theForum » Travel » Travelling to Europe » Travel to Europe » Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

CB Root — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:47:03 GMT

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

Lazarus — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:47:03 GMT

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[b]Stersco83 - 20 Jun 26 8:11 AM[/b]

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[b]Movingon93 - 18 Jun 26 9:41 PM[/b]

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[b]punter99 - 3 Mar 26 10:59 AM[/b]

Its not really clear how Cyprus would know about the conviction. if the ppu are saying they did not place any notices on the passport, that is suggesting there is no interpol green notice in place, but the ppu would not necessarily know, because they do not have access to the interpol database, it is a different officer within the force who handles that.

might be worth taking a day trip to france for example, to see if there are any issues there

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So from what I have recently been told, I did actually have a marker - a green diffusion notice to interpol was added when I registered for the first time. My offender manager at the time actually told me I didn’t have any notices or markers but it was removed a month after I attempted to travel to Cyprus. I assume this is how they were aware of my offending as I had never been to the country before. I also wasn’t on the register pre-brexit so no hangovers from there. I am due to head to Barcelona soon and hoping I don’t have the same issues but when I filled out my travel form it came with a notice on the front suggesting the relevant embassy be contacted to check what their policy is for admitting RSO’s.

I followed the advice though I’ve been to Spain before with no issue. The embassy eventually replied saying they can’t tell me due to GDPR regulations and they don’t know the specifics of my offending so it’s left me concerned for sure. No clear guidance or reasoning - always just ‘down to local border enforcement’. Cyprus had recent images of me on some sort of official looking papers but it wasn’t anything above a green diffusion notice so I’d be very mindful of travelling there.

It was a very unpleasant experience, shouted at and a lot of back and forth between officers in their language so I had no idea what was going on. Then kept in a room for hours whilst my partner waited elsewhere to be put on a flight back to a different UK airport that night.

Scared of trying again in a couple of weeks to Barcelona but can’t wait another 5 years.

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"green diffusion notice to interpol was added when I registered for the first time"

So years ago when you first registered, they put up a permanent memo to planet Earth? Or a brief memo which the Cyprus borderers happened to keep a record of?

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I posted on this myself a few days ago & was told of this thread.

I was refused entry to Cyprus less than 2 weeks ago, despite having successfully travelled to Norway & Italy since my conviction. To say it stunned my family I was travelling with is an understatement. This was a real reality check of the consequences of my conviction for both me & them. Both my PP & SOM were surprised I'd been refused entry but my SOM did clarify that a green notice had been put on me. I knew this must've been the case as the Cypriot border staff knew what my conviction was for & had a picture of me that isn't recent on their paperwork.
All but 1 member of staff were were considerate, even apologetic & the 1 who wasn't was given a dressing down (judging by the tone of the senior person to them, I obviously don't speak Greek Cypriot!)
I was told that it was nothing personal but they don't admit anyone with a sexual offence of any type & also any offence that has 12 months or more sentence (unspent). They got me through the process simply & gave me an ununiformed officer for the escort to the plane. They even put so much effort into getting me to fly as soon as possible as in their own words "you don't want to be in our rooms"
I now know that Cyprus are going by the book so they can get more involved in the EU & ETIAS which probably explains the new harder line.

My concern is that now I have a documented refusal on the Schengen system that I won't be allowed to visit family in Norway & Italy again & nowhere I've searched seems to have reliable, consistent advice. It's ok if I travel with the rest of my family as they'll be able to stay but the hardest thing is risking travel with my wife. If I'm refused entry to a country, she won't want to stay alone & will have to arrange & pay for travel home separate from me, another knife in the heart of our fragile marriage, entirely caused by my stupidity.. Reality hits home hard sometimes.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

Stersco83 — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:11:41 GMT

[quote]

[b]Movingon93 - 18 Jun 26 9:41 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 3 Mar 26 10:59 AM[/b]

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Movingon93 — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 21:41:25 GMT

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[b]punter99 - 3 Mar 26 10:59 AM[/b]

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RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

AB2014 — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:24:03 GMT

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[b]punter99 - 3 Mar 26 10:59 AM[/b]

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Any notices are requested by the National Crime Agency in consultation with the chief of police at the relevant force, so the local plod might not know. If the person had travelled before, while British nationals were still on the Schengen Information System, that information might have been kept locally after British nationals were removed from the central records.

As for travel to France, if you're not near the Channel coast, you could try a cheap Eurostar ticket from London, as the French passport control is there, not in France. Might be cheaper than a return flight.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

punter99 — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:59:47 GMT

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

AB2014 — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:58:49 GMT

[quote]

[b]xDanx - 2 Mar 26 6:02 PM[/b]

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[b]Movingon93 - 1 Mar 26 11:24 PM[/b]

I have first hand experience of this. Due to travel March 2025 and I turned up and was taken into a room with multiple border control agents shouting loudly in their own language with each other. It took a while for them to effectively say ‘we don’t allow sex offenders into Cyprus’ and I was then put in a room with a bench for several hours until I was put on a flight home. They didn’t tell me what they knew or what paperwork they had. Fairly sure I saw a picture of myself (likely police paperwork from UK).The police were aware of my travel. When I got back I contacted my offender manager who had confirmed they had not put any notices on my passport and had no issue with me travelling. He asked around and in the several years’ experience in his office he had never had someone turned away from Cyprus. Seems I was the first. I’m now 5 years into my 10 year order and terrified to go abroad again. Even to Europe especially when the ETIAS is introduced. Be careful with Cyprus if you’re currently on the register. I don’t think they have a set procedure - at times it felt like it could’ve gone either way.

