Two nicknames, two documents that have almost nothing in common. The yellow slip is the registration certificate, form MEU1, that an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen needs in order to stay in Cyprus beyond three months. It costs €20, carries no expiry date, and comes with full access to employment. The pink slip is the temporary residence permit issued to a non-EU national as a visitor. It costs €70, runs for a year at a time, and expressly forbids you from working. Both are issued by the Migration Department, which now sits under the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection rather than the Ministry of Interior.
| Yellow slip (MEU1) | Pink slip (visitor permit) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | EU / EEA / Swiss citizens | Third-country nationals |
| Fee | €20 | €70, plus €70 first registration |
| Deadline | Within 4 months of entry | Before your visa expires |
| Decision | Within 1 month | Usually within 4 months |
| Validity | No expiry date | 1 year, renewable |
| Work | Free access to employment | Prohibited |
The yellow slip is registration, not permission
Under the Law regarding the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Republic, Law 7(I)/2007, an EU citizen has an unconditional right to be in Cyprus for up to three months on nothing more than a valid identity card or passport. Past three months, you need to be a worker or self-employed person, or to have sufficient resources for yourself and your family not to become a burden on the social assistance system, together with comprehensive sickness insurance in Cyprus.
The MEU1 application has to be submitted within four months of the date you entered. The fee is €20 per applicant, a photograph is taken when you file, and the Department is required to decide within one month at the latest provided the file is complete. The certificate then arrives by post. It has no expiry date, which is why people who registered in 2011 are still carrying the same piece of paper.
Not registering is not free. The law makes non-compliance punishable by a financial penalty of up to €2,500.
What you have to produce depends on why you are here. An employee submits Part III of the application signed and stamped by the employer, registration with the Social Insurance Services, and a detailed statement of contributions naming the last employer and the salary. A self-employed applicant produces proof of contributions for the last four months. If you are still paying social insurance in another member state, you bring form A1 plus health insurance covering inpatient care, outpatient care and repatriation of remains, which the Department calls Plan A. Students bring a certificate of attendance, bank activity for the last quarter, and either GHS registration, Plan A cover or a European health insurance card.
Accommodation is where otherwise tidy applications fall apart. A rental agreement has to be stamped by the Superintendent of Stamping and have the landlord's and tenant's signatures certified, and it needs to be backed by original rent receipts and a utility bill in the tenant's name.
The pink slip is a visitor permit with a job ban attached
Regulation 14 of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations sets out what the permit is for: entering the Republic for short or long-term holidays, touring, or investigating the possibility of residing here. The same regulation says the holder cannot carry out an economic activity in the Republic. That is the whole bargain. You may live here, you may not earn here, and people who quietly freelance for clients abroad on a visitor permit are relying on nobody looking closely.
The categories are narrower than the nickname suggests: autonomous visitor, dependent spouse of a visitor, dependent minor child of a visitor, priest or monk of the Orthodox Church or of a recognised religious minority, dependent adult relative of a third-country national holding an immigration permit, and the partner of a Cypriot citizen with a documented long-term relationship who intends to marry. That last permit is issued for three months only, long enough to hold the wedding.
Entry has to be lawful, through a legal entry point and with a visa where your nationality needs one, and the application must be filed before that visa runs out. The form is MVIS8. Fees are €70 for issuance or renewal and a further €70 for first registration in the Aliens' Register, which produces your Alien Registration Card. A photograph, fingerprints and signature are captured, with children under six giving a photograph only. The Department examines applications usually within four months. A first permit runs for a year, though if your passport expires sooner the permit is cut back to three months before the passport's expiry.
What the €24,000 income test actually means
The money has to come from outside Cyprus: salary, pension, deposits held abroad, rents, dividends or interest. The evidence is a detailed statement from a Cyprus bank account showing foreign remittances in the applicant's own name totalling not less than €2,000 a month, or €24,000 a year, for a single applicant. Add 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child, so a couple with two children need to show €36,000. Transfers back out of the account, or on to third parties, are stripped out before the Department does the sum.
For a first permit a lump sum works instead: a cash transfer or deposit of at least €10,000 is accepted, and if you physically carried the money in, the customs cash declaration has to come with it. At renewal there is a separate floor. Whatever the size of your family, the account balance must not be below €6,000, which the Department treats as three months of income.
The rest of the first-permit file is heavier than most people expect. A letter of guarantee from a Cyprus bank, valid ten years, covering possible repatriation costs, issued in the applicant's name from their own account, with the amount set by country of origin. Plan A health insurance. A title deed or purchase contract deposited at the Land Registry, or a stamped and certified rental agreement, or a host declaration. An original clear criminal record certificate from your country of origin or residence, officially translated. And an original medical certificate showing blood tests for hepatitis B and C, HIV and syphilis, plus a chest X-ray for tuberculosis, stamped by a specialist doctor in Cyprus. Your passport needs at least three months of validity left on the day you file.
Where these applications come unstuck
Most refusals trace back to paperwork rather than eligibility. Every supporting document has to be officially translated and duly certified, and an uncertified rental agreement or an untranslated police certificate is enough to stall a file. The income calculation catches people who move money in and straight back out again. Renewals get refused when the balance has drifted under €6,000.
Timing does the rest of the damage. Renewal applications should go in at least a month before the current permit expires, and appointments are not always available on demand. If you leave Cyprus for more than three months, you cannot rely on the permit to get you back in. While an application is pending, the submission receipt is what you show if the police ask, and that protection does not extend to immigration permits or long-term residence status. The digital renewal service the Migration Department launched on 6 July 2026 does not help here either: it covers employment, domestic employment, foreign-interest companies, family reunification and long-term residents, not visitors.
British nationals now sit on both sides of the line
UK nationals who were exercising free movement rights in Cyprus before the end of the transition period keep them under the Withdrawal Agreement. Cyprus adopted the declaratory system available under Article 18(4), so those residents can carry on using the residence document they already hold as proof of their status, with the option of applying for the newer document if they prefer. Arrive today and none of that applies: you are a third-country national, and the pink slip or a work-based permit is the route. Our guide to moving to Cyprus from the UK sets out the rest of the sequence, and Cyprus visa requirements and work permits covers which permit fits which purpose.
What neither slip gives you
Neither document decides your tax position. Tax residency turns on day counting and the non-dom rules, not on what card is in your wallet, and plenty of pink slip holders are not Cyprus tax resident at all. Nor does the yellow slip convert itself into permanent status: after five continuous years a third-country family member of an EU citizen applies separately on form MEU3, which costs €20, is decided within six months, and produces a card valid for ten years. The investment-based route is different again, and covered in our permanent residency guide.
Stuck on a residence application? Browse the directory for an immigration and residency lawyer who can check the file before you queue at the Migration Department. Fees, income thresholds and document lists here reflect the published position in August 2026; confirm the current requirements with the Migration Department or your adviser before you file.