Cyprus-Forum.com

[diablogun]

Hi folks,

I am from the U.S., and planning a move to Europe, and am trying to decide where would be the best fit. I am 40 years old, with 1 child and 1 on the way, so I want to settle in a country that is family-friendly. My wife is Russian (though a U.S. citizen) and got me thinking about Cyprus.

In looking at the Cyprus govt website, it would appear we would go under the category F visa, as I have a U.S. government pension that would probably total around 3500 Euros a month. I also will want to work over the Internet for clients in the U.S., which should provide a decent income in addition to the base. Does this sound like a reasonable option? My wife is a housewife, so I need to make all the money

Anyway, I am planning a 2-week trip in April to check things out. My children I would want to put in Greek schools, as the whole purpose of this endeavor is to get my children fluent in as many languages as possible, in addition to living in a good place with access to much of the culture and history that fascinates me.

By the way, is Cypriot Greek completely understandable, and vice versa, with Greek Greek?

Also, what are the better areas to live that may be more relaxed and cheaper? I do not usually like the most crowded places for living--though do not like the "sticks" either. I would want to find a place that I could have the biggest house that I could get either built or acquired almost new.

Finally, in the long run, in coming under the F visa, is citizenship an option after 5 years? There does not seem to be anything against it from the government regulations, but as always I know that people that have been through this sort of thing are the best to ask.

In advance, I thank you for your time and wisdom.

[B25]

Hello,

Cyprus is a beautiful and safe (relatively) country to raise your family. Welcome.

In Limassol there is a large Russian community of about 40k - 50k and many shops, restaurants and other all have written russian. One would think they were in Mocsow!

Anyway, visas and immigration to Cyprus is not the easiest experience and wfrom what I hear you need much patience and persistance with the immigration officials to get it all sorted.

I understand that on purchase of a home valued at 300k euros and up, you get favourable treatment for residency, which over time you can apply for citizenship.

The areas, well each to his own, when you come over best to hire a car and drive from west to east and check out the place.

Paphos area is historical, with many ex-pat british residents, some nice surrounding villages away from the more tourist areas is very popular with holiday home buyers. beaches there are rocks and cliff like terrain.

Coming into Limassol that more commercial city of the Island, not a cheap area to live and some of the surrounding villages might appeal to you as there are many international schools there and it is a business centre depending on what you will be doing. beaches are dark brouwn sand not the best on the Island.

Larnaca Area has similarities to Limassol but on a smaller scale with regards to pricing, beaches, work centres. Has the American Academy for schooling, plus other private schools, but you never know how your children would feel in a greek school unless from a very early age.

Then you move to the east that have the best beaches, golden sandy mainly, but also a more tourist area. I suppose if you are working with the internet and US companies not so important. The surrounding villages give community living, not sticks but not touristy either. You have to decide when you come.

Greek is greek, in school you learn greek, the cypriot dielect is what you will pick up in your everyday communications, but greek is only one language.

Hope that helps

[Sotos]

Hello diablogun. May I ask why you decided to leave from the US and come to Europe? I know there are several places in the US which are quite safe and family friendly. Also another question is how old is your child? You said you want to put your child in a Greek school but this would be advisable only if your child is not older than 7-8 years old. As a USA citizen and with a pension of 3500euros per month you shouldn't have a problem to get a visa. You will just need to do some paperwork. Citizenship though is not given very easily. After 5 (or maybe 7) years you will be able to apply but it could take some more years until you get it. But why would you need the Cypriot citizenship anyway? If you have the Cypriot citizenship and if any of your children are male then they might have to serve in the army when they become 18.

Compared to other EU countries Cyprus has positive and negative aspects. Salaries in Cyprus are lower than the major EU countries but since you will work online that will not be an issue for you. Crime increased in Cyprus since our entry in EU but Cyprus remains one of the safest and most family-friendly countries in Europe. Cyprus is on the east corner of the EU and there are no direct flights to the US. That means that whenever you want to visit US you will have a longer trip with a stop. A big plus for you is that almost everybody can speak English here. A big plus for your wife is that Cyprus and particularly Limassol has a large Russian community with 2 Russian newspapers, 2 Russian radio stations, many Russian shops, a Russian school etc. And of course Cyprus has a very sunny weather!

By the way, is Cypriot Greek completely understandable, and vice versa, with Greek Greek?

Cypriot Greek is just a spoken dialect and children in schools are taught standard Greek. Cypriots can fully understand mainland Greek. Mainland Greeks might have issues to fully understand everything in Cypriot dialect but Cypriots can always talk to them in standard Greek.

