Appeals court annuls rejection of Ukrainian woman's citizenship application in Cyprus

The Administrative Appeals Court in Cyprus has unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that had upheld the refusal of a Ukrainian national’s application for naturalization. The applicant, identified as R.M.R., first arrived in Cyprus in 2000. Her history includes a marriage to a Greek Cypriot in 2001, which led to deportation proceedings, followed by subsequent marriages in 2009 and 2011. She officially submitted her citizenship application on December 7, 2012.

The appeals court found that the Administrative Court had relied on an incorrect factual basis, specifically regarding the reasoning behind the Minister of Interior’s decision. While the notification letter sent to the applicant provided a specific justification, the internal ministerial memo used to support the decision contained broader reasoning that the lower court failed to adequately review. The case involves complex scrutiny, including negative reports from Interpol dated April 23, 2014, despite no security concerns raised by the Cyprus Intelligence Service (KYP) in 2014. The rejection was originally issued in 2017.

Following this appellate decision, the case has been returned to the Administrative Court for a fresh review. The legal process, now spanning nearly 14 years, remains ongoing as the court must now properly evaluate the administrative records and the scope of the Minister's justification.