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Since you are at the 5 year mark of your order, ( I am assuing it is a SHPO?)
Have you considered applying to have the order discharged?

I do not travel so I do not know fully if a discharged SHPO would help prevent instances such as this. But something worth looking into if you ever felt the need

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Having to notify foreign travel comes from being on the Register, not the SHPO. So, if you successfully apply to have the SHPO discharged, it won't change anything technically, but it might annoy the police if they oppose the discharge and it is discharged anyway.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

xDanx — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:02:51 GMT

[quote]

[b]Movingon93 - 1 Mar 26 11:24 PM[/b]

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RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

Movingon93 — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 23:24:22 GMT

I have first hand experience of this. Due to travel March 2025 and I turned up and was taken into a room with multiple border control agents shouting loudly in their own language with each other. It took a while for them to effectively say ‘we don’t allow sex offenders into Cyprus’ and I was then put in a room with a bench for several hours until I was put on a flight home. They didn’t tell me what they knew or what paperwork they had. Fairly sure I saw a picture of myself (likely police paperwork from UK). The police were aware of my travel. When I got back I contacted my offender manager who had confirmed they had not put any notices on my passport and had no issue with me travelling. He asked around and in the several years’ experience in his office he had never had someone turned away from Cyprus. Seems I was the first. I’m now 5 years into my 10 year order and terrified to go abroad again. Even to Europe especially when the ETIAS is introduced. Be careful with Cyprus if you’re currently on the register. I don’t think they have a set procedure - at times it felt like it could’ve gone either way.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

Evan Davis — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 09:26:19 GMT

We are not aware of any changes to information sharing agreements between UK law enforcement agencies and we have not heard of any issues for people travelling to/from Cyprus specifically.

We are also not aware of any policy of police forces to make routine interpol notifications to Cyprus, which might account for this. As per our usual advice, anybody subject to Notification Requirements will almost certainly be issued with an Interpol notice if they travel to any Section 172 countries. Cyprus is of course not a Section 172 country. Outside of this, unless the individual is suspected to be travelling with the intention of committing sexual offences, or the individual is managed at higher levels (Level 2 or 3) of MAPPA, Interpol notices (or flags, as some refer to them) would not be issued and travel should be relatively hassle-free.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

CB Root — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:48:22 GMT

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 10 Oct 25 11:23 AM[/b]

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[b]CB Root - 9 Oct 25 9:28 PM[/b]

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[b]JGUK68 - 8 Oct 25 2:15 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 8 Oct 25 1:23 PM[/b]

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[b]punter99 - 8 Oct 25 11:07 AM[/b]

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[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.

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Well, I also understand (this from a slightly less reliable source) that the pre-Brexit cooperation is gradually coming back, so for example there is now limited data exchange between SIS (Schengen Information System) and the UK's own systems. So "discreet alerts" will likely become more common at Schengen borders...

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can you share this source,please?

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Sadly not, it's 2 private individuals whom I know personally and who are not employed in any official capacity but do have their fingers on the pulse of border issues...)

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There is no indication in the College of policing guidance to say that UK police have access to the Shengen database again.

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I'm due to have a beer with one of them over the weekend so I'll see if I can get any more info !

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

punter99 — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 11:23:19 GMT

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 9 Oct 25 9:28 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]JGUK68 - 8 Oct 25 2:15 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 8 Oct 25 1:23 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 8 Oct 25 11:07 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.

[/quote]

can you share this source,please?

[/quote]

Sadly not, it's 2 private individuals whom I know personally and who are not employed in any official capacity but do have their fingers on the pulse of border issues...)

[/quote]

There is no indication in the College of policing guidance to say that UK police have access to the Shengen database again.

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

CB Root — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:28:29 GMT

[quote]

[b]JGUK68 - 8 Oct 25 2:15 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 8 Oct 25 1:23 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 8 Oct 25 11:07 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.

[/quote]

can you share this source,please?

[/quote]

Sadly not, it's 2 private individuals whom I know personally and who are not employed in any official capacity but do have their fingers on the pulse of border issues...)

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

JGUK68 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:15:26 GMT

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 8 Oct 25 1:23 PM[/b]

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 8 Oct 25 11:07 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.

[/quote]

can you share this source,please?

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

CB Root — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:23:00 GMT

[quote]

[b]punter99 - 8 Oct 25 11:07 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.

[/quote]

RE: Cyprus no longer admitting RSOs ?

punter99 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:07:22 GMT

[quote]

[b]CB Root - 6 Oct 25 11:20 AM[/b]

I heard from a usually reliable source that Cyprus (the EU bit) are now turning away RSOs.

Can't find anything online about it, just wondering if anyone had more info ?

[/quote]

I suppose the obvious question is how would they find out? Unless they have access to the PNC, they will not know about your conviction or being on the SOR.