Civil registry gets digital facelift

Ten new civil registry digital services, placing people’s needs at the forefront, were presented on Thursday in Nicosia.

The services are part of the government’s plan for digital modernisation, simpler citizen-state interaction, qualitative service and scrapping red tape.

The first phase of digitalisation kicks into action on Thursday.

Through gov.cy, one can apply for reissuing birth and death certificates, issuing or renewing IDs and passports for adults and issuing certificates of permanent residency and origin for students.

Those eligible will have access to the list of certificates issued and will be able to verify the validity of certificates.

All procedures, except ID and passport issuing, can be performed exclusively online.

The digital services are currently in Greek and will be available soon in English.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou told Thursday’s press conference that this was just the beginning.

The aim, he said, was to transition to the full digitalisation of the population registry, to be more time-effective and user-friendly and to reduce the carbon footprint.

Digital Policy Deputy Minister Nicodemos Damianou said these services were yet another step in the direction of digitalisation of citizen services.

By simplifying procedures and implementing modern and flexible methodologies that improve the user’s experience, the state was equipping citizens with the tools they needed to easily and safely navigate the new digital environment, he added.