In this article, we will talk about residence permits in Turkey. In Turkey, Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı (Directorate General of Migration Management) deals with migration services and residence permits. Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı (Directorate General of Migration Management) is a Turkish government agency responsible for managing migration and dealing with residence permits in Turkey. As an expatriate, if you plan to stay in Turkey for more than 90 days, you will need to apply for a residence permit.
Different types of residence permits are available depending on the purpose of your stay, such as student residence permits, work residence permits, family residence permits, and long-term residence permits. Let’s take a closer look at each type of residence permit.
What are the different types of residence permits in Turkey?
Short-term KISA-DÖNEM
There are several types, the main ones being:
Tourist (type E)
- Can live in Turkey
- Can apply for a work permit
- Cannot work
One can obtain a Turkish residence permit by renting an apartment or if a Turkish citizen sponsors them. Additionally, the authorities issue the permit to the spouse of a Turkish citizen who is not currently employed.
- Usually given for a period of 6 months to 2 years
- Does not allow for citizenship, but after 8 years of continuous residency, one can apply for indefinite residency.
Residency permit based on property ownership (KISA-DÖNEM (type B))
- Can live in Turkey
- Can apply for a work permit
- Cannot work with it
To obtain a residency permit based on ownership, you need to own residential property in Turkey (not an office or land!). If several owners own the apartment, only one of them can obtain a residency permit based on ownership (except for spouses, but there is a caveat – very often the authorities grant one of the two a tourist/family permit).
The value of the property based on an expert appraisal should be at least 75000 USD for large provinces and at least 50000 USD for small ones. But opinions on this differ, as there is no law – there is a version that is not only based on appraisal, but also on the value in ownership.
- Usually issued for 1-2 years
- After 5 years of continuous residency based on property ownership, one can apply for citizenship on general grounds.
Other types of short-term residency permits
Family (Aile):
- Can live in Turkey
- Can apply for a work permit
- Cannot work with it
- Usually given for a period of 1-3 years
If your spouse is in Turkey based on a work permit or has a residency permit based on property ownership, you can obtain it by marrying a Turkish citizen.
Not available to parents and adult children.
- After 3 years of marriage to a Turkish citizen, one can apply for citizenship.
- If the spouse is not a Turkish citizen, after 5 years of residency permit it seems that one can apply for citizenship on general grounds. This needs to be checked. Or after three years of the spouse obtaining citizenship through marriage to a Turkish citizen.
Work permit:
This is not a residency permit, but I include it here as a type of document for legal residency.
- Can only be obtained through an employer
- Gives the right to work in Turkey
- Replaces another type of short-term residency permit
- Usually given for a period of 1-3 years
- After 5 years of continuous work permit, one can apply for citizenship on general grounds.
Student residency permit (Öğrenci):
This can be obtained based on studying at a Turkish university.
It is counted as 2 academic years = 1 regular year when applying for citizenship on general grounds.
- Issued for the duration of studies
One can apply for citizenship on general grounds after 5 years, but there is a work requirement – one year of work with a work permit is required.
Indefinite residency permit (Uzun dönem):
- Does not allow for work or voting rights
- Does not allow for citizenship
- Cannot leave Turkey for more than 6 months.
- Indefinite, but can be revoked.
This can be obtained after 8 continuous years on any type of residency permit.
The law is from 2014, so people are just starting to obtain it – there are still many questions about documents confirming remote income.