Getting a residence permit in Turkey

Turkey is a great place to visit - but be careful - it will capture your heart and might give you the desire to live here long term.

Turkey grants tourist visas to people from many countries for up to 3 months. Some are free, while citizens of some countries pay a visa fee at border gates. It is usually on a reciprocal basis, so if Turks have to pay for a visa for your country then you need to pay to visit Turkey. Visitors from other countries will need to apply for a visa in advance. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists visa requirements for each country on their website. Consult your local Turkish embassy or consulate for more information.

To stay longer in Turkey for tourism, study, work or retirement, you need a residence permit (called an ikamet in Turkish). Depending on your circumstances, you can get residence from 1 month to 5 years.

You usually apply for visas outside of Turkey, though passport holders of many countries can buy a tourist visa when they enter Turkey.

To stay for longer than your tourist visa allows or if you are coming to Turkey on a work or student visa, you apply for a residence permit in Turkey.

To get a residence permit, you apply at the foreigners department at the central police station in major cities. The rules and procedures may be different in each area. Places with few foreigners may not have a foreigners department and so you may need to travel to a larger city.

The offices are usually open weekdays from 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 5pm. The cashier may close earlier (4:30pm in Izmir).

Istanbul has recently implemented an online appointment system.

Busy times are the beginning of the academic year.

Expect to wait.

Take a book or something to do while you wait in the queue. You could be there for almost 3 hours at the busiest times.

If you bring the following, it may save you several trips.

• Passport and photocopies of the pages with your photograph and your last entry stamp
• Previous residence permit (if renewing)
• A recent bank print out showing you have sufficient funds in Turkey. Approximately 900 USD per year. Alternatively, currency exchange receipts.
• Cash. You need about 150 Lira per person for the blue residence permit booklet (first time and when it is full). Citizens of most OECD countries need about 80 USD per person for a one year residence permit. You will pay in Turk Lira based on the daily exchange rate. Citizens of different countries may have different fees. Children enrolled in schools are free.
• Passport sized photographs. At least 5 or 6. For renewals less are required. Tell the photographer they are for an ikamet so they give you the right size.
• Any visas or paperwork related to your visa (work permit, proof of educational enrollment for students, etc.)
• Two forms. Both are available from the foreigners department desk and ask similar information - Your Name (as in your passport), Your parents' names, Passport information, Place and Date of birth, Nationality, Religion, Previous residence permit information, Address, Telephone, Email, Reason for requesting residence.
• Marriage certificate (for married couples) translated into Turkish. This was required previously, but this year it was not required.
• Birth certificate (for a foreign baby born in Turkey applying for their first residence) in Turkish

What to expect when you are applying for a residence permit. This process may vary for different locations in Turkey.

1. You may need to wait a long time in a queue. The office may be full of people, but there will be only two or three who can actually help you with the application. The Izmir office recently installed a queue system similar to the banks, where you get a number and wait until is is displayed on a screen. Before you visit or while you are waiting, fill in the forms and present all your documents to the foreigners department desk.
2. You may be sent to another desk to get a printout of information about your latest entry from your passport. Take this back to the foreigners department desk.
3. They will check you have all the required paperwork and will send you to another office get it dated, stamped and signed. You may be asked for more paperwork. At this point they may ask for money for the blue residence permit book (first time). They may also give you a slip of paper for the cashier.
4. Go and get the stamps and signature.
5. Take the stamped documents back to the foreigners department desk. They will keep your passport and documents and they will give you a slip of paper for the cashier.
6. Go and pay the cashier the amount on the paper and collect the receipt. You will need your tax number for the cashier.
7. Hand over the receipt to the foreigners department desk. They will give you a slip of paper with your name and the date. Keep this safe because you need to bring this back to collect your permit next week.
8. One week later. Return to collect your residence permit and passport. You need to sign a couple of forms to indicate you have received them.
9. A few days later. Expect a visit at home from a local police officer to confirm your residency. They may ask your neighbors about you. If you are not home, they will leave a note and you will need to go to your local police station to answer questions about your residency.

Our daughter was born in Turkey in 2005. We discovered late that we needed to apply for her residence permit within the first month and so we had to pay a small fine for the period from 1 month after her birth until the date stamp on the residence permit application. The police at foreigners' department were OK with having to wait for her citizenship documents and passport to come. Having the application started was important for them.

Without a passport she could not leave the country, but also could not get an ikamet until it arrived. Delays with getting a photo that met the new biometric passport requirements and holidays in our home country meant our daughter was a stateless person for few months.

When our daughter turned 5 years old we had to get a new passport for her and renew her ikamet again.

My personal experiences

Police visit

11 December 2012

To follow up my last residence permit renewal a police officer visited my apartment today for the routine check to confirm that I live here.

Another renewal with long waits

17 October 2012

My residence permit is currently being renewed. I visited the foreigners department just after lunch on a Wednesday and waited 2.5 hours in the queue. I was missing a document and the photos I had were too big so I had to return a couple of days later to wait another 1.5 hours in the morning. With the Kurban Bayram and Cumhuriyet Bayram holidays, and the large number of people they were processing, I was told to come back in a month. Current price for holders of OPEC country passports 1 year renewal = 85 USD.

New passport

16 August 2012

We went to get our son's eyes tested and discovered that the universal health system in Turkey, administered by SGK requires a current residence permit. Our son's permit was only valid to the expiry date of his passport and his passport was recently renewed. We spent 1 hour waiting at the Foreigners Department and had to come back the next day to wait another hour to submit a document proving his school enrollment and signatures from both parents. His residence permission will be extended until we renew our permits for the whole family again in October. After 10 working days we expect to get the permit back and will then go to SGK to update his documents there.

Permit Renewal

27 January 2012

In October, I renewed my residence permit. Paperwork requirements were similar to previous years but the fees were greatly reduced. Today the police visited to confirm the details.

Reduced fees

4 April 11

There have been some reports of people paying reduced fees to renew their residence permits in Turkey. Turkey has reciprocal arrangements with some countries so the reductions might only apply to certain countries. Check the current pricing with the foreigners department when you apply.

Renewed my daughter's residence permit

9 March 11

My daughter's new shiny passport arrived last month and about 10 days ago I took it, her residence permit that was expiring, two photos and proof she was still in school to the foreigners department. I filled in two standard forms and got a photocopy of the first page of her new passport and handed everything over. They gave me slip of paper with my daughter's name and the date. Today I took the slip of paper in and signed that I had received the passport and residence permit back. An easy and straight-forward renewal this time.

My daughter can now stay in Turkey with the whole family until our permits expire again in October.

Passport expiring

14 February 11

My daughter's passport expires at the end of the month. When we renewed her residence permit a few months ago, they could only issue it for time left on the passport. So about a month ago we took the photographs and filled in the forms for her passport renewal and sent them away. Her new passport arrived back last week and so we will go through the process for her again. We expect her residence will be extended until October to synchronize with the rest of the family.

Visiting the local police station

27 January 11

Five weeks after I picked up my residence permit I got a message from the local police station to go and visit them to show my passport and ikamet and answer some questions:

• Where did I live?
• Who lives with me?
• Am I working?
• Where does my money come from?

They had tried to visit me but I was out. There was a week of holidays between getting my residence permit and the visit. Usually the home visit is closer to the time of the residence permit being issued.

Picked up my renewed residence permit today

28 October 10

After a short wait in the queue, I handed over the slips of paper I got on the last visit, told the clerk which country I am from and she found my passport, residence permit and paperwork. I signed two papers to indicate I had received my residence permit book and passport back and now I can stay in Turkey until this time next year.

Share your experience or tips for getting a residence permit in Turkey.