# Need help-imformation moving?CYPRUS



## mickus (May 27, 2009)

HI 2 ALL. WHAT WENT WRONG!! HAD IT WITH UK!!!
My name is Mick and my partner is Vikki with a boy of just 7mths.the time has come to put those many yrs of wishing!!! for living abroad into action.Weve decided upon cyprus and would welcome help/advice/good or bad/ins an outs which will help towards the biggest decision of our life. thanks 2 all in advance..:help:


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Hi Mickus,
Welcome to the forum. What kind of information/advice are you looking for?

Have a look through the old threads on this forum. There's lots of good information and advice on all kinds of topics, from the merits of various locations to schooling, jobs and the cost of living. If you would like additional information then feel free to post another message.

Have you visited Cyprus in the past? What attracts you to Cyprus?


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## kouklamou (May 20, 2009)

mickus said:


> HI 2 ALL. WHAT WENT WRONG!! HAD IT WITH UK!!!
> My name is Mick and my partner is Vikki with a boy of just 7mths.the time has come to put those many yrs of wishing!!! for living abroad into action.Weve decided upon cyprus and would welcome help/advice/good or bad/ins an outs which will help towards the biggest decision of our life. thanks 2 all in advance..:help:



I think it's fair to say that everyone's experience of living in a particular place is different and you never really know what it's like to live somewhere until you actually live there. That being said, Cyprus has a lot going for it - lovely people, lots of history, great weather etc - but of course, like any country, there are bound to be some negatives as well. And those negatives will vary according to the circumstances and needs of each individual or family. 

You don't say whether you have been already... I would definitely recommend coming out once or twice and doing thorough research before uprooting your family. Good luck and hope all goes well.


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## mickus (May 27, 2009)

thanks 4 replie. Yes visited before on hols so generally aware of what cyprus has to offer apart from great weather. this wudnt be the first time to up sticks and seek a new direction in our lifes. over 12yrs ago i left the busle of city life for a quieter life and safe place to start a family,we settled as far south as posible on the isle of wight ,so kinda used to the slower stile of life and of course the weather has bin better. i curently am self employed as a carpenter and vikki is a care assistant in a nursing home.we aint adverse to change and altho hard times ,we ave got over them to get were we are now.topics of question are probably the most asked -like health issues and the fact we are able to get medical assistance in the uk if anything arose without a problem-what wuuld we get in cyprus if any! is it free! is it a good set up as having a young one to protect is of course a priority. as for work we both work hard and are not afraid to undertake a job that isnt what we would normally do whilst we are geting on our feet,done it before so can do it again.once again thanks for the reply and all imformation is great to reseave.


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## mickus (May 27, 2009)

BabsM said:


> Hi Mickus,
> Welcome to the forum. What kind of information/advice are you looking for?
> 
> Have a look through the old threads on this forum. There's lots of good information and advice on all kinds of topics, from the merits of various locations to schooling, jobs and the cost of living. If you would like additional information then feel free to post another message.
> ...


thanks for advice.stillgetting use to the forum but taking it all in(so much)yes visited before on hols many yrs ago. loved it,. so much our stile of living ,being we live on the isle of wight , plan to visit again soon ,prob self catering,and have more indepth look at surronding areas , we are kinda laid back cuple and so long as theres a roof over are heads,food ,and we can cover the bills ,not alot morematters apart from being happy ,and maybe a few good friends.Got a101 questions to ask about the way things work over there but shall continue to go threw the old threads as they will prob give me a lot of answers to- the heath system?docters?work?costs?renting?money?schooling? DONT want to be a bombardardier!! of questions ,need to get things right as you can imagine.great to get replies so quickly and welcome any advice that helps to put my mine to rest on any of the above. THANKS AGAIN will continue to read on.


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## bert (Mar 23, 2009)

*Moving to Cyprus*

Hi Mickus,
We too have had enough of England and are looking to move to Paphos at the end of november.I am unemployed at the moment but have just got back from Paphos after a 2 weeks holiday. I went looking for work and got offered one but need to sell our house before we can move out. We also have been going to Cyprus for a number of years and love it we have made some lovely friends there and can't wait to get things moving. Who knows if you move out we could possibly meet up

Regards
Bert


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

A lot of answers to your questions regarding cost of living, jobs, rent and housing are addressed in threads here already. One I haven't seen is one regarding paedatricians which you will definitely need. I have 2 very good doctors - one at the Iasis clinic (Paphos) and one across from Evangelismos Clinic. If they happen to be out of town/busy, which was the case when my 5 month old son had a vey bad reaction to a medicine we rushed to the General Hospital where people moved aside for us seeing the small baby in a very bad state and they quickly got meds in him and took good care to get him back to health and all for free. It can be a bit tricky if you don't speak Greek but they will still get the job done. You will hear of course the good and bad of the general hospital as everywhere but that is my experience. I also have a recommendation for a Limassol doc. too if you need one there. Good luck and any other questions, ask away! 
Oh and price of visit in the private clinic varies from around 20 Euros to 60 for vaccinations, my doc. would not charge at all for follow ups or quick visits.


