Job Discussion Forums

[ryanlogic]

Hello everyone! The title speaks for itself:

$2700 USD + flights -healthcare + pregnant wife = livable in Hatay/Antakya?

I was offered a job in Antakya with flights and yearly vacation, but coincidently my wife and I found out that we are expecting a baby. The insurance that will be offered has not been confirmed By the employer and I haven't gotten a straight answer (yet) about whether or not the pregnancy will be covered by the insurance they plan to provide.

Does anyone have experience in or around Antakya?
What kind of health care costs should we expect as an expecting couple?
Is private health insurance available locally, and at what cost to Americans?

Does $2700 seem like a liveable salary in this part of Turkey?

Also if anyone has information about apartment availability and whether or not flats usually need to be paid for upfront, that would be amazing!

Thanks in Advance,

Ryan

[ryanlogic]

im surprised that no one has said anything!

Nobody has any input?

[nichtta]

Yea... this forum's been a bit dead lately... I know how you feel, but I'll try to answer.

A salary of $2700 USD / month is excellent for Istanbul, and I think it's the most expensive place to live here in Turkey, so you, your wife, and your newborn (congratulations, by the way!!!) should be very comfortable.

You can get private health insurance for as little as 700 TL / year (https://www.gunessigorta.com.tr/), but I don't know if that means it's any good.

What makes me suspicious about this excellent offer is that you don't have health care. If you're being hired to work legally, i.e., are being provided with a work permit, then by law your place of employment must also give you SGK, which is the national health care. This covers you, your wife, and your children, and you can use it at any government hospital for free and any private hospital with some sort of discount based on what I've heard.

If you're not going to work legally, I'd be very careful because you could be deported.

Also, make sure you get your work visa papers before you come to Turkey. That way, after arriving, you can apply for a residence permit using those documents. If you don't have them, you'd be applying for a residence permit for one year, for example, as a "tourist" and need to fulfill all of these requirements, work illegally until you go to your residence appointment, wait for a month (at least here in Istanbul) until you get your card, then your employment will apply for a work visa, which needs another month. Basically, by the time you get it and get your health insurance and benefits, you may find about six months have passed, if they even give it to you in the end. I really don't recommend the illegal route...

As for apartments, you should expect a security deposit (let's say 1000 TL, for example) and then a monthly rent, which is probably cheaper than here in Istanbul. However, you may have trouble even finding someone willing to rent you one if you go without a residence permit in hand. Again, you are going to really complicate things by coming here without legal papers.

I just read online that as of May 18th, 2015 all residence permits and related immigration procedures are being taken care of by the new "Directorate General of Migration Management," and that means a whole new slew of surprises.

I wish you the best and hope you can come here legally and enjoy your stay. It really is a beautiful country with nice people, but the procedures... they're really hard to deal with.

[ryanlogic]

Thank you for your very helpful reply!

I would be working for a reputable American organization, and I'm positive that the intention is to provide a legitimate work visa and health care. However it does seem that they expect me to show up and obtain a tourist visa on arrival with the expectation that it will be converted into a legit work visa. The issue seems to be that they need me to work sooner than they can get their own ducks in a row. the interviewer mentioned something about recently having to close down their office and reopen it again in order to properly comply with the Turkish bureaucracy....

That being said, this area of Turkey is a geopolitical hotspot that is definitely under scrutiny from both the United States and the Turkish government. I'm not sure that it would be wise to show up without a work permit so I might need to play hardball to get them to make it happen right the first time.

Can you clarify whether or not a tourist visa can definitely be converted to a work visa without leaving the country for a visa run?

-Ryan

[Dedicated]

You say the offer is for Antakya which is only about 40 miles from the Syrian border. I have visited Antakya several times in the past and found it to be a delightful, historical spot. However, that has completely changed with the influx of Syrian refugees and it being the centre for IS supporters crossing into Syria.

If you don't know Turkey and don't speak Turkish, I certainly would not recommend this area for the first job, particularly with a newly pregnant wife.

Please read the following -

[url]http;//www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/world/middleeast/syrias-conflict-intrudes-on-antakya-turkey.html[/url]

[url]http;//www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/syria-crisis-threat[/url]

[nichtta]

No problem. I'm glad to help!

