Moving to Izmir

[livinthedream]

Hi folks

My husband has starting working near Izmir airport (we are from UK), I am planning to join him next month for 6 months or so

A few questions if anyone could provide some advice

- is there anything I should bring from home that isn't easily available? (I use contact lens so will bring supplies)
- I am bringing my spaniel, is there anything we should be wary of? insects etc - there appear to be plenty of vets & pet shops so hoping that she should be well catered for
- I will need a vehicle - what is the cost like compared to UK or should I just rent one (I have a new Mini Diesel which is cheap to run and insure in UK)

would love to hear from anyone who may be in the area, we will be near Urla.

thanks Anita

 

[Spurs]

Hi folks

My husband has starting working near Izmir airport (we are from UK), I am planning to join him next month for 6 months or so

A few questions if anyone could provide some advice

- is there anything I should bring from home that isn't easily available? (I use contact lens so will bring supplies)
- I am bringing my spaniel, is there anything we should be wary of? insects etc - there appear to be plenty of vets & pet shops so hoping that she should be well catered for
- I will need a vehicle - what is the cost like compared to UK or should I just rent one (I have a new Mini Diesel which is cheap to run and insure in UK)

would love to hear from anyone who may be in the area, we will be near Urla.

thanks Anita

Tesogirl is the person to ask, she lived there for sometime & well on the ball, a PM to her might help.

I wish you all the best on your move.

Ps. cracking place Izmir, if I ever moved back to Turkey then that's where I would be heading.

 

[IbrahimAbi]

Hi LTD welcome to the Forum. I lived in Izmir many years ago and still love the place. We have two dogs, vets are cheaper than the UK, but may be more expensive in areas with lots of expats. I would bring a good supply of 'Frontline ' (or equivalent) as it is not cheap here and there are quite a few ticks.

Vehicles are more expensive than the UK but second hand ones hold their value well, you will get it back when you sell it. I would definitely buy rather than rent if you are living here. take a look at car prices second hand on www.sahibinden.com You can select English in the bottom right hand corner. Beware road tax which depends on age of car and size of engine. Anything over 2000cc can be very expensive to run.

 

[teosgirl]

Hi folks

My husband has starting working near Izmir airport (we are from UK), I am planning to join him next month for 6 months or so

A few questions if anyone could provide some advice

- is there anything I should bring from home that isn't easily available? (I use contact lens so will bring supplies)
- I am bringing my spaniel, is there anything we should be wary of? insects etc - there appear to be plenty of vets & pet shops so hoping that she should be well catered for
- I will need a vehicle - what is the cost like compared to UK or should I just rent one (I have a new Mini Diesel which is cheap to run and insure in UK)

would love to hear from anyone who may be in the area, we will be near Urla.

thanks Anita

Hi Anita,

Welcome to the forum. Firstly you've chosen a nice spot. I have a home in Sigacik but currently live in the UK.

Izmir has a great international community and you might be interested to join the IWAI IWAI-International Women's Association of Izmir - Home which meets twice a month for coffee at the Swissotel and has many members living in Guzelbahce and the surrounding area. You can also find groups for people living in Izmir on facebook.

I can't think of anything offhand that you might want to bring.
The only advice I can give you is that when walking your dog, don't allow him/her to eat anything in the park or along the road; dogs can be poisoned in the street quite regularly in Turkey and it happened last year in Urla Iskele. I have a friend (Canadian) who lives in Urla and rescues dogs (she has sent more than 10 strays to Canada for new lives) so if you need a vet reference let me know.
Urla is a modern and dog friendly/yabanci friendly town so I'm sure you'll enjoy living there.

I've lived in the area for 14 years so please feel free to pm me as Spurs suggested, if you need any other advice.

Good luck with the move,
Charlotte

 

[livinthedream]

thanks for that folks, yes dog is currently on a pet plan for worming/fleas etc so will continue her normal treatments.
In fact bringing the dog is my only concern, everything else I think we can deal with ok.

please keep your advice and tips coming

Anita

 

[jandj]

Good luck with your move, Izmir is a wonderful city. Getting a car, as advised can be expensive, second hand cars are dear, but as was said hold their value well.
However in order to buy a car you will need:
1 A residency permit (Ikamet)...and all the rigmarole involved
2 Health insurance to obtain your Ikamet, which must include in patient and out patient care...not too difficult
3 A TC number
all of which can take well over a month to obtain.
Good luck

 

[livinthedream]

Hi Charlotte

Could you let me know who is recommended for Vet services in Urla, thanks

Anita

 

[YDR]

Hey everyone,

Slight thread resurrection here, but Izmir doesn't appear to be the most popular destination for Europeans.

