The free starter pack
Your first 7 days
in Istanbul.
Free PDF checklist + 7 short emails over 7 days. The practical stuff that gets foreigners stuck in their first week — without sending you to 8 different websites to figure each one out.
What's in the pack
A 12-page PDF you can save offline + one short email a day for 7 days. Each email is ~250 words. Read in 2 minutes. Act in 30.
Day 1 · Get a Turkish SIM card
Turkcell vs Vodafone vs Türk Telekom. Where to buy. The 4-month-rule trap (your foreign phone stops working past day 120 unless you register it with BTK — what to do, what it costs).
Day 2 · Get a Turkish tax number (Vergi Numarası)
Free, takes 1–3 days. The single document that unlocks everything else (bank account, residence permit, contracts). How to apply by Power of Attorney without setting foot in a tax office.
Day 3 · Open a Turkish bank account
Why walk-ins fail (~70% rejection). Which 3 banks foreigners actually get into (Garanti BBVA, İş Bankası, Yapı Kredi). The KYC dossier checklist. What NOT to say at the meeting.
Day 4 · Find an apartment that's not a scam
Sahibinden vs Flatio vs Airbnb monthly. Real-world prices by neighborhood. Scam patterns to spot (the deposit trap, the "manager abroad" scam, the "view photos different from listing" trick).
Day 5 · Get an Istanbulkart + figure out transport
Where to buy. Where to top up. The metro vs ferry vs taxi math. BiTaksi app setup (the only safe taxi option for foreigners). Transit map that doesn't look like spaghetti.
Day 6 · Set up healthcare
Private vs public. The 4 English-speaking hospital networks (Acıbadem, Memorial, Anadolu, Florence Nightingale). Insurance options (private TR, SafetyWing, none + pay-as-you-go). What an actual doctor visit costs.
Day 7 · Book the residence-permit appointment
The thing everyone forgets to do until day 60 — and then panics. How to book on the e-İkamet portal. What documents to gather. Whether you need DNV or Tourist Residence Permit. Average wait time for an appointment.
Why we made this
I've helped enough friends move to Istanbul that I started typing the same WhatsApp answers over and over. "Yes Garanti is your best bet for the bank. No don't use Starbucks wifi. Yes register your phone before day 120. No 'just go to the tax office' isn't real advice."
So I wrote it down properly. The pack is what I'd send a friend the day they land. No sales pitch. No upsell into a $2,000 service. Just: here's the order to do things in, here's what each step actually costs, here's the trap people fall into.
If we ever do build a paid service later, the free pack stays free. That's the deal.
Send me the pack →
PDF in your inbox in 60 seconds. First email goes out tomorrow morning Istanbul time.
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