hi any advice on living in tunisia

[angiebabesxx]

hello
iv been married to my hubby for 2 years but i have lived in uk im going december to live permentaly but not sure how long can i stay and how does my british nationality stand do i give it up and get tunisia passport or keep my british one or how long can u stay in tunisia my passport has already been given to police in april this year so they think im staying there now anyways if someone who has been living in tunisia long time please explain how we british live there cause i dont understand what my hubby is saying
thanks
angie

[issam]

hi,when you live in tunisia you don't have to give up your original nationality,if you not married to a tunisian national and you are as a tourist visitor from the first fifteen EU members you can stay up to three months in tunisia then you leave for min of 48 hours and you make your way bak for another 3 months and so on,if you married to a tunisian national so there is a procedure that you have to follow to obtain you residence in tunisia the whole matter is like any where else papers and from an office to the other but finally you will get there,good luck for your move

[samwella]

hi angie, you can apply for your cartes de jour i dont know how to spell it, but that basically allows you to remain after 3 months without having to leave and get your passport stamped. i think it's valid for about 2 years and they you can apply for another one, as I havent had to apply for it yet myself i'm not sure about how long its actually valid for so i'd say the embassey are the best people to ask, but at least you can remain without having to go after 3 months

[kellyc]

Hi,

To apply for your carte de sejour, you need to have a flat, or house in your name for a year you have to have the contract, you need to show that you have enough funds to support yourself by showing your bank statements, if your working here again you need to show your contract of employment with your work permit. You also need to provide documents to show that you have regular money arriving in your account. As well as other documents but right now I cant remember all of them, I know this because I overstayed in Tunisia and went to a lawyer to find out about the carte de sejour he actually told me that I would need at least 3000 dinar coming into my account every month if I am not employed under a tunisian employer with a work visa. You make the application at the local police station, they will also ask for the reason you want to remain here etc, they then process the application the time for it - how long is a piece of string?! Everyone's situation is different but after the lawyer had explained the process I realised it wasnt as easy as the internet makes it sound!!

Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, but its worth doing, however I would advise weigh up the pro's and con's even with a carte de sejour when you leave at the airport you have to pay your exit fee it used to be 45 dinar it is now 60 dinar, its just a little postage stamp.

I overstayed by 14 months oooppss you may have seen my post about it, and I was panicking about it but actually it wasnt as bad as it seemed and though I had to pay 40 dinar for every month to the police station, I got out and back in with no problems. I wouldnt advise overstaying of course but you need to work it all out.

[Bigbrother]

Hi Kelly, just to clarify, does the information you've provided for people who aren't married or people who are married to a Tunisian? Cheers.

[kellyc]

Hi ya,

Sorry the info is if your not married.

There have been different stories as to when you get married, some say you receive instant status to remain in Tunisia, however the police station I use for my overstay he did say that once you are married you do not instantly obtain the right to stay you still have to apply for it and they then issue you a 2 year visa to remain, others may have been told different but this is what the police have advised me. It's not such a big deal here with overstaying and such but I know the application for the carte de sejour can be easy for some and not for others (haha just as the visas to UK and other places!) its again showing you can support yourself etc and all the processing of documents!!

[Bigbrother]

Thanks for that Kelly! Very useful information and the 2 year visa it's good to know about, also it will probably take about 2 years to see if one could see themselves living there indefinitely and to get themselves established in the day to day living. Regards.

[kellyc]

Hi ya

Yes bigbrother you are definately right, I have been living here for over a year and a half now and still finding my feet, for me personally its such a different world and its taking a lot of time to get used to it.

Yes you still need to apply for your residency even when you are married as I said but the police officer I used said that I will have to apply but as he knows us he will give me the 2 year visa in May with no problems (I think it helps that he dealt with my 14 months overstay lol), there shouldn't be any hold ups but then this is Tunisia were talking about, and as the saying goes its not what you know but who

[Bigbrother]

Thanks Kelly, I think I might have a romantic version of how life would be like there probably the complete opposite and like you say its who you know.

Was trying to get out there or France may be around Christmas but just had a conversation with Border and Immigration Agency – we’re applying for an extension on my husband’s visa cause he didn’t come straight away when he got his visa – and they want original documents including our passports and the wait time is between 4 and 14 weeks – probably the latter! I’m non too pleased – I can request my passport back but they’re gonna keep Mohamed’s and I don’t fancy travelling without him! It’s nothing but red tape, whether the Tunisian person is in Tunisia or in the UK – and loads of money - £595 for premium service for a same day decision

[Bigbrother]

sorry Kelly, ranting on, lost the plot yesterday ... better now! Stuck here for the hols lol