Living in Northern Cyprus as a foreigner

As of A.E.460/2026, a 'Destekleyici' (Sponsor) is defined as a citizen or legal residence-permit holder in the TRNC who undertakes the livelihood, expenses and housing of a foreigner coming for family unity, and who is named as the basis for an application — whether that application is for a residence permit or for a residence-permit exemption. This broadens the term's prior scope, which covered only permit applications.

In force since 25 May 2026.

A new Article 4(2)(d), inserted by A.E.784/2026, requires foreigners from countries with no TRNC diplomatic/consular representation, coming to study or work in the TRNC, to hold at least 24 months' passport validity. This condition does not apply to nationals of represented countries, and does not apply to purposes other than study or work.

In force since 24 August 2026.

A foreigner applying for any type of TRNC residence permit who has no social-insurance right to public health services must pay a premium under the Health Fund Law (Sağlık Fonu Yasası), scaled to the length of the permit requested or intended.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A foreign student's residence permit may be cancelled by the Immigration Department if their university fails to report the student's enrolment status to GöçSis for three months or more, whether counted from the permit's start date or from the university's last report.

In force since 24 August 2026.

Where a foreign worker holding a Time-limited Work Permit (Süreli Çalışma İzni) does not start the job for which it was granted, defaults in continuing it after starting, has their contract terminated by the employer, or the employment relationship otherwise ends in any manner whatsoever, the permit becomes invalid and is deemed cancelled as a matter of law. This does not extinguish the worker's rights under the Labour Law and other laws.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A foreign worker's Time-limited Work Permit is valid only for the named employer, workplace and profession stated on it; working elsewhere without following the separately regulated transfer procedure is not permitted.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under the E-Vize (Elektronik Vize) Regulation (A.E.783/2026, made under Article 20 of the Aliens and Immigration Law), foreign nationals from countries the Council of Ministers designates as subject to the e-Vize scheme apply online for any of the visa types already set out in Article 9 of the Residence Permits and Visas Regulation — it is a channel for existing visa types, not a separate category with its own entry conditions. Application criteria are set by the Ministry. Applications are to be resolved within 30 days, extendable to a maximum of 60 days for administrative reasons.

In force since 24 August 2026.

Unless a more specific rule applies, a Family Residence Permit may be issued for up to ten years at a time. Its duration is capped at the period the sponsor is themselves legally permitted to stay.

In force since 2 October 2026.

Where none of the Residence Permits and Visas Regulation's other categories apply, and in the assessing officer's opinion the foreigner would face humanitarian hardship if refused, a short-term residence permit of up to 1 year may be granted. The applicant must already be lawfully present in the country at the time of application. A Humanitarian Residence Permit holder is not eligible to act as a sponsor for a family residence permit.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

On an employer's first application for a given foreign worker, a Time-limited Work Permit (Süreli Çalışma İzni) is issued for a minimum of six months and a maximum of one year.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Six listed circumstances (not living together, or a report the marriage isn't a real family union; no shared language; an unreasonable age gap; a spouse's own admission; a spouse's record of earning income illegitimately; family income inconsistent with living standard) trigger an investigation into whether a marriage was entered into solely to obtain a residence permit or citizenship. The investigation can occur before or after a family residence permit is granted. A finding that a marriage is one of convenience stands for at least a year without needing to be repeated. Where the marriage found to be one of convenience is to a TRNC citizen specifically, the foreign spouse's residence exemption under Article 12(1)(a) ends; if they do not leave within 15 days of notification and hold no other exemption, they are treated as staying without authorisation from day 16.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A foreigner without property title can get a one-year short-term residence permit per application with monthly income of at least three minimum wages, or a year's equivalent on bank deposit. Foreigners over 60 with a confirmed pension get up to 5 years on a stamped, Tax and Revenue Department-approved lease. Foreigners over 60 without a confirmed pension can reach the same 5-year term via a bank deposit equal to one minimum wage multiplied by the years of permit requested, plus the same approved lease. Separately, any foreign pensioner of the TRNC Social Insurance Department, regardless of age, can get up to 5 years with no income condition at all.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A foreigner is exempt from needing a residence permit at all if they are: (i) a parent over 60 residing with a citizen child; (ii) a person over 60 in a position to qualify for property-linked residence, or the over-60 spouse/partner of such a person once that person holds an exemption certificate; or (iii) a parent over 60 of someone holding a work permit, business-establishment permit, permanent residence permit or residence permit.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Effective 24 August 2026 (A.E.784/2026's First and Second Schedules): Short-Term and Family Residence Permit fees rise by duration tier from 2,000 TL (up to 6 months) to 40,000 TL (up to 120 months), with a separate late-application fee tier (3,000-24,000 TL) and a 1,000 TL/month backdated-permit fee. Student Residence Permit fees are lower (1,000-3,000 TL by tier) with no late or backdated fee. The daily visa-extension fee is 20 TL.

