Cyprus is a small country in southeastern Europe. Located on the third largest island in the Mediterranean. The country is part of the European Union, but not part of the Schengen agreement.
Among Russians, Cyprus is strongly associated with offshore companies and a tax haven, although in reality this is not entirely true. The island has a developed infrastructure, excellent roads, it is easy to do business on it. The most attractive sectors of the economy are financial services, investment management, tourism and, more recently, software development.
I purposefully went to Cyprus because the climate and mentality of the local population suits me. Under the cut - how to find a job, get a residence permit, and a couple of life hacks for those who are already here.
A few details about myself. I have been in IT for a long time, I started my career while still a 2nd year student at the institute. Worked as a programmer (C++/MFC), web admin (ASP.NET) and devops. Gradually I realized that itβs more interesting for me to engage not in the actual development, but in communicating with people and solving problems. I've been working in L20/L2 support for 3 years now.
At one time I traveled around Europe, somewhere I even lived for a year and a half, but then I had to return to my homeland. I started thinking about Cyprus about three years ago. I sent a resume to a couple of offices, as a result I went through a personal interview with my future boss and forgot about him, however, six months later I got a call and pretty soon I received a job offer for the position I wanted.
Why Cyprus
Eternal summer, the sea, fresh local products and the mentality of the local population. They are very similar to us in terms of a slight flair of indifference and a generally optimistic attitude towards life. It is enough to smile or exchange a couple of on-duty phrases - and you are always welcome. There is no such negative attitude towards foreigners as, for example, in Austria. The attitude towards Russians is also influenced by the fact that although the Cypriot Church is autocephalous, it is also Orthodox, and they consider us brothers in faith.
Cyprus is not as noisy and "narrow" as Holland. There are places where you can take a break from the crowds, a tent, barbecues, mountain trails, sea grottoes - all this is in a relatively pristine condition. In winter, if nostalgia torments you, you can go skiing, and, having left the mountains, immediately swim, looking at a melting snowman.
There are several dozen IT companies on the market, mostly bidding-finance, but there are also tanks and application software. From the means, everything is the same - Java, .NET, kubernetes, Node.js, unlike the bloody enterprise, everything is alive and modern. The scale of the problems is certainly smaller, but the technology is quite modern. The language of interethnic communication is English, and the Cypriots speak excellent and understandable, there will be no problems.
The disadvantages are mostly domestic, there's nothing to be done, either you put up with them and enjoy life, or you go somewhere else. In particular, +30 in the summer at night (air conditioners), the optionality of local residents, some provinciality and parochialism, isolation from βcultureβ. The first year and a half will have to be ill with local sores such as SARS.
Work searches
In this I was not original - xxru and linkedin. I filtered by country and began to view suitable vacancies. Usually, aggregators write the name of the office, so after I found a vacancy that interested me, Google helped me with the companyβs website, and then the Career section and HR contact details. Nothing complicated, the main thing is to make the right resume. Perhaps personnel officers in Cyprus pay attention not so much to projects and experience, but to formal signs - a programming language, general experience, an operating system and all that.
The interview was conducted via Skype, nothing technically complicated was asked (and what can you ask with 20 years of experience). Trite motivation, a bit of ITIL, why Cyprus.
Arrival
Unlike many other EU countries, you will receive a residence permit already while on the island. From the documents required a certificate of good conduct, a birth certificate and a document on education. You donβt need to translate anything - firstly, the translation may not be accepted on the spot, and secondly, Cyprus recognizes Russian official documents.
Directly for arrival, either a standard tourist visa (issued at the consulate of Cyprus) or an open Schengen visa of any EU country is required. For Russians, it is possible to obtain a so-called pro-visa (an application on the consulate website, a letter in a couple of hours that you need to print out and have with you at the airport), but it has its own limitations, for example, it is obligatory to fly only from Russia. So if there is an opportunity to get a Schengen, it is better to use it. Schengen days do not decrease, the standard 90 days of stay in Cyprus.
Upon arrival at the airport, they may ask for a hotel voucher, you need to be prepared for this. The hotel should naturally be in free Cyprus. It is not recommended to discuss the purpose of your visit with the border guard, especially if you have a pro-visa - if they do not ask, do not say anything, they will ask - a tourist. Itβs not that there is a special filter, itβs just that there is some chance that they will set the period of stay exactly on the dates of the hotel reservation, and this may not be enough to submit documents.
The employer will most likely provide you with a transfer and a hotel for the first time. After you sign the contract, you need to start renting a car and an apartment.
Contract
Cyprus has an English colonial legal system. In particular, this means that the contract is inviolable (until the parties re-negotiate). The contract, of course, cannot contradict the legislation of Cyprus, but nevertheless it makes sense to subtract everything yourself and delve into the details, so that later it would not be excruciatingly painful. As a rule, employers make concessions if they are interested in you as a professional. The main things you need to pay attention to are Renumeration (usually the amount before paying your part of social security and income tax), hours of work, vacation amount, the presence of fines and penalties.
