Visa policy of Turkey

The visa policy of Turkey deals with the requirements which a foreign national wishing to enter Turkey must meet to be permitted to travel to, enter and remain in the country.[1]

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Visitors to Turkey must obtain a visa from one of the Turkish diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the 78 visa-exempt countries and territories or one of the 42 countries and territories whose citizens are eligible to apply for an e-Visa online. Turkish visas are documents issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its subsequent diplomatic missions abroad with the stated goal of regulating and facilitating migratory flows.[2][3]

Visitors of most nationalities must hold a passport valid for no less than 150 days from the date of arrival. The passport validity requirement does not apply to citizens of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland who can enter with a passport expired for less than five years, citizens of Germany who can enter with a passport or an ID card expired for less than one year, citizens of Bulgaria who are only required to have a passport valid for their period of stay.[4] An identity card is accepted in lieu of a passport for citizens of Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine. The validity period requirement also does not apply to nationals of countries whose identity cards are accepted.[5]

Even though Turkey is a candidate country for membership of the European Union, it has a more complex visa policy than the visa policy of the Schengen Area.[2] Turkey requires visas from citizens of one EU member state Cyprus, as well as Schengen Annex II countries and territories – Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, East Timor, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vanuatu. On the other hand, Turkey grants visa-free access to citizens of other countries and territories – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Iran, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Qatar, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The Turkish government announced that effective from 2 March 2020, visas are not required for passport holders from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Republic of Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.[6]

Visa policy map
Visa policy of Turkey

As of right

Citizens of the following countries or territories have the right to enter, reside, study, and work indefinitely in Turkey without any immigration restrictions:

Visa-free

Citizens of the following countries and territories do not require a visa to visit Turkey for the durations described below for tourism or business purposes (unless otherwise stated). For visits of up to 90 days within a 180-day period, an identity card is accepted in lieu of a passport for citizens of some countries.[2]

90 days per visit, 90 days per 180-day period (84)
60 days per visit, 90 days per 180-day period (1)
30 days per visit, 90 days per 180-day period (8)

ID – May enter with an ID card for a stay of up to 90 days per 180-day period
T – Visa free for tourism purposes only.
1 – Allowed to enter with an expired passport (up to 5 years)
2 – Allowed to enter with an expired passport or ID card (up to 1 year)
3 – Except for journalists and holders of service passports[13][14]

Visa is also not required for holders of a "Laissez-Passer" issued by the United Nations.[2]

The visa-free regime also applies to the citizens of the following countries under certain conditions:[2]

  •  Algeria – provided being under 15 or above 65 for a maximum stay of 90 days within 180 days
  •  Cyprus – provided residing in Northern Cyprus and directly arriving from Ercan International Airport or seaports of Famagusta, Kyrenia, or Karavostassi for a maximum stay of 90 days within 180 days[1]
  •  Libya – provided being under the age of 16 and above the age of 55, for a maximum stay of 90 days within any 180 days period.
  •  Palestine – provided holding a VIP passport

Diplomatic and service category passports

Citizens of Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria (30 days), Cambodia (30 days), China, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, Libya (tourism purpose only), Maldives (30 days), Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal (tourism purpose only), Spain, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia (tourism purpose only), Sierra Leone,[15] South Africa (30 days), Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Yemen (30 days) and for holders of diplomatic passports of Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, India, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia, Senegal, South Sudan (tourism purpose only), Sudan (tourism purpose only), Togo,[16] Uganda and United Kingdom – provided holding diplomatic, service and special passports for a maximum stay of 90 days within 180 days

Visa waiver agreements for diplomatic passports were signed with Laos in November 2018 and with Zambia in May 2019 and they are yet to come into force.[17][18][19]

e-Visa

Holders of passports of the following 29 countries and territories can obtain e-Visas online for a fee prior to arrival. The duration of stay for most of these nationalities is 90 days (30 days for some) within 180 days.[20][21]

ID – May enter with an ID card for a stay of up to 90 days per 180-day period
1 – May only apply for a single entry e-visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days.
2 – Allowed to enter with an expired passport (up to 5 years)
3 – e-Visas are issued free of charge. Fees apply to Mexican citizens who obtain e-Visas on arrival.
4 – Not eligible for e-visas on arrival.
5 – May apply for a multiple entry e-visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days.

Conditional e-Visa

Citizens of these countries and territories are eligible to apply for a single entry e-Visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days only if meeting the conditions listed below:[20][2]

1 – e-Visas are issued free of charge.

Conditions:

  • All nationalities, except for citizens of Gabon and Zambia, must hold a valid visa or residence permit from one of the following countries: Schengen area countries, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States. Electronic visas or e-residence permits are not accepted. Egyptian citizens who are under 20 or over 45 years old do not need to fulfill this requirement.
  • All citizens except for the citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Philippines must travel with one of the airlines that has protocols with Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The following airlines meet the criteria: Onur Air, Pegasus Airlines and Turkish Airlines.[23] Citizens of Egypt may also travel on flights operated by EgyptAir.
  • Must hold a hotel reservation and adequate financial means (US$50 per day).
  • Algerian citizens must be aged below 18 or over 35 years old to be eligible for e-Visa. Otherwise, a sticker visa is required.
  • Afghanistan, Iraq, Zambia and Philippines citizens not eligible for e-visa on arrival at Istanbul Airport

Visa on arrival only under limited circumstances

Citizens of  North Korea may only obtain a visa on arrival for a stay of max 30 days if holding a valid visa or residence permit issued by Schengen area countries, Ireland or the United Kingdom.[2]

Sticker visa required

Citizens of the following countries and territories must obtain a sticker-type visa in advance at one of the Turkish diplomatic missions:[2][1]

