Revised November, 2024 – Resource, Directorate General of Migration Management Turkey
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TURKISH VISA REGIME GENERAL INFORMATION FOR FOREIGNERS
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An overview of the new Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458 (LFIP) was adopted in April 2013 by Turkish Grand National Assembly.
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This reflected the desire to bring Turkish legislation into accordance with EU standards
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The preparation of the new law has required codification of most of the national laws on foreigners and the legal regulations on asylum and migration. The LFIP regulates basic subjects concerning aliens’ status in Turkey, excepting the work permits and the acquisition of immovable property.
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Additionally, it constitutes the first domestic law governing practices of asylum in Turkey. Until the adoption of the LFIP, asylum had been regulated by secondary legislation, namely 1994 Regulation on Asylum and administrative circulars. The status of stateless persons is regulated firstly by law in the domestic system.
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The provisions of the new law generally reflect the impact of EU law
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It may be said that the principles of international law and Human rights have also been taken into consideration, as the Articles affecting the entry, residence and deportation of foreigners, constitutes a manifestation of the principle of nonrefoulement.
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THE ENTRY OF FOREIGN PERSONS INTO TURKEY
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The entry of foreign persons to Turkey is regulated by the Articles in section 1 of the LFIP. The requirements and other regulations regarding this issue may be briefly classified in five groups:
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- Formal requirements concerning the entry of foreigners
. - The category of foreigners who shall not be permitted entry into Turkey
. - The ban on entry
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- Competence of the Council of Ministers
. - Procedural guarantees
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FORMAL REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING THE ENTRY OF FOREIGNERS TO TURKEY
The formal requirements contain the obligation of entry and exit through border gates with valid passport or passport substitute documents (Art. 5) and the obligation to obtain a visa (Art. 11). A last requirement about the absence of prohibition of entry may be considered in the framework of formal requirements. The importance and the composite content of the relevant regulation makes it necessary, however, to review this issue separately. In the main, the Law on Passports (Art. 5) implies the same obligations, but the new regulation about visas involves some important changes. Nevertheless, the provision of the old law (Art. 8) enumerating the category of foreign persons “whose entry into Turkey is forbidden” has been replaced by the provision which indicates the category of foreign persons “who shall not be permitted entry into Turkey” (Art. 7). The substance of the new provision also differs from the regulation in the Law on Passports.
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The obligation to obtain a visa may be roughly characterized as a part of the formal requirements, and some grounds as to the refusal of visas (Art. 15) are rather substantial in nature.
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Under the new law, foreigners intending to stay in Turkey for a period of 90 days or less shall arrive in Turkey after obtaining a visa indicating the purpose of the visit. The visa is issued by Turkish consulates in the country of nationality or residence of the interested person. The duration of stay provided by the visa or visa exemption shall not exceed 90 days within 180 successive days. Visas shall be issued exceptionally by governorates that are responsible for border gates. Foreigners for whom a visa is deemed necessary in view of Turkey’s national interest may obtain visas from Turkish embassies.
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In that case the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to be notified of all visas issued in accordance with the general procedures for issuing visas (Art. 11). The visa exemptions are included in Article 12.
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The regulation about the refusal of visas is a novelty; the Law on Passports contains no similar provision. Some of the grounds regarding refusal of visa concern formal requirements. Firstly, foreigners who do not possess a passport or substitute document with a sufficient validity period and foreigners who are prohibited entry into Turkey cannot obtain visa in terms of Article 15, (1) (a),
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(b). Other cases which justify refusal of a visa are mostly of a substantial nature.
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The cases enumerated in Article 15, from paragraph (1)(c) to (1)(ğ) are: undesirability on grounds of public order or public security, carrying a disease identified as a threat to public health, being suspected or convicted of a crime or crimes that are subject to extradition under agreements or treaties to which Turkey is party, not being covered by valid medical insurance covering the intended duration of stay, being unable to provide justification for the purpose of the entry into, transit through, or stay in Turkey, not possessing sufficient and regular means of subsistence during the intended stay in Turkey, and, finally, refusing paying of fines deriving from legal regulations mentioned by Article 15(1)(ğ).
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While most of these situations can be clearly and straightforwardly established, some are also open to question.
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For instance, Article 15(1)(c) indicating that visas shall be refused to foreigners who are “found undesirable on grounds of public order or public security” attributes remarkable powers of discretion to the competent authorities and is consequently susceptible to arbitrary treatments. The impreciseness and ambiguity of Article 15(1)(c) renders the importance of judicial review more ‘appreciable’. The identification of disease as a threat to public health is similarly debatable and susceptible to controversy, and the notion of public health needs further precision. Finally, whether an individual is suspected or convicted of a crime is to be evaluated in accordance with the rules of Turkish Criminal Law.
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On the other hand new law Article 16, Foreigners and International Protection 6458 provides cancellation of a Visa in following cases
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If identified as having been subject to erasure, scraping or other alteration, if the foreigner is prohibited from entering Turkey, if there is strong suspicion that the foreigner might commit a crime, if the passport or substitute document is fraudulent or expired, if the visa and visa exemption is used for purposes other than those for which it was granted, or if it becomes evident that the conditions and documents on which the decision to issue the visa was based are no longer valid. Additionally, in case where deportation of the foreigner is ordered within the validity of visa, the visa shall be canceled.
