British dads say trapped in Cyprus with newborn twins while they wait passports

A British couple have reportedly been stranded in Cyprus for two months pending the issuance of a passport for their twin daughters, born on the island via a surrogate.

Due to the delays, the couple said have ended up with about £10,000 (€11,475) accommodation bills.

The girls were born on August 3 and two weeks after, Alex and Greg De Mario-Ellis applied for their passports to the relevant authority in the UK, the Daily Mail reported. They sent the birth certificates and other documents via courier to the passport office, which responded with an acknowledgement on August 28.

But the British twins Adeline and Elodie have not yet been issued travel documents, hence are unable to travel to their home in Lilliput, Dorset.

“The girls have to go home to have vaccinations and we are also concerned that in a few days out 90-day tourist visa runs out and we will be considered overstayers.

“They are now eight weeks old and we really just want to be able to go home and begin our family life,” Alex said.

The couple make daily phone calls to the passport office, but was told that despite the fact that applications can be processed in a week, the timescale is longer because their daughters were born in Cyprus.

“One person I spoke to at the passport office said the wait time was 13 weeks which is just ridiculous,” Alex said. According to official government figures, the wait for a passport renewal can reach ten weeks or more.

Alex explained that they arrived in Cyprus in July and had only planned to stay for six weeks but have ended up having to stay almost three months.

They had to change six Airbnbs as most tourist accommodations were fully booked and are currently in Paphos.

“We just want to get home and having been stranded here is causing a lot of stress,” he said.