Economic measures bring new arrangements for British nationals in Turkey

Susan Wilson, director of Consular Services in Turkey, said the main reason for this change was financial concerns in addition to reducing opportunities for passport fraud and safeguarding personal identity. She said the service needed to be kept cost effective and that taxpayers would understand that.

“It is about economies of scale. It costs so much money to process passports. There are administrative costs involved in updating equipment, moving blank passports securely from the UK to our posts overseas and training people to process passports,” Wilson told Sunday’s Zaman.

She also said the center in Düsseldorf issues thousands of passports every year, about 20,000, as opposed to the 1,500 passports processed in İstanbul, so the service will be more efficient and cost-effective through the office in Düsseldorf.

This change is part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Passport Network Rationalisation Project set up in May 2008 to deliver a more streamlined and efficient passport operation for British nationals abroad, to achieve immediate financial benefits to the FCO, to UK taxpayers and to establish a sustainable operating platform for the future.

From June 15, British nationals living in Turkey need to send their passport applications by courier to:

Passport Section

British Consulate General

Yorck Strasse 19

40476 Düsseldorf, Germany

Details of passport application fees, how to pay and courier costs can be found on the British Embassy website: www.ukinturkey.fco.gov.uk

The British Consulate General in İstanbul will continue to accept applications until 3.30 p.m. on June 14 and advises British nationals to check the validity of their passports. Passports can be renewed up to nine months before they expire, and the extra time will be added on to the new passport’s period of validity.

“Our posts in Turkey will continue to issue emergency travel documents for customers who need to travel urgently,” Wilson said, but she added that but people have to pay for that and it takes a few days to be issued.

It takes 10 working days for the consular service in İstanbul to produce a new passport, whereas it will take the same time in Düsseldorf, but the overall period including the courier time at each end is likely to be longer; the maximum it could take is six weeks.

British visitors to Turkey increased twofold

Wilson noted that the percentage of British nationals visiting Turkey last year increased 12 percent despite the economic crisis. The number of British visitors was 2.4 million last year. This year the increase is expected to be 25 percent.

“The number of British nationals coming here is 100 percent higher than seven years ago,” she said and added that when British nationals plan their budget, holidays are the last thing to go.

“They might give up many things, but not holidays,” she said.

She also has a piece of advice for visitors.

“We want them to have a great time in Turkey, so we want them to know their limits as far as drinking goes and not take illegal substances. The main reason for us to say that is illegal substances in the UK are also illegal in Turkey, and possession of them carries long jail sentences. The second message is that by excessive drinking or taking illegal substances they can invalidate their travel insurance,” she said.

And tourists should take good care of their passports, she explained, as there were 550 British passports lost in Turkey last year; many of the passports were left in safes in rented villas that were burgled.

Thousands of British nationals own property in Turkey

Didim, Fethiye, Marmaris, Bodrum and Antalya are popular places to reside for Britons in Turkey.

About 30,000 British nationals own property in Turkey, and 10,000 to 20,000 live in Turkey at any one time.

“Most of them are older couples who have retired. They like the warm weather and the atmosphere here,” Wilson said.

Wilson also mentioned problems linked to property purchases in Turkey such as financial disputes, properties sold to more than one purchaser, the state reclaiming land which was sold and some land announced as a world heritage site after it was legally bought as were such cases in Fethiye.

“The Turkish government needs to do more in consumer protection because clearly if people go through the right processes and purchase property, it would be wrong to penalize them,” she added.

She said the residence permit of around TL 5,000 has been too expensive for the British nationals who depend on their pensions.

“Another big issue is health care. In Turkey, everybody knows that they have to pay for healthcare. In the UK, nobody pays for healthcare. So it’s a shock for people who come to live here. We encourage people to get private medical insurance. If they get sick, they may not be entitled to get treatment in the UK any longer for free because if you live outside for two years, you’re no longer entitled to free medical care,” she noted.

‘My second posting to Turkey after 10 years’

Director of Consular Services in Turkey Susan Wilson was in Turkey 10 years ago on a posting. She compares today’s Turkey with the past: “There is a huge difference in İstanbul. It’s very much cleaner, the infrastructure has improved a lot with public transport, new roads, the metro and so on. And the tourist resorts are amazing. The amount of development is incredible. Compared to the UK, purchasing a property is more reasonable. It’s amazing to come back 10 years later and see how much Turkey has moved forward. I am amazed even with the expansion of Turkish Airlines, the number of flights. It makes my job easier, too.”