Photographers upset their work no longer accepted for official use

Professional photographers are upset their photos for IDs, passports and driving licences are no longer accepted by the citizens’ service centres.

They say this is hurting business during a particularly difficult time because of the coronavirus pandemic which has led to the cancellation many events and restricted weddings to a small number.

The Cyprus News Agency quoted the presidents of two associations, one a member of the Employers Federation (OEB) and the other of the small shopkeepers’ association Povek, expressing their opposition.

Angelos Hadjisofocleous said this policy was one of the biggest problems facing his 90-member association, which is a member of OEB.

Even though professional photographers can produce the photo in line with the required specifications, these were not accepted and applicants are instead photographed at the actual centre where authorities have set up facilities. According to Hadjisofocleous, the photo is not free, but included in the cost of issuing the document.

Photographers would charge between €8 and €10 for such photos, and 19 per cent would go to the state as VAT.

For difficult cases such as infants and the elderly, centres ask that they bring a photo from a professional photographer, effectively sending back all the ‘difficult cases’, he added.

Charalambos Charalambous of the second association told the Cyprus News Agency that consultations are underway with the interior ministry on the issue.

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.