If you do not fully understand the size of the salary in your hands, Google will help you, there are online calculators, for example, on the Deloitte website. There are mandatory payments to social security and, more recently, to the health care system (percentage of salary), there is an income tax according to a tricky formula with steps. A minimum of approximately 850 euros is not taxed, then the rate increases with the amount of the annual salary.
In general, salaries correspond to those in Moscow and St. Petersburg. For an employer, payroll costs are moderate up to about 4000 euros per month before taxes, after which the share of taxes is already significant and can exceed 30%.
Once the contract is signed, one copy will go to officials, so make sure you sign at least three copies. Do not give your copy to anyone, let them embroider and recopy if necessary.
Residence permit
After signing the contract, the employer prepares a set of documents for obtaining a work permit and a residence permit. You will be asked to go to an accredited doctor to get a blood test for AIDS and a chest x-ray. In addition, a certificate, diploma and birth certificate will be translated at the state office. With a set of documents, you will come to the local immigration office, where you will be photographed, fingerprinted and, most importantly, issued a receipt. This receipt entitles you to permanent residence in Cyprus until you receive a response from the Department of Migration and Multiple Border Crossings. Formally, at this point, you can legally start working. After a few weeks (3-4, sometimes more) you will be given a temporary residence permit in the form of a plastic card with a photo, which will be your main document on the island. The term is 1-2 years at the discretion of the authorities.
A work permit for IT specialists - third-country nationals can be obtained on one of two grounds: either a company with foreign capital, or you are a highly qualified specialist (higher education) who could not be hired among the locals. In any case, if a company hires foreigners, then there is permission and there is no need to worry about this.
A temporary residence permit does not give the right to visit EU countries, be careful. Therefore, I recommend getting a long-term Schengen at home - so you kill two birds with one stone - you will enter Cyprus and go on vacation.
For family members, a residence permit is obtained after obtaining their own residence permit. Relatives go by trailer and will not receive a work permit. There is a requirement for the amount of income, but for IT people there will be no problems, as a rule, it will be enough for a wife, children and even a grandmother.
After 5 years of stay on the island, you can apply for a permanent (perpetual) European residence permit for yourself and all family members (they will receive the right to work). After seven years - for citizenship.
Housing and infrastructure
There are 2.5 cities in Cyprus, the main places of work are Nicosia and Limassol. Best with work in Limassol. The cost of renting decent housing starts from 800 euros, for this money you will get an apartment with ancient finishes and furniture near the sea or decent housing such as a small villa in a village closer to the mountains. The communal apartment depends on the availability of a swimming pool, the main payments (water, electricity) will average 100-200 euros per month. There is almost no heating anywhere, in winter they are heated by air conditioners or kerosene stoves, if you are very lucky - then a warm floor.
The Internet is both ancient ADSL, and quite decent optics or TV cable, in almost every apartment building, in the villa there will most likely be a digital telephone line. Internet prices are quite affordable, from 20 euros per month. The internet is stable except for some wireless providers which can fail in the rain.
Mobile traffic is quite expensive - a package of 2 gigabytes will cost 15 euros per month, unlimiteds are not common. Calls, on the contrary, are cheap, including to Russia. All-European free roaming is available.
There is a bus network in Limassol, it is easy to go to the mountains or to neighboring cities, there are even minibuses that come on call to the address. Intra-city public transport runs on schedule, but unfortunately most routes finish work by 5-6 pm.
You can do without a car if you live in the center near work and a supermarket. But it's better to have a driver's license. Renting a car will cost 200-300 euros per month during the off-season. During the season from June to October prices rise.
You can buy a car only after obtaining a temporary residence permit. The market is full of cars of different years, including dense ones, it is quite possible to find a stool under the booty for 500-1500 euros in good condition. Insurance will cost 100-200 euros per year, depending on the length of service and engine size. Inspection once a year.
After six months of driving on foreign rights, you need to change them to Cypriot ones. This is done easily - a questionnaire from the site and 40 euros. Old rights are taken away.
The roads are very decent, even rural. There are fines for speed, but there are no automatic cameras yet. You can have a glass of beer, but I wouldn't play with fire.
Food prices vary greatly during the season, sometimes they are much lower than in Moscow, sometimes they are compared. But the quality is definitely incomparable - fruits straight from the orchards, vegetables from the beds, cheese from a cow. The European Union controls indicators, water and products are clean and healthy. You can drink from the tap (although the water is hard and tasteless).
Political situation
Part of Cyprus has been occupied by a neighboring country since 1974, respectively, a delimitation line controlled by the UN runs through the entire island. You can travel to the other side, but it is advisable not to stay there for the night, and even more so not to buy housing and contraband there, there may be problems. The situation is gradually improving, but it will take a long time to reach a final consensus.
In addition, as part of an agreement with England to decolonize the island, the queen asked for small plots of land for military bases. In this part, everything is exactly the opposite - there are no borders (except perhaps the bases themselves), you can completely freely slide into English territory, if you wish.
Conclusion
It is quite easy to find a job in Cyprus, but you do not need to rely on the German salary level. But you get summer all year round, fresh food and the sea to boot. There is everything for an active lifestyle. There are practically no problems with crime and interethnic relations.
Source: habr.com