Here in Istanbul, you'll mostly likely be in a catch-22, but I don't know about the situation down south. For example, you need a rent contract to get your residence permit (a hotel reservation document or a petition letter from a Turkish citizen who is accommodating you as a foreign visitor in their own residential address would also work, but would you really want to stay with someone else or have the money to stay in a hotel for a few months?). At the same time, to get a rent contract, the landlord wants you to have a residence permit. Try getting around that one, which is a recent change, probably a result of the influx of Syrian refugees. Basically, landlords seem to want to make sure that the rent contract is enforceable by law and you won't just pick up your bags and flee the country before your lease is up.

The intention always seems to be there for a valid work contract, but it doesn't always seem to be done. My guess is that businesses, organizations, and schools here don't want to go through the trouble of the paperwork and having to pay for having legal employees when they could get them to work illegally at their own risk. A lot of them don't seem like they could care less if you were deported or not...

If it's such a reputable American organization, then why don't they provided you with the paperwork before coming here? That's what they're supposed to do anyways...

Visa runs are no longer possible. Every since the law change in I think around 2010, the tourist visa length is for 90 days within a 180-day period. In addition, it seems that getting a tourist residence permit is now a longer, more expensive, and more difficult process without a lot of precedent helping you through the process. I'm going to post more about what I've learned in the appropriate thread in this forum. I recommend keeping up with it to be more aware of what you're getting yourself into.

As far as I know, to get a work visa you need to have a residence permit valid for at least six months from your application date (maybe seven months for good measure?), but it's still possible to get it after coming here on a tourist residence permit.

Again, I really don't recommend you put yourself as well as your pregnant wife through all of this. You should really demand that they get your proper paperwork in order before coming.

I can't comment on the safety issue, but, in general, when the American and European media screams "danger," "chaos," and "anarchy," life continues normally here, so take that with a grain of salt while still being careful, of course, and signing up with the US Department of State's travel website, etc. Such is how the media works. They live off controversy, breaking news, and the shock factor.

[ryanlogic]

[ryanlogic]

[nichtta]

It's my pleasure!

That sounds great. Good luck, and I wish you the best. This new life experience seems like it's going to also be really rewarding and fulfilling!

[ryanlogic]

[ryanlogic]

There's a lot of helpful information here:

http://www.expatguideturkey.com/work-visa-application-procedure/

Looks like there's a lot of back and forth between the employee, the employer, along with the Turkish govt. and the Turkish Consulate.

I'll update you guys as we begin this process.

[/img]

[veiledsentiments]

[ryanlogic]

VS,

I always appreciate your comments and I pray that by now you know that I do not take advice lightly or disregard it without sincere thought and soul searching. If it wasn't for you I probably would have hopped onto a plane chasing some job in the desert without thinking several times by now

Health care is definitely a concern. I've been assured that there are adequate facilities including a private maternity hospital very near where we will live. That being said, the plan is for me to travel to Turkey and scope everything out before bring my wife. In the event that things are not up to snuff, my wife will stay with my mother stateside through the remainder of the pregnancy, and I will have to re evaluate my decision to work for this organization.

As far as security goes, this is a career decision with an American organization that has a very good reputation and operations around the globe. Protocols for safety and evacuation are in place, and nobody in the organization or with experience working in this particular region has expressed concern akin to yours. Even then, as with the health care, I will be on the ground alone prior to bringing my wife/child.

That isn't to say that nothing could possibly happen, but I have a certain level of trust in fate... If something tragic is meant to happen, it will happen no matter what I do to prevent it.

Either way, thank you.

-Ryan

[veiledsentiments]

I can understand your interest in a position like this where you feel that you can actually be helping people. Good idea for her to stay in the US until you can scope things out. It may also be a good idea to consider her spending much or most of this year back home. I assumed that there is good maternity hospital as there are always lots of babies born in this part of the world. Be sure to go there and check out the facilities... and the language situation. That really is a key for her. (you notice that I am not worried about you. )

That would have been a great location to work (and travel about) prior to the advent of the Syrian civil war and then IS/Daesh.

BTW... the fact that no one in the organization has any concerns is perhaps not the best basis to judge your own situation. They are likely career long expats who are looking to get more help... and their tolerance for ambiguity and hardship will be quite different from people who are completely inexperienced with overseas life.

VS

[ryanlogic]