Visa warning

[Dancing Lucy]

We got back yesterday after a brill holiday only marred by passport control at Dalaman when we got there my daughter paid her £10 and me and hubby showed out passports and the guy said no pay as we had been there 13 June this year and visa lasted 3 months this has happened before so we didnt bother he stamped us in and went off to Icmeler. Yesterday we were going back through passport control my daughter and hubby got through and the lady wouldnt let me (even though me and George had same dates on our passports) she said I had overstayed by 1 day and got on the phone and told me to stand to 1 side which I did George then came back to see what was happening and he told her I had same date visa as him so she checked his again and pulled him back by then a guy came and took us away to an office leaving my daughter on her own not knowing what was going on we were told we had overstayed the visa I tried to explain that we had offered £10 on arrival and told no but they wouldnt have it and said it was 216 lira or £100 fine which we had to pay as I was worried about my daughter. He took our passports and copied them and then let us go through the control woman was very rude and stamped my passport and threw it back at me I have never encountered anything like this before and was very frightened I shouted the T Cook rep over and she just dismissed it. While my daughter was stood alone 2 police men came up and asked what she was doing she told them and next thing a alsation was brought up to her sniffing they told her that maybe her parents had been bad so please if you make several trips to Turkey in a year check that your visa does not run over 90 days not 3 months

[markbullock]

absolutely disgusting !!!!!!!!! what do holiday reps actually get paid for ?? can anyone enliten me please

[TonyBlueblood]

Just checked mine after reading the post and next Sunday when i return home will be the 82nd day so i guess i'll be alright

Do i still have to join the 1st queue though that you hand your £10 into???

[reesy1959]

Tony, you dont have to join the 1st queue as long as you have enough time left on your visa.

Lucy, That is really bad what they have done to you and your Husband. I remember once I would have had 1 day left, but rather than risk it if there were any delays etc, I paid the extra £10 for peace of mind.

[Dancing Lucy]

I knew we were near the end of visa so went up on arrival with £10 to pay just to make sure and I paid my daughters as she not been this year it was the guy behind the desk who wouldnt take my money said it was okay I told him we were staying 7 days and he waved me through we even had a 10 euro note for hubby (Irish passport). On the stamp on the visa it says 3 months not 90 days so as we arrived on 13 June and left 12 Sept I assumed it ok

[reesy1959]

I knew we were near the end of visa so went up on arrival with £10 to pay just to make sure and I paid my daughters as she not been this year it was the guy behind the desk who wouldnt take my money said it was okay I told him we were staying 7 days and he waved me through we even had a 10 euro note for hubby (Irish passport). On the stamp on the visa it says 3 months not 90 days so as we arrived on 13 June and left 12 Sept I assumed it ok

It makes you wonder if some of them are on a little scam, to get the extra money when you are returning. Terrible if this is the case.

[dksbbs]

I agree you were treated badly, they should have at least let your daughter stay with you.

We receive a lot of incorrect advice in various situations through life but unfortunatley it is your responsibility to ensure the information you are give is correct including that your visa is valid for the whole of the stay, Turkish passport control are getting tough now and I believe they can now bar you re-entering if you over stay too long or insist on you getting a visa before travelling (Expensive), in your case 1 day over should be no problem.

If you look back in the forum Redrhino had the same issue, everyone please be careful double check what you are told by officials who may not know what they are talking about.


Dave

[redrhino12]

This is the link to my post on the expired visa problem

http://www.icmeleronline.com/forum/view ... light=visa

Gene

[Dancing Lucy]

Thanks for link Gene I know what you felt being taken to office I felt like a criminal then the guy in the office couldnt speak english and our escort bloke was translating for us it was very frightening I kept trying to tell them that we had offered to pay but man on entry wouldnt take it and it does say 3 months on little sticker so just took his word for it, he was laughing with us saying there was a famous car named after me I said what O'Rourke and he said no Megane then I realised he meant the renault. I will certainly be very vigilant in future Megan

[ivano]

just checked visa for this year and it states 90days

[dksbbs]

Just checked my passport as well

Visa 01/08/08 valid 90 days
Visa 21/07/07 valid 90 days
Visa 06/07/06 valid 3 months
Visa 22/03/06 valid 3 months
Visa 20/09/05 valid 3 months

The style of stamp also changed on 2007 from a brown colour stamp to a yellow colour stamp.