Also, what are the better areas to live that may be more relaxed and cheaper? I do not usually like the most crowded places for living--though do not like the "sticks" either. I would want to find a place that I could have the biggest house that I could get either built or acquired almost new.

Better and Cheaper is a combination hard to find It is cheaper and more relaxed if you live far from the cities. For example you can get a lovely house on Troodos mountain surrounded by forest and it can be very relaxed and quite cheap BUT you will have no ADSL or Cable internet (just expensive Satellite connection) and you will have to drive for 45 minutes to get to the city. There are many variables when choosing a location for your home and often some compromises need to be made.

[diablogun]

Hello,

Cyprus is a beautiful and safe (relatively) country to raise your family. Welcome.

In Limassol there is a large Russian community of about 40k - 50k and many shops, restaurants and other all have written russian. One would think they were in Mocsow!

Anyway, visas and immigration to Cyprus is not the easiest experience and wfrom what I hear you need much patience and persistance with the immigration officials to get it all sorted.

I understand that on purchase of a home valued at 300k euros and up, you get favourable treatment for residency, which over time you can apply for citizenship.

The areas, well each to his own, when you come over best to hire a car and drive from west to east and check out the place.

Paphos area is historical, with many ex-pat british residents, some nice surrounding villages away from the more tourist areas is very popular with holiday home buyers. beaches there are rocks and cliff like terrain.

Coming into Limassol that more commercial city of the Island, not a cheap area to live and some of the surrounding villages might appeal to you as there are many international schools there and it is a business centre depending on what you will be doing. beaches are dark brouwn sand not the best on the Island.

Larnaca Area has similarities to Limassol but on a smaller scale with regards to pricing, beaches, work centres. Has the American Academy for schooling, plus other private schools, but you never know how your children would feel in a greek school unless from a very early age.

Then you move to the east that have the best beaches, golden sandy mainly, but also a more tourist area. I suppose if you are working with the internet and US companies not so important. The surrounding villages give community living, not sticks but not touristy either. You have to decide when you come.

Greek is greek, in school you learn greek, the cypriot dielect is what you will pick up in your everyday communications, but greek is only one language.

Hope that helps

Hi B25, that is really good information, thank you for taking the time to reply. Larnaca and Limassol sound like a good place to start, and I know that my wife would like the fact that there are some Russians around. My kids would do well in a Greek school, as they would be probably 4 and 2 when we arrive. Is there any village in particular that you like around Larnaca or Limassol that I should look at first? I would immensely like to be able to walk my children to school.

For me, I only need a big house and high-speed internet

How long ago did you come here, and has Cyprus met all of your expectations?

[diablogun]

Hello diablogun. May I ask why you decided to leave from the US and come to Europe? I know there are several places in the US which are quite safe and family friendly. Also another question is how old is your child? You said you want to put your child in a Greek school but this would be advisable only if your child is not older than 7-8 years old. As a USA citizen and with a pension of 3500euros per month you shouldn't have a problem to get a visa. You will just need to do some paperwork. Citizenship though is not given very easily. After 5 (or maybe 7) years you will be able to apply but it could take some more years until you get it. But why would you need the Cypriot citizenship anyway? If you have the Cypriot citizenship and if any of your children are male then they might have to serve in the army when they become 18.

Compared to other EU countries Cyprus has positive and negative aspects. Salaries in Cyprus are lower than the major EU countries but since you will work online that will not be an issue for you. Crime increased in Cyprus since our entry in EU but Cyprus remains one of the safest and most family-friendly countries in Europe. Cyprus is on the east corner of the EU and there are no direct flights to the US. That means that whenever you want to visit US you will have a longer trip with a stop. A big plus for you is that almost everybody can speak English here. A big plus for your wife is that Cyprus and particularly Limassol has a large Russian community with 2 Russian newspapers, 2 Russian radio stations, many Russian shops, a Russian school etc. And of course Cyprus has a very sunny weather!

By the way, is Cypriot Greek completely understandable, and vice versa, with Greek Greek?

Cypriot Greek is just a spoken dialect and children in schools are taught standard Greek. Cypriots can fully understand mainland Greek. Mainland Greeks might have issues to fully understand everything in Cypriot dialect but Cypriots can always talk to them in standard Greek.

Also, what are the better areas to live that may be more relaxed and cheaper? I do not usually like the most crowded places for living--though do not like the "sticks" either. I would want to find a place that I could have the biggest house that I could get either built or acquired almost new.

