Would like some advice from EXPATS who moved to TRNC

iancrumpy · Post by **iancrumpy** » Wed 03 Oct 2012 11:26 am

Hi again Rambling Rose,

Re : For instance my village "Ozanköy" means the "Village of the Poet" (not Poets or Poet's PLEASE) or possibly Bard or Minstrel and was called after Osman Türkay who wrote in (rather complicated) English and has a street named after him - interesting

Re : They say the Greek name was "Mağusa" but I thought that was the original Turkish name, and the Greek was something like "Famagusta" (meaning something to do with sand).. The "Gazi" was added in honour of a fighter pilot who was killed in l974. Do you have info on this, Ian? My understanding is the same as yours Rose.

Rgds,
Ian

Rambling Rose · Post by **Rambling Rose** » Wed 03 Oct 2012 3:27 pm

Oooops! Just seen a horrible error in my post. I should have said "Not village of the Poets' " with the apostrophe after the "s"! "Poet's Village" is of course perfectly correct for one poet , but I prefer "Village of the Poet" - not only does it sound more ....well poetic..... but is avoid just that trap with the grocers' apostrophe!

Hippocampus · Post by **Hippocampus** » Thu 04 Oct 2012 1:43 pm

Re stamps in passport issue: I have temp.res., travel to Uk 4 times a year plus another 3 trips elsewhere, all from Ercan, and my passport is bristling with TRNC stamps. I have never had any comment passed on this from any country, including the RoC, although I have not used this passport for Greece.

woodspeckie · Post by **woodspeckie** » Thu 04 Oct 2012 2:34 pm

I have quite a lot of turkish visa's in my passport and have been through Larnaca three times never a problem but I do get the paper stamped when crossing to the North.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Sat 06 Oct 2012 4:16 pm

Hi KibKomers - just catching up on all the replies that I seemed to have missed. Don't know why as I normally get thread alerts, but hey, I should be responsible and check my threads daily anyway, naughty me .

Soner yes, the photo's you have are lovely, I have been showing them to my friend here who thinks the region over there is great. I believe I noticed some photo's taken by Marion, is that right?.

IanCrumpy thanks for the links I will check them out and I am sure they will provide useful info. I have just downloaded basic Turkish so am trying to learn the very basics (the alphabet). That should give me a bit of a start for when I get over there & enrol for Turkish lessons. It would be nice to know some polite basic phrases to tied me over.

With regards to the posts about the TRNC & Turkish stamps I suspect that may have changed a bit since the really stupid RoC police fiasco. I suspect there will be a serious adverse reaction if those stamps were now shown at the border crossings . I really hope all you folks out there are not subjected to bullying, intimidation or discriminatory actions because of this - that RoC MP should be setting a better example.

Love the way my thread is twisting again - now with a topic on what town & village names mean (all very educational and entertaining).

I am starting a new thread as I think the new topic may get buried on this thread due to it's success and length. See new thread about Ferry from Egypt to Cyprus. Anyone who can help will have my eternal gratitude.

How188 · Post by **How188** » Sun 07 Oct 2012 8:20 am

Re Pension payments, open UK Nationwide account and pay your uk pension into it every month. you can use HSBC cash points FREE to withdraw Stirling, the exchange for TL when needed.
Local banks will pay between 8 and 10% on deposits
This was correct but I do not know if it still is?

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Sun 07 Oct 2012 8:46 am

Hi How188, thanks for the advice - problem is won't I have to be in the UK to open a N/Wide a/c?. I live in Sinai, Egypt & have not been back to the UK for over 6 yrs now and severed all my ties there. So even if I was going back for a visit I have no UK I/D such as an address, utility bills, C/Tax bill etc., which I believe the banks there would require under the fraud prevention - money laundering safety checks that all banks are required to carry out for new accounts.

I have a SRP + 3 superannuation pensions, all are being paid in UK stirling to my Egyptian bank each month. At present UK stirling is at a premium as the XE is currently 10/1, which makes my pensions go a long way out here compared to the UK. On top of that I get 13.5%p/a on a 3 year savings plan I have invested in. I am going to my bank this week to chat to the extremely helpful staff there. I want to ask if I can leave my a/c open if I move to TRNC and access my pensions and if necessary my savings dividends via monthly transfers, card &/or Swift transfers. As they are internet banking I should think that they will agree and I can always contact them via e-mail or via their on-line service if necessary. So fingers crossed

Post by **Soner** » Sun 07 Oct 2012 8:54 am

Hi AnnaNirvana, I would do a bit more research into transfering money over to the TRNC, not too sure but believe there may be some hefty bank charges for doing so.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Sun 07 Oct 2012 9:02 am

Hi Soner, cheers I will look into that (another thing on my list of things to do on my recce trip). If that is the case I will move my pensions over directly to a TRNC account as my monthly cashflow funds - I could then access my savings/dividends if needed from my Egyptian bank for any emergency or top ups

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 4:39 pm

any closer to coming over? Any clearer about your plans? Anything else we can help with?

