Why they can ban entry to Cyprus

The visa regime of Cyprus is still characterized by extreme loyalty, Russian citizens can get a visa for free and without a visit to the consulate online, which you can see in detail here – all about a visa to Cyprus. However, even having an already issued paper or pro-visa does not guarantee that you will find yourself in the country. There are reasons why you may not be put on a flight to Cyprus at the airport of departure, or deployed at the border. Here they are:

Entry on a pro-visa through a third country

Entry on a pro-visa should be carried out strictly by direct flight from the Russian Federation, but in practice many travelers violate this rule, and enter the country through third countries on a flight with transfers. Someone is lucky, and there are no questions, and someone is not even put on such a flight. Even if they put you on the flight, there is a chance that the border guard in Cyprus will not let you in. So if you want to be guaranteed entry on a pro-visa, it is better to observe the rule of direct flight at the entrance. This rule does not apply to departure, so you can fly, including an indirect flight.

Re-entry on a pro-visa

The pro visa is for single entry only, so if border control checks to see if you have used it before, you will be denied entry.

No return ticket, or if a return ticket with a departure date later than the validity of the pro-visa

A return ticket home or to any other country must be, and this rule is checked often. You will need to present a printout of the electronic ticket. Departure should not be necessarily direct, and not necessarily a direct flight.

No hotel/apartment reservation

This rule is also checked frequently. At the request of the border guard, you need to present a printout of the reservation, any one will do, including apartments booked on sites such as Airbnb. Reservations or reservations of several hotels must be for the entire period of your stay. As for the provision of a "fake reservation", in theory, border guards can check the validity by calling the hotel's phone (they are listed in the printout).

If you are planning a holiday in Northern Cyprus

Officially, we could not find confirmation of the existence of such a rule, but in practice we heard a lot of reviews that if you provide a printout of a hotel reservation or accommodation in Northern Cyprus, you can get a refusal.

If you intend to work illegally in the country

If you have a lot of entry stamps to Cyprus in your passport, or you are carrying something with you that can be interpreted as tools, they can additionally and carefully talk to you, and if you are not convinced that you are going exclusively on vacation, I can refuse.

Lack of sufficient funds for the period of stay

This item is checked extremely rarely, but if asked, you will need to present cash, a bank card and a bank statement about the availability of funds on it, or traveler's checks. It is necessary to have funds at the rate of approximately 50 euros per day of stay.

If you have previously illegally visited Northern Cyprus

If you entered the northern part of Cyprus by flight from Turkey or by sea, you will definitely be denied entry. From the point of view of the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, it is legal to visit Northern Cyprus only from the territory of the southern part, everything else is illegal entry.

In practice, it is now difficult to identify such violators, since the strains are not put in the passport when entering Northern Cyprus from Turkey. But it is still better not to take risks in case there are new ways to identify violators through databases.