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## mickus (May 27, 2009)

*thanks so much*



Cleo Shahateet said:


> A lot of answers to your questions regarding cost of living, jobs, rent and housing are addressed in threads here already. One I haven't seen is one regarding paedatricians which you will definitely need. I have 2 very good doctors - one at the Iasis clinic (Paphos) and one across from Evangelismos Clinic. If they happen to be out of town/busy, which was the case when my 5 month old son had a vey bad reaction to a medicine we rushed to the General Hospital where people moved aside for us seeing the small baby in a very bad state and they quickly got meds in him and took good care to get him back to health and all for free. It can be a bit tricky if you don't speak Greek but they will still get the job done. You will hear of course the good and bad of the general hospital as everywhere but that is my experience. I also have a recommendation for a Limassol doc. too if you need one there. Good luck and any other questions, ask away!
> Oh and price of visit in the private clinic varies from around 20 Euros to 60 for vaccinations, my doc. would not charge at all for follow ups or quick visits.


that is good to hear ,it has been a worry being i have to protect my family as a dad it is my most concern. all the other stuff is not going to much of a problem concerning what we do as a job or where to live.somthing always turns up if you work and look hard enuf.We are very keen on moving and aint afraid of a battle for a while till we found our feet.we to are thinking about the Paphos area as it seems to be a great base for us(more away from the lager drinkers) we are going to rent for a while till we find just what we are looking for,hopefully all the rest will will fall into place eventually, so good to get feed back from others and therer experiences,i find it a great help,thanks again and if there any grey areas i need to be aware of,,,PLEASE feel free to go all out and give me the ins an outs on any subject that could help us on our way.


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## mickus (May 27, 2009)

bert said:


> Hi Mickus,
> We too have had enough of England and are looking to move to Paphos at the end of november.I am unemployed at the moment but have just got back from Paphos after a 2 weeks holiday. I went looking for work and got offered one but need to sell our house before we can move out. We also have been going to Cyprus for a number of years and love it we have made some lovely friends there and can't wait to get things moving. Who knows if you move out we could possibly meet up
> 
> Regards
> Bert


glad we arent the only ones who want a simple better life. good look with your house sale hope it all works out 4 you. if you have any advice or imformation to help us more in the future please give me the nod and let us no, i beleive to no the ins and outs good or bad will get us out with the best chance possible,. thanks again v.much


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## busymomma (May 29, 2009)

Hi, we are in Limassol but the outskirts, episkopi, far away from the 'lager drinkers' as you put it i think(?)

Best job opportunities are in Limassol and Nicosia. We really like Paphos but for us it is more of a holiday place, we couldnt settle to live there with 2 wee ones. 

Our kids are staring in the local village school in september. wont cost anything. your wee one will be the same I imagine as they are so young. Private schools are an extortionate cost if you dont need them. We are glad we made the move but did so with the same attitude as you seems to have-simple life - the important things. If you can get by without your sky TV for a bit you'll be grand LOL!


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

There is a wealth of advice and the experience of others to draw from on the forum. The jist for those with young kids to think of is to plan *very* carefully and bear the following points in mind:

1) Buying a property needs very careful planning - it will be very difficult to sell it on if things go wrong as the resale market is very slow as most Cypriots prefer to buy new. Renting is therefore favourite, at least initially. If at all possible hold onto UK property and rent it out. Rents in Cyprus are relatively cheap.

2) Employment is difficult to find, and limited if you don't speak Greek - many jobs for expats are linked to tourism or the development industries, both of which are suffering from the current economic depression.

3) Salaries are poor and the cost of living is rising - many expat families that do well have business interests or work connections via the internet, work offshore or benefit from rents or other forms of independent income.

4) Although Cyprus is generally very friendly and a safe place to raise kids, it is difficult to negotiate the 'red-tape' of life here if you do not speak Greek or have Greek speaking friends or family that can point the way through some of life's emergencies (again the forum community can be a great help).

5) If things do go wrong, there are no state social services to step in, making contingency planning and escape routes absolutely essential.

I've been living here now for four years - it is a great place to raise a family if you can get the work/income sorted. It took me well over a year to get a steady income and many false starts but I was cushioned from redundancy pay and have Cypriot family. I have unfortunately seen many expat families crash and burn over the last few months as the recession bites and people are getting laid off in many businesses. 

I don't want to be labelled as a kill-joy, but having seen the distress at the sharp end, feel I should be honest and give as much information as possible to help others avoid the pitfalls.


