We already discussed the specifics of purchasing real estate in Turkey. Particularly regarding the new housing evaluation regulation, taxes and driver's licences. Today, we will discuss a few noteworthy issues that affect people who remain in Turkey permanently not as tourists but rather under the terms of a residency permit.
Content:
- How to solve various issues without knowing the language
- Medical insurance
- Maternity leave in Turkey and its potential
- Flights to Turkey
- Finance and payments
- Noises and other irritants in everyday life and how to deal with them
How to solve various issues without knowing the language
Not knowing the language can occasionally be a significant issue. Not all Turkish cities and even fewer institutions, mainly those with bureaucratic systems, have staff members who understand foreign languages including English.
Fortunately, there are no issues with Russian-speaking (bi- and trilingual) notaries in big cities or resorts. However, when needing to visit a doctor, the municipality, the police, a veterinary clinic, a school or a kindergarten for example, those who have not yet learnt the Turkish language will need assistance.
Commonly, people with residency permits ask their friends and neighbours for help however this is not always easy or convenient.
As a result, during the past year, a variety of 24-hour offices have started to appear in Turkey. At these offices, the employees will assist you, translate phone conversations and accompany you to various institutions. Payments are made per minute, per hour or "on calls." Although it is not the most affordable service available it is justifiable.
We will make it clear that if you purchased a residence in Turkey, you can contact your agent or the office of the developer from whom you rented an apartment with numerous inquiries. In Turkey, self-respecting businesses will undoubtedly look out for the customer by offering an after-sales service linked to property. This is in contrast to foreign sellers and agents who disappear who don’t offer such services after you sign the purchase papers. These businesses will assist you with connecting gas, electricity and water, as well as preparing documentation and handling utility bills, repairs and audits. They will also introduce you to the complex's caretaker and take you to the closest clinic, among other things.
Medical insurance
Travel insurance for Turkey is no longer applicable to anyone with a residence permit there. In any event, documentation for a residency permit won't be accepted without the acquisition of yearly medical insurance as this is a mandatory requirement. The fact that insurance policies vary greatly and that the minimal cost of a residency permit does not cover a wide range of benefits is another problem.
What kind of help can you expect?
Contrary to popular belief, Turkey has a free ambulance called the ACIL. It is not typical in the country to call an ambulance, however, should your temperature exceed 37.5 degrees Celsius, this is deemed to be a serious case. The ACIL will then take the patient straight to the hospital.
You may be able to receive specific services with medical insurance, depending on its cost and the services included. This could include full or partial payment for prescription drugs and occasionally even full or partial payment for private doctor services. Hospital stays and necessary surgeries may also be covered by insurance. Due to the massive inflow of immigrants in 2022 prices have increased significantly in this sector as well with more limitations being put in place.
Medical insurance is provided immediately for a year, however, if you need a temporary residency permit, you will not be refunded for the remaining cost.
It was previously possible to use medical insurance immediately after purchasing it and before applying for a residency permit, without receiving a card itself which could take up to three months. Now, according to ex-pats in Turkey, the rules have changed. In other words, it does not start working until six to nine months after you get the required insurance which is unpleasant because it equals 25–50% of the paid period.
Such a policy is effective on the first day and it is extended for an additional year by the same company. However, if you change insurer, you will regrettably once more have to wait six months or even more. Turkish insurance companies justify this by claiming that tourists want to get all their medical needs, including dental care, taken care of at the expense of local insurance or pass off chronic illnesses as new ones. However, this is not always the case.
Despite having paid a considerable sum for this, the person who purchased the policy is not covered in terms of health insurance for several months. This issue is still in the process of being fixed.
However, there is further good news concerning the medical plan that not all immigrants are aware of which is maternity leave, specifically.
Maternity leave in Turkey and its potential
As you might expect, many couples that go to Turkey for a year or more start a family. Therefore, even if you recently relocated, your family may be eligible for maternity benefits if a woman was only able to legally work in Turkey for roughly 4 months before going on maternity leave.
A woman has the right to get a prenatal payment by submitting the necessary documentation and providing a birth certificate which they are given at the birth of a child. She has the right to get Statutory Maternity Pay if she goes back to work after her maternity leave.
Payments are now estimated as follows: the average wage per day is calculated by taking the gross income for the previous three months, dividing it by ninety days and multiplying two-thirds of this figure by sixteen weeks.
