Beneficiaries
Third-country nationals residing in areas controlled by the Government of the Republic legally and continuously for the last five years prior to the submission of the application and holding a valid residence permit in the Republic.

Periods of Absence
Periods of absence from the areas controlled by the Government of the Republic shall not interrupt the period of residence and shall be taken into account for its calculation where they are shorter than six consecutive months and do not exceed in total 10 months within the relevant 5-year period.

Exemptions

• Students or persons residing in the Republic for vocational training purposes.
• Persons who have been authorized to reside on the basis of subsidiary protection other than international protection or have applied for such a permission.
• Asylum seekers.
• Persons residing in the Republic, solely on a temporary basis (e.g. unpaid domestic workers, seasonal workers) or salaried employees employed by a cross-border service provider or in cases where their residence permit has been officially restricted.
• Persons subject to the 1961, 1963 and 1975 Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic, Consular Relations and Relations with International Universal Organizations.

Withdrawal or Loss of Long-Term Residence Status
The long-term residence status may be withdrawn and the permit revoked in case of:

• Fraudulent acquisition, including conducting a marriage of convenience.
• Adoption of expulsion measures.
• Absence from the Community for twelve consecutive months.
• Public order or public security reasons
• Acquisition of the long-term residence status in another member state.
• Absence from the Republic for six consecutive years.

Procedure

• Applications along with the required original documents, stated in the relevant document lists, should be submitted only at the Offices of the Department in Nicosia. To find out whether an appointment is needed follow this link. All documents accompanying application forms should be officially translated and duly certified/ ratified.
• Applications that are not accompanied by all the required documents listed below will not be accepted for consideration.
• Any change in the applicant's data during the examination of the application should be notified immediately to the Department.
• For the application submission, the amount for applicable fees shall be paid as stated below.
• For the issuance of the residence permit capturing of biometric data (photo and fingerprints) and signature of the third country national is necessary, which is done with the presentation of the application submission receipt and a valid travel document. The biometric data can be captured at the same time with the application submission or after the application submission or examination, at the offices of the Department in Nicosia or at the district unit of the Aliens and Immigration Service of the Police of the district of residence of the third country national.
• In case the application is approved, you will receive a letter notifying you on how to receive your residence permit.
• In case the application is rejected, you will receive a letter informing you for the rejection reasons.

Fees
The fees for submitting this application amount to €30.

Application and required documents
The relevant application form (MIP1) and the list with the required documents can be obtained from the Offices of the Civil Registry and Migration Department in Nicosia and from here.

Examination time
The time of examination is between 6 – 12 months.

Duration of long term residence permit
The initial residence permit is valid for 5 years.