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The “yellow slip” must be upgraded to a biometric card approved by Etias
Many British citizens living in Cyprus will not be able to obtain exemptions from the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) When will it be implemented next year?
The European Commission confirmed to Cyprus mail The “yellow slip” that British citizens obtained when they moved to Cyprus before Cyprus left the EU expired on December 31, 2020, meaning that British holders will no longer be exempt from applying for a visa waiver through Etias when travelling to most parts of Europe.
“Residence documents issued to UK nationals and their family members before 31 December 2020 will not be exempt from registration (in Etias) under the EU free movement directive, Whether or not these documents are still available for use in the host country to establish there the status of beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement,” the European Commission said.
UK nationals living in Cyprus with a “yellow slip” that they have not yet “upgraded” to a biometric card recognised by Etias will therefore become the tiny minority of EU residents who will need to pay a fee to enter much of the rest of the bloc from next year.
That’s because the Etias system, once implemented, will change the way many third-country nationals travel in and out of much of Europe. No specific date has yet been set, but it is widely expected to come into force next spring.
The system has been implemented for nationals of countries on the Schengen area’s “Annex II” list; these people are currently entitled to enter the area without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Annex II countries include Australia, Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Since Brexit,.
With Etias, gone are the days when citizens of Annex II countries need to undergo rigorous scrutiny by border guards and have their passports stamped before leaving the country, and all tourists wanting to travel to 30 European countries and indirectly to another four countries will soon be required to apply online in advance.
The 30 countries include 26 of the 27 EU member states, the Republic of Ireland is not a member, and four European Economic Area countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, as well as Europe’s micro-states, which are not members of the EU or EEA but are surrounded by countries that implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
This way, the citizens of the microstate, including the Pope, would be exempt from paying Eritrean taxes.
In addition, persons holding other visas (such as residence permits from the 30 countries listed above or the Republic of Ireland, work permits or student visas) will also be exempt from Etias review, provided that these documents comply with the strict EU laws on the format of residence permits, i.e. Standardized biometric formats.
Since 2002, the EU has stipulated All residence permits for third-country nationals require a biometric cardand most EU countries require British citizens covered by the Brexit agreement to replace their pre-Brexit documents.
Which brings us to the Cyprus issue.more specifically, British citizens living here.
The Brexit deal stipulates that all British citizens will lose the right to move freely around Europe, even those who have already exercised that right.
The identity of those exercising this right is in the country in which they were resident on December 31, 2020, Effective conversion to a lifetime residence permitIt also lost all relevant rights in the rest of continental Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland, which has a separate agreement with the continent.
In this context, most EU Member States issued new residence permits to their UK residents in accordance with the 2002 Residence Permit Format Law.
Apart from this, some states have also produced documents which clearly state that the holder is a beneficiary of the withdrawal agreement, which is sufficient to exempt the holder from its obligations under the law on Etias.
However, Cyprus did not do so. The “Yellow List” was not originally a residence permit, but a certificate proving that EU or EEA citizens exercise their right to free movement in Cyprus. But for British citizens, the “Yellow List” is actually upgraded to a residence permit.
So far this has not been a problem. As Cyprus is not part of the Schengen Area, British nationals residing in Cyprus face the same procedures as British nationals residing in Cirencester when they wish to enter the Schengen Area. All you need to do is look at the yellow slip and get a nod from the border guard to enter Cyprus.
However, with almost all EU residents now able to enter other EU member states without paying fees and applying online, British nationals living in Cyprus may be surprised why they cannot take advantage of this.
The Cypriot government seemed to have at least been aware of the situation in the previous months and quietly introduced UK citizens covered by the Brexit deal can use a new optional card to replace their yellow slip.
The Home Office said British nationals covered by the Withdrawal Agreement will have to visit immigration or regional offices again to have their photographs and fingerprints scanned and pay a fee.
Unlike the Yellow Slip, this card also has an expiration date, requiring a new card, another visit to the immigration department or regional office, and another financial outlay every ten years.
The card uses biometric technology and is likely to comply with EU regulations, but a page on the Home Office website once contained information about the new card, the associated fees and the documentation UK citizens would need to produce. Now showing as a 404 error on the Home Office website.
This may be because immigration issues have now been delegated to the Deputy Department of Immigration, which currently does not have its own website.
Cyprus mail This issue has been raised several times with the Deputy Minister of Immigration and a response is still awaited.
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