visitor visa or residency visa??

[patricia]

We have just come out to Dalyan and sold up in England. we'd be grateful if anyone can advise on whether we should replace our 90day visa with another one (and keep doing this) or should we get a 1 year/2 year residency?
OF course cost is a major factor as well as minimum hassle.
Please point us in the right direction. Thanks in anticipation

[Dalyansteve]

Residency does give you a bit more leeway especially when it comes to renewing, if you have to go back to the UK regularly and can make this coincide with your visa, by the way it is 89 days not 90 you must leave the day before it runs out, then you can keep doing this. It is costly whichever way you do it although the Meis trip can be quite fun and you can stock up on duty free etc if you must.

[sari ev]

Visitors visa is ok if you are going in and out of the country a few times a year. A trip in the summer to Meis is nice to renew, but no fun in the winter. Winter months such as December 09 when there were very few flights back to uk can cause a problem. My advice would be to get a 6 month during the winter so you can relax and not worry about weather or flight problems, and do a couple of trips during the summer, combined with a short holiday. A residency will also allow you to have bills such as telephone and internet in your own name.

[John Codling]

Residence Visa Fees have gone up this year.

1 year GBP 370,00
2 year GBP 730,00
3 year GBP 1090,00
4 year GBP 1450,00
5 year GBP 1810,00

For a first time applicant a residency permit book is TL 138,00.

The above information was gleaned from another forum where the contibutor had written to the Honorary British Consulate in Fethiye.

With the large discrepancy between the tourist visa and residence visa who knows if they will try and put some restriction on the number of tourist visas you can have in a calendar year. I haven't heard or read anything to this fact I hasten to add but am just wondering.

[patricia]

Many thanks for the infomation. It is bad news I was under the impression the price was about GBP200 (so thats nearly double what i was expecting). I assume this is per person? I've been quoted 80TL for a round trip to Meis (90 day Visa of course) Including pick up from Dalyan. Thats beginning to look like the better(cheaper) option for now at least.

[m1cksut]

thats a lot of money for a residents visa, are they cashing in now before they join the eu, when they wont be able to charge us for that?
is that just for british, or all foreign nationals?

[Dalyansteve]

There are several countries whose expats are charged this sort of fee and it is supposed to reflect what it costs Turks to gain residency in those countries. Other EU citizens pay much lower fees, Italians for example only have to pay around 50 euro for a 5 year residency.
I hope they never take up the idea of charging foreign nationals, in the uk, the huge sum of money they were talking about last year.

[John Codling]

Hi Patricia, was that a Dalyan tour company that quoted the 80tl and did it include the visa fee. I have seen elsewhere that a company in Fethiye was doing the same trip for 80tl including Visa but that was from Fethiye.

[m1cksut]

There are several countries whose expats are charged this sort of fee and it is supposed to reflect what it costs Turks to gain residency in those countries. Other EU citizens pay much lower fees, Italians for example only have to pay around 50 euro for a 5 year residency.
I hope they never take up the idea of charging foreign nationals, in the uk, the huge sum of money they were talking about last year.

to be honest, i think it is quite a good idea on reflection, though maybe not on that scale.
for instance, in the uk we have millions of foreign nationals living here, if they all had to pay, say £50 or £100 a year for a residents visa, it would make a contribution to all the extra costs incurred by other immigrants arriving with no job to go to, place to live, money to spend etc.
i will pass this on to my good friend alistair darling, who listens to the people, and see what he says. probably that its racist and unworkable, knowing him and his pc mates!
funny, isnt it, how a country like turkey can manage it, but the uk cant.

[John Codling]

There are now rumours on Turkish Living Forum that the turkish government are looking at the length of stay on the tourist visa.

One rumour is that they may introduce a law so that after the first visa of £10, subsequent tourist visas that run consecutively will be charged at a higher rate. A figure of £90 was quoted by the poster.

Another rumour is that they will reduce the length of the visa from 90 Days to 42 or even 30 days.

These are just rumours at the moment.

