- Introduction
- Housing
- Eating Out
- Transportation
- Education
- Health
- Leisure & Entertainment
- Religion
- Work Permits
Living in Turkey is an extremely enjoyable experience for expatriates and their families. It offers modern housing, good schools, fine shopping malls, first-rate hospitals, etc. In major cities, such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa, there is no need for an expatriate to be concerned about the problems connected with settling down in a foreign country. In these cities a wide variety of housing alternatives ranging from small apartments to luxurious villas in housing complexes is available. The important subject of children's education is easily addressed by Turkey's International Private Schools. Nor does shopping create a problem. If you want to cook at home, all the ingredients you need are easily obtainable at supermarkets and shopping malls. If you prefer eating out you will find good restaurants in every neighbourhood. Further information on housing, education, transportation, entertainment and hospitals etc. is presented in the following sections. You can also visit Mymerhaba.com, a portal for expatriates where they can read at first hand about the experiences of foreigners in Turkey.
Tap water is safe to drink in most places, but, in general, people prefer to drink bottled water or to have drinking water delivered to their homes.
In Turkey, there are a number of international schools where the curriculum is carried out in major European languages. In addition, in major cities many private schools teach through the medium of foreign languages. Below you will find some of the international schools in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir:
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You can find out more about studying in Turkey on the Mymerhaba website
A complete list of private schools appears on the Association of Private Schools website.
Hospitals in Turkey are categorized as State Hospitals, University Hospitals and Private Hospitals. Social Security, for the ordinary working Turkish citizen, is organized by the State. Since these State Institutions do not cover the fees imposed by Private Hospitals, the State and University Hospitals are more crowded than the Private ones. People having private health insurance should use Private Hospitals. In these hospitals the service is completely on a level with international standards from the point of view of infrastructure and expertise. Below you will find is the list of some Private Hospitals in Ankara and Istanbul:
Ankara
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Istanbul
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For more information please visit the following links:
Telerehber -Turkish Business Guide
Enjoy Turkey website
A wide range of activities such as golfing, mountaineering, skiing, and yachting can be carried out in Turkey. In recent years, golf facilities to international standards have emerged. There are 6 golf courses with the Administration Certificate and 9 courses with the Investment Certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. These facilities are in Antalya, Ankara, Aydin and Istanbul. There are also important centres for winter tourism in Ankara, Bolu, Bursa, and Erzurum.
You could also opt for a weekend escape to other cities. Turkey is a peninsula surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea. It is divided into seven regions. Each region has a unique cuisine, landscape, climate and fauna. Since Turkey, for many centuries, has been the centre of several civilizations, there are sites of historic importance in almost every city in Turkey. Holiday resorts have sandy and sunny beaches and plenty of high quality tourist facilities.
For further information you can visit the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism website.
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For further information about religion and religious sites, visit the website All about Turkey.
The fourth article in THE LAW ON WORK PERMITS FOR FOREIGNERS states: 'Unless otherwise provided for in bilateral or multilateral agreements to which Turkey is a party, foreigners are obliged to get work permits before they start to work either for a company or independently in Turkey.'
Foreigners residing out of Turkey can apply for their work permit to the Turkish consulate in the country where they reside. The consulates then forward these applications directly to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Foreigners who have a valid residence permit in Turkey or their employers are entitled to make their application directly to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. If the Ministry grants a work permit, it will be valid only when the required working visa and residence permit is taken.
When applying to the Ministry the following documents are required:
- A formal request
- Copies of your passport copies that are either certified by a notary public or by the (Turkish?)Consulate
- Copies of investment incentive certificates and exportation incentive certificates certified by the Undersecretariat of the Treasury,
- An activity report of the previous year, a profit/loss spreadsheet and balance sheet certified by the relevant tax directorate
- A letter from your bank letter verifying the previous year's exports - if the company is an exporting company,
- A Residence Certificate if the application is made from Turkey,
- A photocopy of the Work Permit if a previous permit already exists,
- A diploma certified by a notary public,
- Letters of recommendation,
- 4 passport photos of the applicant
- 4 copies of the Declaration Form which can be obtained from the Ministry
or its web site. This form requests the following information:
- Information about the employing company: Name of the company; its title; the head office address; whether its capital is foreign or not; the address where foreign personnel will work; the type of business the company is involved in; information about its capital; details in dollars of the previous year's exports; the date of the establishment of the company; the recorded and paid share capital; the total number of Turkish personnel working in the company and their names (?),
- Information about the foreign personnel requesting the work permit: their passport numbers; their names and surnames; the names of their father and mother; their date and place of birth; their marital status and, if married, the nationality of the spouse. If a previous work permit had been issued, then the following information is also required: details of the issuing authority and the date and number of previous permit documents; the name of the previous company; how long the foreigner worked in that company; the position he/she held; the reason for severance; his/her educational status; the names and locations of recent schools the applicant graduated from; his/her areas of specialization; if the applicant has been in Turkey before, the dates of the visit and the places of residence,
- The names, addresses and phone numbers of the persons and the companies the applicant is using as reference,
- The exact post in the company for which the foreigner is applying; the proposed term of employment; the monthly gross salary to be paid to the foreigner; the reason for employing a foreigner instead of a Turkish citizen,
- The employer and the potential foreign employee sign the bottom of the form and it must be dated and stamped to certify that the information given by them is true.
For further information please visit the following links:
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security