Visa to Cyprus

General information and requirements

The Republic of Cyprus is a member of the European Union but has not yet joined the Schengen Agreement. The country has its own visa system, and it is very convenient for Russian citizens: you can get a special pro-visa to stay for 90 days via the Internet for free. A paper multiple-entry passport visa is also issued free of charge. For a one-time visit to the Republic of Cyprus and arrival in the territory of Northern Cyprus, in most cases it is enough to obtain a pro-visa, and paper registration is required only in some cases, as described below.

Visa to Cyprus — Cyprus pro-visa and passport stamp

By the way, Cyprus is systematically moving towards full accession to the Schengen area, and perhaps this will take place in the coming years. Hurry to visit the country under the simplified regime while it is possible.

You can also easily enter if you have a valid Schengen visa, Bulgarian, Croatian, Romanian visa. Citizens of Ukraine can visit Cyprus without a visa. Citizens of Kazakhstan, Belarus and other CIS countries must obtain a visa in advance through a consulate in their country, or through a consulate in Russia.

So, Cyprus can be visited:

Valid multiple-entry Schengen visa, Bulgarian, Croatian, Romanian visa (for all citizens of the CIS countries).
On a free pro-visa obtained via the internet (only citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine).
On a paper visa received in advance at the embassy (for citizens of the CIS countries for a fee, for Russians for free).
Without a visa on a biometric passport (only citizens of Ukraine).
Visa-free if you have a residence permit in the EU (for citizens of all CIS countries).

Separately, there is a question of visiting the northern part of the Island (Northern Cyprus), which from the point of view of the Republic of Cyprus is considered occupied by Turkey. Northern Cyprus is visited without a visa and without any marks in the passport, but in order not to have any problems with the authorities of Cyprus and European countries, entry and exit to the northern part must be carried out strictly from the territory of the Republic of Cyprus. Learn more about visiting Northern Cyprus and whether you need a visa here.

Important to know when entering Cyprus

The required passport validity period is calculated differently depending on the type of visa received: for a pro visa, it must be at least 6 months from the date of application, for a paper visa, at least 3 months from the date of the end of the trip.
When entering a minor accompanied by guardians or one of the parents, you must have a notarized permission from the other parent/parents.
In no case and in no way do not mention or indicate in the documents at the border or in the application for a pro-visa that you are planning to relax in Northern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus is officially allowed to visit the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus only during the day with a tour. Overnight stays in hotels in Northern Cyprus from the point of view of the Republic of Cyprus are a violation.

Visiting Cyprus on a Schengen visa and visas of other countries

So far, it is not necessary to specially obtain a Schengen visa to visit Cyprus, but if you already have a valid Schengen in your passport, then you do not need to apply for a Cyprus visa or a pro-visa. True, there are some subtleties:

With a Category C double or multiple entry Schengen visa, it is possible to enter Cyprus without a pro visa or a paper visa.
With other types of Schengen visas, you can enter Cyprus from any country, but only after visiting one of the countries of the Schengen area.
You can stay in Cyprus only until the expiry of the Schengen visa.

It is also possible to enter on valid national visas of Bulgaria, Croatia or Romania, and the visa does not have to be activated before visiting these countries.

Visiting Cyprus on a pro-visa

Pro-visa – Pro-Visa) is a special facilitated option for obtaining a visa for citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. It does not apply to citizens of Kazakhstan, Belarus, and other former Soviet republics.

In fact, a pro-visa is not a full-fledged visa, but only a preliminary permit to obtain a visa stamp in a passport at one of the international arrival airports: Larnaca airport or Paphos airport. It gives the right to a single entry and stay in Cyprus for 90 days, and is valid for 180 days from the date of issue. You can apply for a pro-visa 3 months before the planned trip.

Requirements for obtaining a pro-visa

Entry must be carried out strictly through one of the International Airports of Larnaca or Paphos, and only by direct flight from the Russian Federation. Connecting flights in third countries will not work.
The passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the start date of the trip.

These requirements are officially published on the websites of the consulate, but there are discrepancies on them. So, on the websites of some sites of regional divisions of consulates of Cyprus in the Russian Federation by region, it is indicated that the minimum validity period of the passport is calculated from the date of application, and on others from the date of the beginning of the trip.

Also, in practice, you can enter on a pro-visa not by direct flight, but from other countries, but this is more a calculation of luck than a rule. In this case, depending on your luck or bad luck, you may not be put on a flight at the departure airport, and there will be a chance to be deployed at the border if you get a very attentive and principled border guard.

