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Caterinamh
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul
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 Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:13 pm Post subject: Turkish work visas are a nightmare |
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I would like for a moment to vent and rage. I am married to a Turkish citizen and am about to begin working at Fatih University in Istanbul. I have known about this for some time and tried my best to start the quest for the work visa via marriage well ahead of time. I was told by the Turkish Embassy in NYC that I could go on a Tourist visa and then register for residency and work permit in Turkey.
To my dismay this is NOT correct and one month prior to leaving to Turkey I found out that I must begin this work visa process from my country of orgin. Yug.........  so I go back to the school and advise them of this and they begin the process of sending my documents to the Education Council to obtain the YOK, which in turn you must turn in to process the work visa (different from the work permit I must add).
What a nightmare. 
I know I might have typos and run on sentences please spare me the lectures I'm pissed right now.  
Why tell me why doesn't the embassy tell me this back in May. 
We are now two weeks prior to the beginning of my contract and the school still hasn't received the YOK for me to even begin the work visa process.  (Can you say duh). I'm so upset and frustrated. 
It didn't take NYC (the nightmare of nightmares in terms of immigration) to process my husband's green card application. My husband had his work permit in a month and now is a perm. resident while I still wait for a stupid work visa. I just don't get it. 
It took the Turkish Embassy two months to register my marriage. I would just like to say "use technology people" !
Don't they have a fax, email, pdf machine, maybe even a telephone? 
Ok, I'm done. 
As the Turks would say IN sh allah I'll get this stupid visa before I'm due to be in Turkey.
Ok, I'm not done ... Thanks to all of this I have had to reset my airline ticket flight date, will not have any chance to find a flat or settle in without being totally rushed and uncomfortable and am about to pull my freak'n hair out.
But, Inshallah it will get done!
Last edited by Caterinamh on Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:27 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Freddie Miles
Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Posts: 91
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:09 am Post subject: |
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Let it out... let it all out, Catrina.
Bureaucracy is institution designed to get fairly unemployable people working. The more paperwork, the more paperwork to fill in and approve.
The whole work visa process in a flux at the moment. There was a wacky law requiring all foriegn workers to apply in the Turkish consulate of their home country. I got the feeling that was not working. So maybe they went back to the old system. Nobody at your school may know exactly what the policy is at the moment. And this might even be true at the foriegner's department. I agree that is one of the less pleasant aspects of living in Turkey. I presume there are countries a whole lot worse about such bureaucratic madness but I dont live there.
I think ranting is good for you. Rant away. rant til you can't rant no more. However, I would tell you that if you want to be happy in this country you really have to go with the flow. It doesnt do much good to bluster in this country. It doesnt do a lot of good to argue out the finer points of your case generally. You will merely get a shrug and hazy distant look back. Being right means nothing here.
Also I have learned that strictly following the rule book takes forever and the fast track almost involves a lot of ready cash. The other option takes a bit more skill. That is, appeal to the human side whenever possible. Dont be afraid of humiliating yourself in front of a Turk- Lord knows I have on countless occasions!- they respond well to this approach.
Keep us posted and good luck! |
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billybuzz
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 219
Location: turkey
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:39 am Post subject: |
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It may be worth mentioning at this point that it does get easier .The longer you stay esp if you stay in the same place the procedure becomes a lot more straightforward . İf you decide to jump ship mid term than it complicates things .After 2-3 years in the same place it can be a mere formality .Get to know the right people who process applications and their bosses and bingo it s a snip !
I understand that it is also possible to get longer permits once your employer is prepared to offer longer work contracts .If enough at your work place push for it then the annual run around comes less often . |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| Nobody at your school may know exactly what the policy is at the moment. |
rather like the Milli egitim.
The rules have changed so often. Bring back the days when you went to the nearest yabanci subesi and everything was sorted in a couple of hours. |
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Caterinamh
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:56 pm Post subject: Ok I'll try the getting what I want with Honey |
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| Freddie Miles wrote: |
Let it out... let it all out, Catrina.
Bureaucracy is institution designed to get fairly unemployable people working. The more paperwork, the more paperwork to fill in and approve.
The whole work visa process in a flux at the moment. There was a wacky law requiring all foriegn workers to apply in the Turkish consulate of their home country. I got the feeling that was not working. So maybe they went back to the old system. Nobody at your school may know exactly what the policy is at the moment. And this might even be true at the foriegner's department. I agree that is one of the less pleasant aspects of living in Turkey. I presume there are countries a whole lot worse about such bureaucratic madness but I dont live there.
