Residency Progress

[buddy]

Has anyone who had their Police appointment at Girne in January had the application finalised yet ?

[waddo]

2023 or 2024? Not a joke!!

[buddy]

If Police Appointment had been 2023 I would definitely have made a visit to the Ministry by now.

2024

[TAC]

Yes 9TH February 2024 all done on the 19th March 2024

[buddy]

Yes 9TH February 2024 all done on the 19th March 2024

Was that Girne area?

[TAC]

yes and no blood test was needed

[buddy]

yes and no blood test was needed

[waddo]

TAC, when did you apply for your police appointment please?

[Mimi2]

Residency expires 8th April. Applied for renewal 18th March. Police appointment 4th October!!!

[waddo]

Mimi2 that will allow for two raises in the minimum wage I guess. Wish I lived in the famagusta area now, it only takes a couple of weeks to get to the police bit!

Given that it is a 6 - 7 month wait for just the police check, then another 3 weeks to get the rest of the process done, I would get less jail time than that if I was illegal here!!!

Anyone know how to contact a "Fixer"??? It is worth the extra payment to not be kept on the Island as a prisoner for sure.

[TAC]

TAC, when did you apply for your police appointment please?

2nd week of December 2003 I was given some time in June for appointment

[TAC]

Mimi2 that will allow for two raises in the minimum wage I guess. Wish I lived in the famagusta area now, it only takes a couple of weeks to get to the police bit!

Given that it is a 6 - 7 month wait for just the police check, then another 3 weeks to get the rest of the process done, I would get less jail time than that if I was illegal here!!!

Anyone know how to contact a "Fixer"??? It is worth the extra payment to not be kept on the Island as a prisoner for sure.

You don't need a fixer just book a flight to Izmir £30

[waddo]

TAC, did you book before you started the renewal or after you got your date for the police?

[TAC]

TAC, did you book before you started the renewal or after you got your date for the police?

No started the renewal in December got police was given sometime in June
Then booked a flight in February 5 days before flight went to police station showed ticket and rest of paper work
and by the evening same day as police station my residency had jump to 50%

[waddo]

Brilliant! Something for me to remember later on this year - many thanks.

[TAC]

No problem here to help

[gates]

Shame some of the idiots stopped the quick link crazy

[benjaminbutton]

Have been imprisoned for nearly 11 months now. Have gone off the TRNC.

[kerry 6138]

Have been imprisoned for nearly 11 months now. Have gone off the TRNC.

Who is holding you hostage?

[PoshinDevon]

The residency process is of course far from satisfactory.

However; I can understand the authorities trying to keep one step ahead of those who unlike most of us just want to comply with the rules. I can also understand the reasons behind all the checks that need to be carried out on a first residency application.

The process for renewals especially if circumstances haven't changed is cumbersome and in the Girne region the wait for a Polis appointment of 6+ months is excessive.

Leaving the TRNC between submission of the application on line and Polis appointment date can of course be done, but again it’s frustrating to have to run around with a mass of paperwork, plus flight tickets, copy of invoice for flights etc presenting at the Polis office a week before travel.

There is also the issue of having to travel at very short notice (Within 1 or 2 days), possibly due to a family emergency. Alongside the worry, upset and stress of such a situation, there appears to be no contingency in place should the Polis office be closed. (For example a public holiday. Offices closed for Bayram for a week.). I am not aware of any emergency contact number, advice or a process that should be followed should this be necessary. Whilst of course you can just leave without presenting paperwork to the Polis, however you are then subject to a daily fine. This does seem unfair and shows a lack of compassion or understanding.

I can only hope that those who meet with the authorities will or have already raised this problem and in time the process will be reviewed and improved.

[snd1966]

Who is holding you hostage?
[/quote]

Ok hostage is rather strong but while waiting for residency must be worrying, the requirements have changed considerably since people's residency ran out last year to their police appointment this year. Unfortunately if you have friends in the south they have to travel to see you as there is no way to complete residency just to travel south which to many is a break.
Plus if you are applying for only a year , it all begins again in a very short time.

[waddo]

As I understand the system - the appointment dates/times are generated by computer. As there is apparently no system in place for automatic update of existing appointments, the system must just assume that all appointments issued so far have yet to be completed! If that is the case then the system will issue an appointment based upon the next available free time/date. That would account for the continuous lengthening of appointment waiting times!

This means that at some point, in the very near future, the appointment waiting time will exceed the length of time of residency applied for, I.E. apply in January (23) for 1 years residency from February (23) - receive an appointment for March (24) the following year to begin residency renewal. When completed it will already be out of date by a month - this process will continue until there is nobody left with legal 1 years temporary residency at all!! As it continues it will also mean that those who apply for 2 years residency will also fall into the same trap.

The question remains as to why this is only seeming to affect those who are required to gain a Police appointment at the Girne Police Station? In fairness, in cannot all be blamed upon the people applying not producing the correct information. Regardless of the total number of people applying there will be a percentage of those who fail due to incorrect information and that percentage will be similar between Girne/Famagusta - percentage not number of people. Therefore it must be down to lack of Police staff available at Girne due to the volume of applicants difference between the two Police stations?

