By: A.G. Paphitis & Co Law Firm
The application for the issue of a Permanent Residence Certificate is submitted by an EU citizen and family members (also Citizens of a Member State), after a five-year period of uninterrupted legal residence in the Republic of Cyprus;
- The validity of the residence card shall not be affected by temporary absences not exceeding six months in a year, or by absences of a longer duration for compulsory military service or by one absence of a maximum of 12 consecutive months for important reasons such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training, or a posting in another Member State or a third country;
- Once acquired, the right of permanent residence shall be lost only through absence from the Republic of Cyprus for a period exceeding two consecutive years.
The right of permanent residence in the Republic of Cyprus shall be enjoyed before completion of a continuous period of five years of residence by:
- Employees or self-employed persons who have reached the age laid down by the Cyprus Social Insurance Law in force for entitlement to an old age pension or employees who cease paid employment to take early retirement, provided that they have been working in the Republic of Cyprus for at least the preceding twelve months and have resided in Cyprus continuously for more than three years;
- Employees or self-employed persons who have resided continuously in the Republic of Cyprus for more than two years and stopped working in Cyprus as a result of permanent incapacity to work;
- Employees or self-employed persons who, after three years of continuous employment and residence in the Republic of Cyprus, work in an employed or self-employed capacity in another Member State, while retaining their place of residence in the Republic of Cyprus, to which they return at least once a week.
The family members of an employee or a self-employed person who are residing with him / her in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus shall have the right of permanent residence, if the employee or self-employed person has acquired himself the right of permanent residence in the Republic of Cyprus— if however, the employee or self-employed person dies while still working but before acquiring permanent residence status in the Republic of Cyprus on the basis this Law (article 14(1)), his / her family members who are residing with him in the Republic shall acquire the right of permanent residence on the condition that:
- The employee or self-employed person had, at the time of death, resided continuously on the territory of the Republic for two consecutive years;
- The death resulted from an accident at work or from an occupational disease.
The Republic of Cyprus shall issue family members (who are not citizens of a Member State) with a permanent residency / a Permanent Residence Card valid for 10 years which shall be renewable automatically every 10 years from the date of issue.
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