Cyprus, outside of Schengen, remains outside of EES and that’s good news for UK tourists coming to the island
With Cyprus remaining for the time being outside of Europe’s border-free Schengen zone, the European Union’s new electronic enattempt/exit system (EES) will not be applied on the island when it comes into force in most of the rest of Europe in April.
British media in particular has been full of stories of tourists from the United Kingdom and elsewhere suffering from long queues while attempting to enter European holiday destinations such as Spain and France as the new system’s rollout faces the usual early-day technological hiccoughs.
However, with Cyprus remaining outside the Schengen zone, and thus outside the EES, no such queues are forecast at the island’s ports of enattempt in the coming months.
The Schengen zone’s new system, which replaces traditional passport stamps, first entered operation in October last year, and will be fully implemented on April 10 across the Schengen zone’s 29 member states.
As such, most tourists who are not citizens of EU member states or of European Free Trade Association (Efta) states Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, or of microstates Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City will be photographed and have their fingerprints recorded upon arrival at the Schengen zone’s frontiers.
Although Cyprus is not part of Schengen, Cypriots are EU citizens and are therefore exempt from EES procedures. Likewise third counattempt nationals living in Cyprus will not necessary to be photographed and fingerprinted, and instead will be able to present their passport and their residence permit to enter the Schengen zone. They are considered to be “on the inside” as they are already residents of an EU member state.
The huge exception to this rule are British nationals who are permanent residents in Cyprus and hold “yellow slips”.
The “yellow slip” is the registration certificate handed out to EU and Efta citizens who relocate to Cyprus. British nationals were able to obtain them until the transition period following the counattempt’s departure from the EU finished on December 31, 2020.
“Yellow slip” holders who are citizens of EU and Efta states will also, on account of their continued citizenship of the EU or of Efta, continue to hold freedom of relocatement rights across the EU and Efta and thus will not be required to be photographed or fingerprinted at Schengen borders.
While the “yellow slip” is still considered valid proof of the right to live and work in Cyprus of its British holders, Schengen zone countries will not allow British nationals who have not replaced their “yellow slips” with the new biometric residence cards now available to them to enter the Schengen zone without being subjected to EES checks and registered in the EES database by border police. British expats in that position should therefore obtain these biometric cards.
This alter is tiny on the surface, but will, for countries on the EU’s “Annex II” list – those of which citizens have the right to enter the area for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa – carry a more material alter later in the year, if the current plans are followed.
Alongside the EES, the EU wishes to introduce a European travel information and authorisation system (Etias), wherein citizens of Annex II countries, which include Australia, Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and, since Brexit, the UK, will be required to fill out an online form and pay €20 before entering the Schengen zone.
Once the form has been filled out and the fee paid, they will be given a certificate to enter the Schengen zone, valid for 90 days in any given 180-day period for a total of three years from its date of issue, thus, a little over 540 days maximum of travel within the Schengen zone.
Like with the general EES picture, third counattempt nationals living in Cyprus, with the exception of British “yellow slip” holders, will be exempt when Etias enters force.
Schengen zone countries include popular destinations such as France, Greece, and Spain, as well as the Schengen zone’s two most recent additions, Bulgaria and Romania, which both joined at the launchning of last year.
However, in Cyprus, for now at least, the stamps will remain for third counattempt nationals, though efforts are underway on the government’s part for the island to join the Schengen zone at the soonest possible juncture.
Should Cyprus join the Schengen zone, third counattempt nationals visiting the island will then be subject to the EES photographing and fingerprinting, and obtain Etias forms beforehand, once that system is rolled out.
On the matter of Cyprus’ potential joining of the Schengen zone, European Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner stated during a visit to the island last month that Cyprus “could take a decisive step” towards joining the Schengen zone as soon as the spring.
He stated that the European Commission is expected to adopt its “special evaluation report” regarding Cypriot membership of the Schengen zone before the finish of February.
“Once technical readiness is confirmed, it will be up to the Council [of the EU] to create a decision on accession,” he stated.
That Council of the EU decision will be taken by EU members which are also inside the Schengen zone – all but Cyprus and Ireland – and must be unanimous for Cyprus to be able to accede. The European Parliament will also be required to vote in favour of Cypriot accession, though in this case, only a simple majority is required.
While Brunner had at the time stopped short of laying out an exact timetable for Cypriot accession, President Nikos Christodoulides has stated that it is his aim for the island to join the zone this year.
Earlier, he had stated that joining the Schengen zone this year is “our goal”, and that he and his government are working “with the aim of 2026, precisely, for the Republic of Cyprus to join the Schengen zone”.
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