Better and Cheaper is a combination hard to find It is cheaper and more relaxed if you live far from the cities. For example you can get a lovely house on Troodos mountain surrounded by forest and it can be very relaxed and quite cheap BUT you will have no ADSL or Cable internet (just expensive Satellite connection) and you will have to drive for 45 minutes to get to the city. There are many variables when choosing a location for your home and often some compromises need to be made.

Hi Sotos,
Thank you for the information, it is very helpful. My children will be very young (under 5) when we move, so I think it is best to put them where the locals are.

My reason to move is that I am very fond of Europe, though of course Europe is a collection of many countries. Throughout my adult life I decided that when I could afford to move there I would. I have an intense interest in history, and obviously Cyprus would provide much in the way of opportunities to study it on my own. I also like central and northern Europe, so those are an option, but it looks like Cyprus might be a better fit. (I lived in Sweden when I was younger and love it, but I would not consider its culture to be one that I want my children growing up in)
About citizenship, if we stay in Cyprus permanently, I don't want to be legally a different person. Of course I would always love America, but at the same time want to adopt my new country, and have the same claim to it as a native. I imagine the military would be a pain for my son, but I am sure he would learn something from it. It is this matter that makes choosing a country in Europe a little harder, because not many of them are easy to naturalize in (at least the ones I would think about moving to).
I will be sure to avoid Troodos mountain, because I definitely need good internet. Where are your favorite places that would be decently-priced but not too rural?

[Sotos]

Troodos has high speed internet in many big villages, just not in the middle of the forest

Where are your favorite places that would be decently-priced but not too rural?

Can you define what is "decently priced" and "not too rural" for you? Also when you say you want a big house, how big are we talking about? You want the house itself to be big or the plot to be big ... or both to be big? Be a bit more specific on this. I am going to build my house on a hill on the outskirts of Limassol. Land there is not cheap, over 600euro per square meter and building a custom made high quality house would be over 1700euro per square meter.... and it is just a few kilometers from the city as anything much further would be too rural for me. But then there are many people, particularly foreigners, who live in villages which are further from the cities and it doesn't feel too rural to them. All big villages have ADSL (but probably not Cable) as long as you live in or near the village, and not very far from it. There are many foreign pensioners that live in such villages... but you have young children and the a city can provide more options for schools, shopping, entertainment etc. Maybe it will be fine for you but when your kids become teenagers they might be very bored in such a village.

[Sotos]

And one more thing, Cyprus is southern Europe and is more similar with Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta and Portugal. It is not similar to Sweden or other northern and central European countries. Have you ever been to Cyprus or at least another southern European country before?

[diablogun]

Hi again Sotos,

A village would be fine for me, even preferable, as long as one could get to a bigger area within 20 minutes or so. For a house I would like more than 200 sq meters (the bigger the better), but don't want to spend 400000 Euros for it.

I have never been to Cyprus, but have been to Italy in the South. I definitely hope it is not like Sweden, but the wife has many friends that have moved/lived/visited there, and everyone loves it.

For your house, you are building at about 160 dollars a square foot, exclusive of land, which must be a nice house! Is that what one can expect to pay in most areas?

[B25]

Today there are many very well priced houses, but if you are not looking to come for a couple of years then who knows.

When we talk about Cyprus we are talking about the legal south and not the illegal occupied area that Turkey is hold by force of arms.

Internet speeds are about 4Mbit, and will cost about 43 euros / month plus your phoneline rental of about 15 euros.
Larnaca is not so much villages but different areas of it so to speak and are all within 10 minutes of the centre.

Limassol is different as the villages tend to be a bit more mountainous. And some are with 20 min of the centre. Eitherway, cyprus is quite small and a 20 min drive would usually get you to most places. They all have their own village schools so if you want to walk them, you need to be at least in the village rather than the outskirts.

Custom builds come in many shapes, sizes and prices. For the price Sotos is looking at would give him a better quality home of a couple of hundred m2. But you can do cheaper. The land price will depend very much where it is and the zone in which it is in. Residential zoned land is much more expensive than agritultural land.

Hope that helps

[Sotos]

If you don't mind driving 20-25 minutes to reach a city (the edge not center) then you will have many cheaper options available for land. A custom house build with high quality materials and standards is quite expensive and that price to build it would be about the same in all areas. A standard quality house would be cheaper, and then there are also the houses build by developers, which are often even cheaper (you need to negotiate the price), but quality is often not particularly great. Have a look at http://www.buysellcyprus.com/ to get an idea of prices.