Politics of Turkey
Constitution History Democracy Human rights LGBT rights Secularism
Legislature Grand National Assembly (Parliament) Speaker: Numan Kurtulmuş Leader of the main opposition Özgür Özel Political parties
Executive President (list) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz Cabinet (list) Current cabinet (67th) Ministries National Security Council Governors
Judiciary Constitutional Court President: Kadir Özkaya Court of Cassation President: Mehmet Akarca Court of Accounts President: Metin Yener Council of State President: Zeki Yiğit
Elections Electoral system Supreme Election Council Recent elections Parliamentary 2018 2023 next Presidential 2018 2023 2028 Local 2014 2019 2024 Referendum 2007 2010 2017 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Hakan Fidan (list) Diplomatic missions of Turkey Diplomatic missions in Turkey Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Membership of international organizations Turkey and the United Nations Permanent Representative European Union Accession relations Customs Union
See also History History of the Republic Armed Forces
Turkey portal Other countries

The visa policy of Turkey is the policy by which Turkish Government determines visa requirements for visitors to Turkey and those seeking to work, study or reside there.^[1]

Anyone who does not have right of abode in Turkey (Turkish citizens and Turkish Cypriot citizens) requires entry permission to enter Turkey. "Visa nationals" must always obtain entry clearance by obtaining a visa in advance of travelling to Turkey from Turkish diplomatic mission responsible for area of their residency,^[a] and "non-visa nationals" may travel as a visitor to Turkey for up to ninety days within any one-hundred-eighty-day period without a visa.^[2][3]

Document validity requirements

Turkey requires visitors from all jurisdictions holding ordinary passports to have their documents’ validity 60 days beyond maximum duration of stay. For example, British citizens holding ordinary passports are usually be granted with a 90-day stay (within any 180-day period) per visit. Thus their passports must be valid at least for 150 days at the time of arrival into the country.

Council of Europe treaties

Under the European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe, Turkey maintains special facilitations to citizens of some European countries.
Citizens of Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Northern Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine may use their ID cards in lieu of their passports to visit Turkey.
Citizens of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland may use a passport expired for less than five years, and citizens of Germany may use a passport or an ID card expired for less than one year when entering Turkey.^[4][5][6]
Document validity requirements do not apply to citizens of countries holding specified documents above. These requirements do not apply to citizens of Bulgaria as well; they are only required to present valid passport for duration of stay.^[7][8]
Even though the facilitations by Turkey mentioned above, these are not reciprocated by said European countries towards Turkish citizens except for Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Northern Cyprus, and Ukraine where Turkish citizens may visit with valid ID cards.

Comparison with the visa policy of the European Union

Even though being a candidate member of the EU, Turkish and EU visa policies differ towards each other and third countries.^[2] Turkey requires visas from citizens of Schengen Annex II countries and territories – Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, East Timor, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, and Tuvalu. However, citizens of most of these countries may apply for electronic visas.
On the other hand, Turkey grants visa-free access to citizens of Schengen Annex I countries and territories – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bahrain, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Tunisia, Uzbekistan as well as Northern Cyprus.^[b]
Turkey does not require visas from citizens of the EU and EFTA members except for the Republic of Cyprus, whose citizens are required visas due to the Cyprus issue however they can apply for electronic visas or may be exempted from visa requirement under certain circumstances.
On contrary to facilitations provided to the European Union and EFTA citizens, EU and EFTA members still require visas from Turkish citizens apart from the other candidate members’ citizens.

Citizens of the following countries and territories who hold ordinary passports 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 180 days, an identity card is accepted instead of a passport for citizens of some countries.^[2]

_{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 - Entry with an ID card instead of a passport is allowed for citizens of Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain.
2 - British citizens only.^[15]
3 - Excluding journalists that are on duty.^[17][18]}

Conditional visa free access

_{T - Only for touristic visits.
1 - Provided being under the age of 15 or above the age of 65.
2 - Provided residing in North Cyprus and directly arriving from Ercan International Airport; or seaports of Famagusta, Gemikonağı, or Kyrenia.^[1]
3 - Provided being under the age of 15 or above the age of 50.^[19]
4 - Provided being under the age of 16 or above the age of 45.}

• A visa exemption agreement for holders of ordinary passports was signed with the Maldives on 28 January 2022, but it has not yet entered into force^[24]

Cruise ship passengers

Passengers of cruise ships may be allowed to enter Turkey without a visa but with a visitor permit issued by officers of the docked port under authority of governor of respective city. Visitor permits shall be used to visit the port city only (and neighbouring cities depending on the permit) where the ship docked and the validity shall not be longer than seventy two hours.^[25]

Under reciprocal agreements, holders of diplomatic or service passports or laissez-passers issued by the following jurisdictions are allowed to enter and remain in Turkey for up to 90 days in 180 days, unless otherwise noted:

_{D - Diplomatic passports
S - Service passports
S* - For holders of service passports, 60 days within any 180-day period.
T - Only for touristic visits.
1 - Visa-exempt in general.
2 - 30 days within any 180-day period.
3 - 30 days per visit, 90 days within any 1-year period.
4 - British citizens only.}

UN laissez-passer holders who have blue UN travel documents shall be exempted from entry visa requirement for their official visits to Turkey for up to 90 days in 180 days if they can certify their official assignment. Otherwise, general visa provisions shall apply.

Red UN Travel Document holders, shall be exempted from entry visa and may stay in Turkey for 90 days within the preceding 180 days regardless of their purpose of visit.^[29][2]

Holders of passports from the following countries and territories can apply and obtain an electronic visa (eVisa) for a fee before arrival. The duration of stay for these nationalities is up to 90 days (or 30 days per applications) within 180 days.^[30][31]

_{1 - May only apply for a single entry e-Visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days per 180-day period.
2 - e-Visas shall be issued free of charge.}

In general, a passenger who transits through one single airport in Turkey while remaining airside in the international transit area less than one day will not require a visa (transit privilege). This only applies if the transfer is possible without leaving the international transit area, which depends on the connecting flight and airport layout.^[32]

However, on 15 April 2024, airport transit visa requirements were introduced. Citizens of the following 10 countries are required to hold an airport transit visa (ATV) when transiting through any airport in Turkey when they bound to Mexico, Panama, Colombia, or Venezuela. Airport transit visa may be applied and granted electronically.^[33]

Citizens of the following jurisdictions holding ordinary passports may apply electronic visa if they meet the conditions listed below. Citizens whose applications are approved shall be issued with electronic visas for single entry and for duration of stay up to 30 days. Visitors are not permitted to work and recourse to public funds.^[30][2]

_{1 - e-Visas are issued free of charge.}

Citizens of the following countries and territories are not eligible for any of the “Visa Free Access” or “Electronic Visa” schemes. Therefore they have to obtain the appropriate type of visa for their intended visits in advance at a Turkish diplomatic mission unless they qualify for any of the “Conditional Visa Free Access” or “Conditional Electronic Visa” schemes:^[2][1][35]

Turkey issued 16,199,968 electronic visas between April 2013 and January 1, 2017. The 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).^[36]

• 
  1943 Turkish visa issued to a representative of the Rescue Committee of the Jewish Agency holding British Mandatory Palestine passport in Jerusalem
• 
  1989 Turkish visa issued to an Israeli passport holder in Athens

• Visa requirements for Turkish citizens
• Visa policy of Northern Cyprus
• Visa policy of the Schengen Area

• Turkish E-Visa Government Official Website
• Turkish Sticker-type visa application
• Go Turkiye-Turkish Official Tourism Website