VISAS AND TRANSPORTATION

VISAS

If you would like to reside in Turkey longer than the normal period allowed to tourists, you will need a residence visa.

All documents for a residence visa must be submitted to the Turkish Consulate General at least eight weeks before the intended date of departure.

Please note that applications must be referred to the relevant Turkish authorities for their approval. Therefore, applicants are advised to contact the Consulate to find out the outcome in due course.

After obtaining the residence visa, you are required to register with the local police within a month following the arrival in Turkey in order to obtain a residence permit. If you wish to extend your permit for a further period, you should apply to the same police headquarters before the permit expires.

For visa application forms and more information please have a look at

www.turkishconsulate.org.uk

TRANSPORTATION OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD, CAR OR PET TO TURKEY

Household items can be brought to Turkey through a system called ‘’temporary import’’ provided that the validity of the residence permit is not less than one year. In this case, you pay a deposit and take it back when you return to your own country or submit a bank guarantee letter which should be obtained either from a Turkish bank or a well-known foreign bank ensuring that all customs duties will be paid if the goods are not taken out of Turkey at the end of the period of residency during the first five years. You do not need to extend the guarantee letter for the period starting from the completion of the first five years following the importation of goods.

A banderol fee is collected only once by Customs administration on behalf of TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) for colour televisions, black-white televisions, radio, video, television satellite receivers, combined devices to be brought from abroad for non-commercial importation purposes and all kinds of devices for receiving broadcasting signals. The amount of banderol fees are set by Council of Ministers Decree annually.

We do not advice you to bring your households to Turkey since you can find thousands of good choices ranging from local authentic ones to international style furniture and domestic appliances, produced at the highest standards and at very reasonable prices in Turkey.

You can bring your pets to Turkey as long as you carry the live animals’ health/vaccination certificates with you. Veterinary health certificate must be issued not more than 10 days before departure. However, there is a legal limitation on the number of pets to be brought to Turkey. A person can bring 1 cat or 1 dog etc. at most. If you like to bring more pets, then you are advised to have somebody to accompany you during your travel to Turkey.

If you visit Turkey on a tourist visa you can bring your car into Turkey and keep it up to six months in a period of 12 months. If you were to leave Turkey for some reason during your stay in Turkey you have to either take your car out of the Turkish Customs Territory or leave it at the nearest customs depot. If you choose the latter there is customs depot fee applicable.

In accordance with the Turkish Customs Regulations you con not bring your car into Turkey with a resident permit unless you have a work permit and a job in Turkey or you are retired person. If you are in employment, you need to submit a letter from your employer ensuring that all customs duties will be paid if the car is taken out of Turkey once your employment in Turkey terminates. You have to apply for a special plate for foreigners who work in Turkey.

If you are a retired person and have a resident permit, you are allowed to bring your car into Turkey and keep it as long as you live in Turkey. First, you should register your car to the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club and obtain a temporary entry carnet for foreigners from them. You should submit the following documents to the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club.

1.      Your passport

2.      Your resident permit

3.      Your official retirement documents (should be translated in Turkish)

4.      Your car’s registration documents

5.      Giving a guarantee, either a form of a letter from your bank or cash ensuring that all customs duties will be paid if the car is not taken out of Turkey once you leave Turkey

Once you have obtained your carnet you should go to the nearest customs office where your residency is and register with them.

For further information, you can contact either Undersecretariat of Customs in Turkey or the Office of the Financial Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in London through.