In force since 24 August 2026.

A foreigner who is the direct ascendant (grandmother or grandfather) of a sponsor, aged over 70, none of whose first-degree relatives (mother, father or child) are alive, is exempt from needing a residence permit. The sponsor must be a TRNC citizen or a legal residence-permit holder supporting the grandparent's family-unity-based presence in the TRNC.

In force since 25 May 2026.

The general vehicle-import age limit is 5 years from first registration (cars, non-standard vehicles, motorcycles) or 12 years (motor caravans), administered by the Ministry of Trade. A foreign national relocating to settle in the TRNC may import one vehicle already registered in their own name before arrival, exempt from this limit, once only, if they intend to settle permanently; can show TRNC home ownership (title deed or Tax-Department-stamped sale contract) or hold a property-linked or high-income-plus-rental residence permit; can show at least 2 months' prior TRNC residence via Police General Directorate documentation; and have not previously used this same right.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Unless a category-specific duration applies elsewhere in the Residence Permits and Visas Regulation, a short-term residence permit is granted for 1 year on first application and 2 years on subsequent applications, with the exact term within that default influenced by the foreigner's request, its grounds, and other relevant matters.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 28A (made under the 2000 TRNC-Türkiye bilateral facilitation agreement, Law 34/2000), Turkish citizens: (1) are exempt from Article 14(2)(b)(v)'s income condition on the sale-contract property-residence route; (2) have Article 14(2)(i)'s specific income-multiple requirement replaced with a general 'enough income to sustain oneself' test; (3) are exempt, for parents over 60, from the family-permit sponsor-employment/children-under-12 condition in Article 16(1)(c); (4) face the Article 20(2)(a) health-check condition only once every two years, not the general cadence; (5) are exempt from the short-term residence-permit requirement when approved by the Ministry to film promotional content; (6) receive a 90-day visa on first entry for most visa categories, with only subsequent entries following the normal category-specific durations.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

For the standard Time-limited Work Permit (Süreli Çalışma İzni) route, an employer wishing to employ a foreign worker who is currently abroad must first obtain a Preliminary Permit (Ön İzin) from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for that named worker; this must be completed before the worker enters the TRNC. Once the worker has entered the TRNC on the Ön İzin, the employer must apply to the Ministry to complete the full Süreli Çalışma İzni registration within 15 days of the worker's entry, and complete that registration within 30 days.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A residence permit granted to a foreign student pursuing associate, bachelor's, master's or doctoral study at a higher-education institution in the TRNC is granted for a maximum of one year at a time, renewed according to the length of study.

In force since 24 August 2026.

A visitor entering for a touristic visit and staying at a hotel/accommodation or renting housing gets up to 30 days on their own declaration, or up to 90 days with a paid reservation document and receipt for the excess. A visitor staying at a relative's home, or visiting a relative up to the third degree, gets up to 60 days unless the Minister restricts this further. A visitor for an official/business/conference/festival/health-tourism purpose gets their demonstrated duration plus one week, extendable to a 90-day maximum by the Chief Immigration Officer on documented extension of purpose.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Foreign nationals holding a protection document issued in their name by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are no longer exempt from needing a residence permit. The residence-permit exemption that previously applied to this group was removed from the regulation.

In force since 24 August 2026.

The fee charged for a visa or e-Vize extension application, set out in the regulation's Second Schedule, is not refunded to the applicant if the extension is not granted, or if the visa is subsequently cancelled.