I'll be flying out this month and then beginning the process of applying for a residency permit shortly thereafter. I feel like I can't deal with another cold, dark, wet covid lockdown winter in Northern Europe. Whilst covid will surely be bad in TR again come winter, at least the climate allows one to live a little bit more of a life.

In order to hopefully make things as smooth and stress free as possible, I'd like to hire a lawyer or legal helper to make sure I'm filling in forms correctly, and potentially to attend the interview with me, in case there's a language barrier.

Can anybody recommend any? As I said, Izmir doesn't seem the most common region for Western expats, so I haven't seen much discussion of it, unlike Istanbul and the major resort regions. @teosgirl seems like the perfect person to ask, but it appears she's inactive. Can anyone help?

Thanks!

 

[IbrahimAbi]

Welcome to the Forum YDR. I think Teosgirl went to live in the UK. I lived in Izmir 30 years ago, so cannot really help much. There are many English speaking people around in Izmir. In my experience when you apply for a residence permit and attend interview they will supply a translator is one is required. help for other things like filling forms in can be done via this Forum. If you look at the legal threads on here there is a friendly lawyer based in Izmir who helps us out from time to time, he may be able to put you in touch with someone who can help out if needed.

 

[YDR]

Thanks, Ibrahim.

From what I'd understood, the expectation (at least in the Izmir Goc office) is that the interviewers will speak very limited English and interpreters are not provided. I may be mistaken however. Of course there's always Google Translate, but that can lead to misunderstandings.

Could you say the forum username of the one you're referring to?

 

[IbrahimAbi]

I cannot remember his user name, maybe someone else can help.

 

[Camden]

I believe the Izmir Consul can give you a list of English speaking translators .... They also give a list of Lawyer... but in this case do your own background research on them as the Consul doesn't take responsibility for their work ... It would be a good idea to introduce yourself and register with the Consul anyway ...

 

[esb1841]

YDR,
I take it your aware that Izmir does get cold winter time and there are periods of heavy rainfall during the winter months

Izmir climate: weather by month, temperature, precipitation, when to go

Climate information for Izmir (Turkey) - weather averages in Celsius and Fahrenheit. With tips on the best time to visit.

www.climatestotravel.com

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days​

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days - Turkey News

Turkey’s third-largest city of İzmir has been battered by heavy rainfall once more since last week.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

 

[IbrahimAbi]

YDR,
I take it your aware that Izmir does get cold winter time and there are periods of heavy rainfall during the winter months

Izmir climate: weather by month, temperature, precipitation, when to go

Climate information for Izmir (Turkey) - weather averages in Celsius and Fahrenheit. With tips on the best time to visit.

www.climatestotravel.com

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days​

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days - Turkey News

Turkey’s third-largest city of İzmir has been battered by heavy rainfall once more since last week.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Does it matter? It is a cracking place to live and you do not notice all the annoying tourists!

 

[enoch]

Just reading today there is a area in izmir where the radiation levels are about 7000 times above normal. I will try and post article.

İzmir'in Çernobili'nde radyasyon normal değerin 7 bin 291 katı!

İzmir’in Çernobili olarak anılan Gaziemir’deki arazide radyasyon cihazı ile ölçüm yapıldı. Alanda normal değerin 7 bin 291 katı radyasyon olduğunu tespit etti.

www.cumhuriyet.com.tr

The place seems to be a old factory

 

[YDR]

YDR,
I take it your aware that Izmir does get cold winter time and there are periods of heavy rainfall during the winter months

Izmir climate: weather by month, temperature, precipitation, when to go

Climate information for Izmir (Turkey) - weather averages in Celsius and Fahrenheit. With tips on the best time to visit.

www.climatestotravel.com

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days​

Heavy rainfall floods parts of Turkey’s İzmir twice in 7 days - Turkey News

Turkey’s third-largest city of İzmir has been battered by heavy rainfall once more since last week.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Thanks for your concern, but the average temperatures, hours of sunlight and hours (rather than quanity) of rainfall are a far cry from Northern Europe in winter ...

I'm not under the impression that it's an even 30C year round, don't worry.

 

[YDR]

I believe the Izmir Consul can give you a list of English speaking translators .... They also give a list of Lawyer... but in this case do your own background research on them as the Consul doesn't take responsibility for their work ... It would be a good idea to introduce yourself and register with the Consul anyway ...

Thanks. I've been repeatedly warned off their lists, both personally by people I've spoken to, and advice given here and elsewhere.

One person whose name has come up quite a bit as a recommendation (including once here) is Zehra Yucel in Didim, which is less than a 2 hour drive from Izmir. I might give her a call.

 

[YDR]

Main concern is surviving the forecast 40-42C heatwave next week!