# Relocating to Nicosia, Cyprus



## hfarooqui (Jun 10, 2018)

Greetings Everyone,

I thought to reach out to the forum's member for some guidance on moving to Cyprus.

I am moving to Cyprus with my family (Wife + 3 kids (9 yrs, 6yrs, 2 months). I am originally from Pakistan but based out of Dubai since last 8 yrs. My company is moving me to Cyprus and I would like to have some advise if anyone can help or guide me .

1. Area/Locality: Best place to live in Nicosia (area / locality to look for apartment). My office would be in Skopa area and considering the schools would be nearby, so I would prefer to stay nearby but good area. I would be looking for 3 bedroom apartment/villa? Apartments are good to live or Villa should be an option? what would be the cost i should consider for rent and monthly utilities?

2. I am Muslim so I would be needing Halal food, so are you aware of any place where Halal food/meat is available?

3. Schools: American Academy School / Junior and Senior School, can you advise on how good are these schools, as it seems good? Any other school recommendation?

4. Cost of Living: The family of 5 having 3 kids as I mentioned, what would be the cost of living for a family

5. Any watchouts someone would like to highlight?

6. Car: what's the best option to buy car?

7. Communities: Are you aware of the communities around the country such as Pakistani/Indian community forums or places where we can get to know people from India/Pakistan or certain country?

8. Bank: Which bank one should be banking with considering I would be an expat? Good options for non-EU citizen expat.

Thank you in advance if you would be able to respond. Appreciate your support.

Thanks,


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Hello and welcome,

There are many good quality apartments in ACRPOLIS area adjacent to SKOPA, I wouldn’t recommend moving too far away as the traffic in the centre can be horrendous for a commute. Acropolis is fairly up market and likely to be quite expensive, but assume your company would be partially covering this. There are very few villas in the centre (most have been converted to embassies) – villas are available in the Engomi area, but this would entail a commute (as would options in the surrounding suburbs.

There are plenty of Halal outlets in the old town (Skopa is quite close to this) where there is a melting pot of cultures. The Halal stores centre around the remaining major mosque in the south of the city (Santa Maria) - (there are of course plenty more in the occupied northern section of the city) which can be accessed by foot with a passport at Ledra Street.
The schools you’ve identified are good. There is also Falcon as an option, but it is a bit further out. 
Cost of living depends of course on so many factors. I would review some of the online cost comparison sites to get an idea – review the price indices available on line. The one I reviewed suggests you would need c.4000 euros in Dubai to maintain the same lifestyle that would cost 2700 euros in Nicosia.
There are several Universities in Nicosia, most of which draw in students from many nationalities, and most have ethnic Socities –the University of Nicosia, for example have both an Indian and Pakistani Society, and they doubtless would have information on other related communities across the island.

I'll leave other members to pitch in with information on cars etc as I know very little about this.

Good luck with your move!

Regards,

Kimonas


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## Rus2016 (May 18, 2016)

hfarooqui said:


> Greetings Everyone,
> 
> I thought to reach out to the forum's member for some guidance on moving to Cyprus.
> 
> ...


Good luck Rustam


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