I do not understand why are the xpats not worried about Ikamet

@azmarina91

Disagreed on the language item, you just have to have support, or buy support. It works for us, I just can say merhaba, my wife can speak many more words. But local support (bought or given is indeed needed).

A sad story on extention of Ikamet, we had/have very friendly neighbours from Iraq, a very kind head of the family and very nice (adult) children and wife. The TAPU was in his name, but he died from cancer. The TAPU then transferred to wife and children, that was the problem, no Ikamet extention given (too many people on the TAPU). They want to come back, the house (penthouse) is still theirs. But getting an Ikamet is very difficult in such a situation. Bottom line, please make sure that your husband or wife gets the full title in case of death (just my observation). Bank balances, were no problem, health insurance no problem, death certificate was no issue, but ..

@cdw057

Great discussion here. On the insurance side specifically — I noticed someone mentioned that Allianz doesn't offer a 2-year contract for the residence permit, which is a common issue.

When I did my ikamet I had the same problem, so I looked for a provider that issues a 2-year compliant policy directly. I ended up using Yab Sigorta, and got it fully online: entered my date of birth, saw the price instantly, paid, and received the e-signed policy as a PDF by email in a few minutes — accepted at my appointment with no issues.

A couple of things that helped:

A 2-year policy locks in the price, so you avoid renewing (and re-pricing) every year.

Make sure it's the residence-specific type that meets the migration office minimum — not a travel/tourist plan.

The start date should match your appointment date.

What made Yab Sigorta convenient for me was that the site and app are in several languages (English, Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Persian) and work on both iPhone and Android. Full process and prices by age are here if useful: [link under review]/