Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Having been to Girne Immigration and expecting a reduced waiting time, as extra staff allegedly drafted in…

How wrong was I, even arriving 3/4 of an hour before appointment, waited 5 hours in the heat and one window open.

WHY because people who by no fault of they’re own hadn't been seen the day before, then to add to the back log returner’s who hadn't had all the correct paperwork ….
IE
No passport photo page
No photo
No Kokan document
No PTP
No 6 months of bank statements signed and stamped BOOKS are NO LONGER accepted.

The extras which help your process are
An up to date bill in both names IE Immovable Property Tax payment any bill with you address on.
P60
Or proof of UK pension

We took all of above and sailed through, when we eventually got to the window 10 minutes before the 2 hour dinner break …and dont forget they close at 4pm that back log is building by the day.


There is no reason for this and it’s crazy everything needed is posted on line, BRS web site and social media and on Kibkom, even down to taking the extras as above… In fact take more than stated it might just prevent you having to make another trip and holding others up and stop the endless pushing in from other side of the barrier..

If this is not rectified there will be serious casualties with the heat, arguments leading to aggression tempers fray in the heat, and not the best place to hold a boxing match…

I've heard Police were called out to calm tensions in a queue with people pushing in, there is no need for this most of us have appointments and will eventually be seen.. we all get frustrated bit this behaviour helps no one.

So is it quicker NO, it may have all gone swimmingly when first put in action, and BRS plus other Organisations have been present. These people are not there all the time and CAN’T be expected to be therefore it’s slipping and badly.

It sounds like it is getting worse instead of better but maybe once they have the new queuing system with designated windows up and running it will improve. In this heat it is inhumane to expect especially elderly applicants to stand and wait. Thankfully we got ours eventually sorted a few months ago. Wont be worrying about it again as, with others, plan to leave.

Am so sorry for all who have to stand outside in this heat at Girne police station, it really is not on and can totally understand why tempers fray.
Hopefully with the new over 60's 5 year permit, which will be initially be at Immigration in Lefkosa, but then hopefully all done online, it will alleviate the burden on Girne.

Won't have to worry about the heat this year then. Renewal is due on the 3rd of September so police appointment will be around February - another day stood in the rain - lol. Wonder what happened to the wonderful idea of it all being done on-line - police out of jobs, not enough time to drink fifth coffee of the morning - who knows. Change takes time but at 77 I am running out - lol.

"Hopefully with the new over 60's 5 year permit, which will be initially be at Immigration in Lefkosa, but then hopefully all done online, it will alleviate the burden on Girne."

Not seen anything about the above and where it will initially be started - who solid is the news that it will be at Immigration in Lefkosa? Will that just be for home owners or include renters/lease holders as well? Sounds like back to turn up and take a ticket and sit and wait till your number fails to be called - ah the good old days - lol.

Waddo - It will be alright in the end, if it's not alright, then it's not the end

Sorry Waddo, I got the info at police station in Famagusta, but it was for property owners, no mention of renters/leaseholders. Not to say the latter won't be included, but the info was given to me as a property owner. Sorry for causing any confusion.
To clarify, when I went in with paperwork this morning, I was told that I'd have to go to Immigration, Lefkosa as I was over 60 due to new law, so even the police don't know the situation. I said that I had read that those who had already started renewal process had to go to police station. The policeman in Famagusta called Lefkosa, and was obviously told to process me as normal, but next time, would be a visit to Immigration in Lefkosa, but in time would be online.

Edited to add...
I applied for 2 years with my renewal, before this new announcement came out about the 5 year thing. Health insurance popped up on my online application, but it was only for 1 year. I shall have to wait for my permit to be issued to see how long I have been given.

The end is nigh!!! - lol.

The is a letter on over 60s at Girne if I can upload I’ll add on for everyone to see. Maybe we can add to the 2 years if we are given it.
Waddo appointments are about 2 weeks at Girne

Alphamike, thanks for the information, sorry for late reply I only had time for quick - joke - reply to Keith, lol. All information is welcome! Poppy++1, that would be great if you can thank you. If the appointment times for Girne are now down to 2 weeks I will be very happy indeed! The whole new residency thing appears to centre on home owners, probably because there are more of them than renters/leaseholders so being in a minority it is difficult to get information - such has always been the case I am afraid. I do feel a little sorry for all folks who thought that because they had a contract they owned their property yet now find that unless they have PTP and a Kocan - not shared - their situation has changed radically. Not a nice position to be in and many must be worried!

