# I'm Moving to Cyprus!!



## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

Hi All,

I'm hoping you can give me a bit of advise.

I'm 20 and will moving to Paralimni, Cyprus on 12th January as I have managed to secure a job over there and just wondered what the cost of living is like.

I have read every possible post about living in Cyprus both Pro's and Con's but can't seem to find an average cost of living.

I'm aware this depends on your life style and how much you spend but this is just a general break down of my costs. 

Monthly Wage: 900 Euro
Rent: 250 Euro
Food: 200 Euro
Bills: 150 Euro

Do you think I can realistically live off £300 as spare cash.

I will have the opportunity to do over time to earn more money but just wanted to get a general idea of what people thought.

While posting, I was wondering how much internet normally costs and how reliable it is (this has been included in my bills) - priorities of a 20 year old guy ahah!!

Thanks in advanced,
Henry


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

What job will you be doing?

Pete


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## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

I'll be working in a restaurant


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Whether 300 a month is enough for spending money really depends on how much you go out drinking etc.
Certainly it should be enough for day to day spending as you have taken your living expenses into account.


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## JonandGaynor (Jun 8, 2009)

Your wages are to low for income tax but have you accounted for social insurance payments which I think are around 10%.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Don't forget that at some time you will need health insurance to satisfy residency requirements.

Pete


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## JonandGaynor (Jun 8, 2009)

That's covered under the social insurance payments, for the op's info the yellow slip requirements for employed status are:
*Passport
*1 passport size photo
*Social insurance certificate (issued by the Social Insurance Dept. which is opposite the Derynia Immigration Offices Paralimni).
*Completed Application
*Employers Declaration section completed and stamped
*€20
You need the original and a copy of all paperwork
Also 'requested' by them, but not officially listed, is the original and a copy of the contract of employment.
Obviously before the Social Insurance certificate can be issued you need to have paid into the system.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It is important to make sure that your employer is actually paying your social insurance.
It is not unusual for employers to deduct social insurance from employees wages and not pay it so when the employee needs hospital treatment or they lose their job and need to claim unemployment they find themselves in a situation where they cannot get any help.


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## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

Hi All,

Really appreciate all your help and it looks like I have some more stuff to look into.

Before I leave England, will I need to get anything else arranged/sorted?

I am going out there for 6 months to start with so I'm guessing I will still need to complete the "Yellow Slip". 

I have got my European Heath Insurance card and travel insurance which covers me for Travel Delays, Damage and Medical Treatment. 

Thanks again for the help, 1 month today until I go 

Cheers
Henry


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

One small piece of advice. Put enough money away for your plane fare home in case things don't work out. Many young people have ended up stranded here when jobs went sour and they had no money for air fares.


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## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

Got money put away in case I need to get a last minute flight home. Fingers crossed I won't need it though


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## _misha_ (Nov 2, 2016)

Hey Dude, 

Great, you'll love it here. It's good that you are young and by the sounds of it free of responsibilities. you'll have a great time here and if not you can just up and leave ;-) 

so 900 isn't a great salary but as you have done the basics you can see that you'll be ok. A couple of things you should do:

1) Within 15 day remember to register with immigration / police 

You'll need to apply for a 'yellow slip'. This is a permit/registration that they have to give you by EU law. To tell the truth it will take 6 - 12 months to actually get this elusive piece of yellow paper, but you'll get a receipt with your file number on it. This you can use to give to your employer and register for social etc. You'll also need it for opening a bank account. 

2) Get into the habit of pre-drinking. 

Drinking out can be expensive, go to Lidls (yes we have them here) and get some cheep booze and go out half cut. Its VERY easy to blow 150 Euros on booze in pubs if you are not careful!!

3) FFS don't do drugs! 

I don't mean this as some prude... Drugs are great and all, but here they have very very draconian drug laws. You can go to jail for like a 8th of weed or something.. You'll even be in the paper as a drug dealer!. I know its crazy when most of the world is legalizing, but here the attitude towards drugs is super strict! 

4) Remember you're a foreigner 

This can be linked to the above in that some of your local mates might get away with more than you'd be able to. Be respectful of the differences and as soon as you hear yourself comparing everything to England, just learn to shut yourself up and just repeat *This is how it is here and we are not in England* ... In my opinion its great in CY, but many expats get stuck in the complaining thing.

5) Try to purge yourself of all prejudices of other nationalities. 

I can't even watch BBC anymore for this anti-russian USA pushed propaganda. If you're in a restaurant you will very soon get first hand experience of Russians. You will see that they are not aliens and are usually very nice people. They will also like you because you are English. I would just drop all the prejudiced about Russians and stuff (if you have any). If you'll work in customer service it might even be a good idea to learn a little Russian. Chances are you'll be using English and Russian much more than Greek. Also try to meet and hang out with other nationalities, don't fall into the little England trap! 

6) Do things other than drink (sometimes) 

Cyprus is amazing. Go diving, kite surfing, hell even go ride on a camel in the camel park! Save a bit of your cash for seeing places! There is a shipwreck here called the zenobia and it is one of the top 10 dives in the world. 

7) Eat the local food! 

I sometimes wish i could erase my memory so that i can go for my first meze and experience it new ;-) Eat souvlaki and sheftelia, kelftico, louvee, befteki.. Dont go to the familiar brands (KFC/McD's) they are expensive and crap. I don't just mean junk food, they just cannot do a zinger tower burger here! It might look like similar but it aint.. best stick with local grub! 


