In the following section, we will introduce you with what to do and how to do in order to obtain a tourist visa to enter Turkey. This visa concerns the foreigners willing to come to Turkey for visiting the country for a brief trip in the frame of vacations.
Visa Exemptions
The application process for this visa varies greatly according to your country of origin. Thus, if your nationality is from one of the country listed hereinafter, you then benefit from the considerable advantage of not having to worry about anything regarding the visa process. Indeed, up to a duration of stay of 3 months, the citizens from the following countries do not require any visa and can simply pass the Turkish border by showing their national ID's:
- Germany
- Belgium
- France
- Greece
- The Netherlands
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Portugal
- Georgia
- Italy
Electronic Visa (e-Visa)
On April 17th 2013 was launched the Electronic Visa Application System by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
This online application for a tourist visa is simplifying the process and is mostly offering a much better flexibility since it is now possible to get an e-Visa from anywhere as long as you can reach some internet connection. The application process is taking no longer than 5 minutes and consist of filling the necessary information about your identity, passport, travel dates and pay visa fee online.
Also, even though it is possible for some countries' citizens to pay the fee regarding their tourist visa upon their arrival at one of the Turkish airports, the fee that you will have to pay online is lower than the one awaiting for you at the Turkish border.
Note: This e-Visa is only valid when the purpose of travel is tourism or business. If you are planning on traveling for other reasons, such as work or study, visas can be obtained at Turkish Embassies or Consulates of your country of origin.
WARNING : DO NOT EXCEED 90 DAYS OF DURATION OF STAY
As mentioned previously and according to the decision of the Council of Ministers, the foreigners visiting Turkey as tourists and having an exemption of visa or a sufficient duration of visa are allowed to stay in Turkey without residence permit for a maximum of 90 days in any 180 days period prior to their departure. In concrete terms, this means that as soon as you will enter in Turkey the first time, the calculation of the period 180 days will be launched simultaneously. During those 180 days, and if you are eligible to a visa exemption or a multiple entry tourist visa, it is up to you to use the 90 days as you please. These 90 days allowed to be spent within the country of Turkey can be spent either consecutively or separately.
We strongly advise you to make sure that you will not exceed a duration of stay of 90 days out of a 180 days period retrospectively to your reference point. In the event that you would overstay this period of 90 days understand that you would be violating the law no. 5683 stating that foreigner visitors are NOT permitted to exceed 90 days of stay without a residence permit. You would therefore find yourself in the very unpleasant situation of having to pay some punishment fees for every single days you overstayed in order to turn back to your home country at risk of being banned to re-enter Turkey for up to 5 years.