I think ranting is good for you. Rant away. rant til you can't rant no more. However, I would tell you that if you want to be happy in this country you really have to go with the flow. It doesnt do much good to bluster in this country. It doesnt do a lot of good to argue out the finer points of your case generally. You will merely get a shrug and hazy distant look back. Being right means nothing here.
Also I have learned that strictly following the rule book takes forever and the fast track almost involves a lot of ready cash. The other option takes a bit more skill. That is, appeal to the human side whenever possible. Dont be afraid of humiliating yourself in front of a Turk- Lord knows I have on countless occasions!- they respond well to this approach.
Keep us posted and good luck! |
Ok, I'll try being sweet and batting my eyes. God knows my eyelashes are long enough. He He. When you say money how would that work? |
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molly farquharson
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 839
Location: istanbul
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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| I wouldn't try with the money thing. Especially new foreigners are clumsy about it and it is not as widespread as it was. You will have to pay fees for this and that and it will take time, both paper-shuffling and finally standing in line. this ain't Kansas and it definitely does not work like it does back home, wherever that might be. |
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Freddie Miles
Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Posts: 91
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| No. Molly's absolutely right. Eyelashes yes, bribery no. I was simply talking generally in Turkey and probably throughout the world. |
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mongrelcat
Joined: 12 Mar 2004
Posts: 232
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| Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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heh heh
she said "visa's"
heh heh
sorry....i didnt even read your post yet. i'll go do that now. |
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mongrelcat
Joined: 12 Mar 2004
Posts: 232
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| Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Entrailicus wrote: |
| Welcome to Turkey. Make sure you bring lots of passport photos with you. |
i feel your rage my friend.
wait til you get here.
today i had to buy a train ticket to go to Ank. Can't do it over the phone because they dont have phone books here. Have to go all the fookin way to the train station in Asia for gods sake and when you get there they say, oh no more seats available.
As long as I've lived here i still cant deal with the lack of technology.
and i must say "oops" for making that wise remark before about the visas/visa's. |
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baksana
Joined: 23 Nov 2005
Posts: 13
Location: istanbul, turkey
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| Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmm. Strange. I am in the process of getting my first work permit now (have a residence visa, am already working, etc). I haven't hit any snags in the process (knock on wood!!!!!!!!!!!!) but my employer is very good about doing these things.
Anyway, good luck.... bureaucracy (i just typed 'bureaucrazy' - appropriately enough!) is incredible in Turkey. I remember getting my Tax ID number (or whatever it is) and waiting in lines while people just smoked, drank a couple of teas, smoked a few more cigarettes... I really had to control my temper but now I'm just used to it. Any time I have to do anything "official" I just plan on spending a couple of hours in lines, staring at people and counting ceiling tiles. Turkish bureaucrazy = good times. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| And so ıs the apostrophe - at least to some of the alleged teachers postıng here. |
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Caterinamh
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:14 pm Post subject: using apostrophe |
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To my understanding this isn't a grammar lesson but a place to express ideas and share facts. Why the nasty behavior?
Anyway who cares! He He Let's just have fun eh?
Last edited by Caterinamh on Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Frizzie Lizzie
Joined: 07 Jul 2005
Posts: 123
Location: not where I'd like to be
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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The students will care, if they pay a lot of money and you teach them the wrong thing.
It's visas, not visa's. |
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Caterinamh
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:32 am Post subject: OK OK |
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First of all I didn't even notice or pay full attention to the post as I wrote while very upset and as I noted in the posting excuse the mistakes. Is it really a requirement of this community to bad mouth and crap on others. My goodness what a boring life. Anyway I have corrected my mistake. God forgive me for not being perfect. 
Sincerely,
The Alleged Teacher- certified in the State of Florida.  |
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whynotme
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 728
Location: istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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| mongrelcat wrote: |
today i had to buy a train ticket to go to Ank. Can't do it over the phone because they dont have phone books here. Have to go all the fookin way to the train station in Asia for gods sake and when you get there they say, oh no more seats available.
As long as I've lived here i still cant deal with the lack of technology.
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why didn't you do it online?
https://etcdd.tcdd.gov.tr/tcddrezwebapproot/ilknet.jsp |
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