The system is not working! But can it be fixed? The only answers appear to be an increase in Police at Girne and/or stopping all computer generated appointments in Girne until the backlog is caught up with. This would mean that from say 1st of June no more appointments are issued and those who apply still submit their original request and just receive a notification that it has been received, at which point it is down to those people to attend a window marked "No Appointments" as it always used to be. Those already having an issued appointment just continue to wait out the process until their issued appointment time. It would take time to catch up and much "que jumping" would be expected but at least the backlog could be cleared.

There are other ways of course, like allowing the local police to carry out the checks or even let the local Muhtar's take on some of the load as well. For sure, if things continue to go the way they are at present the whole system for those living in the Girne catchment will eventually become illegal here!

Of course I may be well wrong in my assumptions and the Police will just call an amnesty and let everyone go to immigration and take a ticket as before - lol. Problem solved for Girne! It seems a pity that the Mayor of Girne does not take more interest in this situation though.

[Kanonier]

As I understand the system - the appointment dates/times are generated by computer. As there is apparently no system in place for automatic update of existing appointments, the system must just assume that all appointments issued so far have yet to be completed! If that is the case then the system will issue an appointment based upon the next available free time/date. That would account for the continuous lengthening of appointment waiting times!

This means that at some point, in the very near future, the appointment waiting time will exceed the length of time of residency applied for, I.E. apply in January (23) for 1 years residency from February (23) - receive an appointment for March (24) the following year to begin residency renewal. When completed it will already be out of date by a month - this process will continue until there is nobody left with legal 1 years temporary residency at all!! As it continues it will also mean that those who apply for 2 years residency will also fall into the same trap.

The question remains as to why this is only seeming to affect those who are required to gain a Police appointment at the Girne Police Station? In fairness, in cannot all be blamed upon the people applying not producing the correct information. Regardless of the total number of people applying there will be a percentage of those who fail due to incorrect information and that percentage will be similar between Girne/Famagusta - percentage not number of people. Therefore it must be down to lack of Police staff available at Girne due to the volume of applicants difference between the two Police stations?

The system is not working! But can it be fixed? The only answers appear to be an increase in Police at Girne and/or stopping all computer generated appointments in Girne until the backlog is caught up with. This would mean that from say 1st of June no more appointments are issued and those who apply still submit their original request and just receive a notification that it has been received, at which point it is down to those people to attend a window marked "No Appointments" as it always used to be. Those already having an issued appointment just continue to wait out the process until their issued appointment time. It would take time to catch up and much "que jumping" would be expected but at least the backlog could be cleared.

There are other ways of course, like allowing the local police to carry out the checks or even let the local Muhtar's take on some of the load as well. For sure, if things continue to go the way they are at present the whole system for those living in the Girne catchment will eventually become illegal here!

Of course I may be well wrong in my assumptions and the Police will just call an amnesty and let everyone go to immigration and take a ticket as before - lol. Problem solved for Girne! It seems a pity that the Mayor of Girne does not take more interest in this situation though.

Excellent logic, unfortunately, thinking logically doesn't seem to be a strong point here.

[waddo]

Exactly! A pity really as the Mainland Turkey system works very well online and I feel sure that Turkey could have provided a copy for the TRNC to use - at a price of course! But then, why not reinvent the wheel if you can make money out of it and have flat spots on it so you can have a continuous upgrade plan that costs even more? After all, it seems to work well for Apple - lol.

[snd1966]

A computer program to cross check appointments in the system against those completed would definitely be in the right direction plus why there was never a cancellation of appointment put in place when designed?

[Medjoul1]

Why are the Police even involved in renewals? For renewals surely if the info required was uploaded straight to Immigration in Lefkosa it would speed things up considerably?

[PoshinDevon]

Why are the Police even involved in renewals? For renewals surely if the info required was uploaded straight to Immigration in Lefkosa it would speed things up considerably?

To put a face to the paperwork submitted?

As I have previously posted, the majority of us want to comply with the rules/regulations. However; there are always some who will try to find a way around these rules/regulations to work it to their advantage.

The process could be improved of course but the authorities in my opinion are trying to fight a constant battle against those who are applying but do not meet the criteria. There will always be a minority who want to find a way around the system which may go some way to explaining why things change regularly, often without communicating the changes effectively. Confirming the person who has applied on line and the person presenting the paperwork are one and the same is necessary, especially for initial applications.

This makes things very frustrating for those that want to follow the rules.

[waddo]

Posh, I follow the rules as much as it is possible until the rules change and I inadvertently follow a different rule that no longer applies!

One rule that appears to NOT apply to all is one you have stated "Confirming the person who has applied on line and the person presenting the paperwork are one and the same is necessary, especially for initial applications." - If this rule does apply to all then please explain how an agent can appear at the Police station with 15 seperate applications and have them all processed through without any of the original applicants being there?

Putting a face to the paperwork submitted is a great idea but it is one that is ignored in the majority of cases!

