Court finds Nepalese woman in the right after being declared illegal
The appeals court has cancelled a decision to declare a woman from Nepal an illegal immigrant and deport her.
The ruling, taken on March 10 but published on Monday, effectively annuls a decision by the court of first instance, saying the authorities may have misled the court as to when the woman was considered to be residing in the Republic illegally.
The woman had arrived in Cyprus in 2024 as a domestic worker in Larnaca. On May 22, 2024, she had been released by her employer and her residence permit had been revoked. On January 21, 2025, she applied for a residence permit so she could work for a new employer.
The immigration service in Nicosia said the applicant had been handed a letter on April 9, 2025, announcing her release from her new employer. When she was arrested on May 16, 2025, there was no pending application in the system, however when questioned the woman said she did not wish to return to her country and wanted to find another job.
She was then declared a forbidden immigrant and the process began for her remand and deportation.
The administrative court had rejected her application, saying that the authorities’ actions were adequately justified.
The appeals court, however, revised all facts and found that the process had been initiated during her 30-day grace period to find a new employer, before being obliged to leave the country.
It found that the agreement to be released from the employer was signed on April 9, 2025, but the Nepalese woman had signed on May 1, 2025.
The court said the date of acceptance of the agreement was therefore May 1, 2025, and that the woman still had time to find new employment before being considered an illegal immigrant.
It furthermore said that, although there was a presumption in favour of the correctness of the court of first instance ruling, this could be overturned when evidenced arose that raised serious doubts.
In this case, it added, doubts were cast as a result of error and incomplete investigation, which made the grounds of the appeal admissible, overruling the initial decision.