# Marriage



## hip999 (Jul 24, 2011)

Hi,

I am a UK male citizen who wants to retire to Cyprus and bring my Filipino female partner. I qualify to enter on my UK passport but she would have to enter on a temporary visitor's Visa (although a student or work Visa might be possible).

But does anyone know what the rules are regarding marriage? Could we marry soon after entering Cyprus and thus she becomes my dependent? I know about the requirement for adequate funds, which I meet ..... it is really just above the marriage laws I am unsure.

regards,

Steve


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

Yes, you could do that - get married after you arrive but if you are going to do it anyway it may be easier to just be married upon arrival rather than making mulitple trips to immigration.


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## hip999 (Jul 24, 2011)

Cleo Shahateet said:


> Yes, you could do that - get married after you arrive but if you are going to do it anyway it may be easier to just be married upon arrival rather than making mulitple trips to immigration.


Thanks for the advice. What I particularly need to know is, if I marry a non-EU citizen in Cyprus then can we both stay there as permanent residents or would my new wife have to leave Cyprus to obtain a new Visa from the Philippines? Also, would Cyprus expect her to leave the country because she entered as a temporary visitor (as in the UK where a tourist has to return to his/her own country to obtain a marriage Visa). It appears that temporary visitors have to show proof they will be leaving Cyprus so does a marriage then cancel that requirement?


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

Give one of the municipalities a call, maybe they can shed some light for you:

Union of Cyprus Municipalities


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

hip999 said:


> Thanks for the advice. What I particularly need to know is, if I marry a non-EU citizen in Cyprus then can we both stay there as permanent residents or would my new wife have to leave Cyprus to obtain a new Visa from the Philippines? Also, would Cyprus expect her to leave the country because she entered as a temporary visitor (as in the UK where a tourist has to return to his/her own country to obtain a marriage Visa). It appears that temporary visitors have to show proof they will be leaving Cyprus so does a marriage then cancel that requirement?


I would check specifically for your case as I assume every country would be different. I arrived in Cyprus and got a 90 day temporary visa, but being married to an EU citizen we just went to immigration and I got permanent residence.


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

hip999 said:


> What I particularly need to know is, if I marry a non-EU citizen in Cyprus then can we both stay there as permanent residents


Yes, (although formally it is not "permanent" for the first 5 years) see forms MEU1A (for you) and MEU2A (for your wife). They contain instructions (last pages, in Greek and English). You can download them from this page: _hxxp://moi.gov.cy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=199&lang=en


> or would my new wife have to leave Cyprus to obtain a new Visa from the Philippines? Also, would Cyprus expect her to leave the country because she entered as a temporary visitor


No, they can not require that. Your and your wife's freedom of movement rights are not subject to holding any particular type of visa or any other administrative formalities. Directive 2004/38/EC only states that a member state may require an entry visa in order to facilitate entry of a non-EU family member, but once she is in the country her residency rights are not affected by things like the type of visa she entered with (or if she even had a visa).
See European Commissions guide on freedom of movement: _hxxp://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/citizenship/docs/guide_2004_38_ec_en.pdf



> (as in the UK where a tourist has to return to his/her own country to obtain a marriage Visa).


In the UK this requirement does not apply to family members of EU (but non-UK) nationals. And UK nationals can use EU law only if they lived in another EU country before coming back to the UK.

P.S.: sorry for weird links, this forum does does not let me post URLs as I'm new here. You need to copy/paste them and replace "_hxxp" with "http". Or would please moderators edit my post or somebody who can post links just re-post them properly.


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

Cleo Shahateet said:


> I would check specifically for your case as I assume every country would be different.


No, they can not be different, at least not in this regard.
Conditions of exercising of "treaty rights" by EU nationals and their family members are laid out in Directive 2004/28/EC and they are exhaustive, meaning member states are not at liberty to impose any additional requirements etc.
See the EC's guide I gave a link to above.


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

zin said:


> Give one of the municipalities a call, maybe they can shed some light for you:


Yes, it is a good idea to do this, as they will need some documents confirming that you are free to marry for example (i.e. not married at the moment) and those differ for different nationalities as far as I know. (i.e. for some it is enough to swear in court that you are free to marry, but from others they require country-specific documents some of which might be obtainable only in that country but not from its embassy in Cyprus) Also different municipalities might require different papers.


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## hip999 (Jul 24, 2011)

passerby said:


> yes, (although formally it is not "permanent" for the first 5 years) see forms meu1a (for you) and meu2a (for your wife). They contain instructions (last pages, in greek and english). You can download them from this page: _hxxp://moi.gov.cy/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&itemid=199&lang=en
> 
> no, they can not require that. Your and your wife's freedom of movement rights are not subject to holding any particular type of visa or any other administrative formalities. Directive 2004/38/ec only states that a member state may require an entry visa in order to facilitate entry of a non-eu family member, but once she is in the country her residency rights are not affected by things like the type of visa she entered with (or if she even had a visa).
> See european commissions guide on freedom of movement: _hxxp://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/citizenship/docs/guide_2004_38_ec_en.pdf
> ...


thanks very much for this .... I was not aware of your reply until today.


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

im a greek cypriot citisen living in uk i want to marry my iranian girl friend who lives in iran if she visits cyprus as a visitor can i marry her in cyprus and if so would she be allowed to stay or would she need to go back to iran. also i would like to know if she went to north cyprus first as she does not require a visa there can she come to the greek side from there or will she require a visa. thank you


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

*dimetris*, going through the north is definitely not a good idea as she might encounter all sorts of problems with RoC authorities because of it after. (for one, it is unlikely that she would ever be granted citizenship as your wife because of "illegal entry").
You might want to give a call to a city hall/municipality or a few in Cyprus to find out what they require to get you two married. They might want some papers from the country of origin to confirm single/divorced/etc status ("freedom to marry") so it is a good idea to find this out before she leaves her country. Try Aradippou, they are known to make the process the easiest.


