DOZENS of expats across Didim are seriously considering whether to sell up or stick it out as the residence permit changes begin to bite.

Despite the new permit law changes coming into effect on April 11, foreign residents have been complaining of a lack of clear information from their embassies, different rules for different towns and cities and the expense of now having to buy health insurance cover.

As Voices went to press, only four permits have so far been publicly acknowledged as being received by the expat community – one in Bodrum, two in Fethiye and one in Istanbul.

Despite a number of applications being made through the Didim police, there has not yet been any acknowledgement that any permits have been issued by the General Directorate of Migration Management.

Even those expats that are not yet due to renew their residence permits, there has been a notable number that have been approaching estate agents, asking for advice on sales.

Andy Probert, editor of Didim Voices, said that at least 12 people had enquired about selling their properties – with the permit being cited as the main reason.

Another well-established estate agent added that she had lost out on a sale due to the paperwork chase involved. A travel advisory company had also recited one of their subscribers who have a property in Turkey as deciding to hold off moving across to live here.

Equally, a straw poll of residents signed to the Didim Voices Facebook page were asked if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the information on the permit changes from the British Embassy.

All of the more than 40 that responded, resoundingly voted ‘dissatisfied’.

The main crux of the problem seems to stem not from the paper chase involved, but the buying of private health insurance or going for SGK.

For some older residents, the fear of having to now stump up nearly 3,000TL for state health care each year has had a sobering effect on their  lifestyles, and quite a few have expressed their desires to look elsewhere to live.

Voices should have published a guide to the new permit rules this week, but will now print next week, due to the high numbers of people asking for information throughout the week.

This week, the British Embassy published an update of sorts to the permit. It said: “We are continuing to lobby the General Directorate of Migration Management (GDMM) to provide accurate and consistent advice to British nationals about the procedures for applying for residency.

“We have spoken to the Head of Communications at the GDMM about the need for clear information and expect to meet him later this week.

“We are still awaiting the English version of the Ministry of Interior website and have urged the GDMM to upload information for British residents as soon as possible. We have been provided with the following email contact form for British nationals to submit their questions and queries to the GDMM regarding the new residence permit processes and applications: http://www.goc.gov.tr/icerik/mailform 

“The form headings are in Turkish. In the section titled ’Daire’ please choose ‘Yabancilar Dairesi Baskanligi’ and type your question/query in the ‘Aciklama’ section.’

“Please note this is a Turkish Government website/enquiry form and any information received in response to queries is provided by the Turkish Government. Meanwhile, we understand that people have begun to receive the new residence cards, delivered by courier.”