Search the Community

Hello! I’m moving to Istanbul with my wife and two young ones(infant and toddler) for a year. I plan on working from home for my company, do I need a work permit for that? I’m a software engineer that works from home so I can live anywhere. Is there a better site than sahibinden? I find the English site always switches back to Turkish. Has anyone used thebluegrounds.com? What’s a good private health insurance provider in Turkey for English speaking expats? It seems there’s lot of options online but they appear to be foreign companies with contracts there and not based in the country. Thanks for any help!

Merhaba, Phase 1: I am Zohaib from Pakistan and planning to migrate to Turkey by purchasing a property (my brother and sister on same TAPU). I am planning a visit at the end of January for total 20 days (as I have takes leave from Job). So what I am planning is to either short list some property here through Sahibinden or maybe through some Estate Agent and as soon as I land I visit and finalize the property and initiate the process of purchasing and then apply for Residence Permit. Now main question is, Is this all possible in 20 days ? Purchasing Property Applying Residence Permit (I can give my siblings power of attorney so they can do any documentation needed and receive my TR card) 2nd Possibility: Rent property Apply for tourist residence permit Find property Phase 2: My rest of the family that include my wife & children and my parents will migrate as well along with me after winding up everything from my homeland so we will purchase one more property(the higher value one) under my parents name so they will be eligible for residence permit as well. We will also be investing in some business (probably more than 1) as I will be leaving my job and we have a plan to focus on business in Turkey. Now the question is, can I apply for my wife and children TR along with my application during my first visit ? I am looking for some real estate agent and lawyer for consultation. So please mention some reliable one's. I have submitted a form on this website for the same purpose but haven't got any response.

To introduce myself, I am a Serbian freelancing translator who currently lives partly in Greece and partly in Serbia. Мy wife and I have both Greek permanent residence through her Swiss passport. We own an apartment in Kassandra peninsula but, as much as we love it there and though Kassandra has a much better climate in the winter than Belgrade/Serbia, we would like to follow the sun to a warmer, and to be honest, less expensive region. We generate together monthly roughly an average of 2k, which is not enough for year-round stay in Greece and eats up our reserves. During Corona we have to stay in our Greek seaside village because it is much safer than Belgrade (the Greek have harsh Corona measures, but Serbia has only very few and plus about nobody respecting them, so it would be risky to be in Serbia right now) but for the future we have to find a solution that fulfills both, our needs for year-round warmth and seaside as well as our needs for a budget friendly environment. So, considering budget and seaside, the choices were Bulgaria, Montenegro or Turkey, considering the better climate during winter, definitively Turkey is the winner. The basic idea is to spend the summer months in Greece and to sell our apartment in Belgrade to buy a property in Turkey for the winter months. Let's say some division of four months Greece, 5 months Turkey and 3 months Belgrade. The secondary idea is to avoid being anywhere more than 183 days. We are a mid-aged couple (55 & 59), so our party times are past tense, we seek some rather quiet but not out-of-season dead environment for the autumn/winter period. So here are some question, if someone experienced with Turkey is willing to give us some hints (at the end we will still have to spend some two or three months in Turkey to check things out). 1. Weather Since the north of Greece is not warm enough for us, the same applies to the north of Turkey. We thought about Bodrum, Alanya, Antalya, something that lies more or less in line with Cyprus. If possible a long swimming season, well into November and ideally from April on, and a temperature of 15+ in December and January. Ideal would be a region with not too much rainfall and winds. My wife is very sensitive to wind so even the winds on Kassandra bother her. Our idea is to swim as long as possible during the year and then to continue with walks under a mild climate when swimming is not possible anymore. 2. Social life Though we are not anymore up to clubbing and parties, we would like a place that is quiet but has also some life out of season. We like to take our cappuccino every day at a nice cafe at the seaside and watch the promenade. A variety of cafes, bars and restaurants that are open throughout the year would be very nice. Also some clubs with live music, jazz preferably, but local ethno music is also welcome (I have a solid collection of sufi, and generally eastern music). An alternative/gothic club would be the dot on an i, just to remind me from time to time on my younger days. Now and there and exhibition or concert would be very nice. Also preferable is a place with some local expat community and an open-minded local community with some knowledge of English. The chance that we manage to learn Turkish is on a long stick. We speak English, German, French and a bit of Italian but have no talent for languages that are not Germanic or Romance (Italian, Spanish,...). Speaking of an open-minded local community I think also of a less nationalistic and muslim-centric environment. I know, this is easier to find in Istanbul, but the tourism should have left some mark also on the southern seaside cities. 3. Safety That means a place where people are not xenophobic and some religious fanatic would attack me just because I look like a German or because we speak Serbian. That means also a moderate crime rate. I like to take long walks at night without having a baseball bat at hand. I guess, it would be advisable to choose a place that is not so close to the Syrian border. Turkey is a relatively unknown field to me so I'm not quite sure what to expect. But I try to stay open-minded and the choice for Turkey is anyway already made, so just the exact location is an open question. Well, that covers it for the most part. I would be very thankful for some hints or advice on the above matters. You can read a lot on the internet but first-hand experience is what matters, so I guess expats in Turkey are the best address. Hopefully, I will join you not only on the forum but in Turkey as a fellow expat.

