posting to Cyprus - Questions?

cath000

Hi
I was hoping someone may be able to answer some questions for me.

I think we are prob being posted to Episkopi Cyprus in summer, its my first O/S posting and Im sooo worried -about everything.:eek:

I have been told you get a cypriot bank acount and you still have your normal outgoings from back home. How does this work?

Also do you still get ur usual child benefit/tax credit payments as you are abroad?

How long does it normally take for your furniture to get there?

Is it quite straight forward to get Sky and broadband?

Thanks in advance :beer:

13Kent

Have PM'd you.

Alias_Omega

cath000 wrote: »

Hi
I was hoping someone may be able to answer some questions for me.

I think we are prob being posted to Episkopi Cyprus in summer, its my first O/S posting and Im sooo worried -about everything.:eek:

I have been told you get a cypriot bank acount and you still have your normal outgoings from back home. How does this work?

Also do you still get ur usual child benefit/tax credit payments as you are abroad?

How long does it normally take for your furniture to get there?

Is it quite straight forward to get Sky and broadband?

Thanks in advance :beer:

When you arrive at the island, your pay will still be going to the UK account. You will be able to cash cheques till your sorted. The exchange rate is a set rate.

Then you will setup a Cypriot bank account, usually a bank is on station, and then your admin section will sort the pay out on JPA. You will be able to split your pay between the UK account, and the Cypriot account.

Child Benefit & Tax Credits are paid to yourselves, we chose to have these paid into the UK account to cover any mortgage payments etc.

Furniture takes about 6 weeks to arrive here from the date of collection from your house.

Sky - Out here you will need a bigger dish, i think about 2.7mtrs. You will need to have a UK address to register it too, then bring the box & card with yourself, still paying it back in the uk. I would not be suprised if your looking at 300 euro for a dish out here.

Broadband - Very expensive compared to the uk, you need to have a cypriot phone line which in all will cost about 70 euros a month. We share internet connections with next door. Every little helps.

Phone Sims - Out here 1x Cytanet phone card will cost you 25 euro from the naffi (£25).

Anything else, just ask.

Regards,

Alias

cath000

thanks for your replies.


where do you normally fly from?
Also may be a silly question but if the furniture and stuff takes 6 wks, and I am still in my quarter here what do I do with none our stuff, ie washing machine, etc cant really stay with family as my son is in school here and family are 2 hours away?

mummyfleming

hello. im posted to cyprus too. Its my first o/s posting as a RAF wife rather than a Scaley Brat.... and im scared too. Your best bet is get down to ur local hive. Ive just been and they are so helpful. They have all the info you will need and are ready to answer any questions. As to the question of furniture, do you have welfare houses on the camp you are at now??? If you do you should be able to move into one of them. They have all the basics ie: washer, bedding etc. Then when you get there you get a starter pack from stores. The hive will give you all the info!!! It will become ur best friend over the next few weeks. I know it will be mine till we go in june! we found out monday!

Alias_Omega

cath000 wrote: »

thanks for your replies.


where do you normally fly from?
Also may be a silly question but if the furniture and stuff takes 6 wks, and I am still in my quarter here what do I do with none our stuff, ie washing machine, etc cant really stay with family as my son is in school here and family are 2 hours away?

You will normally fly from RAF Brize Norton to RAF Akrotiri, then someone from your section would collect you from the air terminal, and drive you to your accomodation at Episkopi. Its about a 20min drive, and they would of took over your quarter via proxy, all furniture would be in the house and hopefully all beds made.

In the house also should be a Get-You-In pack (if you want it) which will be Cutlery, plates, pans, cups, beakers, iron & ironing board, bedding, pillows etc.

Probably the best option would be too -

Use your relocation leave (10 days - 2 weeks) once your husband has cleared from work, then arrange for Removal Overseas to be done, then whats left to go into Storage.

Once its all gone into storage, then spend a few nights in a local B&B/Hotel and clean / hand back quarter then travel to Brize via MT Transport - Disturbance Allowance Pays for this.

Once at Brize, your on your way.

The biggest problem you may face is what to bring with you on the day, and what do you send via the Removal Overseas Service. When we travelled, we were allowed to have 110kg of luggage, which we took about 8 bags, and a few boxes inc car seats for the children. We looked very embarrased checking in.

When you arrive, you will have a sofa in the house, its not the best in the world. You wont have a TV, but someone may lend you one. If you arrive at the weekend you wont be able to get a BFBS box until the monday morning, so no tv if you arrive on the saturday. The weather today is about 21 degrees, so its going to be hot here. We (RAF) change into KD clothing on the 29th Mar, so im unsure when we go back to 'blues' but it could be september time.

When you arrive at the house, you will have things like bedside tables, chest of drawers, beds, double beds, table & chairs, a fridge, sideunits, a sofa plus many more. You can keep these whilst you are here, so you dont need to bring beds etc. We brought a sofa with us, as we had just bought it.

We brough with us - 3 Seater Sofa, 2 Seater Sofa, Fridge Freezer, Washer, Dryer, Bunk Beds, A Cot, Lots of toys and we were still under the limit of 13 Sq Mtrs for Overseas, and we had 70 Mtrs for Storage. Your allowances will be in the JSP 752.

Good things to bring with you (in removal bit) would be things like the washing machine, large tv, Pushbikes (very expensive here), little things like cutlery racks, microwaves, washing baskets, lots of toiletries, plates, cups, cutlery, bedding, quilts etc...

Also when out here, you are entitled to LOA, which is to compensate for the extra living costs. I think L/Cpl level 9 is about £30 a day extra.

I cant really think of anything else right now...

Alias_Omega

Oh, Cars...

When you arrive, someone may have lined up a Giz'it car, basically a car dealer in Limassol will loan you a car to use for a few weeks, until you have yourself sorted to buy a car from them. Usually the car is free if you buy a car from them, but if you dont the charges can be up too 20 euro a day.

Out here MOT's last for 2 years, and tax runs from 1st Jan - 31st Dec. UK NCB can be used on a few firms such as Gan Direct etc, but i found one from the dealer to be as good.

On facebook, there is a group for things for sale, its called 'BFC Buy, Sell, Swap Shop'

Have a look, and maybe arrange to buy somethings nearer the time when you arrive.

Regards,

Alias (Again)

cath000

Thanks you are all so helpful

mummyfleming we dont have a hive, I know its ridiculous but everything up in the air at the mo and cant ssem to get any answers, so you are all greatly appreciated. :beer:

cgsac

There is lots on the AFF website, the HIVE in Cyprus is excellent.

http://www.aff.org.uk/links_cyprus.htm

Its also worth perhaps buying a Lonely planet or rough guide book to get a feel for outside the bases, as it is a wonderful country.

mummyfleming

we just got a 'rough guide' book from whsmith today. you can get on the hive website its hive.mod.uk
is it true there is an ikea on the island??????

cgsac

Yes Ikea is in Nicosia (about an hour from most of the bases). Bear in mind it is considerably more expensive than UK IKEAs. Like most imported products in Cyprus things can cost 25-30% more than the UK.......(sometimes even more than that).

there is an excellent publication produced by the bases called Cyprus Forces Lifetsyle. it is a monthly magazine free to all military and families and is a good indicator of the lifestyle, costs and scene out there. Unfortunately it is not online but if you can get hold of a copy or two in advance it is good reading.