Using the current minimum salary of 5,500 TL as a starting point, an example calculation would be 5,500 times 3 (=16,500), divided by 90 (=183), calculate 2/3 of this amount (=120), and multiply by 112 days, or 16 weeks. This amounts to about 13,440 TL.
There are additional payments available for young parents some of whom are not dependent on employment. Sut parasi, as an example (money for milk). All young mothers, including those who are unemployed, are eligible for a one-time public allowance (dogum parasi). Depending on whether it is the first child, second child, third child, twins or triplets, this amount varies.
Although schools and universities are free in Turkey, raising children there is undoubtedly expensive, nevertheless, that is the other issue.
Flights to Turkey
Every month it becomes easier to travel from Russia to Turkey thanks to an increase in airports and airlines. As a result, the Turkish airline Pegasus announced direct flights starting in March 2023 from Russia to Gazipasa Airport (Alanya), which will cut the travel time to the resort by almost two to three hours, if you exclude the transfer from Antalya Airport.
The work to extend and improve Gazipasa Airport will be completed by the beginning of the next holiday season.
In Turkey, three more airports will soon be operational. One of them is in Mersin and has been long-awaited and it will grow to become one of the biggest air hubs in the nation, according to preliminary estimates.
Russian and Turkish airlines are gradually expanding the number of flights to Turkey. As an illustration, Aeroflot had daily flights to Dalaman where the resorts of Marmaris, Fethiye, Oludeniz and Gocek are and Bodrum throughout the last summer.
Finance and payments
Payment for products and services in Turkey for Russians is a hot topic on the agenda. Swift transfers from the Russian Federation are complicated and there are not many possibilities for services like KoronaPay. Russian Mir system cards were successfully used in Turkey up until the end of September 2022, however, Turkish banks stopped accepting them at the end of the first month of fall.
People in Turkey started discussing the "convenience" of the TROY system's cards soon after this event, however, this was short-lived as the expectations for a high-quality exchange between TROY and Russian banks were unfounded.
They are currently discussing the following, however only on the level of rumours, even with both Turkish and Russian media reporting this news. An alternative to Mir cards is said to be coming to Turkey at the start of the next tourist season or by the spring of 2023. Izvestia referenced Alexei Yegarmin, the Head of the Russian-Turkish Business Council, in its article on this topic.
This is a highly crucial measure for both Russians and Turks for many reasons. The Russian Federation's influx of tourists into Turkey significantly boosts the country's economy and tourism sector.
Moscow and Ankara are now working together to develop a new financial solution. In the meantime, it is still possible to pay in rubles at the resorts and exchange them for Turkish liras.
Russians were upset in December 2022 when they rushed to get a local bank card in Turkey to pay for overseas travel and make purchases on foreign websites for example. Turkish banks abruptly started to block cardholders having Russian citizenship from using them. Fibabanka was the first. This caused transactions to stop. However, there are no issues when using these bank cards in Turkey directly.
As a result, Turkish finance experts likely decided to "prevent" Russians from using the Turkish financial system only as a money hub since they believed that the money should stay in the nation because the card is opened here. Another unfair factor is that getting a Turkish card for a Russian (or any other foreigner) is difficult and involves freezing a sizeable quantity of foreign currency for at least one month.
It was discovered that individuals had placed money in Turkish banks but would not receive it back in a reasonable time frame. In addition, only domestically issued bank cards with foreign names are in use.
For the time being, people have to wait until when the experts and the political elites in both countries will come to an understanding and find a solution that works for everyone.
Noises and other irritants in everyday life and how to deal with them
Turkey is a rather noisy and joyful country, but not always do the locals want to celebrate everything as happiness, especially at night. Moreover, not everyone is worried about the comfort and peace of their neighbours. This applies to both individuals and companies such as construction firms, which participate in somewhat noisy work.
As a result, the authorities have started to focus particularly on this issue in recent months. The requirements for regulating the level of noise in public areas have been changed as part of the Silent Turkey project. Now, you can enjoy your time between 10 a.m. and 1 a.m., fireworks can only be set off with the local government's permission and you can make noise at construction sites in residential areas until 10 p.m. We would like to remind you that the country introduced fines for excessively noisy air conditioners last year. Well, we've explained here why and where to complain about excessive household noise.
The Turk. Estate site wishes all of its users a joyful 2023 as well as a peaceful and trouble-free life in Turkey!