Job Discussion Forums

naf · Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 15 Location: Istanbul

If you have a school that has agreed to hire you and they have asked you to wait in London until they have the paperwork ready for picking up the visa then wait and keep in contact with them until it goes through.

If you don't have a job lined up yet you should hurry and come over because the school year is starting now... If you get hired by a private university or K-12 school they will often pay for you to go back to London when the paperwork is done and pick up the stamp. Private schools usually handle the ikamet process once you give them your stamped passport too.

Some schools don't bother with the paperwork and many offer 100 dollars or so for a tourist visa trip every three months.

Good luck. The Turkish beaurocracy is often changing and unpredictable and never really fast. Much of it seems to depend on the amount of chai and cigarettes consumed in a given office.

vre · Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 371

I agree, you should wait!!! Yes it does take that time to get your visa from the consulate but I just kept phoning and phoning and eventually they sped things up a little. Is your employer pushing you?

gelin · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 144 Location: Istanbul, Turkey

It would be ideal if you could enter Turkey with your work visa. Then you wouldn't have to leave Turkey and go pick it up back in London. You would have to go to the local Yabanci Sube to have your ikamet (residence booklet) processed, however.

If you don't have your work visa yet, you could go into Turkey on a tourist visa and then go back to London when your other visa is ready. Four to six weeks sounds like a fast one -- there are others that take months. There are many government departments involved in foreign work visas now.

Good luck.

OzBurn · Joined: 03 May 2004 Posts: 199

JoshuaJ · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject:

I want to know the same thing for Spain. I would be interested to see the response for Turkey.

Hector_Lector · Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 548

Oh no, he's here as well.

In case you don�t know, Josh is American and he is so annoyed that Spain will not roll out the red carpet for him. Jeez, he�s a native speaker, yet still they expect him to conform to their rules!

Hopefully, Turkey is much more subserviant, and will realise that Josh is he Man. No more queueing in Consulates for him!

JoshuaJ · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 12:54 am Post subject:

you are what is called an idiot. Get a life.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

My understanding is that a degree in English is sufficient, but a TEFL cert is required if you have a degree in something else. For language schools I know that is the case. With those you can get a work permit, eventually, but I can tell you it takes forever, whether you are in or out of country.

JoshuaJ · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject:

so how would you recommend initiating the process of obtaining the work permit? Try in my home country (USA) and have virtually no outcome as I have been told will happen, or wait until I get to my destined EU country?

Hog · Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Posts: 6

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

univs have a special agreement with the govt. language schools don't maalesef

billybuzz · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 219 Location: turkey

Joshua as I understand it you are not an E.U passport holder being from the other side of the pond therefore Spain is not going to entertain your application to work there .Surprised noone has brought that to your notice yet.
Turkey on the other hand is not yey in the E.U therefore you still have a chance here .Wonder what happens to that issue when Turkey does get full E.U status ,kick out all those ex-coloniols perhaps ?

billybuzz · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 219 Location: turkey

Joshua as I understand it you are not an E.U passport holder being from the other side of the pond therefore Spain is not going to entertain your application to work there .Surprised noone has brought that to your notice yet.
Turkey on the other hand is not yey in the E.U therefore you still have a chance here .Wonder what happens to that issue when Turkey does get full E.U status ,kick out all those ex-colonials perhaps ?

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

The following is my experience with the Turkish Ministry of Education or YOK as I think they are called.. I have been approved to work in language schools and a University with a 4 year degree and a TEFL certificate to teach English but not in a Univerisity Faculty.. only Prep English.. but it is ok for me. When I decided I was coming here to live and work, I requested a residence VISA from the Turkish Consulate in Washington DC and it was good for a year. When I came here I had 3 months to go to the Yabanci police station on the European side to take care of the paperwork and give them money and answer all their questions and prove i had money in the bank. I had to show them a money exchange slip/receipt for the amount they told me to have exchanged. When this was completed, I had a residence VISA and of course it states you cannot work but after 9 months of not working, I was ready to work and because I had this, it was easy to have it transferred into a Work/residence VISA and I did not have to go home to do the paperwork. This was not a big deal, and I did not have to do border runs. In between jobs, and permits, I did have to do a couple border runs, and I just made the best of it. Most language centers do not care what you have or do not have, they will hire you but you are at their mercy and you really should try to be legal as soon as you can. Good Luck

Hector_Lector · Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 548