Crossing Ledra Street

[laptatony]

Today for the first time we had an issue walking across Ledra Street crossing. I was stopped and told I was over my 90 days. So what is the interpretation any individual 90 days within a 180 day period or that you can only cross within the first day for a period of 90 days. I think that it depends upon who the immigration officer is
Anyhow problem resolved by my wife who also has a European passport in addition to her UK passport, which she uses when crossing..she pointed out her Euro passport and stated that because of this I can accompany her..."well you need to provide your marriage certificate" was the reply..faster than John Wayne drawing his gun, she drew out a copy of the marriage certificate...the face of the immigration officer was picture.

[niceone]

This is great news for us, I have an EU passport, I had no idea it covered my other half, we have been using Ercan to avoid trouble, thank you

[wanderer]

Yesterday must have been the day for border gaurds .

Leaving Larnaca 6 am 40 minuites before take off wife goes through passport control -Nothing said

My turn we have both been to the sameplaces with these passports

Thumbs through thepassports and back again I thought this heavy handed person would damage my passport

HE THEN STATES
"You will soon be out of days for a return"
I nodded and smiled and moved on

I think he might not have liked the north stamps
I came and left through Ercan in October 2022

My dates both into Larnaca :-

26 Feb Leave 9 March 12 days
13 May Leave 24 May 11 days

How am I our of dates to visit Cyprus 90/180

Any ideas

[PoshinDevon]

Yesterday must have been the day for border gaurds .

Leaving Larnaca 6 am 40 minuites before take off wife goes through passport control -Nothing said

My turn we have both been to the sameplaces with these passports

Thumbs through thepassports and back again I thought this heavy handed person would damage my passport

HE THEN STATES
"You will soon be out of days for a return"
I nodded and smiled and moved on

I think he might not have liked the north stamps
I came and left through Ercan in October 2022

My dates both into Larnaca :-

26 Feb Leave 9 March 12 days
13 May Leave 24 May 11 days

How am I our of dates to visit Cyprus 90/180

Any ideas

My understanding is:-

If you arrived at Larnaca on 26 Feb you can stay up to 90 days in the ROC.

Using the calculator the 90 days ends on 26 May. You can come and go during this time and of course stay, however by the 26th May you must leave the ROC.

If you did not leave then you are classed as having overstayed.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/

In your case you did last leave the ROC on 24 May. I believe the immigration official was letting you “politely” (Lol) know that it will soon be the 90 days from your arrival on 26 Feb so you would not be able to return for a further 90 days from 26th May. This means no return until 24 Aug 2023.

https://convert-dates.com/days-from/90/2023/05/26

To be honest I have to think a little and it can get a confusing, especially when the official line from the ROC is that it isn’t a border between the TRNC and ROC. Factor in rumours, heresay, crossing via the SBA etc makes it worse.

[wanderer]

The Schengen Calculator
Calculating your 90/180 period can also be done more simply with the following online calculator:

Entry Date27 February 2023 13 May 2023
Exit Date 09 March 2023 24 May 2023
Duration 11 days 12 days
Days of Stay in the Last 180 Day 23 days
Last Day to Stay 27 May 2023

CALCULATEYou have stayed for 23 days. 67 days left. 30 July 2023 Final Date
Posh thanks for the Shengen calculator above are the results you have to put all the dates in for each visit by using the + then when all dates in press calculate
This is for schengen countries Cyprus North and south are not schengen and not using the calculator

[PoshinDevon]

The Schengen Calculator
Calculating your 90/180 period can also be done more simply with the following online calculator:

Entry Date27 February 2023 13 May 2023
Exit Date 09 March 2023 24 May 2023
Duration 11 days 12 days
Days of Stay in the Last 180 Day 23 days
Last Day to Stay 27 May 2023

CALCULATEYou have stayed for 23 days. 67 days left. 30 July 2023 Final Date
Posh thanks for the Shengen calculator above are the results you have to put all the dates in for each visit by using the + then when all dates in press calculate
This is for schengen Cyprus North and south are not schengen

Hi again,

Thanks for the above. I know the ROC and TRNC are not in Schengen but the calculator works for the 90/180 days scenario.

The bit I am confused about (not difficult!) is that the clock starts on day of arrival. I thought that from that arrival day you can come and go as often as you wish. So stay 1 day, 20 days or 90 days, does not matter. What does matter is your initial 90 days after the date of first arrival. Then you must leave and not return for a further 90 days.

However; I do like your explanation and also understand your logic saying that the total number of days you have stayed is only 23 so you have 67 left; so you can stay till 30 July, but is this is how it works??
Maybe it was just an error by the immigration official after all?

Apparently Cyprus is joining the Schengen information system on 23 Jul 2023.

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... on-system/

Confused, I am! Maybe there is some “expert” who can clarify.

[wanderer]

Posh I need to send you a copy of the calculator with dates in to show how schengen should work theres no facility to upload to the forum

[PoshinDevon]

Posh I need to send you a copy of the calculator with dates in to show how schengen should work theres no facility to upload to the forum

Please do. PM or email.

Like I said I understand the logic.

So let’s say if you arrive at Larnaca again on 1 June and leave on 6 June you have used a further 7 days. Your total stay would now be 30 days. So now you have a further 60 days left taking you to around 5 August?

It does make perfect sense and means that we would be able to cross more. Of course the TOM issue/obtained at Metehan is still a pain but we would be happy to have a hire car across the south or more likely jump on coach/bus to visit old haunts.

Thanks for info so far.

