Cyprus-Forum.com

[Yiannakis]

To all those who currently reside in Cyprus, I am wanting your opinion. I am currently 30 years old, married and have 2 small kids (1 1/2 years old and 2 1/2 years old) and I am seriously thinking of moving to cyprus forever. I was born in cyprus after the war, however my parents lost everything they had (originally from Kyrenia) and migrated to Australia in 1976. Although Australia is a great country, deep down I feel as if my true home is back in cyprus. Out of the 3 times I have been there, the saddest moments of my life were when it was time to leave to come back to Australia.

I guess my question to you all is this, will my family suffer or be deprived of anything if me and my wife decide to move to cyprus? What is the employment situation there? For example, I work as a surgical assistant in the operating theatres of a specialist hospital, assisting in cardiac surgery, neurological surgery, orthopaedic surgery, plastic surgery and of course many other areas. I also have experience in medical Sales, i.e meeting with specialist doctors and educating them on new medical technologies which they can use whilst practicing.

My wife has a history in operations management, i.e ensuring everything is running smoothly in a companies day to day operation. She is also a qualified beautician, (I thought this would be a good area for her to get into, to open up her own beauty clinic).

Would any of you have an idea on what the wages of such positions are, either weekly, fortnightly, or monthly (sorry I do not know how often people are paid)? Also, are there such positions or opportunities available in cyprus at this time?

Another important issue is the cost of living? Is child care available on a day to day basis, meaning both my wife and I can work fulltime, or is it to expensive, like here in australia, meaning it isnt worth her going to work until the children grow up? Also general expenses, i.e morgage/rent, fuel, food, rates, living expenses, what is an average figure needed by a family to survive on the basics?

There are hundreds of other questions I have, however I wont bore you all with the fine detail (not yet anyway , just kidding), if possible however, could you provide me with as much details as you can to give me and idea on what I should expect if we decide to move?

F.Y.I:

If we were to move, Nicosia would be the desired town of choice.


Thank you all in advance for your assistance, I appreciate it.

[twinkle]

Try the search facility. Sooooo many people have asked the same questions before.

In a nut shell.....if you don't speak Greek, work tends to be limited. The opportunities are drying up as more and more people are moving over here. Private child care at a kindergaten is around 200 per month per child from 8am to 1pm. Most people use relatives to look after their kids. House prices are on the rise and renting has shot up since I moved here 7 years ago. Car prices are still ridiculous. However, the weather and security are a bonus (compared to the UK).

Living and working here is completely different to when you come on your holidays. You'll need to investigate this matter seriously before jumping on a plane.

[Eliko]

Yiannakis, I would suggest you contact a medical professional who would be in a better position to advise you, a private hospital might be a good source and I will furnish the following details:- LITO PRIVATE HOSPITAL
Paralimni, Cyprus.
Fax:- (prefix ?) 23 825060
Contact Dr Costas Constantinou, he may be prepared to answer your enquiries but please don't pressure him, he is a busy man. Good luck anyway.

.

[Yiannakis]

Try the search facility. Sooooo many people have asked the same questions before.

In a nut shell.....if you don't speak Greek, work tends to be limited. The opportunities are drying up as more and more people are moving over here. Private child care at a kindergaten is around 200 per month per child from 8am to 1pm. Most people use relatives to look after their kids. House prices are on the rise and renting has shot up since I moved here 7 years ago. Car prices are still ridiculous. However, the weather and security are a bonus (compared to the UK).

Living and working here is completely different to when you come on your holidays. You'll need to investigate this matter seriously before jumping on a plane.

Thanks for your reply twinkle, greek is no issue, can both read and write the language.

Child care for 200 pounds per month equates to approximately $550 australian a month which is really that bad compared to over here which works out at $60 a day per child on average, which is approximately $600 a week meaning around $2500 a month, quite a difference. In pounds that is approximately 750 - 850 pounds per month.

Rent and the price of living in Australia is quite expensive these days, for a decent 3 bedroom villa in an area say 20 minutes from the city, you need approximately $400 per week minimum which works out to around 500 - 600 per month, what would a good size 4 bedroom place rent for in nicosia these days?

Cars, I guess depending on what you buy are priced accordingly, for a cheap japanese or korean model (i.e Hyundai or Daewoo) you can get them new for $15000 which is around 5000 - 5500 pounds, however to buy something decent and safe (which you need on sydneys roads) you are looking at about $40 000 which is around 13000 - 15000 pounds.

Once again thankyou for your reply and I will continue researching and waiting for others opinions

[Yiannakis]

Yiannakis, I would suggest you contact a medical professional who would be in a better position to advise you, a private hospital might be a good source and I will furnish the following details:- LITO PRIVATE HOSPITAL
Paralimni, Cyprus.
Fax:- (prefix ?) 23 825060
Contact Dr Costas Constantinou, he may be prepared to answer your enquiries but please don't pressure him, he is a busy man. Good luck anyway.

.

Thankyou Eliko, and will contact Dr Constantinou for a brief chat very soon.

If there is anyone who is a sales manager within the medical field, could you please advice me on the type of wage you receive, it obviously does not have to be the specific amount, however a rough estimate on what I should expect if I decide to take a job like this?

Also if anyone can tell me what the average family needs (in monetary terms) per month to survive (i.e. morgage, bills, food, transport, etc) I have estimated around 1000 pounds, am I close or no where near?

