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Pink slip stay requirements

Last activity 23 October 2024 by Toon

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tonyjphilip59

Hi - we are UK retirees and we are strongly contemplating a permanent move to Cyprus through Category F but we will need a pink slip in the first instance. We have read many Internet articles about the requirements but some of them have left us confused about how long we need to be in Cyprus once we have our pink slips. Most articles state that we cannot be away from Cyprus for more than 3 months at a time and some say we cannot be away from Cyprus for more than 4 months TOTAL in the period. Can anyone possibly provide a clarification. Many thanks!  Tony

Toon

It's 3 months ..you must not leave for more than 3 months in in one go in the year of your permit ...automatically cancelled if you exceeded it



Pink Slip restrictions

Cannot stay out of Cyprus for more than three months continuously as the permit would be cancelled automatically

No right to work in Cyprus

Is granted only to non-EU Nationals who wish to extend their stay in Cyprus

Valid for one year, can be renewed annually

tonyjphilip59

Cheers for the clarity Toon!

jonathonkennard

What are the requirements for this pink slip is it actually a card ?  I'm led to believe you must visit at least every 3 months or it gets cancelled, how long can you have it for or can you just keep renewing every time it expires 

Toon

It's a biometric temporary residency permit card and you renew every year but must not leave Cyprus for more than 3 months continuous as It will automatically be cancelled. When you have Been here legitimately for 5 years you can apply for permanent residency

Toon

Requirements .....


https://gk-lawfirm.com/practice-areas/i … ce-permit/

jonathonkennard

Thanks for the info

Toon

Tip take everything you can .. take copies ... Best to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it ... Is key.. go prepared.. use an agent.. it is slow and frustrating so take a seat a book some snacks and drinks

jonathonkennard

Its the large deposit of money into cypriot bank is the killer

Toon

Yes we know ... It impacts on quite a few..... Its not easy by any means .. and as one gets older healthcare costs are horrendous

phildraper

Just completed my yellow slip and had to deposit 20k in a Cypriot bank. The amount seems to vary and I did attempt the immigration meeting but was not called in as the agent did all the work and they just accepted it lol

20k deposit can be withdrawn but needs to be back for the renewal and I was recommended to pay all Cypriot bills from the Cypriot account and have salary paid in.

As normal everyone get differing info and it depends on the person on the day! As Toon say be prepared and have everything with you. It seems so crazy I was expecting to be asked for a letter from my mum lol

One other point if you bring vehicles with you be prepared for many hours in the dept. of transport! I am beginning to wish I sold them in the UK. Again total chaos and hours of waiting around.

Toon

@phildraper we sold up in UK when we moved to Malta 2008 and did the same again when we moved to Cyprus 2014 ..so much easier...


Once again it seems like it depends on who you see at immigration.... And  strengthens the argument of using an agent.....

jonathonkennard

I thought yellow slips had finished and now pink slips ? Or is there both and whats the difference? And does the amount in the bank come down if your single ?

Toon

Yellow slips are the EU residency documents MEU1 for temp residency MEU2 for non EU spouses and MEU3 for permanent residency. These were once all pink slips in the past IE pre Cyprus being in the EU....


Yellow slips now are only given to EU nationals MEU1 and MEU3 and these will be replaced by biometric cards in the next few years...


Due to Brexit and necessary Withdrawal Agreement requirements for a period of time Brits were issued with MUKW1 for new arrivals and AND those who had MEU1 & MEU3 could choose to exchange for MUKW1& MUKW3 although it wasn't and still isnt mandatory.. yet


The current pink slips are for non EU nationals and are temporary residency permits/visas for one year and renewable for up to 5years then you can apply for permanent residency

Toon

Bank statement & proof of transfer from abroad

Deposit/Transfer € 24.000 in a Bank account in Cyprus which should be transferred from abroad. If brought in cash needs to be declared in the airport on arrival and get the confirmation document.


If bank transfer, one needs swift or confirmation from the bank in Cyprus that this amount was transferred from abroad.


This amount is increased by 20% for the spouse and 15% for each child.


I suspect there may be some flexibility on the numbers depending on circumstances IE actual regular incomes... They also say deposits of more can be imposed if necessary

andrewcullen847

@tonyjphilip59

We were looking at cat f fasttrack residency and I thought you needed private cover until your residency came through


At the time there was a long delay in getting residency the usual way and again I thought private cover was needed in the meantime

Toon

Cat F fast track you definitely need private health care cover ... I assume your fast track will be for permanent residency via property investment... As that  would make you eligible for gesy healthcare once you have the PR document so healthcare up to that date would be essential...


Even fast track can take a long time.. well, longer than you would expect..


Normal route to temp residency especially if it's without a form S1 ( ie as a person in receipt of state pension or a cross border worker) you would need healthcare cover

phildraper

Just some additional info....

I recvd my Alien's registration certificate which is yellow and has a ref at the top MRC1 I do not have a European passport so guess this is the new docs for non-eu. I have been told I will be notified when my bio metric id card is available to be collected from immigration. Should take approx 4-6 weeks apparently. Total cost I had to pay Cyprus immigration was 140 euro. CC&A the firm I used to help me did all the checking of the docs and on the appointment day I was not even called into the immigration room just spent 1 hour in the waiting room and then all done! Total time from arrival to completion was 3 months.

Toon

What was the €140.for ....two persons or one

phildraper

It was for 2 people

Toon

Ok cheers Phil.....

