Your rights during the asylum procedure
As an asylum seeker in Cyprus, you have the right to:
- Apply for asylum free of charge, regardless of how you entered the country.
- Remain in Cyprus while your asylum application is being examined.
- Receive information about the asylum procedure in a language you understand.
- Be assisted by an interpreter, free of charge.
- Have your application examined individually, based on your personal circumstances.
- Have your personal information treated as confidential and not shared with the authorities of your country of origin.
- Be interviewed about the reasons you are seeking protection, with the assistance of an interpreter, free of charge.
- Receive additional support and safeguards if you have specific needs, including if you are a child, a survivor of violence or trafficking, a disabled person, or if you have a serious medical condition.
When to apply
If you have valid reasons for seeking asylum, you must submit your application together with all your family members as soon as you arrive in Cyprus. If you entered Cyprus without authorisation or documents, you must present yourself to the authorities without undue delay. If you are already in Cyprus and are afraid to return to your country because of events that occurred since your departure, you can also apply for asylum.
Whether you have arrived in Cyprus by choice, or unintentionally, you must apply for asylum in Cyprus once you are here, even if you intend to move on to another country under the Dublin Regulation.
When you submit your application, your fingerprints will be taken, as well as the fingerprints of all your family members included in your application. This is a legal requirement. Children under the age of 14 do not have to give fingerprints.
You have the right to receive information about the asylum procedure in a language you understand and to be assisted by an interpreter, free of charge, when needed, during the procedure of submission of an asylum application. Each asylum application is examined individually, based on your personal circumstances and reasons for seeking protection.
Where to apply
If you arrive in Cyprus in a regular manner, or if you were already residing in the country on other status, you can make your application for asylum at any legal entry point to Cyprus – namely Larnaca Airport, Pafos Airport, Larnaca Sea Port and Limassol Sea Port – as well as at the Police Immigration Office of your District.
You can apply for asylum even if you do not have a passport, identity card or any other travel or identity documents.
Asylum applications are thus submitted to Immigration Police, and the competent authority that receives the applications is the Asylum Service of the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection.
If you arrive in the areas under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus in an irregular manner, you will be referred to the First Reception Centre in Kokkinotrimithia, known as Pournara, for registration. It is possible that persons who are already residing in the country are also referred to Pournara to make and lodge an asylum application. Once at Pournara, the authorities will help you to prepare and lodge your asylum application.
For persons held in the Menogia detention centre, asylum applications are received directly within the detention facilities. For persons detained in holding cells in police stations or in prison, when they request to lodge an asylum application, the Aliens and Immigration Unit (AIU) is notified and sends a police officer of the AIU to receive the application.
How to apply
The steps to apply for asylum in Cyprus are as follows:
Step 1: Fill out the personal data form at the District Immigration Police
If you arrived in Cyprus in a regular manner, or you are already residing legally in the country at the time of your asylum application, you must go in person to your local District Immigration Police Office and apply together with all members of your family. Visit the Immigration Police website for addresses and contact details of the District Immigration Police Offices in Cyprus.
Once you are at the Immigration Police Office, ask for an application form in a language you can read and write. Application forms are available in variou languages. If there are no application forms in a language you can read and write in, you have the right to ask for an interpreter. The services of an interpreter are provided free of charge.
Complete the personal data form with all your personal details. You must complete the application form at the Immigration Police Office. You must write in detail, clearly and truthfully, the reasons why you are unwilling or unable to return to your country. If you need additional paper to complete you statements, you can ask a police officer to provide you with some.
The information you provide in your asylum appliction is treated as confidential and will not be shared with the authorities of your country of origin.
Upon the submission of your asylum application, you will receive a leaflet with all information regarding your rights and obligations as an asylum-seeker. In case this leaflet is not available in a language you understand, you may ask for an interpreter to read it to you, free of charge.
You will also be asked to complete a questionnaire on the Dublin Procedure.
Notes:
- You DO NOT NEED a lawyer to submit an asylum application. You have the right, however, to have a lawyer during all stages of the asylum procedure. There is no government system in Cyprus for free legal assistance to asylum-seekers during the examination of the application by the Asylum Service. Free legal assistance is only granted for cases before the courts, after the approval of a legal aid application. However, you can seek free legal advice from local non-governmental organisations. You can find a list of non-governmental organisations here.
- If you are not able to read or write, a police officer will complete the application for you with your oral statements and ask you to sign the completed form. It is very important that the police officer reads back to you what s/he has written, so that you or your legal counsellor or someone you trust can verify that your statements have been recorded correctly. You should only sign if you are satisfied that the information is accurate, based on your statements. If not, you can ask for corrections to be made before you sign.
- When you submit your application, your fingerprints will be taken, as well as the fingerprints of all your family members included in your application. Children under the age of 14 do not have to give fingerprints.
- You must give your address and telephone number, as well as your family members. It is very important that this information is correct. Your file may be closed if the authorities cannot contact you at the address and telephone number you declare. If you change address at any time you must inform the Police or the Asylum Service immediately and not later than three days after you move. In order to do so, you must go in person to the Asylum Service or to your local Immigration Police Office, and complete the specific form provided. The police officer will then note in your Aliens Book that you have informed Immigration about your new address. NOTE: In case you are homeless, you must inform the Immigration Police.
Step 2: Confirmation of submission
Once you complete all the above steps, the Immigration Police will give you a Confirmation of Submission, proving that you have applied for asylum and that you are legally residing in Cyprus. You should keep this Confirmation Letter with you at all times, as it protects you from being arrested and/or deported. You can use the Confirmation Letter to register with the Labour Office and exercise your right to work nine months after you submit your asylum application. The Confirmation Letter also proves your entitlement to social assistance in case you cannot find a job, or you cannot work, and a medical card in order to have access to the public hospitals.
In case it is not possible to complete all the above steps on the same day, the Police will give you a document called Verification of Intention to Apply for International Protection. This document shall serve as a proof of your legal status as an applicant for international protection before any authority of the Republic until you complete your application, and obtain the Confirmation Letter.
The holder of the “Verification of Intention to apply for International Protection” must return to the Immigration Police Office on the exact date indicated in order to complete the asylum application process. It is extremely important to return on the indicated date. Failure to do so will result in the expiration of your Verification of Intention and termination of your rights, and your application for international protection may not be examined. You may also be subject to arrest, detention or deportation.
proceed with completing the asylum application process within six working days from the date of this letter. The exact date by which you will need to return to the Immigration Police Office in order to complete your asylum application procedure will be written on the letter. It is extremely important that you return to the Immigration Police by the stated date. Failure to do so will result in the expiration of your Verification of Intention and termination of your rights; your application for international protection cannot be examined, and you may be subject to arrest, detention or deportation.
Step 3: Medical Examinations
After you receive your Confirmation Letter you must go within three days for a medical examination at any District Hospital, Monday to Friday 11:30 – 1:30. The medical examination is free of charge and the results of the examination are confidential.
The results will be given to you, and a doctor will advise you on the results of the HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and Tuberculosis tests. You must take the results of your medical examination to the Immigration Police, who will send them to the Asylum Service.
Step 4: Apply for an Aliens Registration Certificate (ARC)
As soon as you receive your Confirmation Letter and the results of your medical examination, you must apply for an Aliens Registration Certificate (ARC), also known as ‘Alien Book’ at your District Immigration Police Office. All members of your family included in your asylum application must get their own individual Aliens Registration Certificate. This is an identity document issued to all foreigners, including asylum-seekers, in Cyprus. The Aliens Registration Certificate is not proof of legal residence in Cyprus.
The Aliens Registration Certificate is issued free of charge to asylum-seekers.