Unlock Phone in Turkey: Registration Fee & Rules (2025)

When you arrive in Turkey, you can use your phone for up to 120 days without issues. This can be done through international roaming or by purchasing a Turkish SIM card. However, once those 120 days are up, you’ll need to register your device and pay a fee, or else your phone will be blocked from Turkish mobile networks.

If you plan to return to Turkey within a year, you don’t need to worry. It will remain blocked only until the end of the year, after which it will be automatically unlocked. This means you can use it again during your next visit without having trouble.

Phone Registration in Turkey: Summary

Grace Period	You can use your phone without registration for up to 120 days.
Registration Fee	45 614 TL in 2025.
Required Documents	Phone, passport, residence permit, and Turkish lira for the fee.
Time for Registration	Up to four months
Returning to Turkey	Your phone will be automatically unlocked after a year, allowing reuse on subsequent visits.

Phone Registration Fee in Turkey in 2025 Is Insane

How to Avoid IMEI Registration Costs

The registration fee is quite steep, right? Here are two legal ways to bypass it:

Use a Cheap Turkish Smartphone: Buy an inexpensive phone (like one from Carrefour for about 3,000 TL) and use it as a hotspot for your main phone.

Rotate Multiple Phones: Bring two or more phones and switch them out when one gets blocked.

How to Keep Using Your Turkish SIM Without Block

Here’s a practical way to bypass the block on Turkish SIMs by using eSIMs.

What You Need:

• iPhone that supports eSIM
• Two eSIMs installed (buy cheap ones via apps like Airalo if needed)

Steps:

1. Insert your Turkish SIM card.
2. Go to Settings → Cellular, disable all SIMs.
3. Enable only the Turkish SIM.
4. Turn on the first eSIM and note its name.
5. Disable the Turkish SIM, then activate the second eSIM.
6. Try enabling the Turkish SIM again; if asked, replace the first eSIM.
7. Disable the second eSIM.
8. Turn on Airplane Mode, then turn it off.

How It Works:

In Turkey, blocks are on device IMEI slots, not SIMs. iPhones have two IMEI slots: IMEI1 for physical SIMs and IMEI2 for eSIMs. When two eSIMs are active, they occupy both slots. Replacing one eSIM forces the Turkish SIM to use the unblocked IMEI2 slot, allowing it to function normally.

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Full Instruction for Registration IMEI in Turkey

1. Enter *#06# on your phone, and a window with IMEI numbers will open. We are interested in the fields IMEI and IMEI2 (if any).
2. Copy the number here: website and click Sorgula. Check that the model information matches and is registered in the system. I recommend not closing this tab and copying the IMEI from here to avoid mistakes.

Here is an example with an already registered IMEI, your Durum field will most likely be different (not registered):

IMEI information

1. Open website. If you see the form below, you need to first log in with your YKN number and password (by clicking on the big button).

After logging in, you should see this form. It warns that:

1. The number can be registered within a year;
2. You can register only one number once every three days;
3. You cannot edit the IMEI after payment, and all errors are your responsibility.

1. After clicking Devam Et, you can see the form. In section 1, you can leave the selection if you are registering the phone for yourself, or choose another option with cocuk if it is for a child:

In section 2, copy / enter the IMEI, select Fiziksel Sim for regular SIM cards (usually IMEI) and Elektronik Sim for e-sim slots (usually IMEI2) under the code. The types of cards depend on the phone model: you may have 2 physical slots and no e-sim, or only one slot, etc. It looks something like this:

In section 3, provide information about your entry document – your passport. Choose Yabancı Pasaport, enter “Giriş Yapılan Belge No” – the passport number. Yurda Giriş Tarihi – the date of entry into the territory of the Turkish Republic. For example:

Click Devam Et to proceed to the next step.

1. I lost the screenshot, but there will be a choice of payment method: Ish, Garanti, and through the tax office. By default, nothing works except the tax office (maybe if you link a banking app or fill it out from the app, it will work). Choose the tax office and make the payment.
2. A form will open on the tax office website:

Typical form: YKN (number on the residence permit), Ad (name) Soyad (surname) – fill in capital letters, just in case.

In the Vergi/Tax Office field, I chose the nearest office on the map. I think the choice of tax office is not essential, but in case of problems, you will probably have to go there, so it’s better to play it safe, the amount is quite large after all.

You can’t check IMEI here, so be careful and double-check the code.

Check and click the green button (FATE is a translator’s quirk).

You will see an unusual payment form:

The tabs at the top are clickable. For banks of the Turkish Republic, use the default tab (Yurt…), for other banks switch to Yabanci. The second tab theoretically allows you to pay by bank transfer, but it didn’t work for me, probably you have to do some magic with the bank and e-devlet.

Note that additionally, the card data entry form is an on-screen keyboard with scrambled numbers, so do not try to enter the code on the computer keyboard. This is unusual, however, often done for security reasons. Moreover, you will be bombarded with messages, but it is simply a confirmation of payment.

You are continuing the transaction from your bank account. The total amount of the payment will be debited from your account on the date of today. Do you want to continue?

After you will be on the payment page in a new window. Also, allow pop-ups in your browser.

Usually, a bar “pop-up blocked” appears at the top of the browser. Click “allow always” and go through 3D secure if needed.

After payment – ode, you will see the form:

Download the document using the red button.

1. Go back to e-devlet and you should be given an 8-digit code for your application.

Enter “IMEI İşlemleri” in the search bar in e-devlet

Or follow the link

Enter the IMEI, passport and entry date again.

After that, the site should give you the number of your application.

It may take up to 24 hours from the time of payment to receive the application.

But the e-devlet website has another form for linking SIM and IMEI.

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