Moving to Turkey

Planning to move in Turkey? Here are a few tips that will help you make this Eurasian country your new home.

1. To live in Turkey, you must get a visa residence. To obtain one, submit all necessary documents to the Turkish Consulate General at least eight weeks before you depart from your home country. Depending on Visa circumstances, you may be issued a one year resident visa in a week. After obtaining a Visa, register with the local police force within a month of arriving in Turkey so that you can get hold of a residence permit. To extend your residence permit, reapply at the same police station before your current permit expires.

2. Household items and furniture can be brought into Turkey through a system called ‘Temporary Import.’ However, your residence permit must be valid for more than one year. You will be required to pay a deposit which you can get back when you return to your home country. As another option, you can submit a bank guarantee letter from a Turkish or international bank which will ensure that all relevant taxes and duties are paid if the goods remain in Turkey for at least 5 years.

Several freight companies can handle the logistics of moving your possessions.

3. To bring in your pet, you must ensure that they have all the correct health and vaccination certificates. You must have a veterinary health certificate which is no more than 10 days old on the day that you get to Turkey. Make sure your pet has rabies vaccination between 15 days and 6 months before the day of departure.

Each person is allowed either one cat, dog or bird or ten fishes.

If you do not have a work permit, you cannot bring your car in Turkey. If you have a work permit or if you are retired, you can ask your employer to submit a letter to the local Customs department stating that all the relevant duties and taxes will be paid on the car. The document should also state that the car will remain in Turkey for the duration of your employment. Once approved, you must get special number plates for foreign workers.

If you are a retiree, you can bring your car in the country and keep it there for as long as you are living in Turkey. Register with the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club. To apply, prepare your passport, residents permit, official retirement documents (in Turkish) and your car’s registration documents. Also, submit a letter from your bank that states that you will pay all relevant duties and taxes if the car is not taken out of Turkey if you leave the country.

A resident’s permit allows you to buy a car in Turkey.

4. To drive legally in Turkey you will need to:
- Translate your present driver’s license into Turkish and it must be notarised/legalised.
- Obtain a residents permit
- Present a blood type certificate
- Provide 3 passport size photos
- Have a full medical examination

Present these documents to the local transport registrar at the local police headquarters.

Posted on: Turkey

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