[LENA]

Yiannakis, I am a nursery teacher and I used to work in Cyprus 6 months ago....the prices are even less than 200CYP and you can find an excellent care for your children. You van find even schools that the main language in English and they can teach your children basic Greeks even from that age.

I suggest you to try Nicosia, not only for your kids but for you too. In Nicosia you can find lots of private hospitals and a better job (environment & salary) than in Paralimni. To be honest I dont have a glue about yours wife job, but I insist to try Nicosia. People in Cyprus are paid monthly but you as a surgery assistant (with all this experience) you might add few extra in that. I can give you Phone calls of the big private hospitals in Nicosia if you are interested.

About living cost you might find it quite expensive...but it depend on what you are looking for.

[Jez]

Yiannakis,

The average wage here in Cyprus is around £1000ish per month.

Fuel costs (at the moment) £0.56 per litre for regular unleaded.

Water, Electricity, Telephony(inc Internet) cost around £10, £25, £25 per month respectively. (these figures are for a young married couple and one very young child)

A Car: well, how long is a piece of string? I do know this though: Brand new Ford Focus's have recently been advertised on the TV for £6999. And there are always, second hand Japanese vehicles becoming available.

Food and drinks: 1 Litre of milk: £0.63, 6 500ml cans of local larger £3.00, tin of tomatoes £0.25, 500g of minced meat £1.20. To eat out, say around £8 per adult for a two course meal with soft drinks. To get a good take away, say around £2/£3 per person.

Electronics and furniture are really expensive over here. I'm not sure about in Australia but in mainland Europe and the UK you can definitely find cheaper stuff.

As far your family missing out on things or not, I'm not sure? I think as a teenager/student a countrys like the UK and probably Australia have far more opportunities, but as far as family life goes, I don't think you could ask for much more than what is on offer in Cyprus. The country, for now at least, is safe, healthy and family orientated. There will be gripes when you come over, belive me! but the sooner you can reisist the temptaion to compare everything to back home the better it will be for you all.

Hope this has helped. As twinkle said, the search facility will shed a whole lot more light on your questions, but hey, I figured I throw some stuff out there!

Take it easy

[Sotos]

Salaries are for sure much lower here. But the cost for apartment, child care and that kind of things is lower. Some products like electronics are more expensive but you can always order them online from shops like pixmania.com.cy which they deliver to your door within 3 days. Where in Australia you live? If you live in a big city like Sydney then you will find life in a small Cyprus city very different. No huge shopping malls, more limited choices in some things etc.

[Yiannakis]

Yiannakis, I am a nursery teacher and I used to work in Cyprus 6 months ago....the prices are even less than 200CYP and you can find an excellent care for your children. You van find even schools that the main language in English and they can teach your children basic Greeks even from that age.

I suggest you to try Nicosia, not only for your kids but for you too. In Nicosia you can find lots of private hospitals and a better job (environment & salary) than in Paralimni. To be honest I dont have a glue about yours wife job, but I insist to try Nicosia. People in Cyprus are paid monthly but you as a surgery assistant (with all this experience) you might add few extra in that. I can give you Phone calls of the big private hospitals in Nicosia if you are interested.

About living cost you might find it quite expensive...but it depend on what you are looking for.

Thankyou LENA for you reply, you have been very helpful and will take your advice about contacting the private hospitals. Hopefully they are negotiable with wages and we can work out something reasonable.

Thanks again

[Yiannakis]

Yiannakis,

The average wage here in Cyprus is around £1000ish per month.

Fuel costs (at the moment) £0.56 per litre for regular unleaded.

Water, Electricity, Telephony(inc Internet) cost around £10, £25, £25 per month respectively. (these figures are for a young married couple and one very young child)

A Car: well, how long is a piece of string? I do know this though: Brand new Ford Focus's have recently been advertised on the TV for £6999. And there are always, second hand Japanese vehicles becoming available.

Food and drinks: 1 Litre of milk: £0.63, 6 500ml cans of local larger £3.00, tin of tomatoes £0.25, 500g of minced meat £1.20. To eat out, say around £8 per adult for a two course meal with soft drinks. To get a good take away, say around £2/£3 per person.

Electronics and furniture are really expensive over here. I'm not sure about in Australia but in mainland Europe and the UK you can definitely find cheaper stuff.

As far your family missing out on things or not, I'm not sure? I think as a teenager/student a countrys like the UK and probably Australia have far more opportunities, but as far as family life goes, I don't think you could ask for much more than what is on offer in Cyprus. The country, for now at least, is safe, healthy and family orientated. There will be gripes when you come over, belive me! but the sooner you can reisist the temptaion to compare everything to back home the better it will be for you all.

Hope this has helped. As twinkle said, the search facility will shed a whole lot more light on your questions, but hey, I figured I throw some stuff out there!

Take it easy

Thank you Jez thats excellent. Looking at these prices suggests that living expenses are quite similar to what we pay here in Australia, only petrol is a little more expensive however, distances from home to work are alot less in cyprus than in australia so it probably evens itself out. I do approximately 600 - 700km a week travel, i.e work n home, and visiting friends and family on the weekends and that would cost me approximately $100 a week in fuel, or 30 - 35 pounds.

Once again thankyou Jez, that gives me an excellent idea on what to expect.