Cypriot Passport / Citizenship for US Citizen Process

Last week I went to Cyprus and successfully got my Cypriot passport and Cypriot ID card! I’m a US citizen so now have dual citizenship, and was eligible through my mother being born in Cyprus. Prepping for this was a bit intimidating, and my main resources were calling the embassy here in the USA, and reading a few reddit threads. Thanks to encouragement and info from others, I was able to achieve this!

While there, I took notes on all the steps to share here–things I wished I’d been able to find or know in advance because I really love information. So if you have any questions, feel free to ask! 🙂 Cost breakdown is also at the end of this post.

PREP WORK IN USA:
Before Cyprus, I called the embassy in Washington D.C. (202-462-5772 or email consulate@cyprusembassy.net) to start. They’ll have you email them and ask for the form, M121. It looks sketch but it’s the one. Fill it all out except the last page. That page you will fill out in Cyprus at the District Court, while they watch you and then put stamps on. The other documents you’ll need to obtain, ALL apostilled, include:

Applicant’s (my) birth certificate
Marriage certificate of the applicant’s parents
Photocopy of applicant’s passport
Photocopy of mom’s passport (I didn’t bring this because I had the apostilled copy of my mom’s Cypriot birth certificate)
Photocopy of Dad’s passport
Certificate of registration of the Cypriot parent (aka birth certificate)

Gathering these took me a while, but if you’re on top of it and have all of the original documents, you can send them off and get them back in about two weeks, depending on your state. I took all these documents with me to Cyprus. Something that confused me was that I’d read places that these documents all needed Greek translations–this is not true. English is fine.

Day 1 IN NICOSIA, CYPRUS

Step 1: District Court for Application Stamp – Signing your M121 form and getting it stamped
Address: I forgot to write this down but when you ask, they will tell you. They are really helpful!

Do not sign M121 until you go to Nicosia District Court. This will be your first stop. You will need to buy stamps and then go to a second office (they will point you there) and have them watch you sign and then attach your stamps for you to your form. Pics 1 and 2 are pictures of the area.

Step 2: Civil Registry and Migration Department Building – Submitting all your paperwork & paying
Address: Archbishop Makarious St

Go to the Civil Registry building, explain what you’re doing, and they will send you into the building. There are multiple windows–I went to the Greek Cypriot side which were the two left windows. The right is the Turkish Cypriot side. Pic 3 of what the tops of the windows in the office look like.

They review your paperwork and then you go to the cashier and pay €20 to finish submitting your application. The 20€ DO NOT get you a physical passport, they get you your blue “registration of birth outside of Cyprus document.”

Ask to fill out the form (pic 4) to get your passport and you can choose what you want. I chose the expedited passport. Go back to cashier to pay for that. For me, this was an additional €120.

Then you go back to do your biometrics, which is getting your photo taken and fingerprints around the corner. Left the house at 8:30am, was done by 10:40am. I then returned at 2pm to pick up my physical passport. Getting it the SAME DAY was surreal and worth the extra I paid!!!!!

Had to present copies of:
– Parents’ marriage license w/Apostille
– Mom’s original birth certificate
– Dad’s passport w/Apostille
– My birth certificate w/Apostille
– Copy of my passport w/Apostille
– M121 application with stamp from Nicosia district court

They kept:
– My birth certificate w/Apostille
– Copy of my passport w/Apostille
– M121 application with stamp from district court

They gave back to me:
– Parents’ marriage license w/Apostille
– Mom’s original birth certificate
– Dad’s passport w/Apostille

AND YOU’RE DONE! However…

If you plan to spend any time in Cyprus and make use of your new status, you will need to obtain an ID card. This cannot be done until you have your passport/registration. I did this the following morning.

Day 2 IN CYPRUS
Cypriot ID Card Process:

District Office Administration (Alkeou 2, Strovolos 1458)

Fill out paperwork. It’s all in Greek, no English copies. I used Google Translate and my mom to get it figured out 😛

Paid €30 at the window and had them write down a person to pick it up for me. I chose my uncle as he lives in Cyprus.

Got a second copy of my blue ID document at this same office for €20 (not necessary but why not?). This all took maybe 45 minutes tops. (Pic 5)

BONUS ROUND to get your blue Registration document Apostilled (so I could use it in the USA, for example)

Step 1: Ministry of Justice and Public Order (no appt needed) – for Apostille
Address: Athalassas Ave 122, Strovolos 2024

There are two offices, basically across the street from the other. You want to go to the more modern looking building(Pic6), NOT the big brown doors. I paid €5 for the stamp and to get it apostilled there. They might send you back to get a stamp from the court–I couldn’t tell if they were doing me a favor and using stamps they had on hand, or not. 😛

Total Costs:
In USA
– Apostille for birth certificate the state I got mine from allowed me to pay for both at once $76
– Apostille for Parents’ marriage license $1
– Envelopes and shipping $20
– Dad’s passport copy apostilled – $4
– Envelopes and shipping $20
– My passport photocopy notarized and apostilled $10
Total: $131

In Cyprus, in Cash:
– €3 for parking in lot for 1 hour (took about 20 mins)
– €9 for stamps
– €20 for application
– €120 to pick up expedited passport in the afternoon
– €30 for ID card
– €20 for another copy of my certification document
– €5 for Apostille stamp for document
Total: €207 ($224)
Grand total: $355

The process seems so overwhelming, but people are generally great, you can almost always find someone who speaks English (if you don’t speak Greek), and once you get started, things just, work out! Good luck!