Cyprus A little complicated!!

WelshExpat · new member

Hi All
This is my first posting on this Forum and I apologise in advance for what might be a lengthy post.

I'll start with some background info:
I am British and a holder of a UK Passport.
My wife is Indonesian holding an Indonesian Passport with a UK Visa giving her Indefinite Leave to Enter UK.
I am 'Self-Employed' but since all my work is undertaken overseas I am UK Non-Resident for Tax Purposes. My wife accompanies me on my overseas trips.
I own property in UK (which is presently for sale) and in Cyprus.

At the moment, for my wife to enter Cyprus, we are having to return to UK, obtain a Visit Visa for her there and then travel on to Cyprus.
Apart from being costly it is also time consuming and inconvenient. This could be even more difficult when my UK property is sold.

I am trying to find a method of how my wife can accompany me on my visits to Cyprus (these would be less than 3 months duration) without having to continually apply for Visit Visas.
On the face of it I think one solution would be for me to apply for temporary residency with my wife as my dependant.
What I am not clear on is the 180 days a year residency requirement in Cyprus. I would still continue my overseas employment, which would mean us being outside Cyprus for more than 180 days each year.
I believe that to obtain residency it is necessary to prove that my property in Cyprus is not simply a 'Holiday Home'. This could prove difficult due to the limited time we would reside there.
Does any member have any idea of a possible solution.

Apologies if this is a somewhat convoluted posting. I have tried to include all essential information but I am open to a 'question and answer' session.

Thanks

Ken

Marinella · advanced member

ex_pat · advanced member

tcklim · advanced member

For you, as a British citizen, obviously it would be fine.....

However, I think you'd have to apply for a residency permit for your wife. I have a "temporary residents permit" as a "visitor", which doesn't entitle you to work..... and have had this for 18 years now. However, the new "pink papers" require that you not leave Cyprus for periods of 3 months or more or they are automatically invalidated....

I went out for more than 3 months and went through hell at Larnaca airport before my lawyer could get me through..... spent about 4 hours there as calls were made here and there, simply because I'd been outof the country for 5 months. Now, I am in Thailand, and have had to make a costly return trip every 3 months so that i can maintain residency permit for when i come back next month.

It's all very complicated, but I'd advice you to seek legal counsel in Cyprus to check your options.

coredump · advanced member

For how long are you married? Maybe your wife is already eligible for naturalization in UK?

WelshExpat · new member

Hi Coredump

Not eligible for naturalisation yet, unfortunately.

tcklim

Yes, for me no problem.
Thanks for the info on the temporary residents permit. I wasn't aware of the 3 month rule, which makes matters even more complicated. I have been told that it would be necessary to prove that my property in Cyprus is not simply a 'Holiday Home'. If this was the only property I owned it would be my primary residence, but might be difficult to prove.

Any idea how I can find more info actually relating to Temporary Residence Permits? When I Google I usually end up with lots of agents sites saying these are easy to obtain. Obviously aimed at EU nationals not TCNs.

I sympathise with you having to make the r/t from Thailand. The r/t from Jakarta is in the order of $3000. We usually travel via UK with KLM. It works out a lot cheaper especially as we purchase our tickets in UK.

Marinella

Divorce is NOT an option. I want to live!!

Finally, does anyone know of someone in Cyprus knowledgable on this subject who I might contact?

Thanks to all for your responses.
Ken

tcklim · advanced member

I'm not entirely sure how a TCN goes about obtaining a pink paper. Usually, from all my friends, their parents have offshore companies situated here which allows the parents to gain their pink papers and their children, wives etc. to remain as dependants.... which is the kindof authorisation I have.

It actually is not difficult once YOU have setup residency status for your wife to remain as a dependant on you. However, if she wishes to work, things become a lot more complicated. The 3 months rule is complete pain in the backside I guarrantee you, and the last time I checked i was informed there was no way around it.... even if you simply land at the airport, stamp your passport and get right back on another plane....

Again, I'd advise you to contact a lawyers office directly by e-mail or phone and enquire with them. Information about legal matters in Cyprus on the net is very unreliable and hard to find. You should be able to find lots of legal offices contacts though.

Here:
http://www.cyprusyellowpages.com/ypages/external.asp?src=SearchCatDesc.asp?CatID=94&pn=1&by=5

Try some of those....

Otherwise, try contact the Cypriot consulte / embassy wherever you are.
My advice or the advice of anybody else in this forum is doubtfully gonna help you more than contacting any of them.

G'luck!