Exploring Turkey for retirement

@DeeVos Welcome, Istanbul is a mega city, I would never ever live there. Still Turkey is great. Welcome I would say.

@cdw057 Hi, it isn´t our plan to live in Istanbul. We have been looking at the coast where we visited a few years ago and plan visiting again in May. We were thinking about Izmir or Antalya. We both enjoy the sea.

@DeeVos

Hello, I wanted to add my two cents.  I'm not an expat yet (living in Minneapolis now) but have started to make my plans to move to Turkey in about 2 years.  I'm waiting for my son to complete his college and establish a good footing for his post college life.  I wanted to give my perspective. 

I stayed in Izmir for 3 nights in the Ismet Kaptan neighborhood and it seems too busy traffic wise with a hectic lifestyle.  Not to say that there are probably quieter neighborhoods if that is what you are seeking.  It's also an earthquake region.

As for Antalya, I know its hot and humid in the summer.  We stayed one night in Kaleiçi and it reminded me of Panama City FL, lively, loud people at night which doesn't suit our style but Kaleiçi is known to be lively.  Again, there may be more laid back neighborhoods there if that is what you are seeking.

For my wife and I, our target city is Eskisehir.  It is a very clean and safe city of about 850k population with calm traffic, bustling at night without being loud or wild due to a large student population from 3 universities.  It is a progressive, cultural town.  Another plus for my wife and I is the colder climate.  Its known for having cold winters and summers are not humid so night temps are cooler.  Its in the central part of the country so that would not be attractive to you.

I looked into Mudanya which is very close Bursa but it is too hot for us.  Another place to consider maybe Yalova as it is close to Istanbul. Good luck in your search.

Hello everyone,

Welcome on board @DeeVos !

Please note that I have created this new thread from your post on the Turkey forum so that you may better interact and discuss with members.

All the best

Bhavna

@DeeVos I am from UK , retired and living in Turkey for the past 20 months. I live in a costal village about 20 miles from Yalova, not too far from Istanbul. I am very happy with the move I made, and my family do come to visit me regularly. I do speak Turkish fluently. If in a any way I can help you or give you advice, please do get in touch.

Hello 

we have been planning our next move and have settled for a place in Ayvalik. It gets busy in the Summer, but not like Bodrum, for example. There is life in the winter and it’s very well priced, compared to other touristic places. therefore, I highly recommend this location.

The biggest downsides are that there is no private hospital nearby and to get there from Istanbul it’s a domestic flight to Ereremit Airport then bus transfer. The nearest international Airport is Izmir- about 2 hours approx by car.

There is big Marina project in progress, so it will get busier in the future, but its still preferable as a location to live all year round. Plus you can catch the feribot to Lesboz (EU) from Ayvalik center.

Hope that helps!

@DeeVos FYI Turkiye has changed the laws and the majority of cities here do not allow permanent residency anymore as the cities now have quotas of how many foreigners can stay on a permanent basis. Most cities quotas are filled so people get rejected to stay now. Just so you know - if you google which cities are closed for foreigners you should find a list.

@marleysa We are residents and we have our Ikamet extension (we own out own property) and I have to say the process was very smooth. (we live in Mahmutlar (Alanya)).

Mahmutlar perhaps one of the strongest closed for new foreigners.

I personally the rule of 25% will be quickly abandoned (Alanya and other towns I am sure have built a huge numbers of 1+1 appartments, no local family can or will live there, so many apartments are empty, we just can look out of our apartment, in the evening virtually no lights). The new rule of USD 200.000 in Tapy might sound nice, but who knows what happens in property taxes, insurance etc. There is a big, big difference in TAPU and reality.

Perhaps Turkey will adopt rules as in The Netherlands (WOZ value), you pay taxes (to live) in the property you own (I can say this can be MASSIVE), for an appartment of EUR 200 K you can easily pay EUR 7 K per year.

We bought a few years ago and a big appartment which would justify USD 200 K, but 1+1???

The USD 200 K will (in my view) also be abandonded, not this year (that would not be serious).

For Turkey they should do something about the massive available 1+1 apartments (nobody wants them (apart from some tourists)), but renting out is also a problem.

