Residency

[goldfinch]

I know its been posted regular but for first time residency I am over 60 my wife is under what is the procedure up to date version please thanks in advance

[Lor51]

See my topic residency application just a few topics down from this, the reply from Tomsteele seems to be the correct one. I have been to Catalkoy Muktar 3 times and still haven't found him open to get my letter.

[goldfinch]

Thanks but im after a more detailed answer for first time application ie funds in bank required etc etc

[Deniz1]

Thats because he was in jail for a week!

[snd1966]

Dare we ask why?

[Philoz]

Do you mean the Muktar or Tomsteele??

[Deniz1]

Muhktar. He was arrested because 24 forms were issued to non residents. He has been released without charge now.

[elkiton]

Goldfinch, I have renewed my residency with on one occasion a couple of thousand £ in the local bank, and on another just a coupe of hundred £ in my UK account, but showing my OAP pension inputs over 3 months. My impression is (inviting arguments here) is that they need to see some chain of income over a period of time, the amounts is not really that relevant.

[goldfinch]

Thanks elkiton makes sense

[DeeEss]

Yes - they seem to need to see that you have a regular income, or means to support yourself. Its not really about how much you have saved. Just as an additional point, we did ours last Monday - both over 60 - we were going to leave it, as we have done it for too long now, but were told at the border that though there was an excemption, if we were to have a problem, having no residency stamp could lead to bigger problems. (we didn't ask for clarification on that!) We then asked at the Ministry offices when we went to renew, and in reply to our question 'do we need to do this' the lovely lady on the desk said No, you don't , but if you drive in the TRNC on a Turkish Licence then you DO need to do it. I mentioned the Muhtars letter that some feel is acceptable at the driving licence office, but she said that that is not official. Roll on the white card that was talked about at the last BRS AGM.

[stellasstar1]

I went over recently and my residency had just run out, so I asked at the border if I should renew it and was told no, I didn't need to. When I asked if I would have any problems with not renewing, he looked at me in surprise and said of course not. When I came back, the guy didn't even mention it, just stamped my piece of paper as usual.

[the butlers wife]

On Monday I applied to renew my driving license, with no up to date residency stamp in my passport but a muhtars letter.
I was told this was perfectly acceptable as I was over 60. I think some people in government offices are
not up to date with the latest information. At immigration although they know you don't need to renew your
residency if over 60, they will still take your money and make up any excuse as to why they think you should pay.
The BRS advise people to still pay for residency, just in case the rules change. Well if the rules change, we will have to do it
but in the meantime we have that money in the bank earning interest.


The butlers wife

[waddo]

Residency: Proposals now include issuing a white card to permanent Residents which will entitle them to all benefits of Citizenship other than voting. The qualification details have yet to be finalized but will include 5 years Residency stamps plus income and investment in property and/or bank deposit qualification.

The above taken from the Star. So now the questions:

Lets say you are over 60 and you have lived here for over 5 years but this year you did not renew your residency - how many "qualifying" stamps have you now got in your passport?

Lets say you live here on your pension/pensions, without any lump sum savings, in long term rented accommodation. Your income is/has always been sufficient to gain your residency and after your qualifying stamp collection, sufficient to apply for permanent residency - what do the new rules hold for you?

When/if the "White Card" becomes a reality what will happen to the 90 day travelers, who simply skip the country every 90 days to save on the (circa) £100.00 a year it costs to live here with a stamp in their passports?

I would suggest that as a home owning "swallow", holding temporary residency for more than 5 years, you could qualify for Permanent residency. But, as a temporary resident, where you can prove that all of your disposable income has been spent in the TRNC (within sensible limits) in excess of 5 years, you would not qualify!

Times/Rules are changing yet again and it will be interesting - for those who can not afford to buy their citizenship outright - times ahead for those who have remained within the law (as it is written and not just a spoken agreement) regardless of age.

Comments??????

[waddo]

Further to the above, can I add that "currently" if you have a grillion stamps in your passport but miss out on one year renewal - then you start again at square one and the others do not count!!!!!

Can I also point out that the statement in the paper states "issuing a white card to "permanent Residents". Would this mean that you must already be a "Permanent Resident" before you could apply for the White Card???

[DeeEss]

As Waddo says, I understood that once you let your residency lapse (i.e. no current stamp) you have to start again. I also thought the 'white card' would be issued to those with 5 (or whatever number) consecutive stamps who are currently temporary residents. (If your Permanent you already have a pink card I think) So does this mean if you have lapsed it this year, you won't have 'temporary resident' status? Has anybody without temp residency and driving on British or Turkish Licence been involved in a road accident here - were there any issues with insurance? For those of us who want to do the right and 'legal' thing in this Country they don't make it easy!

[waddo]

Strange, guess there is not much interest in the "White Card" or in Residency anymore - must be getting close to summer again.

[Brazen]

My temp residency expires in June when I will be in the UK. I believe that you are unable to renew early and if late the whole process has to start again from square one, is this true?

[come_on_aylin]

You can start the residency renewal process 30 days before it expires - I have done this many times. I have also left the country just before my residency expires and then completed the process on my return, after expiry. I am under 60 so it may be a bit different if you are 60 or over - in that case it may be best to check with Immigration in Lefkosa for an accurate answer.

[Steve C]

We did our's 2 weeks ago and noticed the changes since last time. We are just over 60 so no need for police station. We also found that there is no need to go so early an queue as we used to do. Got all the paperwork ready and printed in duplicate for the both of us. it is said that it is advisable to maintain residency even when over 60, that is the advice from BRS and for me I will follow it. Printed the residency application form off, filled them in and set off to Lefkosia at 9.30. Bought the necessary stamps from the cafe which is 10tl each plus commision of 1tl each = 22tl. All sorted and on our way home by 11am. Now that is an improvement and done for another 2 years!!

[Deniz1]

Can I get the form anywhere else I am not a BRS member and I dont have a printer anyway.

[sophie]

Denise1, the form is so simply you don't actually need to have it done in advance. They have piles of them on the counter when you go into office at Lefkosa and it takes 5 minutes to fill it in. Don't worry about it.

[Deniz1]

Thanks Sophie.