Cyprus’ Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights (Ombudswoman) Maria Stylianou-Lottides has sounded the alarm over a little-noticed but far-reaching administrative gap: asylum seekers cannot register on the state’s CY-Login digital portal because identity-verification desks refuse to accept the documents they possess.
CY-Login has become the default gateway to almost every government service—from labour-office registration and social-insurance benefits to school enrolment and medical reimbursements. Verification, however, requires a Cypriot identity card, an EU registration certificate, or a valid residence permit. Asylum applicants hold none of these; instead they carry “confirmation letters” proving they have applied for international protection. Citizen Service Centres and Cyprus Post branches will not accept those letters.
![Cyprus Ombudswoman Warns: Digital Government Lock-Out Leaves Asylum Seekers Without Basic Rights]()
The Ombudswoman’s investigation, launched after an NGO complaint and an individual case involving a single mother unable to renew her work permit, revealed that ministries have been aware of the loophole since a 2022 inter-agency meeting but have taken no remedial action. The Information Technology Services Department argues that asylum applicants’ identities are not firmly established at the application stage and sometimes change later, so they fall outside the CY-Login rules.
Stylianou-Lottides rejects that rationale, stressing that as government services go “digital-only”, alternative channels must be provided or fundamental rights—access to work, benefits, schooling—are violated. She urges the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation & Digital Policy, the Migration Department and the Asylum Service to create an interim verification pathway, such as in-person confirmation or delegated authorisation.
For employers, relocation managers and NGOs the warning is clear: foreign employees or dependants with pending asylum claims may suddenly find themselves unable to obtain work-authorisation renewals or social-security payments. Companies should be prepared to accompany workers to physical counters or advocate for manual processing until a digital fix is in place.
CY-Login has become the default gateway to almost every government service—from labour-office registration and social-insurance benefits to school enrolment and medical reimbursements. Verification, however, requires a Cypriot identity card, an EU registration certificate, or a valid residence permit. Asylum applicants hold none of these; instead they carry “confirmation letters” proving they have applied for international protection. Citizen Service Centres and Cyprus Post branches will not accept those letters.
The Ombudswoman’s investigation, launched after an NGO complaint and an individual case involving a single mother unable to renew her work permit, revealed that ministries have been aware of the loophole since a 2022 inter-agency meeting but have taken no remedial action. The Information Technology Services Department argues that asylum applicants’ identities are not firmly established at the application stage and sometimes change later, so they fall outside the CY-Login rules.
Stylianou-Lottides rejects that rationale, stressing that as government services go “digital-only”, alternative channels must be provided or fundamental rights—access to work, benefits, schooling—are violated. She urges the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation & Digital Policy, the Migration Department and the Asylum Service to create an interim verification pathway, such as in-person confirmation or delegated authorisation.
For employers, relocation managers and NGOs the warning is clear: foreign employees or dependants with pending asylum claims may suddenly find themselves unable to obtain work-authorisation renewals or social-security payments. Companies should be prepared to accompany workers to physical counters or advocate for manual processing until a digital fix is in place.