Validity of a pro-visa to Cyprus

The pro-visa is valid for 90 days from the date you indicated in the application for issuance, and not from the date of submission of the application or receipt of the pro-visa by e-mail, during which time you can enter the country. Once again, the 90-day countdown does not start from the moment you submitted your application or received confirmation by mail, but from the date you indicated as the date of your planned entry into the country.

For example, if you apply on January 10, and specify a date of entry on March 12, then the pro-visa will be valid from March 12 to June 6 (90 days), and not from January 10 or another date when you receive permission to mail.

How to apply for a pro-visa

A pro-visa to Cyprus is issued free of charge on the website https://www.provisa.mfa.gov.cy/russia. Sometimes the site does not open, in this case you need to try later, sometimes you have to wait a day or two. For this reason, by the way, you should not postpone the registration until the last days before departure.

On some sites on the internet you can find information that to obtain a pro-visa you need to download a questionnaire from the site, fill it out and send it to the email address. As of 2020, this method of filing does not work.

You do not need to have purchased air tickets when applying, and indicate in the application the exact date of entry into the country. You can apply, and then buy tickets. You will be able to enter the country within 90 days after the date indicated in the application, and you must leave no later than this period.

On the site you need to fill out a questionnaire, and immediately after sending it to the mail you should receive a confirmation of acceptance of the application. Then, after 1-5 working days, the final confirmation will be sent to the e-mail, which must be printed and provided when boarding the flight and at border control at entry.

Attention, the pro-visa is issued strictly free of charge! On the internet there are many sites that pose as official partners of the consulate, and collect money for registration and support of the process of obtaining it. At best, they simply provide consulting services, and at worst, they collect money and disappear.

Please note that there are reasons why they may refuse entry at border control, even with a issued pro-visa:

No return ticket, or if a return ticket with a departure date later than the validity of the pro-visa.
No hotel/apartment reservation, or if the booked hotel/accommodation is located in the northern part of Cyprus.
Suspicions of the border guard that you intend to work illegally in the country.
Lack of sufficient funds for the period of stay on the island. 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.

The lack of travel insurance is not a reason for refusal of entry, but it is better to issue an insurance policy, because it will cost only 170 rubles per week of travel. You can arrange a simple insurance, and you can include additional options like active sports, driving, travel insurance, etc. Read more about travel insurance in Cyprus, and how and where it is more profitable to buy here.

And here are the rules for filling out the questionnaire and an example

The questionnaire is filled in for adults and children. If the child does not have his own passport, but is entered in the parental one, then the passport number of the parent is indicated for him.

All data is filled in Latin letters and in English.

In the "profession or occupation" column, the company name, address and phone number are indicated.

At the first stage / screen you need to choose the regional consulate to which the application is submitted depending on your place of residence.

See the lists of Regions and their corresponding consulates on the pages:

Choosing a consulate

Visiting Cyprus on a paper visa

A paper visa (national visa) will need to be obtained only in these cases:

If you plan to visit the country more than once during your stay.
If you want to leave the country during your vacation on excursions or for other reasons to neighboring countries.
If you do not arrive on a direct flight from the Russian Federation.
If you arrive in Cyprus through the Seaport during the cruise.

It can be issued for one visit or several (multiple). But it has the same term limits as a pro-visa: a stay of no more than 90 days in total for every 180 days. The only difference with a pro visa is that you can leave and enter multiple times, and use seaports to arrive.

Obtaining a paper visa for citizens of the Russian Federation is extremely simple and free. You can get it even without a personal visit to the Consular Department. To do this, one of the consular departments must provide in person or through an accredited agency such documents::

Passport valid for at least 3 months from the end of the visa, and one free page;
completed and signed application form;
color photo, 3x4 CM;
route - receipt of an electronic plane ticket or ferry ticket;
copy of the first page of the passport;
copy of the first page of the internal passport (for Russian citizens);
copy of the registration page (from the internal Russian passport for Russian citizens);
a copy of the last page of the internal Russian passport with information about previously issued passports;
a copy of the voucher for accommodation (hotel reservation), or a copy of the contract for the purchase of real estate in Cyprus (+ original document), or a copy of the certificate of ownership (+ original document);
for minors, a copy of the birth certificate (have the original document with you);

The period of consideration is usually one day on working days, but you can get an urgent visa on the day of application.

You can submit applications to one of the regional offices:

Do I need a transit visa to Cyprus

There is a transit visa that must be obtained even for transit through an international airport. For a list of countries, see here.

None of the countries of the former USSR is on this list.

🕒 19 April, 2026

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