All information about touristic permit residence in Turkey 2022

Tourist residence is one of the most important issues that coming tourists ask about, especially those who want to spend more time than just the period of stay allowed in the passport, as Turkey became a favorite destination for many, whether they come for tourism and want to spend more time to explore Turkey and its investment opportunities, or those who are looking for a better life than they have in their countries and want to move here, some others come for studying or treatment, this is why Turkish government has enacted laws that define and regulate the residence of foreigners in the Turkish state.

According to Turkish law, there two types of residence in Turkey, the first is a short-term residence such as real estate residency, touristic, educational or investment residency, and the other is long-term such us refugees residency, in this article Ramzy Real Estate offers you all information about touristic residency in Turkey 2022, and what are the required documents from the foreigners to obtain it.

Definition of tourist residency

It is a card issued by the Ministry of the Interior to tourists, allowing its holders to stay in Turkey for the duration of its validity, and granted to foreigners wishing to stay in Turkey for a period longer than ninety days, and also allows its holders to enter Turkey without papers or other required procedures, such as visa, etc., to encourage foreigners to travel, invest and search for work opportunities legally, and without this permit card, the investor or tourist will have to issue a long-term residency or leave Turkey and comeback again.

But recently, some people come and move to turkey without any purpose, and the government noticed there are a huge increase of the number of applicants for tourist residency, as Turkey has become a destination for many to settle only, therefore, the Turkish government from time to time amends the conditions and procedures for obtaining tourist residency, especially since the number of foreign residents has reached 5 million, 506 thousand and 304 foreigners in Turkey, which is equivalent to 6.64% of Turkey's population, and then the government in February 2022 set new conditions for obtaining tourist residence, and there are three conditions that must be known before applying for residency:

1. The applicant must not have come to Turkey with a business visa.

2. It is not possible to apply if you exceed the legal period of your stay in Turkey.

3. The passport should be valid for 60 days longer than the validity period of the residence permit.

4. Residence permit applications must be submitted through the electronic residency system from inside Turkey, and applications for residence permits submitted from abroad are not accepted.

Amendments and conditions of tourist residence for 2022

There are new amendments that have been approved recently by the Department of Immigration and Foreigners Affairs, and there are some new conditions that must be taken into account when applying, whether in order to obtain permit residency for the first time or to renew permit residency, and these amendments had been applied starting from February 15, 2022 and all those wishing to obtain should follow the following terms:

1. rent contracts must be notarized by the owner of the property - or the person who has a legal agency on his behalf, and not notarized by the foreigner who wants to obtain a residence permit, and the owner should bring the documents of the property and it should include the information of the owner in the new contract form.

2. A copy of the rent contract notarized by a notary will be submitted by the foreigner during the residence application along with other documents.

3. Each person can host two persons maximum at the same registered address in to obtain residency, and if he is married, the husband and his wife can host two persons in their house for each.

4. All applicants should submit their papers at the Notary authorities in Istanbul in the Foreigners’ Department in Beyazit.

5. If you apply for a touristic residence permit in Istanbul and wish to leave the country before receiving the residence card, you must appoint a lawyer to receive the residence permit instead of you or first-degree relatives if you have.

6. If you are applying for a residence permit for first time, the applicant must be present by himself during the appointment. After that, the employee will give you a document that you can move until the touristic residence card will be issued. The residence is issued within a maximum of 30 days, and it may be issued after a few days, it will be sent to the applicant's address or can be received from the Post mail (PTT).

The required documents to obtain a touristic permit residence for first time are

1. A photo copy of the passport, translated and certified by the notary.

2. A photo copy of the passport of the last entry stamp to Turkey

3. Four biometric photographs with a white background.

4. Interview appointment form.

5. A rent contract certified by the Turkish Notre.

6. Health insurance for the duration of stay from one year to two years. Health insurance prices vary according to applicant age and the health insurance company.

7. Tax number from the Turkish Tax Authority.

8. A copy of the annual residency fee payment receipt.

9. Residence tax that should be paid at the Tax Department or through the official website of the Tax Department.

Notes you should know before applying for permit residency for first time

• You should apply to obtain permit residency before exceeding the legal period of your presence in the country, so it is preferable to start the procedures for obtaining it once you arrive to Turkey directly.
• You must be inside Turkey when you submitted your file.
• Immigration and Foreign Affairs Department will give the applicant a 30-day period as a chance to complete the required documents if there are uncompleted documents, and in case the applicant couldn’t complete it, his application will be rejected.
• It is possible for the employee to ask the applicant for a bank statement for the amount of six thousand dollars or their equivalent in Turkish lira
• Sometimes it may be required that the applicant should be inside Turkey during the processing of his file.
• The passport must be valid for more a year and 60 days in case of a one-year residency request.
• The residence validity date starts from the visa expiry date, or upon request it starts from the date of submission.
• In case of renewal, the validity date of the residence permit starts from the date of expiry of the previous permit.
• General of Migration Management does not allow dealing with any other person except the applicant himself, so you have to attend the appointment yourself.
• Personal photos must have been taken no more than 6 months ago from the date of submission.
• The residence permit is issued for a maximum period of one or two years, and only Northern Cyprus citizens are allowed to obtain a residence permit valid for 5 years.

Required documents to renew permit residency

Tourists who have previously obtained touristic residency permit often desire to renewing their residency; Because they know its importance, renewing a touristic residence permit is somehow much easier than issuing it for the first time.

But this year, the law put restricted terms on residents who had previously been issued a touristic residence permit, and the date of renewal of their residence came and they could not justify the purpose of their residence in Turkey to submit papers that prove that they have fixed and regular income that covers the resident’s expenses for a year in advance, and to submit Accommodation document with travel plan.

1. A photo copy of the passport, certified by a notary.

2. A photo copy of the old residence permit.

3. A photo copy of the passport for the last entry stamp to Turkey.

4. Four biometric personal photos with white background.

5. Appointment form.

6. Residence receipt fees.

7. A rent contract certified by the Noter. 

8- Health insurance for a period of residence from one year to two years.