# Early stages of Thinking about a move to Cyprus, want opinions!



## jenjenmullin (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi everyone, My husband and i are thinking moving to Cyprus, we love it over there...!! it's a beautiful place and i cannot think of anywhere else we would want to live! 

We have been there twice on Holiday and are retuning in October this year and again next year in July.

Our area of preference is Paralimni. 

Our Main worries are Work. 
My husband is a Qualified chef although he has not worked as a chef for a number of years. He has extensive experience in the Security industry, having left the army in 2004 and worked up from a Security officer to main management roles. 
He has experience with door supervision work too. 

I have a qualification in childcare (level 3) and currently work in a pre school. 

We would be willing to take any work we could to earn money. 

We have 2 children, one is 7 and the other 4. 
We are worried about schooling, we doubt we could afford to school them in private/fee paying schools, How would sending them to state schools affect them?

We have friends who live and work in the Paralimni area, but they are single with no children, they are helpful with their knowledge but obviously cannot see things from a families point of view. 

We would not be in a position to Buy, so would look to rent somewhere in the area. How does renting work in Cyprus? 

Also, considering the resorts in Paralimni **** down over the Winter period, We would be worried about earning money in the winter, how hard are jobs to come by? 

Where can we search for work in the area on the internet? 

We are looking to move in the next 2 or 3 years, our daughters will then be 9/10 and 6/7 
We are looking for Greek lessons for us all at the moment, or just for them so they can at least get ahead with the language barrier at school. 

Just wanting some advice, does all of this sound crazy, would we be better off looking to move to another area in cyprus? 
what advice can you give us?


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## jenjenmullin (Jun 7, 2011)

Just to add that we have been on holiday to many places before now, including France/spain and almost all of the Greek islands, so it's not just a case of Holiday love for the Island..!


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Hello Jenje,

There is no shortage of advice to young families moving over to Cyprus if you plough through the various threads - probably the schooling one is a good place to start. My advice would be cautionary - it is a very different thing to live and work in Cyprus than being here on holiday, and unless you have well paid jobs to come to, raising a family here is very tough (even if you do rely on state schools). Paralimni would not be a good all year location and work would be hard to come by. The Cypriot employment situation is pretty dire at the moment with little in the way of hopes of improvement. Many casual workers in the hospitality businesses will be prepared to work for accommodation and food and a very meagre salary - not the sort of career where it is possible to make enough to raise a young family. There is also no state benefits to fall back on.

If your children are settled in their schooling in the UK and you are able to visit Cyprus on Family holidays, that's the best way to enjoy Cyprus. Living here could turn out to be problematic - if things do turn sour and you are unable to make a go of it, your children would face a second disruption of their schooling if you were forced to return. Have a plough through the threads as your questions have been asked quite often and there is a wealth of advice already given.

Good luck in whatever you decide..


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## Jo Valentine (Jul 19, 2008)

*Greek Lessons*

Hi
If you can't find Greek lessons locally, google 'Byki' All the popular languages, using a method really easy to get on with. e.g. Lesson 1, animals, you get a picture of a chicken, the written word and a voice speaking the word. Simples! and it is FREE.
Best of luck for the future, whatever you decide.
Jo Valentine


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## jenjenmullin (Jun 7, 2011)

Hi, Thanks for the replies. Does anyone have any practical advice about living in Cyprus, IE taxes, opening bank accounts, paying council taxes

Also, schooling... How much does it cost to send children to state schools IE for Uniforms and i have read somewhere you need to buy books? 

I have been researching lots, and while i know Protaras/Ayia napa and the like shut down over the winter months, Paralimni is not becoming more populated with more services available over those months..

We will not move over untill we have found a year round job for my husband.


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