Residence Permit Law · Turkey

Residence Permit in Turkey

Short-term, family and long-term residence permit files prepared, filed and tracked.

A residence permit in Turkey is what stands between you and an overstay fine, a deportation file, or an entry ban. Once your visa or visa-free stay ends, every extra day is counted at passport control.

Talk to a Residence Permit Lawyer: +90 530 936 94 64 Book a Legal Consultation

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You attend one appointment, we do the rest

We file through e-Ikamet, assemble the document bundle, brief you for the biometric appointment and deal with the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management afterwards.

Refusals answered inside the 60-day window

We read the decision, decide between refiling and suing, and file at the administrative court before the deadline closes.

How Can a Foreigner Get a Residence Permit in Turkey?

Quick answer

Yes. Foreigners staying in Turkey beyond ninety days or beyond their visa need a residence permit under Law No. 6458. You apply through e-Ikamet, then submit the file to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management. The law gives the authority ninety days to decide. Cost turns on nationality, permit length, and whether a refusal has to be challenged.

On This Page

02 Is This You? Six Residence Permit Situations → 03 What Turkish Law Says About Residence Permits → 04 How a Residence Permit Application Actually Runs → 05 What a Residence Permit in Turkey Costs → 06 Residence Permit Cases We Have Run → 07 Residence Permit Questions We Are Asked Most →

Is This You? Six Residence Permit Situations

Most People Arrive Here After Something Has Already Gone Wrong

Almost nobody plans an residence permit file. They come to it because a date moved, an estate agent gave confident advice that was wrong, or an envelope arrived from the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management. Law No. 6458 takes none of that into account: one clock, one route, and a late application counts as no application. The word you meet everywhere is ikamet, meaning residence. Ikamet izni is the permit; the card is an ikamet karti, carrying the foreigner identification number, the yabanci kimlik numarasi or YKN, that every Turkish bank and notary will later ask for. If your real problem is deportation, an entry ban or detention rather than a permit, start with our immigration lawyer in Antalya page.

What we do about it

We pick the Article 31 ground your documents actually support, not the one that sounds easiest.
We say before you pay any state fee whether the file will fail on its face.
We read the refusal in Turkish and say whether the answer is a corrected application or a court case.
We chase the file so nothing sits past the ninety-day limit in Article 22.

Who Comes to Us

"My visa runs out in three weeks and I have not started anything."
"I bought a flat and the agent said the title deed alone gives me residence."
"My application was refused and nobody will tell me which condition I failed."
"My permit expired eleven days ago while I was abroad."
"My wife is Turkish. I want a permit through her, not another rental contract."
"Seven years here on short-term permits. I want something that stops expiring."

What Turkish Law Says About Residence Permits

Every rule below sits in Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, in force since 11 April 2013. Each link opens the official text on mevzuat.gov.tr.

Article 19

When the Permit Becomes Compulsory

Article 19 makes a permit compulsory for any foreigner staying longer than the visa, the visa exemption, or ninety days, whichever ends first. There is no informal grace period: the day after your last lawful day, you are overstaying.

Read Article 19 on mevzuat.gov.tr

Article 21

The Ninety-Day Decision Limit

Article 21 gives the administration ninety days from the application date to conclude the file. That is a legal ceiling, not an average. If yours has been open far longer with no reasoned answer, the silence itself becomes an argument in court.

Read Article 21 on mevzuat.gov.tr

Articles 31, 32 and 33

Short-Term Permits and What Qualifies You

Article 31 lists the grounds: owning immovable property, tourism, commercial connections, medical treatment, learning Turkish, scientific research. Article 32 adds the conditions such as proof of that ground, an address in Turkey, accommodation meeting health and safety standards, and a criminal record certificate if asked.

Read Articles 31 to 33 on mevzuat.gov.tr

Articles 34 and 35

Family Permits Through a Spouse or Parent

Article 34 covers the foreign spouse, minor children and dependent children of a Turkish citizen or a permit holder. Article 35 sets the sponsor's conditions: income of at least the minimum wage, and no less than one third of it per household member, insurance covering everyone, a clean criminal record and suitable accommodation. A foreign sponsor also needs one year of prior residence; a Turkish spouse does not.

Read Articles 34 and 35 on mevzuat.gov.tr

Articles 42 and 43

The Eight-Year Route to an Indefinite Permit

Article 42 allows an indefinite long-term permit after eight years of lawful, uninterrupted residence. Article 43 adds the conditions: no social assistance in the last three years, sufficient and regular income, valid health insurance, and no public order objection. Humanitarian permit holders and people under temporary or subsidiary protection are excluded from this route.

