Cyprus Immigration Office, Nicosia

Oracle · professor

Gosh ..... are we going to be left without Moderation?

Laughing

Svetlana · Moderator

Don't worry Oracle, the Internet is International, I can communicate with a cocoa tin and piece of string....

lana

Get Real! · vip

The Immigration Office is like 50 meters away from where the old and glorious "Africana" club use to be in the Gikko area... Smile

DT. · professor

kurupetos · lecturer

Get Real! · vip

Svetlana · Moderator

A riddle:

A 4x4 is travelling to Paphos Police Station, it contains a Cypriot, a Pakistani, a Sri Lankan and a Ukranian - who is driving?

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....the Immigration Officer Smile

Svetlana · Moderator

The following is a rather old article, but it sets my expectations; maybe I will know after tomorrow whether Cyprus is now meeting its requirements under EU legislation which gives the right to non-EU Nationals who have resided here, long term, to (Green Card) permanent residency Smile

<This asumes I find somewhere to park of course LOL!>

‘Immigration has no intention of enacting EU law’
By Elias Hazou

A FOREIGN national trying to renew a work visa at the Department of Immigration was told to ‘go back to his country’ this week, in just one of many incidents listed by an anti-racism action group yesterday.

The government was supposed to enforce – not just adopt – an EU directive upgrading the status of foreign nationals by January 23. But according to Doros Polycarpou, who heads immigrant support group KISA, absolutely nothing has been done to that end.

In fact, it seems that authorities are up to their old shenanigans.

“We had several cases this week when legal aliens employed on the island visited the Immigration Department to have their work visas renewed. They were told by the employees there, flat-out:

“‘Go away, go back to your country. The [EU] directive will never get implemented here’.”
The same jaw-dropping response was given to a Cypriot, who recently called the Immigration Department to find out how to extend the residence of his foreign maid whose stay was expiring.

“Seriously, can you imagine what would happen if all the foreigners received permanent residence?” the shocked Cypriot man was told.

While Polycarpou welcomed Interior Minister Andreas Christou’s recent comments that Cyprus is obligated to implement EU laws, he said there was a huge gap between public proclamations and real practices.

As far as KISA knows, no actions whatsoever have been taken to implement the EU directive.
“This discrepancy between the top level of government and immigration officials at the desk just allows people to abuse their powers. It lets them bring out their racist mentalities.”
“The Immigration Department does not even have any application forms for long-term or permanent residence. They just don’t have them.

“What does that tell you?”

Polycarpou described another ploy used by authorities. While previously work visas had an expiry date of six years, this was changed to four years once it was realised that the aforementioned EU directive would need to be enforced.

“Draw your own conclusions,” he remarked.

According to Polycarpou, immigration policies and decisions are sporadically thrashed out behind closed doors by a ministerial committee comprising the ministers of the Interior, Labour and Justice.

“These decisions are never published, so everyone’s in the dark. So when immigrants come to us for help, often we’re not up-to-date and might give them inaccurate information. That’s how bad it is.”

Polycarpou said that current immigration laws are antiquated, dating back to British colonial rule. And a draft bill taking into account the EU directive has been gathering dust in some Interior Ministry drawer for months now, he claimed.

He elaborated: “All foreigners on the island are treated as immigrants. This is the core problem, and this is what is causing the growth in illegal aliens. When people are faced with such strict legislation, they resort to illegal means. That’s what authorities don’t seem to understand.”