White card Legislation

[Lovelife]

I came across this piece of information for those who are interested.

BRS Meeting With Government – “White Card” Legislation

Dear Member

Your government liaison team of Steve Day and Mike Maternaghan, along with the Chairman met with the under-secretary from the Interior Ministry to discuss the impending new law regarding criteria for the granting of a “white card”.

The meeting opened with the BRS expressing members’ concerns and reminding him of the commitment we have made to the TRNC and the contribution we have made over the last two decades. In buying property and land and by raising vast amounts of money, 1 million pound raised by expats for many good causes for example the Public Health Services and many more. It is estimated a million Pounds GBP has been raised over this period

The Under Secretary explained there are two bills. One, concerns details for Citizenship, the other for Permanent Residency (White Card) and Work permits. The latter has been passed by parliament but has not been signed off by the President. The first is still being debated. The benefits of having a White Card are still unclear.

There are quite a number of conditions before applying for Permanent Residency (White Card) some of which are in place at this moment for the under 60’s, first time application for a Temporary Residency and for work permits.

For Permanent Residency there will be a need for

Minimum Income Levels
Property Ownership over a certain Value
Health Checks
Maximum amount of time permitted out of the country in a year
A fee for a Permanent Residency with a follow up check every two years
A need to have some form of Health insurance to cover the use of public sector facilities
The current concession of the over 60’s had not been considered by the government, nor the impact on the ability of those taking the concession to qualify for a white card should they so desire. However the opinion of the under- secretary was that over 60’s who took government advice not to renew can continue not doing if they wish. All suggested qualifications published recently in the media, only refer to those wanting to eventually apply for a “white card” permanent residency. None of the proposals affect those applying for annual temporary residency, the procedure for which remains the same.

During the meeting we put forward a number of case study examples and it became clear that there are anomalies in this bill that have not been thought through.

To his credit the under-secretary acknowledged that there would need to be a rethink on certain clauses and has invited the BRS to go back for further discussions in the next two weeks.

We now have a copy of the bill, in its entirety, and will be having this translated so that we can go through the points in fine detail.

Naturally we will keep members fully informed.

[Ragged Robin]

Thank you very much Lovelife for keeping us informed - it is so frustrating for non members not knowing what decisions are being reached that may have vital affects on them.. I for one should be very grateful if you could continue to advise developments.

[Keithcaley]

I was very pleased - and grateful - to see detailed proposals.

Whether things will eventually turn out in our favour remains uncertain, but the BRS are now clearly seen to be engaging in the process, and communicating the known details to the wider public.

Thank you.