A Turkey visa is a legal authorization granted by the Turkey government for citizens of foreign nations to visit the country for tourism or business. It is the most important document for a traveler visiting the country.
Due to various inevitable reasons, the validity of the visa can expire when you are in the country or while you are planning the trip. To avoid overstaying and violating immigration laws, it is important to check the validity of the visa.
Breaking immigration rules can have severe consequences including hefty fines and permanent travel bans.
When Does A Turkey Visa Expire?
The overall validity of a Turkey visa is 180 days from the day you plan your trip. If you are not sure about the date of your trip, you can mention your intended date of arrival while filling in the application form.
Though a Turkey visa has a validity of six months, the total number of days you can actually stay in the country is 90 days. This is because Turkey allows multiple entries for foreign travelers. You can stay in the country either 90 days consecutively or for shorter periods that do not exceed three months.
Your Turkish visa is deemed expired if it has passed 180 days from the date of issuance or you have crossed 90 days of stay in the country.
There are other circumstances in which your Turkey visa can expire – when your passport validity expires, your travel plan changes or if you want to extend your stay in the country to pursue education or a career.
The Turkish government can revoke the visa of foreign nationals who it suspects to have committed serious crimes. However, this is extremely rare.
What to Do If Your Visa Expires?
If you want to extend your visa while in Turkey, you need to approach the nearest police station or immigration office.
Officers there will assess your reasons for the extended stay.
If you want to change your purpose of the stay and wish to apply for a student or work permit, you have to inform the officers while submitting your application for the visa extension.
Based on their evaluation, the officers will prepare a report.
Your visa validity will be extended based on this report, your nationality and the purpose of your initial visit.
It is to be noted that you cannot apply for the visa extension online while in the country and you have to be physically present in the police station or immigration office while submitting your application.
If you have a history of overstaying your visa validity in other countries, it is highly possible that your request will be denied.
If you have already overstayed the permitted time by the Turkey government, it is advised to leave the country before applying for an extension.
Renewing a visa while staying in the country with an expired visa is not possible. You can apply for visa extension only if you have not overstayed the 90-day limit and your visa’s 180-day validity is yet to expire. However, it is an extremely tedious process.
If you have overstayed a longer time period, there will be serious consequences like penalties and deportation. It is encouraged to make plans keeping in mind the permitted days of stay in the country.
How Long Will It Take to Renew the Turkey Visa?
The Turkish government allows the renewal of visas in extremely rare circumstances. If you have not exceeded the 180-day validity period, you will be asked to leave Turkey and stay in another country for a period of three months.
You will be allowed to re-enter after making a written pledge that you will apply for a short-term resident permit within 10 days of your arrival. This is a conditional entry and if you fail to fulfil the condition, there will be severe consequences.
In most cases, you will be asked to pay a fine and if you cannot pay the amount, you will be banned from entering the country for three months to five years.
What is a short-term resident permit? The short-term tourist resident permit, valid for one year, is issued to foreigner travelers who came to the country on a tourist visa and want to extend their stay.
You have to apply for it with all the required documents before your visa validity expires. It is issued by the Turkish ministry of interiors though its 250 directorates located across the country.
You will be eligible for the permit only if you have a passport with a minimum validity of 14 months.
The time you will be allowed to stay in the country as a foreign traveler with this permit will be 60 days less than the validity of your passport. It is issued individually after evaluating the purpose of your stay.
You also will need to submit your travel plans, accommodation details and income proof to sustain yourself during the stay to the authorities.
With this permit you can exit/enter the country through all the 66 international airports in Turkey. Also, a foreigner with a resident permit can purchase property in the country.
If Your Visa Expires While You are Not in Turkey
In case you want to extend your visa validity while outside the country, you can apply for it through the Turkey government's official website.
The application process for the eVisa is a simple and easy one. You can apply for the new visa even before the 180-day validity.
Citizens of visa-required countries can apply for the eVisa through the official website. Note that to apply for a new visa you must possess a passport with a validity of at least six months.
What is an eVisa?
An eVisa is an electronic visa issued by the Turkey to citizens of visa-required countries who wish to visit the country for tourism and business.
The visa application is an exclusive online process. You can apply through Natvisa in less than five minutes.
You are required to submit necessary information with regard to your identity, passport and travel itinerary and pay the mandatory processing fee.
This is valid only for tourism and business. And for other visas including study and work, you need to physically visit the nearest Turkish embassy or consulate and apply for the visa.
You will need to present a letter of invitation from a university in Turkey for a student visa and in the case of a work visa, an offer for a job from a company registered in the country.