In force since 24 August 2026.

An application to extend a visa or e-Vize period granted on entry to the TRNC is made online through GöçSis, at the latest five business days before the current visa period ends.

In force since 24 August 2026.

A foreigner's visa-based stay may not exceed 90 days at a time, nor 90 days within any rolling 180-day period. Carve-outs: an exit within 72 hours of entry does not count toward the cap; stays before the Regulation's own commencement do not count; ambiguous consecutive-entry records are resolved by disregarding the entry whose exit is not established; the calculation may be dispensed with where Police Immigration's online records are unavailable; tour leaders notified by the Ministry of Tourism are exempt from the cap. Separately, Article 7(3)(a) allows Ministerial-approved entry/stay, capped at the visa maximum, for someone facing a relative's (up to third degree) documented serious illness, death or similar emergency — an entry-permission provision, not an extension of the 90-in-180 cap itself.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A foreigner is treated as unauthorised from the moment their lawful permission expires without renewal. Specific grace periods delay this: 40 days to apply for a new permit after a residence-exemption-triggering circumstance ends; 40 days of continued lawful presence after a work/business permit expires or is cancelled; 60 days of continued lawful presence after a student permit-holder defers or interrupts study; 60 days of continued lawful presence after graduating. Separate exemptions exist for documented legal detention, a court-ordered travel ban, or a documented inability to travel for health reasons.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

TRNC law recognises a defined category of "Sosyal Güvenlik Anlaşması" (Social Security Agreement): bilateral or multilateral agreements approved by the TRNC Assembly, together with their implementing arrangements. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has general statutory authority to conclude such agreements with the countries where TRNC-insured persons work, or with the countries of foreign nationals working in the TRNC (Social Security Law No. 73/2007, Article 119). This concept is used elsewhere in the same Law, including as a condition for a limited insurance exemption for some short-term foreign assignees (Article 6(1)(E)). Law No. 26/2026 — ratifying a 19 November 2025 TRNC-Türkiye Cooperation Agreement in Labour, Employment and Social Security — is NOT itself a Social Security Agreement in this defined sense: it is a government-to-government cooperation and coordination framework which itself names "implementation of social security agreements" as one of its own separate areas of cooperation, implying a distinct agreement it helps administer rather than being that agreement.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 52(1) of the Income Tax Law No. 24/1982, as replaced by Law No. 25/2026 (effective 21 May 2026), annual income tax is assessed at: 10% on the first 45,000 TL; 20% on the next 45,000 TL; 25% on the next 120,000 TL; 30% on the next 190,000 TL; and 37% on the portion above 400,000 TL.

In force since 21 May 2026.

The Insurance Superintendent (Director of the Department of Money, Exchange and Development Fund Affairs, under the Ministry of Finance) licenses and supervises all insurance and reinsurance companies under the Insurance Services (Regulation and Supervision) Law No. 60/2010. Insurers must join and fund a statutory Insurance Arbitration Commission. A complainant must first have received a negative response from their insurer, or no response within 15 business days, before applying to the Commission. The Commission must resolve within 2 months (extendable by 1 month with the applicant's consent), and its decisions up to 40,000 TL are binding on both parties.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Standard customer due diligence applies when a bank establishes a business relationship, or when a single or linked transaction reaches EUR 10,000 or its equivalent (EUR 2,000 for gambling/betting providers, EUR 1,000 for electronic fund-transfer services), or whenever a transaction is suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing regardless of amount. Banks must specifically check whether a customer living abroad is a Politically Exposed Person. A non-face-to-face relationship, opened by correspondence, phone, email, internet or other remote means, is explicitly permitted and regulated, not prohibited — it triggers enhanced due diligence, satisfied by confirming the first transaction originates from an account the customer already holds at a bank in an 'equivalent country' (an EU/EEA state or one with similar anti-money-laundering obligations), by additional-document identification, or by third-party verification through a bank in that equivalent country.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A passport, ID card or driving licence bearing the holder's photograph, issued by a local OR foreign official authority, is a valid identity document for bank customer due diligence purposes. Banks must establish and verify a customer's identity by examining the original of such a document. Banks must not open or operate anonymous accounts, accounts whose holder's identity is unknown or undocumented, or unnamed numbered accounts.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