MoBry · Post by **MoBry** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 5:13 pm

I'm pretty sure you will get pension increases as ours have gone up since we moved here from Australia where pensions are frozen at the rate at which you first received them. It was quite a surprise to see the increase and very handy for our finances, much appreciated as it was quite unexpected. Just remember to notify Social Security as soon as you move so you get the increase immediately. In our case, we did get our increases back dated which was also much appreciated.

MoBry · Post by **MoBry** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 5:15 pm

Also, re bank charges for transferring money to North Cyprus, we paid AU$30 in Australia but nothing for money arriving in North Cyprus, we have been using the Iktisat Bank which is very helpful.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 7:04 pm

Hi Marion - looks like Miss Marple (you) worked a miracle again, hey presto my wee thread has come home. Have just sent you a PM with some snippets of desert nightmares.

Hi Mobry, How are you my dear, hope you've seen the Dr and all is now 'in hand'. Hope that you are being looked after OK and you are no longer worrying.

I am steaming at SRP people - I got a reply (curt) from them today and as you would expect I've sent a stonking reply back requesting full reasons especially when Cyprus and Turkey are both in the EU - looks a bit like I am being 'embargoed' I paste the answer here below.

Dear Mrs Taylor
Thank you for contacting the International Pension Centre with your e-mail dated 18 October 2012.
Your pension will remain frozen if you move to Northern Cyprus. Please contact us 4 week prior to any move.

Smart a88ed bureaucratic twaddle -anyway I told them I want a full reason why my SRP pension will remain frozen and have also told them I want the Ombudsman details as well. Feel a little battle brewing Hmmmm

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 7:20 pm

hey I am NOT Miss Marples. Capable of detective work, yes, and even called Ladty Penelope, but please Miss Marples is the pseudynyum of another lady whose name I must not reveal!!! Long story, but call me Sherlock Holmes if you like, but for the sake of KibKom - don't call me Miss Marples.
But glad I was able to sleuth your case and solve the mystery.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 7:53 pm

OK then Mrs Sherlock - you're still a great sleuth

Deniz1 · Post by **Deniz1** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 7:57 pm

My state pension is not frozen and they know
I live here. In fact it went up by £50 a month this year.

woodspeckie · Post by **woodspeckie** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 8:08 pm

Deniz. I don't think everyones pension went up £50 a month, you may be different but ours didn't, think that gives a wrong impression.

Philoz · Post by **Philoz** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 8:40 pm

Death, horse and flogging springs to mind-I wouldn't mind but the OP (Nice lady) is quite obviously the most indecisive person on the planet and has managed to drag this thread way beyond its fair life expectancy.

Given that this forum now has more Moderators than active posters, I am surprised that this is thread has not been shut when a few more interesting threads have been closed(On the personal opinion) by the very many mods.

JUST BLOODY MOVE HERE ANNA! (Very nice lady I'm sure)

I just can't be doing with any more dithering.

I look forward to seeing you in the future in a supermarket here -(as long as I have an hour or two to spare as you are obviously a lovely lady ,but a bit of a chatterbox)
I do have a sneaking suspicion (Tin hat on now) that you have many threads going on similar 'Ex pat sites' Throughout the world-In terms of cheapo places to live.
Not having a go (But having read my message back it seems I am)-but JUST MOVE HERE!

Dalartokat · Post by **Dalartokat** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 10:45 pm

Totally agree with Woodspeckie. Deniz1, message 66... you should tell people the real reason why your pension has increased and not give false impressions with your replies. You have lived in NC for 9 years, have you been on state pension all that time?. You have to deal in facts when giving out information like this, not just drop one liners all the time or come out with, you say black we say white, which you do on most threads. Everyones circumstances are different and you need to back up your statements.

Rambling Rose · Post by **Rambling Rose** » Mon 29 Oct 2012 11:18 pm

Anna: I have sentyou a pm reference index linking re another thread.

Philoz: Yes , I noticed that about the mods too! (Now I am also wearing my tin hat!)

Deniz: You must have been a real high up and earned a tremendous salary to get a pension index linking of £50 per MONTH! Do we have to bow and courtsey?

