Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

A friend of mine who lives in turkey and is back home for a few weeks has just told me that she has heard they have or are very soon to change the way the visa works. It is now somehow worked so you cannot go over to Rhodes for a new visa you HAVE to fly home after the 90 days and come back. Apparently it's a new sticker they give you some people have been getting the new stickers whereas other have been getting the usual ones!!

This won't affect most people but I have paid for my apartment till end of season and that is way overr the 90 day mark and I will no way be able to afford to fly home and back out again

Pleaseeee somebody tell me it's not true, I go over in a few weeks!!!

I heard a similar rumour last year.

Dave

I have being doing a bit more internet searching, an expat living in Turkey’s son arrived in Turkey on the 11th June and was given a new style visa stamp at Dalaman, it says the following:-

180 gun icinde 90 gun gecerli muteaddit giris visesidir. Turkiye sinirlarindan ilk giriste sure baslar. calisma hakki vermez

multiple entry visa valid for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period 180 days. duration begins on the date of entry to turkey. holder has no right to work.

Now there is some confusion to what this exactly means and people have different thoughts.

1 - You can enter as many times over a 180 day period but you cannot stay in total for more that 90 days in that 180 day period. Great for holiday makers who go two or three times over the 6 month holiday season, bad for people who want to stay for more that 3 months.

2 – After you have stayed for the 90 days in total you cannot re-enter Turkey until the 180 day period has expired, this is to force ex-pats to purchase a residency visa which are very expensive rather than doing the Greek run to renew their Visa’s

3 – Some believes they have just run out of the correct stamps and are issuing another as a temporary measure.


So I don’t know whether what you heard is true or just a rumour / scare mongering, I think we will have to wait and see.

Just read on the Voices Newspaper that Residency Visa's have been increased by 50%in 2010 (£216/year), maybe they have seen a drop in residence visas and this is the way to stop people switching to doing Visa runs to the Greek Islands.

Still cant find anything official though about Visa changes for visitors.

Dave

Thanks for the info Dave! I did try doing an internet search but didn't really know what to search for. I was thinking they surely can't just change the rules mid-season!! And how could they stop people doing the rhodes trip, some people fly into greece then spend some time in turkey so they can't just stop selling the visas to come back!! If anyone finds any more info on this I would greatly appreciate it!

I've just got back from Dalyan and was given a visa with the new wording which Dave's kindly quoted above - must admit that it's got me confused too. Especially the wording about not having a right to work?!

It's not a problem for me as I only go for holidays, hope it doesn't affect those ex-pats living there without a residency visa though

...oh and hope you manage to get to the bottom of it Dannii without it affecting your plans

Dannii_89 wrote: I was thinking they surely can't just change the rules mid-season!!

Unfortunately all governments can make changes at any time, exactly the same as ours, this time next week I can see many changes being made after the budget. Take the last passport increase, due to the credit crisis they saw a drop in passport applications and hence less revenue so they increased the cost to us, at leaset they admitted to why there was an increase on this occassion.

Dave

£216 for a residency visa is far cheaper for me than trips to Rhodes.

You pay the money for trip, visa then spend a fortune in the shops

Ive just applıed for my resıdency - It was 850ısh lıra for a year

Just found this when searching on the net:

British passport holders can obtain a tourist visa either at the port of entry in Turkey for £10 or from the consulate general in the UK for £74. Single-entry (six months): £66. Single-entry (one year): £207. Multiple-entry (up to five years): £207. Single transit: £66. Study: £66 (six months) or £207 (one year). Work: £207 (one year, plus work permit document fee). These prices are provided by The Consulate General for the Republic of Turkey in London; prices may vary according to nationality.

So you can get a 6 month visa for £66 if you apply before you go?? I would much rather do this if it is possible than risk the Rhodes trip!

Could you not buy a new stamp after your 90 days is up?

smileycentral wrote:Could you not buy a new stamp after your 90 days is up?

No this new wording is saying once your 90 days is up you cannot enter turkey again for another 90 days! So even if you flew home you could not go back again for another 90 days!

Dannii_89 wrote:

smileycentral wrote:Could you not buy a new stamp after your 90 days is up?

No this new wording is saying once your 90 days is up you cannot enter turkey again for another 90 days! So even if you flew home you could not go back again for another 90 days!

I really can't see that being the case, that would stop people going 2 or 3 times in the summer, it would also hit their economy hard.

Davie

Neither of them make sense to me as the first meaning you mentioned:

1 - You can enter as many times over a 180 day period but you cannot stay in total for more that 90 days in that 180 day period. Great for holiday makers who go two or three times over the 6 month holiday season, bad for people who want to stay for more that 3 months.

You can't enter as many times as u like in 180 days because the actual visa only lasts 90! So you can enter as many times as you like in 90 days not 180!

2 – After you have stayed for the 90 days in total you cannot re-enter Turkey until the 180 day period has expired, this is to force ex-pats to purchase a residency visa which are very expensive rather than doing the Greek run to renew their Visa’s

As you say this is going to stop people from going on holiday 2/3 times a year which will hit tourism hard and lose turkey probably millions of pounds!!

There is nothing on the internet about this, I am going to phone the embassy tomorrow when it opens at 9am! The only way people are going to find out is when they come to fly home and they find themselves hit with a hefty fine and a ban from the country!!!

My reading of this is over a period of 180 days you can come and go for up a total of 90 days buying the appropriate amount of visas. What they are stopping is people going for 90 days then going to Rhodes and getting another visa, They are obviously classing that as not being on holiday so charging you as a resident.

I am still completely baffled haha to me In your explanation 180 days is irrelevant. You can come and go as many times as you like in 365 days as long as you buy the correct amount of visa's upon entry!

Is anyone else seeing this as I am??

Dannii_89 wrote:I am still completely baffled haha to me In your explanation 180 days is irrelevant. You can come and go as many times as you like in 365 days as long as you buy the correct amount of visa's upon entry!

Is anyone else seeing this as I am??

I was only trying to answer your post, Your the one that mentioned 180 days

Sorry if I sounded rude or abrupt. The 180 days bit is the only new addition to the wording on the visa and it's confusing a lot of people. It's frustrating me so much that I cannot find any info on the matter on the internet and I fly in a matter of weeks! I am going to phone the embassy tomorrow and hopefully they will know what's going on

Hi Danni

Don't take my word on this but someone on another site has rang the consulate and they have been told the new visa stamp is a mistake. I would ring yourself in the morning to double check.

I hope it's going to be OK and it is a mistake as i believe some travel reps travel to Rhodes to renew their visa.

Good luck

Alison