An insured woman, or the non-insured wife of an insured man, is entitled to maternity health services (examination and birth care) with no separate residence condition stated. The same person is entitled to pregnancy/birth cash grants only if 120 days' maternity-insurance premium was paid in the preceding 12 months AND they have legally resided in the TRNC, continuously or not, for a total of 5 years.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A municipality is legally obliged to bring drinking water to every residence and workplace within its boundaries. Municipal permission is mandatory to receive a water connection. A municipality may disconnect drinking water only after a user has failed to pay for 3 consecutive months AND failed to pay within 7 working days of a written notice.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 63 of the Insurance Services Law, the Council of Ministers may make any insurance class compulsory in the public interest, by a specific implementing Regulation. Fire, explosion, earthquake, flood and other natural-disaster cover are each separately regulated, licensable insurance classes under this same Law. No implementing Regulation making any of these classes compulsory for ordinary property owners was found after a genuine search.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 53 of the National Education Law No. 17/1986, a private school (opened by a natural or private-law legal person) requires Ministry of National Education permission, obtained via a submitted project and granted after evaluation; its teaching standards must be at least equivalent to State schools; its operation and programme equivalency remain subject to ongoing Ministry supervision and Accreditation Commission review; unauthorised operation or continued operation after permit cancellation carries criminal prosecution and escalating fines/imprisonment; and a diploma issued by a school that is not accredited carries no legal validity whatsoever.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

All banks licensed under the TRNC Banking Law must insure savings deposits (deposits opened by natural persons, not subject to commercial transactions) held with them, under the Savings Deposit Insurance and Financial Stability Fund Law. The insured amount has been set by the Central Bank at not less than EUR 20,000 per account since 1 January 2004. The statutory 'savings deposit' definition carries no citizenship or residency qualifier.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A communications provider must obtain a copy of a consumer's passport before activating a postpaid or prepaid SIM subscription, where the consumer is not a TRNC or Turkish citizen (a copy of the ID card or passport is required for TRNC/Turkish citizens). A provider may not activate a subscription without first taking this document copy, and false information at registration is prohibited. Device (IMEI) registration, via the Mobile Device Registration System (MCKS), is a separate legal regime: devices brought from abroad have a grace period of 90 days per calendar year before mandatory in-person registration at BTHK.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Articles 72-73 of the Social Security Law No. 73/2007, an insured person (and the persons they are legally obliged to support), together with permanent-incapacity/disability/old-age pension recipients (and their dependants) and widow/orphan-pension recipients, are entitled to a defined statutory health-service package: examination, diagnosis, hospitalisation, in-country referral, medication during treatment, qualifying curative prosthetics/orthotics/glasses, specified emergency treatment abroad while on official duty, and Central-Health-Board-approved overseas treatment where diagnosis or treatment is unavailable in the TRNC.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 31(2)(A) of the Social Security Law No. 73/2007, an insured person who has paid at least 90 days of sickness-insurance premium within the 12 calendar months preceding the onset of temporary incapacity is entitled to a statutory temporary-incapacity benefit, paid daily from the 3rd day of incapacity, for up to 6 months — extendable to 18 months where a Health Board report certifies that continued treatment could prevent or significantly reduce permanent incapacity.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Under Article 3(2) of the Income Tax Law No. 24/1982, where a foreigner or person not settled (yerleşmiş) in the TRNC fails to fulfil all their obligations under this Law and other Tax Laws, and any security the Tax Office deems necessary, the relevant and competent authorities are not to permit that person to reside, work, or engage in income-generating activity in the TRNC.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

The Central Bank of the TRNC is the sole authority responsible for supervision and audit of the implementation of the Banking Law. Anyone who learns a bank's or a customer's secrets in the course of their role is bound by a confidentiality obligation that continues after they leave their post, subject to exceptions such as disclosure required by law or a permitted public statement.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

