Business and Work Permits
Work permits
1. The foreign worker applies to the regional Labour Department office.
2. The Labour Department officials investigate to see if there is a need for a foreign worker in a given job classification.
3. If a vacancy that cannot be filled by a TRNC citizen is determined then a document is provided. The foreign worker is then referred to the Immigration Department with the provided document.
4. A preliminary Police investigation is carried out at the request of the Immigration Department and, if the police report is positive, the Police Immigration section is instructed to accept the foreign workers application.
5. The Labour Department refers the foreign worker to the state hospital to obtain a health report and also to register and make necessary payments, where applicable, to the revenue and tax, social security and providence fund departments.
6. A contract is signed at the Labour Department between the employer and the employee.
7. The Labour Department refers the foreign worker with all the documents obtained thus far to the Immigration Department of the regional Police Directorate.
8. Finally, all documents are sent to the Immigration Department. The foreign worker personally applies to the Immigration Department to obtain their permit. Passport, revenue stamp, relevant fee and passport photographs must be submitted.
Foreign workers found by the Immigration authorities to be working without a permit may be asked to leave the country.
A change of employment necessitates applying for a new work permit.
Business Permits
Professional licence:
Any professional person must apply for a professional licence to practice from the relevant Municipal office, for which a fee is charged.
Business Permits:
1. The foreign applicant has to establish and register his/her company at the Commercial Companies Registry Department and obtain Registration Certificates before applying for a permit.
2. The applicant has to register at the revenue and tax department and obtain the necessary documents.
3. The applicant applies to the Immigration section of the regional police directorate with all documents obtained thus far.
4. The applicant applies to the Immigration Department with company documents and is referred to the State hospital for a health report.
5. The regional police directorate forward all documents to the Immigration department of the general directorate of the police.
6. The applicant may be issued a permit upon applying personally at the Immigration Department if all requirements are met. Passport, revenue stamp, relevant fee and passport photographs must also be submitted.
All permits must be carried at all times.
Residency in Northern Cyprus
Anyone wishing to live in Northern Cyprus for more than three months at a time will require temporary residence status. Those who wish to retire to North Cyprus or live permanently on the island can apply for permanent residence status after five years.
To obtain residency in Northern Cyprus there are many steps to take, procedures to follow and forms to fill in and this is a guide to getting residency in Northern Cyprus based on our own experiences.
Depending on whom you speak to and who you know the procedure for getting residency can be more or less straightforward! We have heard of people who have endured great stress, people who have incurred large fines and others who have simply breezed through the whole process to come out the other side unscathed and with a year’s temporary residence visa well and truly stamped in their passport.
Basically the first step on the road to residency is applying for the visa as soon as you know you’re going to be in the country for more than three months. For every single day you reside in Northern Cyprus after your three month visitor’s visa is up you will incur a fine of around YTL 66 a day (which equates to about GBP 28 per day depending on the fluctuating Lira/Sterling exchange rate) – this fine will be incurred unless you have at least applied for your temporary residence visa.
This fine soon adds up and so if you know you will be in North Cyprus for more than three months apply for your temporary residency visa immediately. Those who know that they have come to live in Northern Cyprus for the rest of their days or for at least the foreseeable future cannot apply for permanent residency. They too have to apply and reapply for a temporary visa for up to five years before they can get permanent residency status.
Once you’ve decided to apply for residency in Northern Cyprus get about 6 or 8 passport photographs and a dozen stamps and then you will need to visit the local counsellor in the area of TRNC where you are residing – the counsellor or Muhtar (pronounced muk tar) will need to see proof of your residence in the form of a rental or purchase contract as well as bank statements showing that you have sufficient money available to sustain you – no one seems able to tell me how much ‘sufficient money’ is but at a guess you should be able to show at least GBP 1,000 per person applying for residency.
The Muhtar will provide you with a Resident’s Certificate after filling in a form with information about you, your parents, your place of residence in Northern Cyprus etc. Then you should go to one of a number of licensed clinics in Girne (Kyrenia), Gazimagusa or Lefkosia (Nicosia) for a blood test. The names of clinics accepted by the immigration authorities are available from the immigration offices in Girne and Lefkosia. A blood sample will be taken then it’s necessary to have a chest x-ray and check-up done in a licensed clinic and the fees for all of these tests comes to between GBP 100 and GBP 160 per person.
The clinics where the tests are done will provide the applicant with a receipt. With the receipt, Resident’s Certificate, proof of address and income, passport, more stamps, pictures and photocopies of all documents in hand the applicant should visit immigration and apply for residency. Most offices involved in the whole process are only open between 8.30am and 12 noon. A number will be written into the applicant’s passport by immigration officials and photocopies of all documents will be taken.
After about 2 weeks all the medical tests will have been completed and an applicant can pick up their results which will be in a sealed envelope – do not open the envelope or break the seal!!! The applicant should then hand deliver these results to immigration in Lefkosia and sit back and wait for all police checks to be completed and all medical results to be analysed. An applicant will have to regularly visit immigration in Lefkosia until checks and tests are finalised and a visa can be granted. The current fee for a temporary residence visa in Northern Cyprus is YTL 214 but there has been talk that this may be reduced to YTL 130.
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