Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458 is the primary regulation for foreigners who want to stay in Turkey. Foreigners must have residence permit if they do not have a visa with valid term or complete the maxium residence period for their own country.

It is essential to know that which procedure and legal arrangaments will be applied to citizens of foreigner’s country, which type of residence permit is suitable for the foreigner, from where application will be made, which documents are required for the application.

There are six types of residence permits in accordance with the Law No. 6458 and in these types of residence permits first, extension or transfer applications should be made.

Foreigners must apply to the Turkish consulates in foreigners’ own country for getting a valid visa or could come to Turkey for maximum 90 days residence period. If the foreigner is not in own country, they could apply to consulates in the country where they stay and if the foreigner is in Turkey, the application will be made by e-Residence system or from the Migration Administration Offices.

For the first and transfer applications, application must be made via e-Residence system and foreigners be present at Migration Management on the appointment date with the required documents. Extension applications must be made within sixty days prior to the expiration of the residence permit. After applying via e-Residence system and preparing required documents, foreigners are also required to send those documents by post to the Migration Management within 5 working days.

A valid work permit, shall be considered as a residence permit. The holder is entitled to stay in Turkey without a residence permit within the period of the work permit.

After the application, foreigners could go out from Turkey for 15 days with the “Residence Permit Application Document”.

According to Law No. 6458, residence permit applications shall be finalized no later than ninety days by the administration and this period begin from the date on which information and documents have been completely submitted. A notification will be made to foreigner in case of an extension in this ninety days period.

For detailed information about residence permit and residence permit applications, you can contact with our experienced lawyers.