BRS Meets with Prime Minister's Office

Morton Coles and Colin Mulcahy met with Tugce Volkan, Public Relations Officer at the Prime Minister's Office on 1 July.

We gave her a paper explaining the current difficulties in applying for and renewing residence permits as a result of unruly crowds at Girne Police Station and at the Ministry of the Interior.

We also asked for clarification of a number of other issues relating to visas and residence permits including procedures, validity, penalties, lapsing, and the rules about absence from TRNC in the year before application for permanent residence. We reported that several members had said they had been told at Girne Police Station that over 60's do not need to apply for residence permits and asked to know if there was any truth in this (we don't think so!). We also asked for clarification of reports that permanent residence would have to be renewed every two years.

At a policy level, we requested a review of the time required to obtain permanent residence, pointing out that within the EU new residents could obtain permanent residence immediately. We requested a review of the requirements for citizenship and for the Government to consider giving the vote to expatriate residents.

We also gave notice of a range of other issues we wished to raise at our next meeting.

We agreed a date of 10 July for our next meeting at which Tugce would report progress.