Toon

Allowable absences with various residency certificates


6 months max absence under meu1 .. 90.days max absence under pink slip and 5 years max absence for current PR MEU3 .. then they can cancel them....


I have to clarify these would be continuous absences

fhaggerty

@Toon we should all remember that the new biometric plastic card will be Mandatory for all permanent  expats by mid 2026.

Toon

I think it's highly likely to bring it forward...probably to end of 2024.... So best be prepared to do the change

mbohills57

@phildraper hi I to have a MRC1 yellow slip can you tell me how long this document is valid for as we to used CC&A and we assumed it was an ongoing yearly thing but nobody will answer the question

Toon

Pink slip Is yearly renewal

thedukewood

So does that mean you have to have agent costs each year. It really annoys me that rules are so complex you need 3rd parties to make an application. Any tips / ideas on reasonable priced agent as some fees I have seen mean that it wouldn't be viable for us especially if that was each year. Thanks

Toon

Renewable each year for the first 5 years then you can apply for permanent... Once you know the process and the criteria you can do it yourself.. as long as you can cope with tbe annual.anxiety and frustration..  others who recently renewed will be able to give you their current experiences of renewal.

phildraper

It is a pain for sure and a cost with CCA and the lack of communications from them.  All seems a bit hit and miss. It would be nice to know if anyone has done a renewal on their own in Paphos and how this went. I also would like to know if there is a euro 140 charge every year payable to the immigration cashier?

Toon

Just a note...their are private individuals who do this type of assistance ( assisters/fixers/agents) and are cheaper than lawyers.... The one thing in their favour they can take the frustration and anxiety out of the process...

anostone

When you get handed the MRC1 Alien Registration Certificate is that your application for the residence permit officially approved? I applied and was given that document. Can anyone clarify because I had been told to send SMS to check the progress of when the card it ready using the application reference number from the receipt I got for paying the €140. I note that the application number on that receipt is slightly different from the number in the bottom right corner on the yellow ARC I have received. I'm not sure why those numbers are different.

Toon

Can anyone clarify this scenario

MacGeorge8035

@anostone Just to clarify for the SMS service you need to use the number on the receipt not the ARC number the number on the receipt should be in the form XXXXXX/2023. The SMS message to 119 should be STATUS XXXXXX/2023. You will get a response after a few minutes showing the status of your application for your card.


Just be aware it is not quick my first card took 11 months, and the card for my renewal is close to being issued but it will have taken around 7 months.


During this period your MRC1 is valid as proof of your status in most places except the Department of Transport.

phildraper

Good question as it would be reasonable to assume if you have the ARC you are set for the year until renewal. However, who know what they are doing here but I expect the web site just is not in step with the document issuance. I never recvd my biometric cards last year and when I asked after 10 months where they were I was told my Blood test had expired!. The blood tests were done the day before the appointment :-/  Does that mean my ARC was not valid? Both my partner and myself flew in and out of Paphos twice and immigration were happy with the ARC we showed them. I expect they check the ARC number on the computer and if it was not valid we would have been pulled aside. I have never checked the status of mine by sms so I might show the same as you lol. What number do you send the sms to and which document code do you send? Let me have this and I can try mine to see what is returned. I am in the process of my second year renewal and did pass over new blood tests but got knocked back as they now want x-rays again as well!   When the docs were checked 2 weeks before the appointment at immigration they said just have new blood tests now at the appointment they want the x-rays. I have complied but just another wasted journey and additional expense. The good news is we just walked into St Georges hospital had the x-ray and was out in 15 mins. Collected the results the next morning.

Toon

I thought you only had to do those tests once and not at renewal..... Wow thats a new one on me



Sounds to me like rinsing migrants

phildraper

I cannot confirm it is required every year on renewal as mine were 'expired'. Once the new ones are accepted I might not need to do them again on the next renewal. I think they lost the reports last year  and just said they expired as CC&A said they have never had this before

I paid 140 x 2 last year  and got nothing :-/ I have not been told I have to pay again this year so fingers crossed.

anostone

@phildraper you need to send it to 1199 from a Cypriot number.

anostone

I am asking for a friend, they checked the status and it says the application has been rejected and they will soon get an official response by mail. Has anyone got any experience of a rejected application (i.e. what are the next steps?)

Toon

@anostone


That's the second time in the last few weeks weeks that  I've heard of a rejection


I'd say you need to wait till you get the letter and maybe  it will explain why it has been rejected..


However the last time I heard of a rejected application no explanation was given

RebeccaAntonia

Hi all

Husband & I are looking to move on temporary residency permit (TRP/pink slip) around August time, from UK.

We are now a little confused as obviously criteria deems us not able to work in Cyprus, but our required income would be from UK based jobs from which he/we would work remotely.

I'm unsure if we now can do this on TRP and it would have be be digital nomad permit because of figuring out taxes etc. I've heard of people having to go 'self employed' for their UK based organization if they don't have a Cyprus branch.. but then we are working which is not permitted..?

If anyone has any guidance on this, we would appreciate it please.

I'm unsure he/we would meet criteria for digital nomad residency permit.

We are in contact with Gwennys red tape services who have been but helpful but are yet to fully 'instruct' them as don't quite everything in order our side to be ready to go. I understand the lead time for an immigration appointment is approx 12 weeks.

Thanks

Rebecca

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