Finally just be careful in the sun.. its really really hot in summer and you'll burn in 15 minutes.. Doesn't matter if you're olive, brown or black skinned the sun will burn everyone. 

*Internet - You can get 4G here and best to buy a cyprus Simcard (Cyta SoEasy or MTN). Its sadly quite expensive with 20 euro buying about 500mb! Forget a contract mobile unless you're happy to pay a 500 euro deposit! Getting a landline isn't worth it either really.. but if you did i think you can get for around 35 Euro per month. But there are many wifi areas and chances are your restaurant will have it.. also Cyprus is full of people with unsecured wifi (if you're ok with that)


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## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

Hi Misha,

Thank you SOOO much for the above.

There are so many little ting I keep thinking of and you have just answered most of them.

Tbh the whole point of me going to Cyprus is to try a different style of live. I currently live just outside Manchester in England and everything is 100 mph. 

I am defiantly up for meeting new people, tasting new food and just experiencing a different culture first hand. I do like a drink now and then and especially when the season starts so I like the idea about pre-drinks (that should save me some money). I'm not into drugs at all so shouldn't be getting arrested any time soon but defiantly something to watch out for.

KFC/McD's are terrible in the UK so its hard to believe they can be even worse in Cyprus  Either way, I cant wait to try the local grub and get stuck in!!

With regards to Russians, they make the best Vodka. On a serious note though, I don't pre-judge anyone and actually look forward to meeting the different nationalities and learning some of the lingo (with some practise)!

Once again, thank you very much for your help and please feel free to pop me a message if you have any other information that could be helpful - the more the better 

Cheers
Henry


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## JonandGaynor (Jun 8, 2009)

_misha_ said:


> Hey Dude,
> 
> 1) Within 15 day remember to register with immigration / police
> 
> ...


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

_misha_ said:


> Hey Dude,
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It might be better advice to suggest that the concept of going out for a drink should be to enjoy the drink not the sole purpose of getting as drunk as possible.

€150 in most of the places I visit (I'm not one for the English style pseudo pubs) will buy an enormous amount of drink. Anyone thinking it normal to have 50 large beers in an evening needs to be urgently arrested by police and taken in a straightjacket to a mental institution.

Drinking out need not be expensive here at all and certainly costs a fraction of London prices.

Pete


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

I agree with Pete. 
A night out cost far less here than it does in the UK so I have wonder where on earth Misha drinks and what on earth he/she gets up to on a night out.


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## _misha_ (Nov 2, 2016)

JonandGaynor said:


> _misha_ said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Dude,
> ...


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

_misha_ said:


> JonandGaynor said:
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> 
> > WRONG...
> ...


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## _misha_ (Nov 2, 2016)

PeteandSylv said:


> _misha_ said:
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> 
> > Very friendly.
> ...


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

_misha_ said:


> PeteandSylv said:
> 
> 
> > No Pete, If I spend a long time writing a friendly and informative reply to a guy asking for help, and someone quotes me and starts it as 'wrong.' i see that as pretty rude and trollish.. especially when the said troll is even wrong themselves and i never said it was the rule, just advice.
> ...


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

_misha_ said:


> JonandGaynor said:
> 
> 
> > WRONG...
> ...


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## _misha_ (Nov 2, 2016)

Ok well anyone interested in the facts can just read the ministry of labour site that I posted the link to. Veronica you can read '4 months' however you like but the facts are on the site.

(moderated. Rule violation)


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## JonandGaynor (Jun 8, 2009)

Misha
It may be helpful if you provided a current link.
CIVIL REGISTRY AND MIGRATION DEPARTMENT - Migration Section
This is an up to date Ministry of Immigration link which details the various types of residency permits, also at the bottom is the link to the necessary application forms, also please note the application fee is now listed as €20.
You have a max of 4 months in which time your application forms and documentation must be issued to the Immigration Dept. hence a max of 90 days to see the Immigration Dept. for your appointment and 3-4 weeks for your actual interview date, but as veronica says, it is useful to see them early incase getting the necessary documents takes time.
In the case of my sons employment his school did all the necessary social insurance and work permit applications, check with your employer that is the case with them.
Also you do not require a yellow slip to open a bank account. HTH


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## henryhughes96 (Dec 8, 2016)

Hi All,

Thank you - all the information from everybody on this thread has been useful and gives me a better idea of my expenses and what I need to do when I get there.

I'm going to register for my Yellow Slip with in the first 1/2 weeks of getting there as I will be working straight away so would like to start contributing my social insurance.

Does anybody live in or visited the Paralimni area? Any idea of what shops/ markets are in the area and what it is like as a place? Just want to get there now 

Any more information in largely appreciated!

Thanks again,
Henry


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## JonandGaynor (Jun 8, 2009)

Difficult to say what types of shops you want.
The main supermarkets are:
Metro
Carrefour
Lidl
Kokkinos
Other shops etc. include:
Sports Direct, Shoezone, Marks and Spencer's, Terra Nova (clothes), McDonalds to name just a few. There are numerous boutiques, cafes, restaurants, bars.
But be prepared that shopping here isn't as simple as the UK; instead of all in one shops such as Tesco's where you can buy everything you need in one go you will probable have to visit several and interestingly supermarkets don't sell medications so for anything from paracetamol up you have to go to a pharmacy.
We live about 12k from Paralimni and can't advise as to what its like to live there in any case what suits us may not suit others, but I would imagine it has everything for someone of your age..


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