[Andy]

It looks more and more that we are only welcome in Turkey for a holiday , not to live

[Dalyansteve]

Even with expensive residency not many foreigners pay any taxes apart from when they buy things so it probably evens out. You must also remember that you cannot get a telephone line in your name or purchase a vehicle without a residents permit. Once you have these things you could then revert to visa runs.

[John Codling]

Steve, have you any knowledge of the İsteğe Bağlı Sigorta [voluntary insurance] I believe if you have a residency visa you can get this and pay reduced fees for medicines and hospital treatment.

If this is any good this would be another advantage of the Res Visa.

[m1cksut]

It looks more and more that we are only welcome in Turkey for a holiday , not to live

immigrants all around the world are looked at in this way, one the one hand governments want immigrants to do the jobs locals refuse to do, (countries like the uk, usa germany etc) but dont want immigrants that arent useful in this way.
coupled with that is the xenophobic streak that runs through most populations which arises in times of trouble like we are experiencing now, where ruinous welfare costs are blamed on immigrants (usually the same immigrants that are manning the welfare systyem), however in all fairness, and please all you residents, dont take this the wrong way, but what, apart from these taxes and necessary living expenses, do you contribute to the local economy?
are you out there to work, do you employ locals, or are you retired and on a limited income, and living quite frugally?
do you pay the local income tax etc?
please dont think im criticising, because its my dearest wish to retire out there and just doss about in the sun with a beer in my hand and my feet in the pool, and the odd meal out in a local restaurant, and information like this is very welcome, as it gives a better idea of the true costs of settling there, which, to be honest before this thread i had no real idea of.
as i said in a previous post i think it is quite a good idea in general, and should be adopted in this country, and thinking about it, £370 a year is only a fraction of my council tax, and im on the lowest band available, and i know who i would rather give my money to!
if you are retired out there and on a limited income, i realise increases in these charges must be a worry, as indeed the increases in council tax, electricity, gas water etc are over her for retired people, you at least have the sun for 250 days a year or more.
all we get is bloody snow, snow and more snow, grrrrr i blame that gordon brown!

[Dalyansteve]

Hi John, no I don't. But it may be something similar to what I have to pay for one of the partners in the Ltd.Co. which is 150 lira a month or 50 lira a month for someone who is officialy retired. When you are here and have your Ikamet you can register at the local clinic. We are and for some reason, that I don't know, we have not had to pay anything yet.

[John Codling]

Cheers Steve, I will have to dig into this more when we come out, only 6 weeks to go it will be nice to see some sun.

[Andy]

Even with expensive residency not many foreigners pay any taxes apart from when they buy things so it probably evens out.

I know what your saying but they wont even let us work out there Steve, to help support the economy with our taxes we would pay

[John Codling]

The tax bit is not entirely true we pay 15% on the interest earned from my savings account.

[Dalyansteve]

As we all know Tax Evasion is a bit of a national sport, however we foreigners get off lightly compared to proper companies who officially employ staff. I don't know what the rates are this year but someone on a minimum wage of say 500 lira a month, the company has to pay another 250 a month on top for tax and insurance. Trust me you cannot live on 500 lira a month, well not to any acceptable standard. Which is why a lot of Turks who have done their time as say a teacher and is retired at 45 then has to get another job to make ends meet. I also know plenty of people who are in what is called a good job, policeman for example, who have a second job on the side.

[m1cksut]

I know what your saying but they wont even let us work out there Steve, to help support the economy with our taxes we would pay

but, logically, why should they let foreigners work? i believe their argument is;

are you doing a job that only you, as a foreigner, can do?
otherwise, if a turk can do it, then a turk does it, end of story.
seems sensible to me, and would settle a lot of unrest here at home if the same criteria were applied, and foreigners were only allowed to do the jobs that the natives couldnt do.
of course, that would mean upsetting a lot of brits in the uk because they would then have to work, but hey thats life.