[mrsgee]

Posh, I follow the rules as much as it is possible until the rules change and I inadvertently follow a different rule that no longer applies!

One rule that appears to NOT apply to all is one you have stated "Confirming the person who has applied on line and the person presenting the paperwork are one and the same is necessary, especially for initial applications." - If this rule does apply to all then please explain how an agent can appear at the Police station with 15 seperate applications and have them all processed through without any of the original applicants being there?

Putting a face to the paperwork submitted is a great idea but it is one that is ignored in the majority of cases!

I have often wondered this.... having witnessed fixers gostraight up to the window with a bundle of apps, but minus the rent a crowd required to verify ID, . Nice little cottage industry has grown out of the fiasco.

[PoshinDevon]

Posh, I follow the rules as much as it is possible until the rules change and I inadvertently follow a different rule that no longer applies!

One rule that appears to NOT apply to all is one you have stated "Confirming the person who has applied on line and the person presenting the paperwork are one and the same is necessary, especially for initial applications." - If this rule does apply to all then please explain how an agent can appear at the Police station with 15 seperate applications and have them all processed through without any of the original applicants being there?

Putting a face to the paperwork submitted is a great idea but it is one that is ignored in the majority of cases!

Understand exactly what you have written and I don’t have the answer! It does of course throw up many questions.

Without singling people out, there is no doubt that for some less tech savvy, a little older, frail, perhaps infirm or less able to get around would welcome someone taking away the hassle of going to the Polis station. So should an agent be allowed?

Should the agent be able to turn up on any day whereas others (Especially in the Girne region) have to await months to get the Polis appointment? Should this be allowed for just initial applications or all applications? Why do the Polis allow this? Is it because the agent is legitimately helping to fast track the process for some simply because people do have a good genuine reason to leave the TRNC between on line application and Polis appointment date? Are agents who are helping to fast track applications waiting until all with appointments have been dealt with first?

There is a nice little industry built up for sure and this is certainly another reason why there is anger and frustration. We can all agree it does need to improve.

[waddo]

Posh, I have to be honest here - I do not fit into the category you explain (less tech savvy etc, etc) however I would happily pay an agent if they were working officially, rather than be effectively imprisoned in the TRNC open jail, due to inefficiency of an obviously corrupted system. It is bad enough having to obtain a TOM for a maximum of 16 hours allowance to drive my vehicle in the RoC and never on a Sunday! But I put up with that because the RoC are always happy to put obstacles in the way of progress, if it can gain them what they imagine to be control over other no RoC residents.
However, the TRNC has always seemed to operate fairly to all residents, until recently when this system had been proved to have failed an enterprising Insurance company offered a service, at a cost, and it worked well - right up until the Mayor of Girne had it stopped! I cannot help but wonder why he had it stopped yet put nothing in it's place??

[PoshinDevon]

Posh, I have to be honest here - I do not fit into the category you explain (less tech savvy etc, etc) however I would happily pay an agent if they were working officially, rather than be effectively imprisoned in the TRNC open jail, due to inefficiency of an obviously corrupted system. It is bad enough having to obtain a TOM for a maximum of 16 hours allowance to drive my vehicle in the RoC and never on a Sunday! But I put up with that because the RoC are always happy to put obstacles in the way of progress, if it can gain them what they imagine to be control over other no RoC residents.
However, the TRNC has always seemed to operate fairly to all residents, until recently when this system had been proved to have failed an enterprising Insurance company offered a service, at a cost, and it worked well - right up until the Mayor of Girne had it stopped! I cannot help but wonder why he had it stopped yet put nothing in it's place??

I am happy to give leeway to the authorities trying to keep one step ahead of those trying every means to get residency when they don’t qualify. Albeit the way the rules are applied can at times seem at the whim of whoever is checking the paperwork. I also agree that there is a place for agents to apply and submit paperwork on someone’s behalf. As long as it’s not to the detriment of those following the process for themselves. In other words somehow fast tracking a normal application.

However; changes to the requirements are not clearly communicated despite what some would say. Also interpretation of the rules isn’t consistent.

As for being imprisoned, it’s not as bad as that but it is yet another hurdle to overcome. Therein lies the problem as having to run around with a pile of papers, invoices, flight tickets etc a few days before wanting to leave is madness. Plus if you unfortunately have legitimate need to travel at short notice and the Polis offices/immigration are shut there is nothing in place to manage these cases.

For initial applications I fully understand the need for these checks and yes a face to face at the Polis station should be a requirement. For renewals when the circumstances haven’t changed everything should be submitted on line, checked, payments made and that’s it.

As swallows we are not on island all year but still believe complying with the residency rules is the best way for us to come and go without having to count days. However; the residency process has to be revisited and changes made.

As for crossing to the ROC, agree the TOM situation is an inconvenience as we liked to jump in the car travel across, revisit old haunts and stay for a few days etc. We still travel across, but if we want to stay it’s the adventure of a dolmus to Lefkosa, bus to wherever, enjoy a few nights and head back. To be honest it’s just as enjoyable.

We can all hope that over time things change.