry regime in public access, except for a single announcement on the website of the Cyprus consulate in Warsaw. As a result, airlines are often not aware of these changes and there are rare cases when people are denied boarding because they do not have a Cyprus flight pass or foreign passport. In general, we can state that it is possible to enter without a foreign passport.
The right to reside in Cyprus
Official: Cyprus grants residence permit (residence permit) through the “temporary protection” procedure to Ukrainians fleeing the war.
According to the fact: Since March 14, the CRMD and Immigration Unit in all major cities began accepting applications from Ukrainians to apply for “temporary protection”. Sometimes applications are accepted immediately (on a first-come, first-served basis), sometimes an appointment is made for submission in a few days. After submission, an Alien Registration Certificate (ARC) is issued, but a card confirming a residence permit is not issued directly, and the terms of consideration of cases are not yet clear. At the same time, despite the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the main criterion for issuing temporary protection will be that the applicant was a resident of Ukraine as of 24.02.2022, and not the date of arrival in Cyprus, to people who arrived before 24.02, even ARCs are not issued until and they are promised. “Call back sometime later.”
Access to housing
Official: Ukrainians who received temporary protection have access to free housing.
Fact: The Ministry of Tourism said it had reserved 3,000 hotel rooms for Ukrainians, but gave no instructions on how to use them. Any clear communication from the government on this issue is completely absent. So far, we do not know of a single case where housing was provided to a Ukrainian refugee at the expense of the state. All resettlement is done at the expense of our volunteers and people ready to provide refugees with a room in their house. In theory, you can expect to accommodate refugees in the camp together with Syrian refugees, but most likely Ukrainian refugees (among whom are mostly women and children) will not want to live there. Those who can afford it, look for housing on their own.
Social security (financial support)
Official: The Cypriot government has not made any public statements that financial support will be provided to Ukrainian refugees.
Fact: We are not aware of any financial support being provided.
Medical assistance
Official: Ukrainians who received temporary protection have access to free medicine.
Actually: So far, this issue has not been settled and we are faced with many complaints that Ukrainians cannot get access to free medicine. It is not possible to register in the GESY (state health insurance) system. Private doctors do not have any instructions regarding free services for Ukrainians. Sometimes Ukrainians are treated free of charge “as an exception” in state hospitals, but there are also examples when money is taken.
Access to education for children and adolescents
Official: Ukrainians who received temporary protection have access to free education.
According to the fact: The Ministry of Education has not yet come up with any specific decision on what to do with Ukrainian schoolchildren in Cyprus. Judging by their public statements, there will not be enough places in public schools for everyone, even teaching in them is conducted in Greek, which Ukrainian schoolchildren in most cases do not know. So far, there is no question of mass admission of Ukrainian schoolchildren to local schools – the ministry is “considering options”. In poin isolated cases, public schools accept children of Ukrainian refugees “as an exception”. The University of Cyprus privately promised to issue scholarships (for study and accommodation) to 10 (ten) Ukrainian students.
Access to the labor market
Official: Ukrainians who received temporary protection have access to the labor market.
Fact: The ARC issued after filing with Immigration does allow you to officially get a job. We don’t know anything about successful cases yet, but it looks like this is one of the few areas that is not problematic. It is important to consider that the labor market of Cyprus itself is small and it will be relatively easy to find only seasonal work in the tourism sector (hotel cleaning) and IT.