Read Articles 42 and 43 on mevzuat.gov.tr

Article 25 and Law No. 2577

What Happens After a Refusal

Article 25 obliges the governorate to notify a refusal, cancellation or non-extension in writing, with reasons and with the route of challenge. From the day that notice reaches you, Article 7 of Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577 gives you sixty days to bring an annulment action. Miss them and the refusal becomes final.

Read Law No. 2577 on mevzuat.gov.tr

How a Residence Permit Application Actually Runs

Two routes: the standard application, and what we do when a decision has already gone against you.

New application or extension

Filing the Residence Permit Application

Status check

We read your passport stamps and current status first. That decides which Article 31 ground is open to you, and whether you can file without leaving Turkey.

Documents and translation

Passport, biometric photographs, health insurance, proof of the ground, registered address. Foreign documents need an apostille and a notarised sworn Turkish translation. Files stall here more than anywhere: the apostille is issued abroad and nobody in Turkey can speed it up.

e-Ikamet filing and the biometric appointment

We complete the e-Ikamet application online and book the appointment it generates. From the filing date the ninety-day limit in Article 22 runs. You attend that appointment in person, hand the original documents to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management and give your fingerprints. It is the one step nobody can take for you.

Decision and card delivery

On approval, PTT delivers the residence permit card to the address on the file. If it is a refusal, the sixty-day court clock starts the day the notice reaches you.

A decision has already gone against you

When the File Has Already Been Refused

Translate the reasoned decision

Article 25 requires reasons in writing. Those reasons name the condition the administration says was unmet, and that line decides everything that follows.

Refile or litigate

If the defect is curable, a corrected application is faster than court. If the refusal rests on a restriction code or a discretionary security assessment, only the court can undo it.

Annulment action and stay of execution

We file at the administrative court and, in the same petition, request a stay of execution under Article 27 of Law No. 2577, so the refusal does not bite meanwhile.

What the court can order

The administrative court does not issue the permit itself. If it annuls the refusal, the file returns to the administration to be decided again, this time without the reason the court struck down.

What a Residence Permit in Turkey Costs

No attorney fee figure appears below, because it depends on the file. The official 2026 costs do appear, and you pay those whoever represents you.

Official costs paid to the state

Residence card fee

TRY 964 in 2026, identical for every nationality, revalued each January.

Residence permit fee

Tiered by nationality. US, UK, German, French, Canadian and Australian passports pay USD 25 for the first month, then USD 5 a month. Ten nationalities are exempt and pay only the card fee.

Single-entry visa fee

TRY 9,376.40, charged once on a first application if you entered Turkey visa-free.

Insurance, notary, translation

Health insurance runs roughly TRY 1,000 to 7,000 a year, sworn translation TRY 600 to 1,000 a page, notarisation TRY 1,500 to 6,000 a document.

If the file goes to court

Application and judgment fees

Set under Tariff 3 of Fees Act No. 492, revalued every January.

Expense advance

Paid into the court account at filing, under the annual Expense Advance Tariff.

Stay of execution

No separate fee. Requested inside the same petition under Article 27 of Law No. 2577.

How our fee is structured

Applications and extensions

A fixed fee, agreed in writing before the file is opened.

Administrative court cases

A fixed fee per stage, at or above the Minimum Attorney Fee Tariff floor.

Percentage

Not used here. Article 164 of Attorneys' Act No. 1136 caps a share-of-outcome fee at 25 per cent of the value in dispute; a permit file has none.

What moves the total, in order of impact

1. An existing refusal

A court case runs alongside a fresh application. By far the largest multiplier.

2. Number of family members

Every spouse and child is a separate application with its own card fee and permit fee.

3. Where the documents come from

Apostille, sworn translation and notarisation costs rise with each foreign-issued document.

The Minimum Attorney Fee Tariff, issued by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and published in the Official Gazette, is a floor, not a guide price. Under Article 164 of Attorneys' Act No. 1136 a lawyer in Turkey cannot lawfully agree a fee below it.

Get the figure for your own passport

Turkey Residence Permit Fees and Cost Calculator

Pick your nationality and permit length. The calculator returns the permit fee for your fee group, the card fee and the visa fee if one applies.

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Residence Permit Cases We Have Run

Names and identifying details are removed. The obstacle, the route we took and the result are as they happened.

