Paul928

Hi All

New to the forum and am wanting to move to Turkey, we obviously have loads of questions and concerns so we would be very interested to hear from anyone who has done the same.

A little background might help...

We are both of working age, I am self employed but the business is interent based so it doesn't really matter where I am physically as long as there is interent.

My girlfriend will need to look for work in Turkey, so basically one will be employed in Turkey and one self employed with an income stream that is from UK.

Anyone done this sort of thing before?

Cheers

Paul

ozsubasi

If your income from the internet is paid to you in an account outside of Turkey and you are in accordance with the tax laws of wherever it goes then I don't think you have a problem.
Regarding your girlfriend working here, that is something else unless she already has something lined up. Finding work and getting a permit is not easy.

tally71

Hi Paul,

What a exciting time for you both.

Where are you thinking of moving to?

I have owned property in Turkey for the last 7 years, around the lovely Fethiye area, so please feel free to send me an instant message and I will be happy to answer any questions.

Ozsubasi is right that it maybe difficult for your girlfriend to find work, although if she is contacting companies now that are willing to assist with a visa, that maybe the way to go- although I do not know what type of work she is looking for.

ozsubasi

Honestly Paul, if what you can earn from the internet can support you (and bear in mind that the cost of living is different from one location in Turkey to another, just as it is in the UK), I would forget all about a Turkish income for your girlfriend.

In retrospect I should have asked you first where you are planning to go, I apologize for that it's just that I am used to answering emails that are specific for my location and I sometimes forget when I am forums which cover a wider area
What I mean is that if you are planning on going to one of the big cities like Istanbul or Ankara it is very different in terms of the cost of living to the smaller towns where foreigners can settle, and they vary as well.

When we came here (Didim) to live, we didn't have any means to support ourselves, just a dream that if we tried hard enough we could make it work. If it didn't, well we could sell and go back and it wouldn't really have cost us anything.

What was key in our situation was that we used most of what money we had to buy our own home here, so all we had to cover was our living costs and believe me you can live on very little when you have a dream, depending again on where you choose to go.

We went where we could afford to buy, and it was as simple as that. Didim wasn't the first choice ( Carol wanted Marmaris), but it had homes we could afford. However, when we got here to look around we were so impressed with the simplicity of life and the friendliness that we were shown by the locals and existing expats that we knew that for us, this was where we could enjoy the rest of our lives.

This place isn't for everyone but it suited our situation and what we wanted, it was at first a compromise but later became a solid choice.

I had planned to do something similar to what you have in mind. The use of the internet here (in terms of business) is still largely untapped but we ran out of the little money we had left over and I had to find something fast
I didn't have an income from it already in place as you have.

Anyway I ended up talking with the company we had bought through ( because we didn't know anyone else), they needed someone, we gave it a try and I am still here and I am now a partner but only a very tiny one

Basically we wanted something different for the rest of lives and took a gamble and it has paid off. We still have the same apartment (a modest two bedroom ground floor) we first bought and we live for a week quite happily on less than what we jointly earnt in a day in the UK (though I must stress it isn't the same everywhere, and it depends on how you want to live your life as to what it costs).

I am 56 now, my wife Carol is 52, we have only been married for 6 years, we did not want what was on offer for the rest of our lives if we carried on doing what we were doing before we went for this.

Everyone has different ideas, aims and hopes and we came here for the lifestyle not for investment in property or with an idea that we would make money by any other means.

Anyway, you wanted to hear from someone who has done before the kind of thing you have in mind and all I can do is to tell you of our own experience (although this is the short version) and hope that it helps.

Paul928

Hi

Thanks for the replies, cant see private message until I make 3 posts so here is post 2 and thanks for all the info will reply soon..

Paul928

This is post 3 so I can see I private messages.

loz

Hi Paul you lucky man. Hope everything goes good for you and the move. We spent 10 glorious years visiting Turkey up to 4 times a year prior to us moving to Oz from the UK 6 years ago and I must admit I miss Turkey way more than I miss anything (apart from my girls and the grandkids) about the Uk.

We spent all our time in the Fethiye area (Calis Beach to be precise) and it is a beautiful part of the world and the people are amazing. You won't go far wrong if that is the area you finally settle in.

Good luck

ozsubasi

@loz - I like your "this is home" under your username. We feel the same where we are, and if anyone can find the same feeling wherever they end up, then it has to be the right place.

ozsubasi

Is that significant? Sorry but I don't understand.

loz

Ozsubasi, sounds like you have found your little piece of heaven as we have. It very nearly was Turkey for us and I am sure we would have been very happy there....but ease of finding work and family already here swung it for us and we don't regret it for a minute.

Still miss my beautiful Turkish friends though

ozsubasi

Yes we have, well not really but the nearest we can get to it with what we have
If anyone needs to work then I always advise Turkey is not the place to come to.

SohaH

Hello there,
I'm thinking about going to turkey for a teaching job , but the problem is that I got a job with a crazy manager!!
he accepted my application and gave me 7 working days to send him my reply and start my visa procedures and when I asked him about some questions and details in the contract .. he just sent me back that there is no time for asking and Ive to start the procedures fast , I sent him again and I told him at least I need to know what is the website for your school.. he replied me back that my employement was cancelled after I was driven by the high salary and signed the contract and sent it to the Turkey Ministry of Labor and Social Security .. my question here .. what is the average salary for teacher in istanbul? and what exactly they offer for foreign workers? and what if this manager did something againest out contract or something .. where should I go at this point? and now after his last mail , it means I'm not accepted anymore .. so is it easy to find another job in turkey as a teacher or something? although I'm not a native speaker .. I'm egyptian?!!
please I need your answer .. Im really confused and dont know where to go or if its my fault that I didnt accept a 5000 euros job :/

ozsubasi

@sohaH
I can only really refer you to my last post. You have given an example which supports my advice.