Applying for asylum

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 present yourself, together with all your family members to the authorities without undue delay and submit your application.

If you are already in Cyprus and are afraid to return to your country because of events that occurred after 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.

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 submitting an asylum application.

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 are not required to give fingerprints.

Each asylum application is examined individually, based on your personal circumstances and reasons for seeking international protection.

Where to apply

Upon your arrival in Cyprus, you can apply for asylum at any legal entry point to Cyprus, namely:

  • Larnaca Airport,
  • Pafos Airport,
  • Larnaca Sea Port,
  • Limassol Sea Port,
  • Checkpoints.

You may also apply for asylum 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 the 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. In some cases, persons who are already residing in the country may also be referred to Pournara to prepare  and lodge an asylum application. Once at Pournara, the authorities will help you in preparing and lodging 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 apply for asylum, the Aliens and Immigration Unit (AIU/YAM) is notified and a police officer receives 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 if you were 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. The officer at the counter will ask you to complete a ‘Verification of intention to apply’ form. These forms are available in various languages. If there is no application form available in a language you can read and write in, you have the right to ask for an interpreter. Interpretation services are provided free of charge.

You must complete the personal data form at the Immigration Police Office providing all of your personal details as requested. You must complete the Verification of intention to apply 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 request it from a police officer.

If you are not able to read or write, a police officer will complete the form 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 the information is accurate, based on your statements. If not, you can ask for corrections to be made before you sign.

Once you complete the ‘Intention to apply for asylum’ form, you must submit it at the counter. If it is possible, you will proceed with officially submitting your application on the same day. If it is not possible to complete all the steps on the same day, then the Immigration Police will issue a document called a Verification of Intention to Apply for International Protection, indicating the date of your appointment to submit your asylum application. This document serves as a proof of your legal status until you complete your application, and obtain the Confirmation Letter. You will receive a call in the days following the above procedure in order to set up an appointment for the submission of your asylum application.

The holder of a Verification of Intention must return to the Immigration Police Office on the exact date indicated in order to complete the asylum application process. If a date is not indicated, you will be notified by the police in the following days. It is extremely important to return on the indicated date or the date of your appointment. Failure to do so will result in the expiration of your Verification of Intention, termination of your rights, and your application for international protection may not be examined. You may also be subject to arrest, detention or deportation.

Step 2: Submission of your asylum application

Following the submission of the Verification of Intention to Apply for International Protection form, you will either be asked to submit your application for asylum on the same day, or the police will call you to set up an appointment in the following days.

The submission of your asylum application is done in he presence of a police officer and an interpreter. You will be asked about your personal data and about the reasons why you are unwilling or unable to return to your country. You must answer all questions in detail, clearly and truthfully.

The police officer will fill in the application form with the help of the interpreter. The form is always written in English. When you are done, you can either read the application form if you can read English, or the interpreter can translate back to you what was being written.

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 available only 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 listed in the ‘Where can I seek help?’ section of this website.
  • 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 provide your full address and telephone number, as well as those of 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 have provided. If you change address at any time, you must inform the Immigration 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 inform them and complete the relevant form, which will be provided to you.

NOTE: In case you are homeless, you must inform the Immigration Police.

Once you complete all the above steps, the Immigration Police will give you a Confirmation of Submission, which proves 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. The Confirmation Letter allows you to:

  • register with the Labour Office and exercise your right to work nine months after you submit your asylum application;
  • apply for social assistance if you cannot find a job, or you cannot work, and
  • obtain a medical card and access public hospitals.

 

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 tests for HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and Tuberculosis. You must submit the results of your medical examination to the Immigration Police, who will send them to the Asylum Service.

Step 4: Apply for an Alien's Registration Certificate (ARC) / "Alien Book"

As soon as you receive your Confirmation Letter and the results of your medical examination, you must apply for an Alien’s Registration Certificate (ARC) – also known as ‘Alien Book‘ at your District Immigration Police Office. Each family member included in your asylum application must receive their own individual Alien’s Registration Certificate. This is an identity document issued to all foreigners, including asylum-seekers, in Cyprus. The Alien’s Registration Certificate (ARC) is not proof of legal residence in Cyprus.

The Alien’s Registration Certificate (ARC) is issued free of charge to asylum-seekers.