Visitor statistics

Most tourist arrivals in Turkey are from the following countries of nationality.[24][25][26][27][28]

Rank Country 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
1 Russia 7,017,657 5,964,631 4,715,438 866,2563,649,003
2 Germany 5,027,472 4,512,360 3,584,653 3,890,0745,580,792
3 Bulgaria 2,713,464 2,386,885 1,852,867 1,690,7661,821,480
4 United Kingdom 2,562,064 2,254,871 1,658,715 1,711,4812,512,139
5 Iran 2,102,890 2,001,744 2,501,948 1,665,1601,700,385
6 Georgia 1,995,254 2,069,392 2,438,730 2,206,2661,911,832
7 Ukraine 1,547,996 1,386,934 1,284,735 1,045,043706,551
8 Iraq 1,374,896 1,172,896 896,876 420,8311,094,144
9 Netherlands 1,117,290 1,013,642 799,006 906,3361,232,487
10 Azerbaijan 901,723 858,506 765,514 606,223602,488
11 Poland 880,839 646,365 296,120 205,701550,779
12 France 875,957 731,379 578,524 555,151847,259
13 Greece 836,882 686,891 623,705 593,150755,414
14 Romania 763,320 641,484 423,868 357,473441,097
15 United States 578,074 448,327 329,257 459,493798,787
16 Israel 569,368 443,732 380,415 293,988224,568
17 Saudi Arabia 564,816 747,233 651,170 530,410450,674
18 Belgium 557,435 511,559 419,998 413,614617,406
19 Jordan 474,874 406,469 277,729 203,179162,866
20 Kazakhstan 455,724 426,916 402,830 240,188423,744
21 Sweden 444,285 384,397 289,134 320,580624,649
22 China 426,344 394,109 247,277 167,570313,704
23 Austria 401,475 353,628 287,746 310,946486,044
24 Italy 377,011 284,195 205,788 213,227507,897
25 Lebanon 376,721 338,837 237,476 191,642197,552
26 Kuwait 374,191 298,620 255,644 179,938174,486
27 Denmark 335,877 326,278 269,026 329,618408,841
28 Czech Republic 311,359 228,251 126,567 87,328212,464
29  Switzerland 311,107 269,649 206,479 215,194380,338
30 Turkmenistan 297,706 252,911 230,881 165,762174,330
31 Algeria 295,512 288,207 213,333 176,233171,873
32 Serbia 282,347 225,312 146,852 110,594178,997
33 Cyprus 268,341 266,859 256,059 233,181246,245
34 Libya 259,243 188,312 99,395 72,014234,762
35 Belarus 258,419 245,254 229,229 113,793204,355
36 Spain 257,342 178,018 106,757 106,582236,063
37 Uzbekistan 252,138 241,235 195,745 134,330143,331
38 Morocco 234,264 176,538 114,155 87,660109,775
39 India 230,131 147,127 86,996 79,316131,869
40 Lithuania 229,704 199,371 134,264 109,749112,654
Total 51,747,198 46,112,592 37,969,824 30,906,68041,114,069

Turkey issued 16,199,968 electronic visas between April 2013 and January 1, 2017. Acceptance rate was 87.79% as 18,452,733 applications were filed in this period. Most visas were issued to nationals of the United Kingdom (4.6 million), Iraq (2 million) and the Netherlands (1.8 million).[29]

See also

References
  1. "Country information (visa section)". Timatic. International Air Transport Association (IATA) through Olympic Air. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. "From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. "Passport Validity Requirements While Entering Turkey in Accordance with Law on Foreigners and International Protection". Turkish MFA.
  5. "Countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Turkey with their national ID's / Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Mfa.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  6. "Türkiye'den 11 ülkeye vize muafiyeti". NTV. 2020-03-02.
  7. "Turkey grants visa exemptions to 4 more EU nations, plus Norway". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  8. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2021/01/20210130-1.pdf
  9. "Turkey Azerbaijan agree on Mutual visa exemption". Anadolu Agency. 2020-06-03.
  10. "Cumhuriyet haber verir... Son dakika haberler ve doğru haberin sitesi". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  11. "From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  12. "Türkiye'den 6 Avrupa ülkesine vize muafiyeti". NTV. 2020-02-20.
  13. "Turkey Introduces Visa Regime for Russian Journalists". themoscowtimes.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. "Türki̇ye, Hi̇zmet Pasaportu Hami̇li̇ Rusya... – T.C. Moskova Büyükelçiliği-Посольство Турции Москва-Turkish Embassy Moscow". Facebook. 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  15. "200305-6.pdf" (PDF). 2020.
  16. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2020/11/20201125M2-4.pdf
  17. "Turkey in Ethiopia on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  18. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Laos, 7–8 November 2018
  19. [http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/08/c_138043756.htm Zambia, Turkey waive visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders]
  20. "Electronic Visa Application System". Electronic Visa Application System. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  21. "Vize Harc Miktarlari En.pdf" (PDF).
  22. Must be below 18 or over 35 years old.holding valid visa or residence permit issued by Schengen area countries, Ireland or the United Kingdom
  23. "Electronic Visa Application System". Electronic Visa Application System. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  24. Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Turkey. "Number of Arriving-Departing Foreigners and Citizens, December 2016". Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  25. NUMBER OF ARRIVING-DEPARTING VISITORS, FOREIGNERS AND CITIZENS December 2017
  26. "DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS - TOP 5 COUNTRIES (2016-2018) JANUARY-DECEMBER".
  27. "Tourism Receipts-Expenditures (2003-2019)".
  28. https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-249306/2019.html
  29. "Turkey issued over 16 million online visas since 2013". dailysabah.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
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