Cyprus Universities Association demands clarification of e-visa rules for TRNC students

The Cyprus Universities Association (KÜB) has called on the TRNC authorities to resolve ambiguities in the new electronic visa system for international students. The rules were introduced in the middle of the admissions campaign, and, according to the universities, some of the requirements could cost them applicants.

The main concern is the parallel operation of several systems. Universities enter student data into the Turkish Council of Higher Education’s YÖK system and the YÖKAS system for international student admissions, and now also into the GöçSis electronic visa system, while the same student receives different identification numbers in different systems. The association is calling for data to be submitted once to a single system and for the authorities to announce when YÖKAS will be deactivated.

The second issue is the processing time. An electronic visa application is reviewed within 30 days, but for administrative reasons the period may be extended to 60 days. For international student admissions, this is too long: if the visa arrives after the start of the academic year, the applicant withdraws from the admission process. The association is asking for processing times to be tied to the academic calendar and significantly reduced.

Universities are also asking for the requirement to be abolished under which the passport of an applicant from a country where the TRNC has no diplomatic representation must remain valid for another 24 months. The time required to issue and renew passports varies from country to country, and it is not always possible to extend the document.

Another area of uncertainty concerns student statuses. Universities are required to report every quarter whether a student is active, inactive, has frozen their registration or has been removed, but the criteria for these statuses are not defined, even though they determine the validity period of the residence permit. At the same time, universities have no contacts for the staff responsible for GöçSis, YÖKAS and electronic visas, and there is nowhere to turn when technical failures occur.

“Our aim is not to oppose the new rules, but to ensure that students are not placed at a disadvantage and that universities do not enter the same data into several systems,” the association said in a statement. The association is also asking that universities be sent drafts of future regulations before they come into force.