A Digital Nomad Visa Used to Unlock a Tourist Residence Permit

The client's ground for a short-term permit was thin standing alone, and tourism-based applications are the ones most often refused. We built the file around the digital nomad route so the stay had a documented basis, and the tourist residence permit was approved. The four steps are set out in our account of that case.

A Pakistani Family Given the Time to Finish a Citizenship Investment

A Pakistani client came with his family to buy property for Turkish citizenship by investment. Their visa did not run long enough to view properties, agree a purchase and complete the paperwork, and Article 31 has no category for a foreigner who is here to invest. We applied on the tourism ground and set out the family's real position in the file. The permit was granted, and it bought them the months they needed to choose the property and finish the citizenship application.

A British Retiree Settled in Antalya on a Property-Based Permit

A British client wanted to retire in Antalya. We ran the purchase first and checked the property against the permit conditions before he committed, because the wrong registration on a title deed will not support an application. We then applied for a short-term permit on the Article 31 ground of owning immovable property. He lives in Turkey now and plans to apply for a long-term permit once the eight years in Article 42 are complete.

I am very grateful for the outstanding legal support I received from Attorney Ahmet Kaymaz. From the very beginning, he was highly professional, attentive, and always kept me informed about every step of the process. He explained everything clearly, answered all my questions with great patience, and always responded quickly to my messages.

Solmaz J. Google review

From Our Legal Guides

Residence Permit Guides

Permit types

Every Type of Residence Permit in Turkey and Who Each One Is For

Compare the permit types

Rental route

Getting a Residence Permit in Turkey on a Notarised Rental Contract

See the rental route

Property route

Residence Permit by Property Purchase in Turkey

See what a title deed does not do

Long-term

Long-Term Residence Permit in Turkey After Eight Years of Lawful Stay

Check the eight-year conditions

Refusals

Four Legal Steps After a Residence Permit Application Is Rejected in Turkey

Read the steps after a refusal

Humanitarian

How a Humanitarian Residence Permit in Turkey Is Obtained

See who qualifies

Digital nomad

The Turkey Digital Nomad Visa and the Tourist Residence Permit

Read how the two connect

Antalya

Applying for a Residence Permit in Antalya, Step by Step

Open the Antalya guide

Residence Permit Questions We Are Asked Most

Short answers to what foreigners type into Google before they call us.

How much does a residence permit in Turkey cost?

There are four costs: the permit fee under Tariff 6 of Fees Act No. 492, which varies by nationality and permit length; a fixed card fee revalued each January; mandatory health insurance; and notary and sworn translation charges. Some nationalities are exempt from the permit fee by reciprocity.

How long does it take to get a residence permit in Turkey?

Article 21 of Law No. 6458 gives the administration ninety days from the application date to conclude the file. That is a maximum, not a promise. The part you control is preparation: apostilles are issued abroad and sworn translations must be notarised, so gathering documents usually takes longer than the decision.

What documents do I need for a residence permit in Turkey?

Passport with sufficient validity, biometric photographs, health insurance covering the whole permit period, proof of the ground you apply on, and your registered address in Turkey. Article 32 also lets the authority request a criminal record certificate. Every foreign document needs an apostille and a notarised sworn translation.

Can I get a residence permit in Turkey if I own property?

Owning immovable property is one of the grounds in Article 31, so yes, but the title deed alone is not enough. The property must be residential and registered in your name, and you must still meet the Article 32 conditions.

What happens if my residence permit application is rejected?

Under Article 25 the refusal must be notified in writing with its reasons. You then have sixty days from that notification to bring an annulment action before the administrative court, under Article 7 of Law No. 2577.

How do I renew my residence permit in Turkey?

Extension applications open sixty days before your card expires and must be filed before it expires, not after. You apply through e-Ikamet again and submit the file to the Provincial Directorate. Applying one day late turns an extension into a fresh application, and days after expiry count as overstay.

Do I need health insurance for a Turkish residence permit?

Yes. Either a private policy meeting the minimum cover prescribed for foreigners, or voluntary SGK insurance if you are eligible. The policy must cover the entire requested permit period, not just its start date. An expired or under-scoped policy is a common reason a file is refused.

documents and application materials for Residence Permit in Turkey

Talk to a Residence Permit Lawyer in Turkey

Bring your passport dates, any refusal letter you have received, and the documents you already hold. We will tell you which route Law No. 6458 gives you and what it will cost.

Talk to a Residence Permit Lawyer in Turkey: +90 530 936 94 64 Book a Legal Consultation