READING HADE to Turkey

Where to look for housing, how to get a residence permit and how much does a move cost

If earlier, for most Russians, Turkey was associated with tours to Antalya, then during the Lokdown visa -free Turkey became a real magnet, and today thousands of Russians running from regime, mobilization and unpredictable future went there. "Cold" asked the commander-manager Elena Kulikova, who lived in Turkey for three years, to collect the most necessary information for those who are just going to move to this country.

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Residence permit and legalization

In order to come to Turkey, a citizen of the Russian Federation needs only a passport. In the country you can stay 60 days without a break, after which you need to leave for at least a day and you can drive back for 30 days. After that, you either need to arrange a residence permit (you can go on at least the last “visa -free” day), or leave Turkey for three months.

Relocation to Turkey is attractive in that it is quite simple to get a residence permit to a tourist here: you need to rent a house for the period of the alleged residence permit (as a rule, the contract is concluded for a year), pay for the tourist tax and insurance, take your photo and fill out the questionnaire on the migration service website . The deadlines for consideration of documents from submitting an application is three months. Most often, the decision comes in a month and a half. Another week will be needed for a residence permit to be delivered to your city from Ankara. However, there are exceptions: a migration officer can request any other document if he considers it necessary, and then the terms increase.

You can get a residence permit in other ways: buy real estate (the authorities did not miss the moment and raised the minimum price for those who want to get citizenship after a residence permit for this type of legalization), enter the university, get a job in a Turkish company or marry a citizen or citizen of Turkey.

If you have received a work permit, then it replaces a residence permit and gives the right to live in the country during your employment contract.

The maximum term that the tourist residence permit can be requested is two years. In this case, both the contract and insurance must be issued for this period. Such a residence permit can be extended an infinite number of times while you have reasons. Last year, citizens of some countries were banned by the extension of a tourist residence permit, but this has not yet been touched by Russians.

Housing

The housing market in Turkey is in a crisis: there are few worthy options, the demand is large, and local residents cannot compete with visitors for high-quality housing due to low wages. It is worth saying that the flow of Russian refugees did not significantly affect the Turkish real estate market. Nevertheless, in order to rent adequate housing in large cities, you will have to spend more than one day. For example, in medium -sized remoteness and infrastructure areas of Istanbul (Schichel and Adjibadem) Odinka or a studio with furniture will cost 8-12 thousand lires. In the remote area-for example, Kyuchukkochkochmadge-you can find a modern two-three-room apartment for 7–9 thousand, but without furniture.

By default, the apartment in Turkey, as in most countries of the Middle East, rents out without furniture, washing machine and refrigerator. Equipped housing is 40-50% more expensive.

Searching for housing for a long time is best on Sahibinden , using the necessary filters.

It also makes sense to look for housing not only in the capital. Fethihi is a bourgeois city with access to the Aegean Sea, Izmir is a student city, which the Turks call the stronghold of liberalism, Alanya - for lovers of nature and solitude, and Antalya and its suburbs - to feel among their own and swim in the sea in November. The north of Turkey, Trabzon and the surroundings are not popular among tourists, Samsun and the Black Sea coast are also not in demand: here you can easily find housing cheaper and get documents faster.

An important point: when choosing housing in large cities, be sure to check whether the area you attracted in the “black list” of areas where you can’t register is included. This is done, on the one hand, to reduce the influx of foreigners, on the other, this is Erdogan’s populist step before the elections.

Economic situation and bank cards

Over the year, inflation in the country only according to official figures amounted to about 83% . Although there is no significant difference in prices for Russians with ruble income, the situation is heating up: when renting housing, the owner can request payment for six months ahead to exchange liras for euros or dollars until they have become more and more.

All this is reflected in the banking system: not everyone is ready to accept large amounts from foreigners, especially if they do not have a residence permit. At the same time, the legislation of Turkey does not prohibit credit organizations to open accounts for foreigners without residency. If you are still waiting for a residence permit and the issue of opening an account is acute, bypass the departments one after another: a lot depends on the loyalty of a particular manager and his mood. The requirements for the applicant are also different: somewhere you need to put several thousand lires on the account, and somewhere this is the amount in dollars. Some banks open multicellular accounts, others issue a card for calculating only in lies. If possible, go to the department with a trustee that says in Turkish. This has nothing to do with “help”, which, according to various sources, is from $ 200 for opening an account. You just need a translator. The easiest way is Denizbank and Kuveyt Türk Bank accounts.

In extreme cases, it is worth waiting for a residence permit: with it, banks are required to open an account.

Job

If you get a tourist residence permit, then you can’t officially work in Turkey and for a Turkish company. At the same time, the government is not interested in how and where you get income, pay taxes or not: they have already taken your tax from you as a tourist.

It is possible to work in Turkey if desired is illegally - this is a common practice in the field of medical support, tourism and real estate. True, you will have to work a lot for interest, and most often you will need at least a little knowledge of Turkish.

Foreigners may not get a job: for example, a veterinarian, barber or a janitor in Turkey can only become her citizen .

Safety

You should be attentive on the roadway: traffic in Istanbul is a legend in which none of the heroes complies with the rules of the road. Therefore, if the green light burns and you stand on the “zebra”, it is better to check that you are definitely giving way to the road. At the same time, attacks on the street are rather an exception than the rule. For the preservation of the wallet, you should be afraid in bars and nightclubs: from the experience of friends and guests of hotels in which I had a chance to work, pickpockets are more actively more active than on the streets.

Climate

In most, popular in visiting areas - Istanbul, Antalya, Fethiye - in winter the temperature rarely drops below zero, and in the summer there is quite hot (22–35 degrees). The snow in Istanbul has been falling in the last 15 years a couple of times in the winter, and the rest of the days from December to February sunny and rainy weather alternate. It happens that snow with rain is going on for a whole week. If you move from the Krasnodar Territory, then you will practically not notice the difference in the weather.