Deniz1 · Post by **Deniz1** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 5:30 am

No I had widows pension and opted to continue with that until I was 65 then they took my contributions into account and came up with that amount extra I m not complaining

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 12:48 pm

Philoz: bit uncalled for!! NO, I am not on numerous other forums. My main one here is Kibkom as the advice and support has always been so great and usually helpful. I was from a month ago looking at Emb--- but find that one a bit too sharp with some of the comments some time. I view BRS on the odd occasion but do not actively participate on the forum. I have now also registered with expatfocus.com as it covers all countries worldwide but have yet to use it. By the way I believe that a number of Kibkomers register with several sites as well which is their prerogative so are they committing a cardinal sin?.

If you looked at the responses that my thread made it would show you that all the kind comments you Kibkommers have made have helped lots of other prospective expats considering TRNC as they have posted threads as well. I have not made all those threads myself - a forum discussion is a 2 way thing, an exchange of information and views to help one another. I am proud my initial inquiry may have helped others considering the move over to TRNC.

As for you thinking me indecisive I find nothing wrong with doing detailed researching - I have lost 2 homes in the past due to a violent husband and having to get away from him. I then sold up everything to follow my current husband here to Egypt so he could take up Scuba Diuving - and lo and behold the Arab Spring hits us, the Bedouins here are now running amoke and it's not a good place to be. I am a pensioner and have limited funds so YES I will be very careful where I move to next.

I do hope I can move over and settle with financial stability for the next part of my life. Take off your tin hat, you do not need it. If I do bump into you in a supermarket I will take you for a beer so you can get to meet me in person and make a true judgement of me!!! Yes I am a very nice person, one who is willing to help anyone - a person who will be a true friend and a person who has suffered greatly in her life so is very cautious now, sorry for that. Wishing you all the best

Deniz1 · Post by **Deniz1** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 3:03 pm

Dalartokat yes I have been getting a pension all that time as I said before a widows pension. How would you like me to back it up? Do you want to see my banks statements going back 9 years? Are you calling me a liar?

carolhm · Post by **carolhm** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 3:43 pm

Message 72
Well said and would love to meet you when you come over

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 5:20 pm

Thank you Carolhm, I am grateful for the kind words after the last 'lambasting' and I would love to meet you too. I will let you and all the other 'nice' people know when I come over & hope to meet a few of you. If Hubbies superann. money arrives in November I will make him buy my flight ticket as my birthday prezzie

Yes, I am a Scorpio and did NOT let my 'sting in the tail' extend to far, I hope in my reply 72. It is the choice of each one of us if we want to read a posting. So if anyone is getting fed up with any topic the answer is easy DON'T READ IT. Warm regards to you.

Post by **Soner** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 6:26 pm

Philoz, more moderators than active posters? An odd remark considering this is the busiest forum in TRNC with only 6 Moderators.

Annanirvanna, I totally agree, this thread has continued to grow as there is interest, if people stop posting then it will fall off the page itself. Make sure you have all the facts before you decide to make any major move.

Philoz · Post by **Philoz** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 7:05 pm

Soner- as you will see from my posts I am active in keeping the forum alive and kicking.
A lot of my posts are actually intended to provoke comment- you should maybe employ me, not as a moderator(as you have lots of those) but as an 'Immoderater'.

It's all tongue in cheek and utilising the famous British irony, which I appreciate is often misunderstood and often misinterpreted by others.
I am not rude to people and often complimentary,I just try to throw a spanner in the works every now and again -E.G. if I see a thread that is going a bit stale or needs a shake up. I will chip in with a contrary point of view,or sometimes a humorous comment.

You are clearly an Intelligent man Soner so I hope you can see where I am coming from.

Dalartokat · Post by **Dalartokat** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 7:36 pm

Deniz1, the postings above your message 66 were about Pension increases and you threw in that you had received a £50 increase in your Pension. What you did not state, until pushed further down the line was to reveal that you were on a Widows Pension and then went onto a State Pension, hence your increase. It makes all the difference when facts are stated, especially as annanirvanna had revealed the reply she received from the International Pension Centre, which was, at this time, that she was not entitled to any Pension increase. I believe this is why Woodspeckie said it was misleading and why I said it was misleading and asked the perfectly reasonable question of had you been claiming a State Pension. You did not state originally it was because of a change in your circumstances.

