Deputy Migration Minister Nikolas Ioannides and Education Minister Athena Michaelidou have agreed on a joint action plan to curb abuse of student residence permits by third-country nationals, following a 22 September policy meeting. Under the proposals, university registrars will be required to submit real-time attendance data to the Aliens and Immigration Service, and residence permits will be suspended automatically after 20 consecutive days of unexplained absence. The government says the measure targets ‘ghost students’ who enrol in low-cost private colleges as a back-door to the labour market. Internal audits show that up to 18 % of the 32,000 non-EU students registered in 2025 never attended classes after receiving their permits. For education providers, the reforms introduce significant compliance duties: institutions must appoint a migration liaison officer and risk fines of €5,000 per missing attendance report. Employers, meanwhile, should expect stricter checks when hiring students for the 20-hour part-time work allowance. Global mobility teams relocating dependent family members under Regulation 6(2) should note that the government still views bona-fide degree programmes as ‘low-risk’. However, dependants who switch status to student visas will face the same attendance monitoring, so early academic planning is advisable. The stricter regime is also designed to reassure EU partners that Cyprus is aligning with Schengen-level data-sharing standards—a prerequisite for the island’s accession bid slated for Council review in 2027.
Source: Hellenic.News
