Cyprus visa and entry requirements

In the EU, not in Schengen

This is the fact that catches people, because every other EU country in this region is in both.

• Cyprus is an EU member state but is not part of the Schengen area.
• Its 90 days in any 180 are counted on its own clock, separately from Schengen. Days here do not consume your Schengen allowance, and vice versa.
• Your passport is stamped on entry and exit. Cyprus is outside EES.
• A Schengen visa is not automatically valid for Cyprus, though holders of certain multiple-entry Schengen visas are admitted - check your own case rather than assuming.
• Flying from Athens to Larnaca is an international flight with passport control at both ends, which surprises people every summer.

The divided island

• The Republic of Cyprus controls the south. The north is administered by a Turkish Cypriot authority recognised only by Turkey.
• The Republic considers its only legal points of entry to be in the south - Larnaca and Paphos airports, and the ports of Limassol and Larnaca.
• Flying into Ercan in the north, via Turkey, is not a legal entry into the Republic. You may be refused permission to cross to the south, and you will have no Republic entry stamp.
• If you intend to see both sides, arrive in the south.

Crossing the Green Line

• Crossing points through the UN buffer zone are open and used daily by residents and visitors.
• Take your passport. You show it at both sides; it is a checkpoint rather than a stamped border for most visitors.
• Hire cars are the complication - most southern rental agreements exclude the north or require separate insurance bought at the crossing. Check before you drive up.
• Duty-free limits apply when you come back south, and they are enforced.

The allowance

• Most Western passports get 90 days in any 180.
• The passport should be valid for the duration of the stay; carriers often ask for three months beyond.