@Gino_C I have to say 850K people in a city sounds big (too big for me I have to say). For me 50K residents are already at the top, almost a million sounds like a mega city to me. Of course Mahmutlar is expensive, but all is there, supermarket, markets, restaurants, .... (ALL GOOD, but with developments one see that many businness close (no clients, salary,rent,energy,..) sad really.

I have to say 850K people in a city sounds big (too big for me I have to say). For me 50K residents are already at the top, almost a million sounds like a mega city to me.
   

It's actually a very calm city and despite its size, there is not the hustle and bustle of large cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.  You ought to visit for your self, it's a very attractive city.  If you do, I'd be glad to host you and show you around.   

@cdw057 Friends of mine were refused a renewal of their residence permit even though they've been living here 9 years already. They don't own property.

@marleysa Must be shoking for them after 9 years of residency, denied extension. Sorry to hear that.

But, it has been a few years now that rule has changed for non-home owners. Many people have returned to their home country because of that.

@marleysa I do not know the circumstances but in Alanya news which created quite some scandal (for me to look as the site is in Turkish and I just use google chrome), a Dutch/Belgian couple (owners I have to say) living here for 22 years were refused Ikamet (there must have been a good reason, but still).

You never know what happens, we lived here for 2 years and the Ikamet extention (in Mahmutlar (I think one of the VERY closed districts) went very smooth.

Hi

I am thinking of retiring in Turkey

Did anyone encounter any problems with immigration if I were to arrive in Istanbul with a one way ticket

(without a return air ticket)?  From my current place in Toronto Canada

I do not need to have a visa if I am a tourist in Turkey (for a stay of less than 3 months)

I realize that I will have to apply for a short term residency permit withing a month of my arrival

I like certainty and at that point in my life I would have dispose off all of my belongings in Canada

Thanks

@Ong999, no issues are arriving with a one-way ticket in Turkey. It's a transit country. You don't have to apply within 30 days; no such rule exists. Also, you won't get residency in Istanbul as a retiree, as it's based on tourism. If your heart is set on Istanbul, you must buy a home for $200,000 or move to the southern provinces where retirement permits are approved.

@Ong999 The rules became very strict here now and you will most probably not get a long term residency- not even a short term one as Turkiye is bent on not accepting any foreigners for long term residencies anymore. Even people owning homes here had to sell and go back these last few months as their residencies were rejected after years of living here. Turkiye has an overpopulation of foreigners with the millions of recent refugees and that is the major reason for stopping residencies now. It might change in the future, but no idea if or when.

It's been recently reported in the Turkish media that the number of people migrating to Turkey in 2023 decreased by 35.9% compared to the previous year, amounting to 316,456 people of which 214,779 of the incoming immigrants were foreign nationals.  By the same token, the number of people migrating abroad from Turkey increased by 53%, amounting to 714,579 people of which 423,202 were foreign nationals.  So it would make sense that Turkey would loosen approval requirements for residency applications in response.  Unfortunately, economic conditions are most likely playing a big role in these statistics.  For retirees like me, it's not as concerning.

This information was sourced from Sakaryasondakika.com.

@Flintshire hi we are looking to retire in Turkey, would you be able to on state pension and small private pension?  What criteria do you need?  What does UK require for you to retire in Turkey and what does Turkey require? What would you advise us to look into? And how is the health care, is it public or private? Thanks in advance.

@SUZIPQ Quoted from another responder and 100% correct: "The rules became very strict here now and you will most probably not get a long term residency- not even a short term one as Turkiye is bent on not accepting any foreigners for long term residencies anymore. Even people owning homes here had to sell and go back these last few months as their residencies were rejected after years of living here. Turkiye has an overpopulation of foreigners with the millions of recent refugees and that is the major reason for stopping residencies now. It might change in the future, but no idea if or when." I suggest you rather look at cheaper and easier places such as Italy and Portugal.☺

@SUZIPQ That is not correct what you are declaring. You are welcome @Flintshire. If you have enough money and to buy a house you can even get Turkish passport. Look here for more info: immigrantinvest.com/blog/turkish-citizenship-by-investment-en

@merkezankara73 I am telling the actual facts- a lot of my friends with homes here for many years - 25 years and 30 years did not get their residence permit renewed last year and this year! They had to sell their homes and leave...and that is the reality. Unless you are a millionaire, you wont get residence here anymore.