I also have never had a visa officer look at previous stamps, I have passed over the passports they have just opened at an empty page and stuck the visa in, however I am not saying they didn't look at yours.

I have had the opposite at passport control where I have had to point out a valid visa to them in 2006 when I visited the country twice on business before going on holiday, in fact I flew home from Istanbul and five days later returned with the wife and family to Dalaman on holiday.


Dave

[jackie p]

just checked my passport havent been to turkey since 2005 2001 3months 2002 3months 2004 3months 2005 3months wonder what it will be this year. go on wednesday

[coolingblonde38]

I heard that they were going to try for amonth visa, not sure if this is true??

[blondie]

[quote="Donna"]wiping bottoms is NOT included in the service reps offer !
[quote]

Just as well, that part - it was conjuring up some mental images I'd really rather not have, Donna!

[shaz]

Sharon pulls donna by the leash .........Donna this is turkey we have the wheel for that so nobody has to do that for people

The visa stamp does state 90 days,on all visas now and yes if it is over by one day then you are fined, in most cases now they are even stating that if you leave after your visa has expired then you will be deported from Turkey and not allowed to re enter for a period of up to 6 months.

[Dancing Lucy]

Hi I didnt expect the rep to sort things out for me I know and fully understand that it is our responsibility to check visa, all I wanted rep to do was to get a message to our daughter that we were okay and waiting for our passports and a recipt being returned to us and she just wasnt interested

[markbullock]

yep youre right the sarcasm wasnt needed my point was that the t/c rep walked away and did not help and in my experience in going to icmeler for the last 10 years mainly with big holiday companies was that the reps do zilch ! and are in the main on holiday themselves ! i even noticed this year whilst listening in on the t/c rep at our apartments that he wasnt interested in anything other that trips etc etc i know this is not applied to everyone but i found the majority are like this ! but its only my opinion hence the reason i travel independently now and sort problems myself,i actually met donna this year recently and didnt come accross as a sarcastic lady quite the opposite really very nice i feel this post will get some backs up but rally the lady just needed a little help from someone x

[Erik The Viking]

yep youre right the sarcasm wasnt needed my point was that the t/c rep walked away and did not help and in my experience in going to icmeler for the last 10 years mainly with big holiday companies was that the reps do zilch ! and are in the main on holiday themselves ! i even noticed this year whilst listening in on the t/c rep at our apartments that he wasnt interested in anything other that trips etc etc i know this is not applied to everyone but i found the majority are like this ! but its only my opinion hence the reason i travel independently now and sort problems myself,i actually met donna this year recently and didnt come accross as a sarcastic lady quite the opposite really very nice i feel this post will get some backs up but rally the lady just needed a little help from someone x

Our TC rep this year was worse than useless, when we told her we had arranged our own transfer (ICR crazy driver express!) she just huffed turned her back and said good, you were the only ones for that hotel anyway. very rude and apart from shoving a handful of creased up leaflets under our door we didnt even know she was there

[markbullock]

yep youre right the sarcasm wasnt needed my point was that the t/c rep walked away and did not help and in my experience in going to icmeler for the last 10 years mainly with big holiday companies was that the reps do zilch ! and are in the main on holiday themselves ! i even noticed this year whilst listening in on the t/c rep at our apartments that he wasnt interested in anything other that trips etc etc i know this is not applied to everyone but i found the majority are like this ! but its only my opinion hence the reason i travel independently now and sort problems myself,i actually met donna this year recently and didnt come accross as a sarcastic lady quite the opposite really very nice i feel this post will get some backs up but rally the lady just needed a little help from someone x

Our TC rep this year was worse than useless, when we told her we had arranged our own transfer (ICR crazy driver express!) she just huffed turned her back and said good, you were the only ones for that hotel anyway. very rude and apart from shoving a handful of creased up leaflets under our door we didnt even know she was there

enough said

[flora79]

Ok, I think most of us agree that hol reps with large companies are not worth employing for the most part (although they are cheap). I myself haven't booked a package as such for many years preferring the put it together myself method using companies such as ICR.

However, I have a question related back to the visa problem.

I have also heard that as of October the visa will last only for one month.

Can anyone shed any light on this, as, as someone who travels back and for approx every 8 weeks, this could seriuosly affect my travels and my health!!!

Thanks

Laura