Deputies consider citizenship for illegal immigrants married to Cypriots

FOREIGNERS who enter and remain in Cyprus illegally will be able to obtain citizenship if they are married to a Cypriot, according to a new bill tabled by the Cabinet.
If passed, the bill would theoretically allow Turkish settlers married to Turkish Cypriots to gain naturalisation. However, the Cabinet has stated that each case would be reviewed separately depending on the circumstances.

According to the current population law, the Cabinet has the authority to grant citizenship to children whose one parent is a Cypriot and the other an illegal immigrant. Dozens of applications for children of Turkish Cypriots married to Turks or other foreigners are pending Cypriot citizenship at the Interior Ministry.

Deputies have expressed concern that by issuing Cypriot citizenship to illegal immigrants married to Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots could soon become a minority in their own country.

Speaking after a meeting of the House Interior Committee, deputy George Varnavas wondered if the passing of the law would allow for more marriages between Turkish Cypriot and settlers or Greek Cypriots and illegal immigrants.

However, DISY deputy Nikos Tornaritis expressed his support for the bill, saying the Cyprus problem would not be solved based on the Penal Code.

The bill does not only apply to Turkish settlers in the North, but to any illegal immigrant who is married to a Cypriot citizen. However, the Cabinet has stressed that immigrants would not automatically be given citizenship by marrying a Cypriot and that they would examine each application with objectivity and caution.

The Cabinet said the law as it stood today was discriminatory towards Turkish Cypriots, while immigrant spouses of Greek Cypriots do gain citizenship even though they may have entered Cyprus illegally.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.