There are different ways to obtain Residence in Türkiye, among which one can mention obtaining a one-year tourist visa, obtaining a work permit, buying a property, renting a house, or obtaining a study visa. Unfortunately, the new Turkish residence permit law has made it harder for foreigners who seek to obtain a permit by renting a property. In this article, we are going to examine the various aspects of obtaining a residence and the conditions for obtaining a Turkish residence.
If you are thinking of living in Turkey, it is important to familiarize yourself with the Turkish residency rules before you leave. In recent years, Turkey has become a popular destination for foreigners. However, there are certain conditions and requirements that you must meet to minimize the chances of your residency application being rejected.
One of the ways to obtain permanent residence in Turkey is through the citizenship program, which is the easiest way to obtain a Turkish passport. By buying a property worth 400,000 dollars, you can apply for Turkish citizenship and become a citizen within 6 to 9 months.
What Is The Difference Between Turkish Residence And Turkish Citizenship?
To obtain Turkish citizenship, one must purchase a property worth $400,000 or invest $500,000 in a bank, stock market, or other financial institution for three years. On the other hand, it is possible to obtain a temporary or one-year residence in Turkey by purchasing a property worth $200,000 in large cities such as Izmir and Istanbul and $200,000 in smaller cities.
Therefore, the main difference between Turkish residency and citizenship is the amount of money you need to invest. If you want to become a citizen, you have to invest more money than when you want to get residency.
Obtaining A Residence Permit In Türkiye
What Is A Residence Permit?
A residence permit is a document that allows a foreigner to stay in Turkey for a specific period of time. Usually, foreigners can stay in Turkey for up to 90 days with or without a visa. If they want to stay for more than 90 days, they must apply for a residence permit through the e-ikamet system before their visa expires.
How To Apply For A Residence Permit?
To apply for a residence permit, foreign nationals must register their application through the e-ikamet system, depending on the type of residence they want. After registration, they receive a message for an interview at the immigration office in the city where they want to stay.
Important note: If the applicant does not appear in the interview without a valid reason, his application will be rejected. The same procedure applies to the extension of the residence permit.
What Happens After The Interview?
If the foreigner meets the residency requirements, they will be granted residency based on the type of application.
If you have any problems or questions about obtaining or extending Turkish residence, you can contact the Foreigners Communication Center (YIMER). If you are in Turkey, call 157 and if you are outside Turkey, call +90 90 312 157 11 22. They are available 24 hours a day and can answer your questions in Persian, English, German, Russian, Arabic and Turkish languages.
What Is Kimlik Or Residence Card?
Kymlik means identity in Turkish and is similar to national card in other countries. After the residence is confirmed, a residence card or Kimlik is issued and sent to the address of the applicant’s residence by mail.
Remember that a residence permit is a necessary ID and the Turkish police will check IDs in many shopping malls, neighborhoods and sometimes even at metro and metrobus stations.
Discover Different Types Of Accommodation In Türkiye!
Short-Term Stay Or Tourist Stay
Short-term residence is a type of residence that lasts between 1 and 5 years and is issued for various purposes.
Tourist residence is not related to short-term travel, but is issued for the purpose of performing tourist activities.
Those who take this residence have to spend money like tourists and are not allowed to work. A foreigner can stay in Turkey for up to 89 days without a visa. After this period, if they want to stay as a tourist, they have to buy or rent a house for one or two years. This is despite the fact that it is very difficult to obtain residence by renting a property and almost all applicants are rejected.
To Whom Is Short-Term Residence Issued?
Foreign nationals for scientific research purposes
People who own property in Turkey (residence by buying or renting property)
People who intend to start a business in Turkey (company registration)
People who intend to participate in an in-service training program
People who want to stay in Turkey for tourist purposes (tourist residence)
People who intend to participate in Turkish language courses.
The items mentioned above are only part of the short-term residence permit.
Company Registration In Türkiye
If you want to start a business in Turkey, you need to register a company. After doing this, all your family members can get residency.
Work And Get A Work Visa In Türkiye
One of the relatively difficult ways to obtain residency is to obtain a work visa, which depends on our skills. Knowing Turkish is important for working in Türkiye.
After that, having a strong resume and expertise in English can be effective in hiring. If our expertise matches the company’s needs, an interview will be scheduled.
To get a work visa, you must be a resident of Turkey.
Types Of Business Accommodation In Türkiye
Temporary Work Visa For One Year
This visa is issued for initial entry into the Turkish labor market.
Türkiye Permanent Work Visa
This visa is given to people who have 8 years of experience working and living in Turkey through a temporary work visa and are allowed to stay permanently.
Independent Work Visa
This visa is for those who have 5 years of experience working and living in the country and now want to set up a shop or workshop in their professional field.
Turquoise Card Work Visa (Turquoise Card)
This card is valid for the first three years and then it is issued permanently.
Special Temporary Work Visa
This visa is for artists, athletes and filmmakers who are required to be in Turkey for a certain period of time to do their work.
Family Residence Permit In Türkiye
What Is A Family Residence Permit?
A family residence permit is a type of permit that is issued to Turkish citizens who have a foreign spouse or child, or to people who have applied for a family residence permit for their parents. It is important to note that if a foreigner has two spouses, only one of them is allowed to stay. However, all their children will be eligible for family residency in Turkey.
Who Is Eligible For A Family Residence Permit?
Turkish citizens who have a foreign spouse or child, or people who have applied for a family residence permit for their family, are eligible to receive a family residence permit in Turkey.
How To Apply For A Family Residence Permit?
