Trevor’s Tips – February 2016

Sharing News

By Trevor Hughes……

Third Party Insurance

With effect from January this year, the Government has raised the Third Party insurance  threshold from 50,000.00TL to 75,000.00TL. The reason for this decision is because the Turkish Lira has devalued over the years making the maximum payout on third party insurance claims totally unrealistic. The consequence is that your third party premium has been increased, but this is to your advantage. This increase is an across the board decision and all insurance companies must comply.

TRNC White Card/Permanent Residence Regulations in Northern Cyprus  

For the past few months, expatriates in Northern Cyprus have been waiting for news of the Permanent Residency (White Card) Regulation, who may be interested in applying for Permanent Residency. So Chris Elliott from cyprusscene.com and myself visited the Ministry of Interior and Labour on your behalf and spoke to Mr Hasan Hacılar who is the Manager of the department who issue the “Temporary Residency Permits” and “Work Permits”. This is the department which also receives applications for white cards which are then reviewed by the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

White Card/ Permanent Residency

The Permanent Residency (White Card) is open to people irrespective of age in accordance with the legislation requirements, as long as they are over 18 years old.

All applications must be supported with proof that he/she holds a valid health insurance policy and must be updated and taken to the Ministry every two years as proof it is current. Lapsed insurance policies will render the Permanent Residence as “null and void”.

Current discussions are underway for the provision of a TRNC State insurance facility by The TRNC Ministry of Health to cover this requirement and further information will be given as soon as it is known.

When you are granted a Permanent Residency (White Card)  for Working/Business permissions, it will enable you to work during the period for which it is valid, unlike Work Permits which are for a set period and need to be renewed which includes the health check being done each and every time.

Qualifying Age:

Person under 60 Years of age

• For persons under 60 years of age and have held consecutive Temporary Residency for 6 years. During this consecutive period the applicant must not have been outside the TRNC for more than 1,080 days.
• For persons under 60 years of age, who have held consecutive Work permits for 6 years. During this consecutive period the applicant must not have been outside the TRNC for more than 240 days
• They will need to show proof of a minimum of 21,600TL held in a TRNC bank. This represents the TRNC basic minimum wage of currently 1800TL per month.

Person over 60 Years of age

• For persons over 60 years of age who have held consecutive Temporary Residency permits for 3 years. During this consecutive period the applicant must not have been outside the TRNC for more than 540 days.
• They must also show proof of a minimum of 21,600TL held in a TRNC bank. This represents the TRNC basic minimum wage, currently 1800 TL per month.

It should be noted, the existing Law requiring all foreign residents in the TRNC should apply for “Annual Residency” after staying more than 90 days in any year and every subsequent year thereafter, is still mandatory.

Application forms for Permanent Residence (White Card) are available in English and can be collected from Dağli Sigorta offices in Karaoğlanoğlu, or the Ministry in Lefkosa.

• Permanent Residency for Foreigners who have a property in the TRNC and can show permanent financial income details (pension).

The current cost of a Permanent Residence (White Card) is 2000TL.

• Property owners with properties to the value of no less than Euros 125,000 in value can apply. This is the value declared by you at the Tapu Office when paying your Property Tax. This value will be checked by the Immigration Department when the Permanent Residence(White Card) application is being processed.
• Persons who do not own a property, cannot apply for a Permanent Residence (White Card)
• For holders of work permits or business permits, it is not necessary to show ownership of a property in the TRNC when applying for a white card.
• You will need to submit an “in’s” and “out’s” record to support your application which you can obtained from the Immigration Police Department.
• The value of your property is not what you think it is, or any other third party/agent thinks it is, but the value the Tapu places on your property. Any alteration or addition to the structure of the building adding to the value of the property is not taken into account. However, you can get the Tapu Office to re-assess the value if additions to the property have been made. If the Tapu Office increases the value of your property there is no further tax to be paid.

Naturally, monetary values stated may change in the future, so this information is offered as a guide only.

Cyprusscene.com and I will continue dialogue with the Ministerial Offices, seeking a meeting with the Ministry of Health as soon as possible for information regarding the proposals for a Health Insurance Scheme whenever foreigners apply for Permanent Residence(White Card). We will keep you fully informed as and when.

TRNC Permanent Residence (White Card) Regulations

Questions and Answers

In requesting information regarding the “TRNC Permanent Residence (White Card) Regulations in Northern Cyprus” we asked the following questions, feeling that people could ask when applying for Permanent Residence (White card). The answers are shown below:

1. What should the general insurance policy cover be?

Answer: This question and some of the following questions should be referred to the Ministry of Health who are creating an insurance policy to cover the White Card Regulations.

2. If you have siblings/dependants under the age of 16 years old, do they need to have health insurance? And when they become older must they, again, have health insurance, to make them eligible, unless they are an active student?

Answer:  At 18 years of age they can apply for either a work permit, or Temporary Residence permit, or the Permanent Residency, if he/she (White Card) supported by an appropriate health insurance policy.

3. Will your application become successful if you have health insurance with an excess of say £2000.00?

Answer: We are waiting on information from the Ministry of Health.

4. If you cannot get health insurance because of age, will your application be considered?

Answer:  No, you have to abide by the regulations.

5. If you reach the upper age limit half way through the insurance term, will your permit be automatically terminated?

Answer: We are waiting on information from the Ministry of Health.

6. If you purchased your property several years ago at say Euros 100,000 for example, which reflected the true market value at the time of purchase, and has since increased in value to reflect the market trend, will the more realistic value count on application?

Answer: No the value used is the original Tapu value, but consideration will be given to a current Tapu valuation on        your property in the evaluation process of the application.

7. If, since purchasing your property and you have had it extended, taking the property over the Euros 125.000 minimum Tapu value, can you pay the tax on the increased value of your home and make your application eligible?

Answer – NO!

8. For a person who has a Permanent Residency (White Card) (Work or Business Permissions) and is working, what happens if they stop working?

Answer: If a Permanent Residency (White Card) holder who qualified for a white card based on holding a business/work permits stops working, they can stay in the TRNC for 6 months without working. If they stay for more than 6 months their Permanent Residency (white card) will be cancelled by the Immigration Department when next they present their documents.

9. If a person, holding a white card, sells their property and buys a property with a Tapu value of less than Euros 125,000, will they lose their white card?

Answer: Yes, they lose their Permanent Residency (White Card). The Law requires a Permanent Residency (White Card) holder to own a property with a minimum Tapu value of Euros 125,000.

For those readers who wish to make an application for Permanent Residency (White Card) and have specific questions, email me and I will endeavour to answer your question.

Despite all the figures being used saying that there is a large number of people applying for Temporary Residence, the true figure is less than 200, many of which are not applications, but enquiries.

Adding a Name or Amending Your Log Book

The cost of is now 143TL.

Driving Licences

With immediate effect the cost of renewing/applying your driving licence has increased, they are now:

2 years: 223.30 TL.
3 years: 302.70 TL.
5 years: 457 TL.
10 years: 754 TL.

Work Permits                                                           Business Permits

These have been increased as follows:

2 years 3796 T L.                                                                   2 years: 3796 T L.
12 months:346 T L.                                                                1 year:  1905 T L.
6 months: 964 T L.                                                                 6 months: 964 T L.

Annual Road Tax

Road Tax has been increased to:

Petrol fuelled cars under:  1016 kg is now 23 Kurus per kilo.

1017 kg -1270 kg is now 40 Kurus per kilo.
1271 kg – 1524 kg is now 98 Kurus per kilo.
Heavier vehicles are now 1.3 T L per kilo.

Bayram Holidays

There are no Bayram holidays this month.