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## bert (Mar 23, 2009)

mickus said:


> glad we arent the only ones who want a simple better life. good look with your house sale hope it all works out 4 you. if you have any advice or imformation to help us more in the future please give me the nod and let us no, i beleive to no the ins and outs good or bad will get us out with the best chance possible,. thanks again v.much


Hi Mickus,
Where are you hoping to move to on the island? Will you and your wife be looking for jobs? We will both need to get jobs. If you have any advice on job hunting or anything else we would appreciate it.Do you know when you are thinking of moving? We are not sure wether to ship our furniture over or if it would be cheaper to rent fully furnished. Sorry for all the questions just feel we need as much info as possible!
Thanks
Bert


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## mickus (May 27, 2009)

busymomma said:


> Hi, we are in Limassol but the outskirts, episkopi, far away from the 'lager drinkers' as you put it i think(?)
> 
> Best job opportunities are in Limassol and Nicosia. We really like Paphos but for us it is more of a holiday place, we couldnt settle to live there with 2 wee ones.
> 
> Our kids are staring in the local village school in september. wont cost anything. your wee one will be the same I imagine as they are so young. Private schools are an extortionate cost if you dont need them. We are glad we made the move but did so with the same attitude as you seems to have-simple life - the important things. If you can get by without your sky TV for a bit you'll be grand LOL!


cheers 4 the input.seems like you made it ,dont no your circumstances,but mine are basiclly this- self employed carpenter\partner -care assistant in nursing home and 7mth child(teething!!!!)fed up wiv uk(really going down hill even on the isle of wight)want a simple life (CAN certainly do wivout sky,all repeats there too,LOL)saving every penny to get out there. doing any job to add to the -GET OUTA UK FUND LOL! just going over everthing we need to no ,need to do,need to sort.NEED to find out now asmuch as can. Apart from all that it isnt a worry up-ing-sticks weve had nothing before, so moving out wiv just the essentials ie:the clothes in a suitcase,some dosh in our pockets,and the little ones BLANKET!!(wont sleep wivout it HA HA) then we will be happier than we are now, dont get me wrong were happy now but strive 4 more,family time and a simple life, when were settled then all the frills will come again.(LIKE THE TELE!! or the licence HA HA) any tips r good thanks.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

mickus said:


> cheers 4 the input.seems like you made it ,dont no your circumstances,but mine are basiclly this- self employed carpenter\partner -care assistant in nursing home and 7mth child(teething!!!!)fed up wiv uk(really going down hill even on the isle of wight)want a simple life (CAN certainly do wivout sky,all repeats there too,LOL)saving every penny to get out there. doing any job to add to the -GET OUTA UK FUND LOL! just going over everthing we need to no ,need to do,need to sort.NEED to find out now asmuch as can. Apart from all that it isnt a worry up-ing-sticks weve had nothing before, so moving out wiv just the essentials ie:the clothes in a suitcase,some dosh in our pockets,and the little ones BLANKET!!(wont sleep wivout it HA HA) then we will be happier than we are now, dont get me wrong were happy now but strive 4 more,family time and a simple life, when were settled then all the frills will come again.(LIKE THE TELE!! or the licence HA HA) any tips r good thanks.


The the positve thing about your situation is that your child is still very young and wont be going to school for a few years.
This means that you have time to see whether or not it works out for you here and if it dosnt you can return to the UK before the child starts school so you his/her education wont be adversely affected.
If your child was older and of school age I would be saying think twice about what you are doing. 
I do hope it works out for you but if it dosnt they dont pull up the drawbridge and stop you going back to the Uk

Veronica


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Tips for job hunting...

Be flexible and meet potential employers face to face - the Cypriot jobs market (unskilled and semi-skilled) is not really geared up to the idea of CVs and if you do not yet have a Cypriot address, won't even consider a CV. Most ex-pats spend a small fortune on posting out dozens of CVs and get no replies at all (I made the same error myself and have heard many others say the same thing).

Most jobs offer a 13th salary and have reasonably generous holidays (by default of the religious calendar). They usually don't disclose the salary on the job advert beyond the promise of offering a 'generous' salary. A good salary is anything over 1000 Euros a month (many earn far less) - you can get a good idea of rough salaries by looking at the Cyprus labour exchange data that is now posted on the EURES labour exchange website - there are currently c.1900 jobs advertised in Cyprus, (which includes everything from barwork, domestic, unskilled, semi-skilled and professional positions) - the vast majority of employers prefer proficiency in Greek. A live-in maid can earn as little as 150euros a month (but has accommodation and food as part of the deal). I remember a recent rough guestimate of average salary was something in the order of 800Euros a month. 

Be prepared to compromise - there is little work at the moment for construction, drivers, etc. but some industries are growing - there is a promise of offshore work for example (Limassol is favourite as a base for that). 

Most employers are not too impressed by experience, and will start newcomers on the lowest scales if at all possible - you have to prove yourself and then hope that the new contract is better. I'm afraid that nepotism rules here, and it is often the case that it is not what you know, but who you know that will land the job. Equally, if a nephew of the employer suddenly turns up from University in need of a job, you'll be looking for another job very quickly.


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