As many of my social media followers saw, I made a quick trip to Germany this month. I had a great 48 hours there with my friend Harika (more on her soon), but first I want to share that this was a necessary trip. I had less than 30 days to legally register my iPhone 12 which I got this summer (it came with one of my American visitors). For my American friends this is a confusing thing to explain. I’ll do my best to explain it in short here.
Turkey has regulations around bringing electronics in from the outside. I can buy a phone in Turkey any time and use it with no problem. I would not have to register it at the tax office. I can buy and use immediately.
But the cost of a phone here in Turkey is significantly higher. For example, the current cost of an iPhone 12 with 64 GB of storage is about 13,500 TL or about $1,100. In the U.S. that same phone is selling for about $729 (unlocked) before taxes. It cost me about 2,000 TL, or just under $200, to register with the tax office. As you can see my total amount paid is less than the cost of a new phone in Turkey.
While the money talks for itself, the regulations also include the stipulation that individuals can only register a phone from the outside ONCE every THREE years. When I arrived in 2018 it was once every two years and the cost was only about $100. In my time here the duration has been lengthened AND the cost has gone up (and will certainly continue to do so). All that said, my iPhone 7 was on its last legs and I planned ahead to purchase an iPhone 12 this year. One of my American travelers brought it just in time, as the screen and camera lens cracked on my old phone in early July. I moved to the new phone and received a warning that I had 120 days to register it. Then I had 90 days. Then 60.
In addition to needing to be eligible to register a new device (the once every three years timeframe) I also needed to have left and re-entered the country within the last 12 months. Once our International Faculty Coordinator (IFC) explained all these details to me it became clear that I needed to jump in and out of Turkey as the last time I left was in June of 2020 (when I returned to the U.S. to get my drivers license transferred and renewed).
With my upcoming travel to the U.S. for Christmas and New Year’s I was not looking to invest a lot of money in traveling, nor did I want to deal much with the hassles that now accompany travel in this time of COVID. Thankfully I found a close, easy, and convenient option–thanks to Harika’s hospitality and flexibility. For about $115 I was able to find a direct and roundtrip flight to Cologne on Corendon Airlines (A German budget airlines comparable to Pegasus in Turkey). As I am vaccinated I did not have to provide a negative PCR test in either direction (Hallelujah!). I completed the necessary online digital registration form for travel to Germany (which included uploading my proof of vax) and I was good to go.
I flew into Cologine at 01.00 on Saturday and easily transferred to the train platform. Harika organized my ticket and gave excellent instructions on where to get on the train, where to transfer to a second high speed train, and and where to meet up with her at the station in her town which was about 30 minutes east.
I spent two lovely days–just Saturday and Sunday–with her. I’ll do another post very soon to share about how I know Harika and what we did in our brief time together. 😊
That said, now you know why I made that jump to Germany. I got back to Izmir on the morning of November 15th with that required ENTRY STAMP and met up with our IFC the next day. Thanks to her help and guidance I was able to pay my tax and get my phone registered with only about 14 days to spare. Whew!
The best news is that I will go back to Cologne, for sure, and I have no doubt that Harika and I will be meeting up in Izmir as well. Another post coming your way very soon. Cheers!