No problem at all Waddo. If I come up with any further solid info, will post, and will update on my permit when that comes through. Policeman in Famagusta did say a bit more yesterday, but as it was just conjecture, there is absolutely no point in posting. There's enough rumours without me adding to the mix.
You are not wrong about lack of kocan, it's a blooming nightmare. I'm just concentrating on getting residency permit first, then will go on to try and deal with kocan. Multi tasking is just not something I am capable of at the moment, well not for serious matters anyway.

Multi task between November and May - the rest of the year it is too hot to concentrate on more than one thing at a time matey. I no longer miss the days/weeks/months when I had more than 5 or 6 tasks running at the same time, with another 5 or 6 waiting for space in my head - lol. Now I am older and maybe just a little bit wiser. Sleep better at night as well! Take care out there.

From the posts online about over 60s it seems to be more a return to the gentlemans agreement than a new 5 year visa with homeowners over 60 to attend Lefkoşa if their visas have not run out, to be added to a exemption list.
Thats just my take on a moving target as usual more questions than answers.

Just an update
If you applied in October and have an appointment within weeks the 6 months statements must be current NOT up to when you residency run out…

And another update, info I got from a friend.

Immigration won't accept just Revolut bank statements, although police perhaps will. So if you do need to show UK bank statements make sure you have another banks statements to show. No idea why, but perhaps because Revolut still don't have a UK banking licence (that is just a guess).
I had heard that people have been showing UK bank statements as well as Revolut to show they are spending money here. I don't have any further info on this, and didn't show Revolut statements myself.

Brilliant! So now you need to have a UK bank account - which by the way you can not have unless you own a property in the UK and actually live there! I know there is a way around that - you just lie about where you live, but that is against the law. So you can have a UK address and give a "friends" address if you don't live there just so you can lie to get a UK account, so you can lie to the TRNC Immigration as well!!!

How can you possibly live within the law of the land - any land - these days without having to tell lies?

I bank with Revolut - I can not get a UK bank account without lying so now what do I do? The best part about the whole thing is if I can renew my residency then I can pay with Revolut in the same way as I pay all my other bills here - maybe I can transfer some cash into one of the officials in immigration to prove my Revolut system works - now there is an idea - lol.

Waddo have you tried Starling bank account registered as a uk bank online registration works well on exchange rate paid kibtec and water today online
I am uk based but desn't hurt to look

Goodness only knows Waddo. Was just passing on what happened to a friend through at Immigration. They told her to come back with UK bank statements, not Revolut. Course this could have just been the interpretation of the person they were dealing with. You know how things are here.
They didn't want my Uk bank statements, statement from local bank was enough.
I don't think it's illegal to have a UK bank account, it's more the case of some UK banks not wanting expats as customers. Anyway, not prepared to get involved in any discussion on that particular can of worms.

akvam, many thanks indeed, that will help lots of people. It is a pity they did not add the documentation required as well but it's early days yet.

waddo wrote: ↑

Wed 03 Jul 2024 5:22 pm

akvam, many thanks indeed, that will help lots of people. It is a pity they did not add the documentation required as well but it's early days yet.

No mention of insurance payment, residency payment, length of time on your passport.
More muddy waters until someone actually does it.

As it ever was and always will be:

Length of residency give in direct proportion to length of time passport is valid! I.E. 2/3/4/5 years residency applied for - passport must be valid for 2/3/4/5 years. Sometimes when applied for 2 years with only >1 but <2 passport validity, 1 year given but payment for 2 years taken so that applicant can return to immigration with new passport to show new validity and have residency increased to 2 years without further payment.

Social Sigorta - medical payment has always been 10% of minimum wage per years residency applied for. Same rules as for passport validity apply to Social Sigorta.

Residency payment cost has always been a mystery to me. In general it has always been 1000TL per year of residency granted, plus VAT of around 29TL per year.

It is sometimes all available on the immigration website AND sometimes it is not! The whole thing appears to be a moveable feast but then this is ‘Shrug’ Cyprus - lol.

akvam wrote: ↑

Wed 03 Jul 2024 4:06 pm

photo_2024-07-02_14-58-17.jpg

I believe currently they are only asking you to apply when your residence is within 3 days of expiry.