No person may drive a motor vehicle on a TRNC road without a valid third-party insurance policy covering them. Driving uninsured is punishable by up to 3 times the monthly minimum wage or up to 1 year's imprisonment, with possible court-ordered licence disqualification (minimum 6 months for a first offence, 12 months for a repeat offence). Minimum coverage includes death, bodily injury and emergency medical treatment costs (uncapped in the base Law's own text) and property damage, currently capped at 1,200,000 TL per accident or chain of accidents as of a 25 February 2026 Regulation. Passenger-transport vehicles (buses/minibuses) carry separate, higher Euro-denominated death/injury minimums.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

A TRNC Certification Officer (Tasdik Memuru) certifies only that a signature or seal on a document belongs to the person who applied it, and may do so only for a document signed or sealed in the officer's own physical presence — a pre-signed or foreign-executed document is outside the officer's power to certify. Certification under the Certification Officers Law is stated to be valid only for documents used before TRNC or Turkish Republic authorities; the Law does not address recognition anywhere else.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

For the purposes of the Income Tax Law No. 24/1982, the tax period (vergilendirme dönemi) is the preceding calendar year.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

To become a voluntary Social Security insured person, a person must be a TRNC citizen, in addition to not already being compulsorily insured, not already receiving a relevant pension, and being 18 or older. A non-citizen foreign resident is statutorily excluded from this route regardless of how long they have lived in the TRNC or their residence status. Voluntary insurance is the only route into Social-Security-based health coverage for someone not compulsorily insured through employment.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

YÖDAK (the Higher Education Planning, Supervision, Accreditation and Coordination Board) is established, with public legal personality, by Article 7 of the Higher Education Law No. 65/2005 — not by Law No. 2/1993, which establishes a separate body, YÖDİD (the Higher Education and Foreign Relations Department). Among YÖDAK's statutory duties and powers, Article 11(2)(L) assigns it the duty to coordinate foreign students' immigration procedures, and their health or other social-security-related procedures, with the relevant Ministries.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

For the 2026 tax period, the Personal Deduction Amount (Kişisel İndirim Miktarı), set under Article 12(1) of the Income Tax Law No. 24/1982 (as amended) by Council of Ministers Decision Ü(K-I) 132-2026, published in Official Gazette No. 16 of 28 January 2026 (Annex IV), is 655,000 TL.

In force since 1 January 2026.

A foreign child born in the TRNC, or who arrived before turning 18, has a dedicated permanent-residence application route under the Permanent Residence Permit Law (51/2015), distinct from the Article 16 family-residence-permit framework. The application uses the Permanent Residence Permit Regulation's Annex 4 form, submitted to the Immigration Department, with: ID/passport, a population-registry extract or (third-country nationals) birth certificate, a copy of the parent's ID/passport, a student certificate if applicable, an entry-exit movement record, police-clearance certificates from both the TRNC and the home country, a residence certificate, and a State-hospital communicable-disease-free health report. The fee is 70 TL per permit copy.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Bringing a dog or cat into the TRNC requires a pre-export Import Licence (form PİB.01), applied for and obtained before export, valid 30 days. Animals may not move between the Republic of Cyprus (south) and the TRNC — a pet must arrive directly from abroad via a TRNC port or airport. The animal must be over 3 months old, rabies-vaccinated 1 month to 1 year before import, current on standard vaccines, and pass a rabies-antibody FAVN titration test at an EU-approved laboratory (antibody level at least 0.5 IU/ml). The animal must also have been owned by its current owner for at least 2 months before import. Non-compliant animals face refusal (normally returned at the carrier's expense), or if the owner refuses return, quarantine up to 3 months at the Director's discretion at the owner's cost (30 TL/day per the primary source); an animal neither returned nor quarantined as required, or a non-compliant caged bird, is euthanised 48 hours after entry.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

To exchange a foreign driving licence for a TRNC one, per the Traffic Department's own official form: (1) Turkish Republic (TC) licence holders need a passport/ID with valid immigration status, their original licence plus a copy, 2 photos, AND an approval of the TC licence from the Turkish Embassy in Lefkoşa; (2) EU-country licence holders need only a passport with valid immigration status, their original licence plus a copy, and 2 photos; (3) other-country licence holders need the same core documents plus a full translation of the licence certified by the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.