Working and LIving in Istanbul

Do you have a job waiting? If not, you can only enter on a 3-month visa. It's very difficult to get a work visa (Ikamet) unless your employer foots the bill.

Please review my questions again - I am getting a visa, I just want to know more info before I negotiate or move over for a paid position. Any advice?

Try the forums of My Merhaba.
Expats in Turkey may help you.

About living alone, you will have no problem.
Decent area to live in without a car could be "Cihangir" which is very close to Taksim.
Taksim is one of the transportation hub of Istanbul.

For living and saving, I would say you need around 2500 Turkish lira per month (some companies may offer pay in dollars or euros as well. The dollar is worth about 1.3 lira and the euro about 1.75 lira). In my experience, companies making offers usually quote a net salary (i.e. after taxes) rather than a gross salary (before taxes). A lot depends on your lifestyle though, as you can live very cheaply in Istanbul if you have to.

The process of obtaining work and residence visa is difficult and involves a lot of red tape, so you may find yourself working illegally (in which case you go to Greece or Bulgaria once every three months to renew your visa. This is very easy and some people literally walk across the border and then turn around and come right back through. Either border is a 2.5 hour bus ride from Istanbul). Don't let working illegally concern you as it is very common for the foreigners living here and the police are usually quite willing to ignore your lack of official status.

Be very careful with contracts and try to get a Turkish friend to look over one before you sign it. One thing to watch is any end-of-contract bonus as some companies will try to find an excuse not to give it to you, especially if you decide not to renew.

Living alone as a western woman is no problem, although you'll attract a fair bit of attention if you're blonde (nothing problematic, just attention). Istanbul is very easy to negotiate without a car except for some of the outlying areas. The major transit hubs are Taksim, Besiktas, Eminonu, and Kadikoy, with Taksim being the biggest. The city is very large however, so it pays to live relatively close to where you work (if you've arranged a job beforehand).

Buying a cell phone is not expensive, but using a cell phone can add up. People generally pre-buy credits which are then used up as you make phone calls. People generally cope with the phone costs by keeping their conversations short.

i am intersted in this topic

I live in 'Gayrettepe' and it's really easy for me to get around from there. The rent prices are high in Istanbul, a 2500 YTL net salary to pay the rent from will mean you will lose around 1000 YTL. to live in a decent place, leaving you with 1500 for food and transportation. All in all you won't be able to put aside a whole lot of money - just enough to pay for your plane tickets back-and-forth to visit your home country - maybe.

If you are more specific about what work experience you have, what type of work you will be looking for/or have arranged, and what type of living situation you will be happy with, more people can be helpful in painting a clearer picture...

hi,
the amount of salary you need,depends on your life style,and the district,
if you want to live in the city centre or nearby bosphorus for example in levent or ortaköy,
you need at least 3.000 ytl 1.500 Ytl for rent house others to live,
if you want to live in a suburbian area,like Halkalý,Küçükköy,Alibeyköy,Umraniye...1500 Ytl per month is enough,rental house about 500 ytl and the rest is enough for a modest life.If you will work as employee your income tax (%15) will be cut by employer and will be paid to tax administration.
there is no problem for public transportation majority of areas have good transportation facilities,like tram,public bus,subway,dolmuþ...
you can use akbil=electronic ticket for public transportation, inside 1.5 hour second vehicle is free and you've %20 discount.
there is not any problem to live alone as a woman istanbul is very modern city.
cell phone prices are very reasonable there are 3 gsm operators turkcell,avea and vodafone..you can learn about them by searching their websites.. for example call 8088 and learn tariffs...
when you're enacting your service contract, you should be carefull, the duration of contract must be longer than 1 year to obtain a compensation if your employer terminate it unfairly...
you must choose your are to live according to your salary,first you must know the amount of salary..istanbul has unpresedented divorsity,
each area like a different country..some areas poorer than afganistan,some areas richer than Manhattan,there is no balance...
than according to your salary you have to choose area,first learn your salary and decide the area to live you can afford...

No, cell phones are not reasonable. We use the most expensive gas and telecomunications+internet in Europe due to taxes!!!

hi deniz
I agree with you,gas ,electricty,telephone fees are very high becuse of taxes.
Ýstanbul is among the most expensives cities of world.thanks for your contribution.