On February 29, the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus approved a bill to create a Ministry of Migration. This decision was called “historical for the country” by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Konstantinos Ioannou, who is currently in charge of the Migration Department and the Refugee Service.
Currently, a significant part of the issues that will be transferred to the jurisdiction of the new ministry are dealt with by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The sphere of its responsibility will include the registration of civil status acts (issuing IDs and passports to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, etc.) and the package of laws on marriage and civil unions.
The new department will oversee the migration policy of the Republic of Cyprus and issues related to the issuance of residence permits to foreigners, granting citizenship by naturalization, refugee status, and humanitarian status.
In the near future, the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will appoint the first Minister of Migration, who will be responsible for creating the structure of the ministry and forming a team.
