Visa policy of Turkey


The visa policy of Turkey deals with the requirements which a foreign national wishing to enter Turkey must meet to be permitted to travel to, enter and remain in the country.
Visitors to Turkey must obtain a visa from one of the Turkish diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the 78 visa-exempt countries and territories or one of the 42 countries and territories whose citizens are eligible to apply for an e-Visa online. Turkish visas are documents issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its subsequent diplomatic missions abroad with the stated goal of regulating and facilitating migratory flows.
Visitors of most nationalities must hold a passport valid for no less than 150 days from the date of arrival. The passport validity requirement does not apply to citizens of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland who can enter with a passport expired for less than five years, citizens of Germany who can enter with a passport or an ID card expired for less than one year, and citizens of Bulgaria who are only required to have a passport valid for their period of stay. An identity card is accepted in lieu of a passport for citizens of Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine. The validity period requirement also does not apply to nationals of countries whose identity cards are accepted.
Even though Turkey is a candidate country for the membership in the European Union, it has a more complex visa policy than the visa policy of the Schengen Area. Turkey requires visas from citizens of one EU member state, as well as Schengen Annex II countries and territories – Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vanuatu. On the other hand, Turkey grants visa-free access to citizens of other countries and territories – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Iran, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Qatar, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Turkish government announced that effective from 2 March 2020, visas are lifted for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom.

Visa policy map

As of right

Citizens of the following countries or territories have the right to enter, reside, study, and work indefinitely in Turkey without any immigration restrictions:

Visa-free

Citizens of the following countries and territories do not require a visa to visit Turkey for the durations described below for tourism or business purposes. For visits of up to 90 days within a 180-day period, an identity card is accepted in lieu of a passport for citizens of some countries.
Visa is also not required for holders of a "Laissez-Passer" issued by the United Nations.
The visa-free regime also applies to the citizens of the following countries under certain conditions:
Citizens of Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, Libya, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Yemen and for holders of diplomatic passports of Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, India, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Russia, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and United Kingdom – provided holding diplomatic, service and special passports for a maximum stay of 90 days within 180 days
Visa waiver agreements for diplomatic passports were signed with Laos in November 2018 and with Zambia in May 2019 and they are yet to come into force.

e-Visa

Holders of passports of the following 29 countries and territories can obtain e-Visas online for a fee prior to arrival. The duration of stay for most of these nationalities is 90 days within 180 days.
ID – May enter with an ID card for a stay of up to 90 days per 180-day period
1 – May only apply for a single entry e-visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days.
2 – Allowed to enter with an expired passport
3 – e-Visas are issued free of charge. Fees apply to Mexican citizens who obtain e-Visas on arrival.
4 – Not eligible for e-visas on arrival.
5 – May apply for a multiple entry e-visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days.

Conditional e-Visa

Citizens of these countries and territories are eligible to apply for a single entry e-Visa on which they can stay for up to 30 days only if meeting the conditions listed below:
1 – e-Visas are issued free of charge.
Conditions:
Citizens of may only obtain a visa on arrival for a stay of max 30 days if holding a valid visa or residence permit issued by Schengen area countries, Ireland or the United Kingdom.

Sticker visa required

Citizens of the following countries and territories must obtain a sticker-type visa in advance at one of the Turkish diplomatic missions:

Visitor statistics

Turkey issued 16,199,968 electronic visas between April 2013 and January 1, 2017. 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, Iraq and the Netherlands.