[wanderer]

Ledra Street is really staying on island .I was leaving
This is what the ROC website has
Shengen is the same as Turkey 90/180  rules
90 days crossing  90 days staying North is a codge up to allow you south sometimes and the guy in Larnaca is applying Green line rules 
http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/consulate/con ... enDocument

[Keithcaley]

Posh I need to send you a copy of the calculator with dates in to show how schengen should work theres no facility to upload to the forum

No need to send it, it's online here

[Reyntj]

I googled this about penalties .

Overstaying Your Cypriot Visa
If you overstay your Cypriot visa, you may face penalties by border patrol. If you have overstayed by just a couple of days, it is possible border patrol will let you leave without any problems. However, if you overstay your visa by more than a couple of days, you may face a fine of a few hundred Euros or a record in your personal life which will make it harder for you to gain re-entry to any EU nation.

More severe punishments can also include a ban on re-entry for 1 to 3 years or immediate deportation.

I always exit via Ercan now live here full time . Occasionally go across the border . Last flew in via larnaca probably 5 years ago . Never exited again . Expect I'd have a problem if I flew from larnaca now or even at the green line . Good info from everyone thnx . Keep it up.

[Mimi2]

Last time we crossed at Ledra. Scanned passports on entry to Greek side. When returning to North. Was just waived through by Greek side.. Are we still There????

[Keithcaley]

Are we still There????

The short answer is "Yes"

The longer answer...

As the Green line is the first point at which the ROC can register you as entering 'their' Territory, that's what they do - but when you leave across the Green line, because they do not recognise TRNC & consider the whole island as being ROC Territory, they don't register you as leaving. Effectively, as far as they are concerned, you are still in ROC and the clock is still ticking!

Who says 'You can't have it both ways"?

[Soner]

Has anybody actually been fined or banned?

I have had many issues at RoC airports, last was that Immigration Officer stated that we had overstayed but would give us 15 days to come in and then leave. I told him to keep his 15 days, argued that I was a TC and told him I would not accept his 15 days, he could send us back instead and pay for the flight. Eventually (after arguing for 20 minutes) he gave us 90 days, I thanked him but told him we would still have the same problem next time we leave and return.

No problem with internal crossings, sorted this out by producing parents Passports and my Marriage Cert, I can cross with TC ID and wife allowed with British Passport.

None of it makes any sense. One rule for internal crossing and another for main RoC port entry.

[erol]

Has anybody actually been fined or banned?

I have had many issues at RoC airports, last was that Immigration Officer stated that we had overstayed but would give us 15 days to come in and then leave. I told him to keep his 15 days, argued that I was a TC and told him I would not accept his 15 days, he could send us back instead and pay for the flight. Eventually (after arguing for 20 minutes) he gave us 90 days, I thanked him but told him we would still have the same problem next time we leave and return.

No problem with internal crossings, sorted this out by producing parents Passports and my Marriage Cert, I can cross with TC ID and wife allowed with British Passport.

None of it makes any sense. One rule for internal crossing and another for main RoC port entry.

Same situation as you Soner. Recognised at internal crossings by the RoC as a Cypriot on presentation of my Kimlik card. My NZ national wife also recognised internally as the wife of a Cypriot and can cross freely.

Tomorrow my NZ national wife will try and go on a 7 day return cruise from Limassol. My wife has never externally entered the RoC or left the RoC before. Not in the entire 23 years we have been living in Cyprus has she flown in or out of the RoC. I really have no idea if they will let her on this cruise or not. Internally they know she is a legitimate wife of a legitimate Cypriot as the RoC defines such. I will be taking my full 'proof I am a Cypriot folder' and our marriage certificate with me and prepared to argue my case and my cypriotness. Wish me luck.

[Soner]

Has anybody actually been fined or banned?

I have had many issues at RoC airports, last was that Immigration Officer stated that we had overstayed but would give us 15 days to come in and then leave. I told him to keep his 15 days, argued that I was a TC and told him I would not accept his 15 days, he could send us back instead and pay for the flight. Eventually (after arguing for 20 minutes) he gave us 90 days, I thanked him but told him we would still have the same problem next time we leave and return.

No problem with internal crossings, sorted this out by producing parents Passports and my Marriage Cert, I can cross with TC ID and wife allowed with British Passport.

None of it makes any sense. One rule for internal crossing and another for main RoC port entry.

Same situation as you Soner. Recognised at internal crossings by the RoC as a Cypriot on presentation of my Kimlik card. My NZ national wife also recognised internally as the wife of a Cypriot and can cross freely.

Tomorrow my NZ national wife will try and go on a 7 day return cruise from Limassol. My wife has never externally entered the RoC or left the RoC before. Not in the entire 23 years we have been living in Cyprus has she flown in or out of the RoC. I really have no idea if they will let her on this cruise or not. Internally they know she is a legitimate wife of a legitimate Cypriot as the RoC defines such. I will be taking my full 'proof I am a Cypriot folder' and our marriage certificate with me and prepared to argue my case and my cypriotness. Wish me luck.

Good luck Erol. You prob won't have issue, but if you do, just stand your ground.

[erol]

So in case its of any use to anyone else. My wife was booked on 7 day cruise with Royal Caribbean sailing from Limassol Port and returning to same. No problems at all. Check in seemed to not involve any RoC immigration staff at all, just Royal Caribbean staff who took picture of my wife's NZ passport and all was fine. I am guessing they work on the basis that if you are in Limassol then you are in the RoC legally and the same when you return hopefully. So all good. Did not need to even open my 'I am Cypriot' folder at all.

[waz-24-7]

Edited by moderator. There is a separate topic for discussion about all things Brexit. Remainder of original post below.



I was detained for over an hour in Rhodes yesterday. No questions or explanation simply viewed me as an alien .
Immigration identified some KKTC stamps and my non European status certainly made me vulnerable to hassle

Seems marrying a European could be a good move.