What do you do?

[samuraiwriter]

What do you do when your employer continues to give the run around in regards to renewing residency permits and work visas? It states in my contract that these issues will be done by the school. Now they are both expired for over 30 days and the school offices are closed for the summer break. Now I am fearful about leaving the country on holiday in the off chance I will not be allowed to re-enter, at least without paying a hefty fine.

I live in Turkey by the way, and will begin the 2nd year of a two year contract this Aug.

Perhaps the post should read "What can you do?"

SW

Thanks

[TexianTravel]

It seems to me that this is the school's problem instead of yours. I would go ahead and leave. If they want you back, they will do what is necessary to get you back. If your contract says the school handles these things, then the school cannot blame you for it not being done. It is completely unreasonable of them to expect that you will spend your holiday sitting in the host country because they didn't do their jobs. I trust you have some sort of documentation of your attempts to get them to do their job, and that there was no failure on your part, such as notifying the school you intended to leave the country during the holidays.

That said, I wouldn't leave anything in Turkey that I ever wanted to see again.

[samuraiwriter]

I cannot speak for international schools in Istanbul. I can only speak to national private schools, and just one at that. My momma taught me "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So I will say the students I have are amazing.

I wish I could "return" to Istanbul for my second year well rested but unfortunately I cannot leave, fear keeps me from it. So I have to sit here and wait in obscene heat for these documents to become valid, and if I am lucky I can escape for a short holiday late in the summer. But I doubt it will happen.

Positivity has long since left me.

[samuraiwriter]

Thanks for your words.

I can't be much help to you I am sorry.

IICS seems like the best option for you. There are two campuses, one in Robert College (op to grade 3?), the other way on out there. I have spoken with a few of the IICS international teachers and they seem to like it there. It is a true int'l school. I have also heard good things about Uskudar American.

As for the nat'l b'lingual schools comments on ISR I would say that I have to agree with most of what they had to say. Sadly.

Good Luck to you and your family on the big move.

[samuraiwriter]

Still nothing, although promises of paperwork coming in the post continue. When this paperwork does arrive I will then have to turn my passport over for a period of five days while the appropriate visa/residency book work is completed. The big problem now is that this conflicts with my family visiting me in country. We plan to take a long trip to visit different places of interest in relatively rural parts of the country. My director advised me that only a photocopy of the documents pertaining to the visa/residency renewals plus a photocopy of my passport would be fine for my safety. If I didn't believe that than I could not turn in my passport and wait until I return, which would run into August. Oh such fun! I cannot tell you how unhappy this makes me. It has ruined my summer holiday.

An amusing side note is that my director had their visas and residency books straightened out yesterday afternoon and left the country today. (Well a director is far more important than a measly teacher, right?)She felt there was nothing unprofessional about how the school has handled the situation, and eluded to the fact that I was unprofessional in my approach to this "not so serious" problem.

Stay tuned...