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Most of the grounds for the cancellation of visas are interesting formal requirements and consequently they may be considered reasonable
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Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the reference to the prohibition of entry stated in Article 16 and also in Article 15 should be interpreted as a reference to Article 7 that indicates the category of foreigners who shall not be permitted entry into Turkey or as a reference to Article 9 that regulates the ban on entry. It is probable that the reference is made to the ban on entry, as the relevant provision mentions “the foreigner who is prohibited from entering into Turkey”, not “the foreigner who shall not be permitted entry into Turkey”. Finally, the expression “strong suspicion that the foreigner might commit a crime” is debatable as it may form a basis for arbitrary practices in future.
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CATEGORY OF FOREIGNERS WHO SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED ENTRY TO TURKEY
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Article 7 of the LFIP includes the cases in which foreigners shall not be permitted entry into Turkey. These cases are: absence/fraudulence of the passport or substitute document, visa, residence or work permit, fraudulent acquisition of these permits; absence of a passport or substitute document which is valid for at least sixty days as of expiry of the associated visa, visa exemption, or residence permit; falling under the scope of the foreigners listed under Article 15(1) regulating the refusal of visa, regardless of the existence/ nonexistence of visa exemption. Besides the formal requirements for a passport, visa or residence permit, the relevant provision makes reference to cases that justify refusal of a visa. The evaluations regarding Article 15 shall also apply in the matter of prohibition of entry into Turkey.
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Under the old relevant provision (Law on Passports, Art. 8), the category of foreigners denied entry into Turkey includes tramps and beggars, insane persons or those suffering from contagious diseases, persons accused or condemned of one of the crimes subject to extradition under international treaties to which Turkey is party, persons who had been deported from Turkey and still had no right of entry, persons who were “perceived” to have come to Turkey for the purpose of destroying security and public order or assisting persons who intended do so, prostitutes and persons who incited women to prostitution, or were involved in “white women trading”, and all types of smuggler, persons who could not prove they had enough money to live in or depart from Turkey or could not prove that they would not engage in employment prohibited to foreigners. Some archaic notions are included in this provision, including “tramp”, “beggar”, and “white women trading”, The expression “persons perceived to have come to Turkey with the purpose of …” was open to arbitrary and abusive interpretations.
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In comparison to Article 8 of the Law on Passports, the list of foreign persons who shall not be permitted entry into Turkey in the new regulation reflects a ‘more contemporary vision’, in which non fulfillment of formal requirements is considered legitimate ground for prohibition of entry. Nevertheless, Article 7 of the LFIP should be examined together with Article 15 regulating the refusal of visa and containing many grounds of substantial nature. The imprecise notions of “public order and public security” have been used here in order to legitimate the prohibition of entry of foreigners. Similar hesitations about interpretation in respect of the refusal of visas on the same grounds should also be considered concerning Article 7.
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BAN ON ENTRY TO TURKEY
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The new law states that the Directorate General of Migration Management (under the Ministry of Interior) “may” issue a ban on entry against foreigners whose entry into Turkey is found objectionable on grounds of public order or security or public health (Art. 9, par. 1). Foreigners who are deported from Turkey “shall” be issued a ban on entry into Turkey by the Directorate General or governorates (Art. 9, par.2). This may be considered a novelty as there seems to be no similar provision in the old legislation. Such references to public order, public security and public health could excite the same doubts and criticisms mentioned above. Nevertheless, as will be seen below, some procedural guarantees have been recognized by Article 10.
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COMPETENCE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS IN TURKEY
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Certain parallels can be observed between the old and new legislation in respect of the competence of the Council of Ministers relating to entry of foreigners into Turkey. Without going into detail, it should be mentioned that the competences according to the new law are composed of exemptions and facilities concerning the visa obligation, restrictive measures to be applied in cases of war or other extraordinary circumstances with regard to foreigners’ passports, and powers to apply restrictions or exemptions to a region or whole territory of the country, and generally any restrictive measures with regard to the entry of foreigners into Turkey (Art. 18). The old Law on Passports provides for retaliatory measures against nationals of states forbidding or restricting the entry of Turkish citizens (Art. 9), introduced facilities in the matter of visas and passports (Art. 10), and permitted exceptional measures in war and other exceptional circumstances (Art. 11).
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PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES
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The notions of public order, public security, and public health are frequently used in the LFIP in order to create bases for ‘barriers’ to entry into Turkey. The granting of procedural guarantees by Article 10 of the new law may be appreciated and considered as having a somewhat balancing effect with regard to the provisions that prioritize public order/ security concerns. By virtue of Article 10, notification regarding the ban on entry against foreigners who come under the scope of Article 9(1) is to be given by the competent authority at the border gates when they arrive to enter into Turkey, and by governorates to foreigners who come under the scope of Article 9(2). The notification shall include the way in which foreigners can ‘effectively’ use their right of appeal against the decision as well as information on their other rights and obligations.
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On the other side, the non-enforcement principle constitutes an important guarantee in the issue of entry as well as in the matter of deportation. Finally, Article 8 emphasizes that non fulfillment of requirements stipulated in Articles 5, 6 and 7 (as to entry into and exit from Turkey through border gates with valid passports, to document checks and to not fall under the scope of the category of foreigners who are not permitted entry into Turkey) shall not be interpreted or implemented in a way to prevent the application of international protection. It can be said, therefore, that the regime of international protection is according an ‘extra’ favor to foreigners in the field of entry into Turkey.
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