My wife and I moved to Izmir from Canada recently. We're researching and exploring other cities such as Fethiye, Kas, and Koycegiz. We plan to rent a car next week and stay in these 3 cities a few nights to get a feel of the place and if we like them, we'll come back again to explore more. We're looking for a place with warmer weather than Izmir (Izmir has been quite cold this February); more green places such as forests, large parks, ... for morning runs or evening strolls as opposed to a large city with lots of buildings and shopping malls; a live city so it's not dead in the winter; and finally a city that has a large expat community living there. I don't like big cities and my wife doesn't like small villages so we hope to find a place in the middle to please both of us. A quick background about us, we're both in our 40s, without children, and working remotely. We're not much into dining or bars, but more into nature, picnic, and outdoor activities. I'd appreciate if you can recommend good and safe neighbourhoods in above cities, preferably the ones with expat community living there. We plan to live in a sitesi (residential complex) with 24/7 security and a swimming pool. Also, I would appreciate if you can share your experience, views and tips about these cities please. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'd like to move to turkey for a while. I'm single with a (big) dog. I was thinking of Alanya but after reading another post (I had posted a reply but it disappeared), I'm not sure I'd like to go there anymore. I'm looking for a place where interesting people live, whether Turkish or expats. Intelligent, educated and interesting. I was recently told by a fellow Canadian that Alanya is not ideal as it's a party, touristy place and that - her words not mine: "cheap people live there" .. not sure what she meant. Also, I'm terrified of earthquakes and the seismic map shows that the area of Alanya, Mersin, etc. is not at risk of big ones, just small wiggles. I have no idea of crime rates in different areas. About me: I'm not super young, but I'm still far from retirement. Not looking for a party place but more of a nice place with authentic people who are not looking at you like a tourist or a walking wallet. I have no desire to date or anything (in process of getting divorced, so I want no romance whatsoever for quite some time..). I just need a beautiful place, not far from beach, can be hills, where I can make interesting and educated friends. I like people and making friends. I speak no turkish but will want to learn. My dog needs to be safe as well so not far from a place where I could find a good vet. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi every one , We are a family ( parents with 3adults children) plan to move to Turkey for about 1-3 years . We want to find the suitable budgate furnished accommodation in a big city as Ankara ,Istambul or any other city with the least prices .of living any good suggestion or offer? May you tell me about the living prices in Turkey? Accommodation, food , Transportation, Internet and so on... If we can't find furnished flat, can we borrow/rent the basic equipment for living? how much should we pay? Thanks in advance

Aaah, guys, I'm so worried now. I was supposed to leave for Turkey on the 30th but all of the sudden we've lost the original flight I wanted and had to settle for another one, a way longer one, so we decided for money reasons to push forward the date to the 26th because now my flight will take two days and then I'll have an extra day to get used to the time difference, etc. BUT! Oh man, I'm not ready for this! I didn't speak any Turkish at all really until this summer when I really tried to study but I can hardly say anything at all correctly or pronounce it right and the worst thing is that I can't seem to memorize the most important phrases. Like the whole exchange you have when someone says hello. Of the title you add onto people's names when you first meet them. Or the right way of saying thank you, seriously why is sag olun so much easier to say and yet not the right one to use ubiquitously? I'm getting really scared now. I want to be polite and be able to communicate with people, or at the very least say hello correctly and ask how they're doing. But even now I can't do that! And even more so, I'm getting really worried about being in Istanbul. I haven't really been in a big city, and Istanbul is not just big, it's humongous. I have only ever taken the bus at my College as any sort of public transportation and even that took me like three months to get used to so I'm terrified of getting on the wrong bus in Turkey and then not being able to find my way home! The good thing is that the home I'm staying at is only a half hour walk away from the school I'm attending, so I can go there by foot! (Though even that is terrifying because I've been reading that you need to be very careful crossing streets and I have to say living out in the middle of nowhere I don't have much experience with traffic on roads.) But honestly the biggest thing I worry about is being rude! There's so many things I've been learning recently. Don't give complements to a baby. Don't turn your back on a person. How to say no when someone wants to stuff you full of food. All of these things are so tiny and I don't really know how to do them. The worst is when guidebooks tell you about something to avoid and then don't say exactly what you should do instead. For instance I've read that you shouldn't give a present directly to the recipient and that you should place it on a table or hallway or something, but is that after you've shown it to them or just in secrecy for them to find later? I can't stop worrying. I love languages and learning and cultures and I'm so very excited about this trip but I just can't stop all my negative thoughts. What if I insult someone? What if I get lost? What if no one likes me? Can you guys tell me about your first trip to Turkey, or any insight into not making a fool out of yourself? I'm so glad this site is here, I just keep reading the older topics about other people's travels and they make me laugh and get so excited!

I recently found this site as I was searching for jobs. I like the tone a lot more than Dave's ESL! Currently, I'm in Korea teaching English. After a rough year, I've decided to leave the country and search for other work. Having lived on the border of Turkey (Batumi, Georgia) and visiting the country once, I've decided that I would love to try my hand at teaching in Istanbul. Something I've noticed, however, is that there aren't as many jobs postings as in Korea. I hear private (or public) highschools and universities are great jobs to get, but there are few postings on the usual websites. Should I just come to Turkey and search then? I would be arriving mid July... would that be too late to get a job? I've heard Istanbul is very expensive. What I'm wondering is if I were to live outside the touristy/hip neighborhoods would I be able to find better accommodation or a better job. From all my discussions, it seems I might have to be on the ground to land a job in Istanbul and Turkey in general. Do I have a chance to get something decent? Many thanks for any responses. I know I've asked a lot of questions. ~Karyn