[Dalyansteve]

The great majority of foreigners that have moved here in the last 10 years are either very wealthy or retired so working does not enter the equasion. As I have said elswhere I had no intension of working but lost a large amount of money during the Turkish financial crisis and yes my new business offers something new that Turkish people are not familliar with yet I still have to employ Turks to do the actual work. Which does not bother me or them as I employ them for the job in hand and pay them very well as self employed people. It is up to them to pay their taxes, I have to pay quite enough thank you.

[Ihutch]

I doubt very much if you would get the habitual dolers working no matter what you do! They seem to be able to manage the 'system' far better than the government can!

[Dalyansteve]

Just to get back on topic, the residency charges are now priced in pounds but you pay in TL at the day rate, just paid 889tl each for a year. The table shown earlier is correct.

[Julie]

THE controversial 90-in-180 day visa for tourists to Turkey could become permanent by next May, a British Embassy official said this week.

Turkish officials are also actively reviewing the resident permit prices for Britons living here permanently and looking into free health care provisions for foreigners.

They are also being urged by British Embassy officials to adopt a more aggressive role in curbing property rip offs and title deeds problems.

The update was provided by Consular Regional Director, Susan Wilson during a meeting of about 50 British expats at Didim Council House on Monday (Dec 6). Izmir-based British Honorary Consul William Buttigieg MBE was also in attendance.

The meeting, said by many to be the most productive and informative yet by an Embassy official, was in stark contrast to the October meeting in which residents resorted to finger-wagging and walking out.

Tourist Visas

Ms Wilson said that all British nationals presently entered Turkey on a 90-day visa and this entitlement had not changed, even though tourists and residents were being given a stamp stating 90-in-180 days.

She said the Turkish authorities had brought in the 90-in-180 day visa in the summer without warning, but had scrapped it when the British Embassy raised it with the Ministry of Interior.

But she said the Turkish authorities have indicated to the British Ambassador that the 90 in 180 day visas will certainly be brought back in permanently before May 2011 – but that the £10 entry fee would remain.

She said: “When the authorities brought the visa in, it was without warning and had a big impact on foreign nationals.

“It affected 54 countries and for British people it was massive, particularly those among the 32,000 property owners who come here on a temporary basis.

“We have asked the Turkish authorities that if they are to make changes to the visa system to tell us in advance so that we can pass the news on. But it looks a certainty that the 90 in 180 day visa will be start before May 2011.”

Residency permit prices

On the thorny issue of residency permit prices – for which a Briton pays £370 for a year, compared to an average 145TL for a German – Ms Wilson said she had met with Turkish ministry officials and pressed them on the high costs.

She said: “This year, prices have gone through the roof. We made it clear that they need to be more balanced in their approach as these types of prices are a factor in people deciding to stay and live here, or to sell up and move.

“They are aware of the issues and we have stated that it needs to be fair and there needs to be less disparity between nationals of different European countries. I cannot give any guarantees but there seems to be movement on the issue and we are awaiting news.”

Health care

On health care, she said that while the Universal Health Insurance scheme had been mothballed until 2012, Turkish ministry officials were open minded on allowing foreign nationals to receive some kind of free health case in state hospitals.

She said: “It is quite positive but we don’t know how long it will take before proposals are brought forward on this issue.”

Property and title deeds

Ms Wilson said that British Embassy officials had also sought to help engage the Turkish counterparts on the issue of property problems, rip-offs, title deeds problems and other issues surrounding property investment for foreign nationals.

She said: “We are seeking a co-ordinated effort to look into the systemic problems, not the individual complaints that affect property investors. But we are approaching the matter in terms of encouraging a unified approach.”

She added: “But as with all matters, we cannot simply tell the Turkish government what to do in their own country as they would tell us where to go. Similarly, no country has a right to tell the British government what to do as it would be met with the same response.”

She said that the British Ambassdor was due to meet with Turkish government officials. For an update on a variety of issues and which would be communicated back to British nationals in Turkey in due course.

More meetings planned

There are plans for more meeting with British Embassy officials and Didim’s British residents in the New Year. Dates are yet to be scheduled.

[m1cksut]

as i said once before, the idea of charging foreign nationals to live in your country should be brought in over here in the UK, couple of £billion a year income there i would bet.