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

As to her rights to stay after marriage. Yes she would be allowed to stay with you in Cyprus as your wife. In addition as you live in the UK now you can also use Surinder Singh ECJ ruling (google it) and secure her residency rights via directive 2004/38/EC this way.


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

passerby said:


> *dimetris*, going through the north is definitely not a good idea as she might encounter all sorts of problems with RoC authorities because of it after. (for one, it is unlikely that she would ever be granted citizenship as your wife because of "illegal entry").
> You might want to give a call to a city hall/municipality or a few in Cyprus to find out what they require to get you two married. They might want some papers from the country of origin to confirm single/divorced/etc status ("freedom to marry") so it is a good idea to find this out before she leaves her country. Try Aradippou, they are known to make the process the easiest.


thank you for your advise , u said she can stay in cyprus if she marry me but is she allowed to marry me if she comes as a visitor? also she was refused entry visa to the uk will this prevent her getting a visa to cyprus? also what kind of visa would be best visitors visa or do they have marridge visa?


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

dimetris said:


> thank you for your advise , u said she can stay in cyprus if she marry me but is she allowed to marry me if she comes as a visitor?


Certainly. Google "wedding tourism cyprus".


> also she was refused entry visa to the uk will this prevent her getting a visa to cyprus?


Do not know about this.


> also what kind of visa would be best visitors visa or do they have marridge visa?


I do not think Cyprus has any special "marriage visas".


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## passerby (Jul 24, 2011)

I'd like to add that there is no such thing as "to be allowed to marry" (or not). The right to get married is your human right as per European Convention of Human Rights.


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

passerby said:


> I'd like to add that there is no such thing as "to be allowed to marry" (or not). The right to get married is your human right as per European Convention of Human Rights.


thank you passerby you give us some hope as we are in istunbul now for the british embassy as the uk embassy is closed down in iran. and she was refused visa and is returning to iran and me to london on saturday. we are disapointed and we didnt know what we can do. if you have any other usefull information i would be gratefull.


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## cds usa (Jan 4, 2011)

When we got married in Cyprus 12 years ago, I'm Cypriot and my husband American, he just came over as a tourist. I remember we both needed birth certificates and if previously married a copy of the divorce, that's it. To get married in the church she'd also need to be baptized Orthodox but you know that. We went back to the states to live but could've stayed in Cyprus if we chose.
If she doesn't need a tourist visa for Cyprus you can bypass the uk embassy altogether and just fly to Cyprus.


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

cds usa said:


> When we got married in Cyprus 12 years ago, I'm Cypriot and my husband American, he just came over as a tourist. I remember we both needed birth certificates and if previously married a copy of the divorce, that's it. To get married in the church she'd also need to be baptized Orthodox but you know that. We went back to the states to live but could've stayed in Cyprus if we chose.
> If she doesn't need a tourist visa for Cyprus you can bypass the uk embassy altogether and just fly to Cyprus.


thank you, how long was your husband in cyprus as a tourist and how long does it take to get marrid in cyprus. she does need a visa to cyprus from iran.


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## cds usa (Jan 4, 2011)

dimetris said:


> thank you, how long was your husband in cyprus as a tourist and how long does it take to get marrid in cyprus. she does need a visa to cyprus from iran.


At the time we just came in for the wedding, ten days, but I had the marriage license already process under way. If you are having a civil service it's fast and easy. Just some paperwork.
As there is no Cyprus embassy in Instambul I'm not sure of your options. As you said she can fly to the North and then what? Can she get a visa then to enter the south? I'm assuming that if Cyprus requires a visa for Iranians they would also require it for Iranians coming from the south otherwise what would be the point?
you need access to a Cyprus embassy or consulate, absent of that I would try the Greek embassy, maybe a visa to Greece and then the Cyprus embassy there?


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

cds usa said:


> When we got married in Cyprus 12 years ago, I'm Cypriot and my husband American, he just came over as a tourist. I remember we both needed birth certificates and if previously married a copy of the divorce, that's it. To get married in the church she'd also need to be baptized Orthodox but you know that. We went back to the states to live but could've stayed in Cyprus if we chose.
> If she doesn't need a tourist visa for Cyprus you can bypass the uk embassy altogether and just fly to Cyprus.


thank you, how long was your husband in cyprus as a tourist and how long does it take to get marrid in cyprus. she does need a visa to cyprus from iran.


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## dimetris (Apr 24, 2012)

cds usa said:


> At the time we just came in for the wedding, ten days, but I had the marriage license already process under way. If you are having a civil service it's fast and easy. Just some paperwork.
> As there is no Cyprus embassy in Instambul I'm not sure of your options. As you said she can fly to the North and then what? Can she get a visa then to enter the south? I'm assuming that if Cyprus requires a visa for Iranians they would also require it for Iranians coming from the south otherwise what would be the point?
> you need access to a Cyprus embassy or consulate, absent of that I would try the Greek embassy, maybe a visa to Greece and then the Cyprus embassy there?


ok thank you. she will go back to iran and try to get visa to cyprus from there. if any one knows about getting visa to cyprus from iran would be much apreated also she was refused visa to uk would that prevent her getting visa to cyprus.


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