Transport

Istanbul is one of the largest air hubs of the world. Compared to other popular cities, emigrants from Russia (Yerevan and Tbilisi) is an undeniable advantage.

In Turkey, the transport system is also well developed: cities are connected by a network of airports, and ticket prices are comparable to the cost of going to an average restaurant. In addition, there are several companies ( Pamukkale , Kamil Koç ) with comfortable modern buses and routes throughout the country.

It is impossible not to note the railway line of Marmaray, which passes under the Bosphorus Strait. To drive it from beginning to end, it will take about two hours, and it connects not only the European and Asian parts of the city, but also a few suburbs. You can also get from one part of Istanbul to another by ferries that work as public transport. There is a ferry between the areas in Izmir.

Political situation

Despite the rather tense relations between Russia and Turkey earlier , today these countries can be called partners. Especially in the light of the latest statements about work on gas supplies. Türkiye, unlike, for example, Georgia, does not create obstacles to the entry of Russians - both fled from mobilization and actively fighting with the regime. At the same time, everything is sad in Turkey with democracy: remember the brutal suppression of protests in Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013, the persecution of a journalist and a refusal to recognize the victory of the opposition to the mayor of Istanbul in 2019.

Medicine

To make a residence permit, you will need to buy insurance - and it is better to choose a real one, and not the one that is good only for receiving documents and beckons its cheapness. Contact the well -known international services in which you will really provide assistance upon the occurrence of an insured event. Having received a residence permit, you can use free medicine. Without it, in the reception, you will be helped without any insurance, but it will be “conditionally paid”: for example, taking a traumatologist in the spring of 2022 cost me 70 lire.

Contact lenses and contraceptives can be bought without a prescription, but not in all optics and pharmacies: it is better to take with you the stock of tablets and lenses you need.

The level of medicine in Turkey is high, especially with a comprehensive examination, reproductive health, plastic surgery and dentistry. Many Europeans and residents of Arab countries come to Turkey for medical services.

Education

If you move with a child, then there will be no problems with the device to the kindergarten or school. Although giving a child to the garden is not the most popular solution for a Turkish family, there is such an opportunity. If you are interested in a state institution, then you need to contact the administration of your area (after receiving a residence permit). The state kindergarten "conditionally paid" - from 100 lire per month. There are many private kindergartens in big cities, and you can find institutions with a bias in foreign languages ​​or creativity.

The same situation with schools: a place in a state educational institution can only be claimed with a residence permit. Private schools are in English or French, there are schools for Russian -speaking children. Prices for private schools start at 600-700 lire and can reach thousands of dollars per month.

In order to arrange a child in a Turkish school after the start of study in another country, you need to prepare a certificate of the program passed and register in the E-OKUL system.

Russian -speaking community

The post -Soviet diasporas developed in Turkey long before the war: women from the countries of the former USSR marry the Turks, men go to seasonal work. In my experience, in cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, you can equip your life, communicating mainly in Russian (if desired). And in thematic chats and groups there are a lot of useful information.

Recently, cases of fraud have become more frequent - it is important to understand that any “acceleration of the process of receiving a residence permit” is based on bribes, and for a fake address in the housing contract you can even get a deportation . Now the police come to the registration address and checks that you really live at the address indicated in the application. If you are assured that “everything is captured”, most likely, they lie to you.

Prices

Istanbul is a city of contrasts. Prices here may vary greatly depending on the area. The price of a regular lunch: salad, soup, chicken kebabs and tea in Luanta (popular with local venues with simple food) will cost 90-100 lire; In the cafe - 300 lire. Dinner in a restaurant with a view of the Bosphorus: two fish dishes, snacks and dessert - 2000 lire and above. Coffee in a decent place: 30-50 lire. Fried corn (popular street fast food): 8-15 lire depending on the area.

Public transport passage in the presence of a travel ISTANBULKART (acts on all types of municipal vehicles, including funiculars and ferries) - 5.5 lyre. A trip on this map on the Marmaray line is considered on the length of the trip, the maximum amount is 12 lire.

Taxi is the headache of the Istanbuls. With the beginning of the crisis in the country, it became very difficult to order it, and it is simply impossible for short distances. In popular services of the Bitaksi and ITAKSI, drivers call to clarify the destination, they cancel the trip if it does not fit them, or they don’t take orders at all-you can wait for 20-40 minutes. It’s also difficult to catch “from hand”: if the driver is not on the way, in the city of traffic jams or he understands that it will not work to earn on you, they won’t take your order. The Turkish authorities are trying to solve this problem for several years, but in fact, not a single measure is working. If you manage to catch a taxi, you will have to pay either by the counter (the starting price of 9.8 lire plus about eight lire per kilometer), or agree on a fixed price.

Be careful: very often, taxi drivers in Turkey say one amount, and upon arrival it changes dramatically. The driver refers to his bad English, to the fact that the price was in euros, not lyre, for inflation and hard life. Fights are possible, so it is better to ask for turning on the counter (and make sure that it is zeroing). If you stayed at the hotel, ask for a reception to call you a taxi. As a rule, hotels work with several drivers who behave more adequately.

The cost of moving per person

To fly to Turkey from Russia is simple: there are many direct flights from both regions and from the capital. The average cost of a ticket with transfers is 15-20 thousand rubles in mid-November. It is better to lay 60-70 thousand lire (200-230 thousand rubles) for renting an apartment: in order to be able to pay six months ahead. If you are not going to Istanbul or Antalya, this price will be significantly lower. You choose insurance yourself, so the price can be different, and the amount of the tourist tax is constantly changing - it is better to clarify it in the tax, when you pay the state duty for a residence permit.