Citizenship ?

[leylaasena]

Are then any couples out there ( or individuals) who've applied for and received Turkish citizenship ?

Not those of you married to Turks but those of you without Turkish partners ?

Apart from having a reasonable understanding of Turkish what is the criterion?

Do you need to show how money you have and is there a minimum ?

Anything else?

Thanks

 

[Harem]

How reasonable is reasonable understanding of Turkish??

 

[leylaasena]

Good question, Harem !!!!
I know they say you to have at least basic, conversational Turkish.

I got married so long ago I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have to do the interview.

I need to know for one of my students if anything else is needed.

 

[Harem]

We (husband and myself) were talking to another British couple about this and we wondered if they knew of a yabanci couple who had applied for and received Turkish citizenship and what their experience was. Apart from the couple having to pay a very hefty sum in 'backhanders' apparently they were also told that they had to be able to recite/sing the Turkish national anthem. Has anybody else who has applied for citizenship had to do this??

 

[Faralya]

I do not think that you are asked to sing/recite the Turkish national anthem because probably most of the Turks can not sing it completely. Maybe you are asked to sing "Üsküdara gideriken aldıda bir yağmur.." !!!
Why your friends do not pay that hefty sum to learn proper Turkish instead of backhanders. It would really helps them to live more happy in this country. At least they wouldn't complain and contribute widespread bribing in Turkey. Additionaly learning Turkish helps them cultivating the habit of listening and observing rather than merely hearing and seeing.

:thumbup:

 

[Harem]

Thanks for that piece of information, Faralya. Hope to see you soon.

 

[de1amo]

it didnt really tell me how difficult the language test is--my facility for learning the turkish language seems to have gone with my advancing years--i can get by in spanish portuguese and french but turkish seems to be beyond me now!it doesnt help that my wife and daughter are fluent in english now and i am boxed in a world where everyone prefers to speak english with me--even the corner shop man-and this is life in izmir! also my best turkish friend and i chat in french!

 

[Harem]

I gave an answer on the other thread - in this area they seem to expect you to be more or less fluent. Also, you have to have a certificate stating that you have attended 100 hours of tuition!!!!

 

[de1amo]

yes i remember you saying that--the school my wife owns has a turkish teacher who teaches foreigners and therefore can to provide me one of these certificates!-for what they are worth is i am still useless lol

 

[Istanbul_expat]

I don't think it's worth the hassle to be honest

 

[de1amo]

i am concluding this--what is the longest visitors visa i can get at what cost--my wife moots about 1500tl for 5 or 10 years--we are now arguing over this now and she wont go to the turkish police site for me!!--she says the fluency demand by the turkish gov is in reply to the same demand made from eu countries of turkish citizens.

 

[KKOB]

You need to get the terminology right first

There's no such thing as a Visitor's Visa in Turkey.

There's a 90-day multiple entry Tourist Visa obtainable at all ports of entry.

There's a Residence Permit which you apply for once you are in Turkey and the maximum period that you can apply for at any time is 5 years. The costs of which depend on your nationality.

There's a Residence Visa that's issued by the Turkish Embassies and Consulates outside of Turkey and is generally valid for 3 months.

:roundgrin

 

[Yalides]

We just live here, why would we want to be citizens ? What are the advantages ?

 

[Istanbul_expat]

Saving money on the Ikamet

 

[Yalides]

Not enough reason methinks.

 

[de1amo]

The advantage of citizenship to me would be cost and trouble of needing to apply every year--and risk therein of rejection!-
İ have now seen that there is a long term visa for foreigners married to turkish nationals-i will explore this-any info on this??
-i have a residency permit which i renew yearly at the moment--the last one cost me 530tl for a year--i dont know how this corrulates to the 5000tl plus fees that seem to be quoted on this site???-yours confused !!!

 

[Istanbul_expat]

why do you need to reply every year? There is the 5 year option. Yalides, you must be rich if you don't think money is a good enough reason to do anything.
I wouldn't get citizenship anyway as I'm a single woman and if push came to shove then I'd sell up and leave this place.

 

[Yalides]

Not really about money, we are English and wouldn,t want to be anything else.

 

[Istanbul_expat]

OK then I agree with you there But if it came to choosing between citizenship and getting turfed out of here what would you do?
Bit hard on single females methinks too
btw, the language test IS hard and so far I haven't heard of any foreign couples who got it. I would also add that contrary to what the authorities here say, that test is considerably harder than the equivalent language tests in EU countries. In Germany they only require a rudimentary (200 word) knowledge of German. As usual, they make it harder and more expensive for us to stay here than for Turks to stay in the EU.

And Di's sausage rolls look fairly scrumptious Don't worry, I don't eat pig meat and am on a diet anyway) But if I wasn't and was round your way I might be severely tempted!

 

[Yalides]

Personally, if we had to leave Turkey for any reason we would go to Greece to live.

And you are welcome anytime.