Annie K

Review of Cyprus High Commission

I m baffled by the positive reviews about staff be...

I m baffled by the positive reviews about staff being helpful. 2nd visit after 1st was very disheartening. Lady I met with told me she was doing me a favour as it wasn t her job to see me for my citizenship application, she was covering for someone who wasn t well. Immediately she found a reason to tell me I haven t got the correct ids etc and have to come back, I told her that I had already waited 3 months for the appointment and that I had to make a special arrangement to go there. It was a waste of my time as the website was not clear as to which form was the correct one to complete and what was required. She raised her voice,go then , it s not my problem . My mum had to tell her to act like a professional. She calmed down and then explained that I didn t have the correct form and needed my parents marriage certificate apostilled. I asked her if it would be possible to give me a completed list of everything that I needed as I didn t want to book another appointment and come back again in 3 months, only to be turned away. She assured me that everything she had told me was correct. She also said her colleague at the front would book an earlier appointment for me so that I wouldn t have to wait so long. Her colleague at the desk refused and said I had to go online. Ok so three months later I went back. This time I came prepared with the correct form, (which is for minors but also used for adults?)I paid for an apostilled copy of my parents marriage certificate. So I waited and this guy came up to me and said are you waiting for an appointment? I replied and he told me to come in.I had my baby and husband with me. He said they can come in but cannot sit down as no chairs available. So they stayed in the waiting area. The guy was not super helpful. He again found a reason to tell me to book another appointment. Apparently the Cypriot government doesn t give back your original birth certificate. This was not mentioned to me last time. The lady I saw told me she would take a photo copy and I would keep the original(again misinformation) all he could say was I didn t tell you nothing. I explained what happened last time and he just smerked. I told him I cannot keep coming back every time for them to tell me different things. She wanted only my parents marriage certificate and would keep that, this time he said no he would only need to take a photocopy of the certificate and the apostille but couldn t do the same for my birth certificate. I told him this is terrible miscommunication.All he kept saying is book another appointment, get another copy and have it apostilled. It s not me, I don t make the website. I told him, they never answer the phone and they don t respond to emails either. He said I will book you an appointment in the afternoon, you come back one day in the afternoon. I told him that last time the front desk said they can t book appointments and he said, no we can. (Again bad service) he also told me the lady who met me last is there and he would get her to talk to me. I had to wait she didn t want to see me. Then a very nice lady waiting for her appointment saw my distress and told me to just stay calm, they did the same to her and she has had to come back 3 times. They made her give her original birth cert too. She ordered a copy for herself from the council. So I knocked on the door and asked to speak to that guy. He said the lady isn t available to speak with you today, make another appointment online. I replied no I m seeing you now my husband came in and said what is going on here? Then suddenly my application was taken, copies of ids etc taken no problem but kept Birth cert. you can always request another copy for yourself, as my husband was there he seemed to be nicer. We asked how long it would take 6-9 months, then you get it. Get what? Citizenship, then book another appointment for passport. Wow astonished. I was warned about the service by others before me. Believe it now as have 1st hand experience. Shocking.