2Istanbul

We recently moved to Istanbul, we live here only 4 months. My family and I moved with my husband, two children and a dog. I haven’t seen the city yet, I haven’t met, I haven’t been imbued, I haven’t felt …

It takes too much time to organize everyday life, paperwork, but I’m not complaining. The time will surely come and we will get to know Istanbul better, take a walk in the Old City, sit on the embankment and slowly drink tea and watch the fishermen, seagulls and cats. All the most interesting, travel, trips and walks are yet to come. I hope my story will be useful and help many, at least morally. It will help you decide if it’s worth going.

We gathered in a calm mode, we have already been to Istanbul more than ten times, there were acquaintances who moved several years ago. They helped, shared their experience, but everything was much simpler for them: the requirements for documents, the cost of rent, the average bill. Now moving to Turkey is not so easy, especially to Istanbul, the city is very popular among emigrants from different countries. Every day it gets harder and harder to get the paperwork done.

But we decided to try. First we came for exploration, for 2 months. There are no difficulties with the transportation of animals, a veterinary passport with vaccinations and a ticket.

There are a lot of cats here, they treat dogs very well, there are many dog-friendly places, the owners of the apartment do not consider it a minus if you have a dog. Children are also treated well here, people with children will always be helped, they will give way. It is very easy to find leisure for children here, locals instantly find a common language with children, even without a language.

We found an apartment in Istanbul without any problems. We settled in the Buyukcekmece area, it is quite far from the center, but then the sea is within walking distance. Every day I come to the embankment just to look at it. The area is very quiet, sleeping, there are a lot of emigrants. Most of our acquaintances who do not have a job remotely open small businesses for their own: schools, gardens, conduct fitness training, etc. It is difficult to find a job in Istanbul if you do not know the language, but if you have excellent Turkish and English, you can easily find a job.

We entrusted the paperwork to the agency, we ourselves only agreed with our landlord to conclude a long-term lease agreement. All translations of documents, recording and preparation were carried out by managers, we just came with a package of documents at the appointed time to the migration center. The cost of registration, $ 600 per person. Now I understand that we could arrange everything on our own and save money, there is no difficulty, but then it seemed to me that I could not cope and I needed the help of professionals. There are no complaints about their work, they really got rid of some fuss and competently advised on all issues.

Prices can be approximate, as everyone has different requests. $500 is spent on an apartment. It is spacious with two bedrooms and a living room with a kitchen and a real fireplace. For me, this is a separate joy, I really dreamed of a fireplace at home, for the new year we hung socks on it, as the children dreamed of. Approximately $400-500 per month for food. About $ 100 goes to a taxi, although there is a simple transport system, it is often easier for me to get there with a taxi driver without transfers. $ 200 kindergarten for two children, plus about $ 100 additional Turkish classes and all sorts of circles. I plan to send my children to a Turkish comprehensive school, so language classes are important. There are also minor expenses, I can’t take everything into account, on average, about $ 2,500 per family goes out per month.

Here I do not feel isolated, there are plenty of flights, the price is not high, I can always come to my relatives. In the future, my husband and I plan to learn the language and open our own business in Turkey, in our dreams we also save up for a “cottage” somewhere in Antalya so that all relatives can fly to visit us. This is how I see my long-term plans for life.