I am not calling you a liar, I deal in facts, which on this occasion, due to the topic in question, is what is is needed to help people.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 7:37 pm

as a Mod, may I ask a question or two Philoz "Why would we need a spanner in the works?" and "Why should we need any immoderator, when it is the role of we Mods to make sure they do NOT exist and do not upset the works?"
Maybe the members on here don't want to be shaken up, and if any thread has gonne stale, then it can fall off the page where it belongs and let the fresh dough take the uppermost.
Oh and in case you think I am being too serious, I have a sense of humour too! But some things are far too far 'funny peculiar' than 'funny aha'.

Deniz1 · Post by **Deniz1** » Tue 30 Oct 2012 8:12 pm

ref to post 71 then.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Wed 31 Oct 2012 11:00 am

Thank you Soner

carolhm · Post by **carolhm** » Wed 31 Oct 2012 5:15 pm

Scorpians stick together

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Wed 31 Oct 2012 5:30 pm

Ha Ha Double whammy then

Rambling Rose · Post by **Rambling Rose** » Wed 31 Oct 2012 10:01 pm

Although maybe he pushed his luck a bit too far in that particular instance, I find Philoz posts stimulating and make me think "outside the box"- too many people (no names no packdrill) are stuck in a rut and attached to preconceieved ideas.

PS No I dont owe him money, and yes, I am a Scorpion too!

Philoz · Post by **Philoz** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 12:01 am

I apologise wholeheartedly to Anna If I did push things too far.
No offence intended or taken I hope.
Thank you Rose-Yes I am a Scorpio and do think 'outside the box'.
How strange is that?-Us scorpions must have a questioning and slightly argumentative streak in our make up-I know I do.
I just say things as I see them-I must admit,it hasn't always endeared me to others, but people who know me well know that I say what needs to be said and not necessarily what people want to hear.

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 10:47 am

Hi Philoz apology accepted & the beer is still on offer . I was very hurt what you wrote, but hey, it's done & dusted & no offence is taken.

As I said before that post is for the benefit of many people and some are still making tentative inquiries about moving to TRNC - so all the debates and advice on my post I wholeheartedly hope help answer some of the questions they may have and encourage them to make the right move. It also show them what lovely people live in TRNC and that expat's there will help one.

Whoa, another Scorpio - now that makes 4 I know of. If hubby's money arrives from the UK for me to get over for November then I feel a Scorpio party coming on - Pliloz I nominate you as the Scorpion King ha ha

Post by **Soner** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 10:55 am

I know I am off topic but hey I'm a Scorpio too....

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 11:01 am

Ha Ha Marbruk to you for November Soner

So does that mean Philoz has lost his Scorpion King crown to you, since your 'the boss' - the party grows bigger - any more Scorpio's out there?

gemini39 · Post by **gemini39** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 12:21 pm

Count the Scorpios and then youll find double the amount for Gemini's

annanirvanna · Post by **annanirvanna** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 2:06 pm

For everyone then

carolhm · Post by **carolhm** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 5:28 pm

Come on scorpio s dont be shy , stand up and be counted , you do know we are now .
Never mind its a laugh

Philoz · Post by **Philoz** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 7:05 pm

I assume the novelty of the new 'smilies' will wear off soon?

Sorry -I just had to get hat off my chest!

Philoz · Post by **Philoz** » Thu 01 Nov 2012 7:07 pm

oops- I meant 'that' not 'hat' no I don't have a hat on my chest.
Well not tonight anyway.

Post by **Soner** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 12:18 am

Oh boy what have I done????

Deniz1 · Post by **Deniz1** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 5:32 am

Given us a lot of fun.

Halffull · Post by **Halffull** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 11:31 pm

I see you are worrried about bank cards not being sent, we are with Santander in UK and we have no problems with them, they accepted our post office box address here and our replacement cards arrived in plenty of time. Normal banking is done online, and my pension is paid direct to my bank here (from source) in TL

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 11:39 pm

hopefully this is not but my husband is a Scorpio and can have a sting in his metaphorical tail from time to time. But it doesn't worry me, I just roar back at him (Leo, in case you didn't guess)
But this is the first Scorpio in my life, I was raised with a load of Airey Fairies (mum, dad, brother, and then husband, all Aries! Phew, but I survi ved.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 11:40 pm

ops, forgot to say that I reckon this thread could go in the Kibkom Book of Records.

woodspeckie · Post by **woodspeckie** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 11:42 pm

I am with you Marion a Leo the Lion, leader of the pack.

Marions · Post by **Marions** » Fri 02 Nov 2012 11:59 pm

don 't know about that woodspeckie, these days I am more of a pack mule than a leader of the pack. With poor Alan doing less and less I am having to do more and more and he can't carry the shopping! Bless him! But he makes great marmalade!

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