To apply for a family residence permit in Turkey, you must submit the following documents:
- Valid passport or travel document
- Completed application form
- Marriage certificate or birth certificate for children or parents
- Health insurance policy
- Proof of financial ability to support the family
After submitting all the required documents, your application will be reviewed by the Turkish authorities. If your application is approved, you will be issued a family residence permit.
Obtaining Turkish Residence Through Marriage
If you are a foreigner and you want to apply for Turkish residency and citizenship, you can only do so by marrying a Turkish citizen. However, it is important to note that initially you will only be granted a 3-year residence permit and not citizenship. After 3 years of living together, you can apply for citizenship.
It is also important to know that the authorities will check your marriage to make sure it is not a fake marriage.
Here are a few more things to keep in mind:
- The person applying for marriage must obtain a single certificate from the consulate of his country in Turkey.
- Boys and girls in Turkey must be 18 years old to get married without their parents’ consent.
- If the person you want to marry is a previously married woman, she must wait 300 days after the divorce before remarrying.
Turkish Residence By Birth
Turkey is one of the countries that follows the principle of blood, which means that if a foreigner gives birth in Turkey, the child is not automatically granted citizenship. Only if the child’s mother or father is a Turkish citizen, the child will be eligible for citizenship.
Obtaining Turkish Student Visa Residence
If you intend to study in Turkey, you can apply for a study visa. Foreign nationals who have been admitted to one of the institutions of higher education in associate, bachelor, master, doctorate, medical specialty training (TUS) or dental specialty training (DUS) are allowed to obtain a residence permit through education.
Long Term Stay
Foreign nationals who have resided in Turkey for 8 years without interruption and have extended their residence permit during this period can apply for permanent residence according to the specified conditions. Long-term residence permit is issued indefinitely.
Residence By Investment
One of the ways to obtain Turkish residence is investing in the stock market, buying stocks, making deposits in Turkish banks, or buying property worth $400,000 or more. Through this process, it is possible for investors to obtain Turkish citizenship and passport.
Residence Through The Purchase Of Property
One of the safe and logical ways to obtain residency is to buy a property in Turkey. Remember that this method is less expensive than obtaining Turkish citizenship. In big cities like Istanbul, Alanya and Izmir, you can get accommodation by buying property worth $75,000 or more, and in smaller cities you can get accommodation by buying property worth $50,000 or more.
Documents Required To Obtain Turkish Residence
If you want to apply for Turkish residence, you must have the following documents:
- Randevu form completed
- Passport
- Copy of your last entry stamp in Türkiye
- health insurance
- Tax Identification Number (Vergi Numarası)
- Payment of land fee and card issuance fee
- Copy of the property deed (tapu) and registration number from the district municipality
- 4 passport size photos (6×4)
- Completed financial form and proof of your bank balance in Turkey (depends on the agent)
Note that due to the recent strict rules of the Turkish Immigration Department, you may be asked for additional documents on the day of the interview.
Cost Of Stay In Türkiye
The cost of staying in Türkiye varies depending on the type of stay:
- One-year tourist stay: 3000 lira
- One-year student stay: 35,000 lira
- One-year work stay: 45,000 lira
- Extension of tourist accommodation: 2500 lira
All Turkish accommodation costs are calculated based on dollars, but at the time of payment, you will pay based on the exchange rate.
Health Insurance Cost
For business and student stays, health insurance is free and all medical costs are covered by the Turkish government.
If you extend your work stay for 5 years, you can apply for Turkish citizenship and become a Turkish citizen.
Health insurance coverage in tourist accommodation is about 10% of the costs and is not worth much.
Obtaining A Residence Permit In Türkiye: What You Need To Know!
What Is Rendevu?
If you are planning to immigrate to Turkey, you will hear the word randevu a lot. It means appointment. To apply for a residence permit in Turkey, you must first fill out the randevu form and request an appointment from the Turkish Immigration Office. One of the important points to keep in mind when applying for a residence permit is how to fill out the randevu form correctly. If you choose the wrong options or fill the form incorrectly, there is a high possibility that your application will be rejected.
Stay In Türkiye By Renting A House
Until last year, one of the easiest ways to obtain Turkish residence was to rent a house. If you have rented a house in one of the Turkish cities, you can easily get a residence permit.
Currently, with changes in the rules, the Turkish Immigration Department rejects more than 90% of requests for residence permits through renting a house from April this year. It can be said that the possibility of obtaining residence by renting a house has decreased to less than 10% in the current situation.
Limited Areas In Istanbul To Stay
Another thing you should keep in mind is that in some areas of Istanbul, which are known as forbidden areas, you will not be allowed to receive residency under any circumstances.
Fatih Area
According to the 2020 law, foreigners are not allowed to rent or buy property in this area, and they are not allowed to stay by renting or buying property.
Snivort Region
Due to the high density of construction projects and the acceptance of a large number of immigrants, as of 2020, residence permits will not be issued in this area by renting property, but buying a house in this area is not a problem.
Conclusion
In order to obtain Turkish residence, you must meet certain conditions. These conditions include having a valid passport, health insurance policy and proof of financial ability to cover the cost of living in Turkey.
To obtain a Turkish residence permit, you must go to the Turkish authorities. You must provide a copy of your passport, a health insurance policy and proof of your financial means to support yourself during your stay in Turkey. Depending on the type of residence permit you are applying for, you may also need to provide additional documents.
Before deciding to immigrate to Turkey, it is very important to research and understand all the rules and requirements for obtaining residency. If you have any questions or need help, you can contact Turkey House experts for free consultation.
