Visa & Residence Permit
Being an International student comes with some challenges, one specifically being leaving your home country, family and friends behind. As part of your new family, you can be assured that we will be with you in every aspect of your university life, from this moment forward.
Some tips before you start
Please note that if you are planning to stay in Turkey for more than 90 days within a 180-day period, for any reason, including tourism, you must get a Turkish Residence Permit.
In order to obtain your Student Residence Permit, it is strongly advised to follow this guide to schedule an online appointment and submit all the required documents, ensuring this process runs as smoothly as possible.
International students who have overstayed their visas, residence permits, or visa exempt periods (for some countries), will be subjected to a fine or a travel ban preventing you from re-entering Turkey for a period between 3 months to 5 years.
before
Departure To Turkey
Check if you’re required a visa to enter turkey through the following button.
If you need to get a visa to enter Turkey, you may apply for it at the closest Turkish Embassy/Consulate with your Official Acceptance Letter which states that you will be our student here in Turkey. You may check the information for each embassy/consulate using the following link:
After Arriving In Turkey
Applications for the Student Residence Permit should be made within the first month of your arrival in Turkey. You can make your online appointment application using through the following link. Below you may find all the requirements to obtain a Student Residence Permit:
Current valid Residence Permit
Only for renewal/transfer applications
Passport
Photocopies
Main pages & last entrance stamp page
Student Certificate
in Turkish
Can be obtained from Haliç Student Affairs Office
Valid Health
Insurance
Can be obtained from any insurance office around Turkey. It's called "Yabancı Sağlık Sigortası" in Turkish.
Proof of
Accommodation
Address Registration (Nüfus Paper) or House Contract/Letter of Commitment (Notarized) or Dorm Residency Confirmation
4 Biometric
Photographs
The photograph that will be used for the residence permit transactions must be biometric and taken according to the ICAO standards within the last six months.
Receipt of the
Application Form
Can be obtained after the application is made. You will need to visit Tax Office and Ziraat Bankası. Online payments might be available during procedures.
Consent Letter &
Birth Certificate
Only for the applicants under 18 - Translated & Notarized.
*Consent Letter & Birth Certificate are not mandatory if you have a student visa or your parents are living here in Turkey, with a valid residence permit.
after
Submitting the Application
Upon completing these steps and handing in your complete documents, the Residence Permit Specialist will deliver your documents to the Immigration Office on your behalf.
The process takes between 2-3 months, so kindly remain calm and be patient for an update from the Immigration Office. During the waiting time, you must not travel outside Turkey, until you receive your Residence Permit Card. In case of an emergency, to enter Turkey again, you must re-apply for a visa to enter. Moreover, your application will be cancelled.
At the time when your Residence Permit Card is ready, it will be delivered via PTT (the governmental Turkish Postal Carrier). You will receive a text message as well as a tracking number to track the whereabouts of your card from the PTT Website.
Your card will be delivered to the International Office. You will be notified via a text message from the Postal Office when you are able to collect it.
Later
The Evaluation Process
According to the latest update from the immigration authorities, those who apply for a residence permit should not depart from Turkey until they are notified either by an email or an SMS regarding the evaluation of their applications.
If those applicants leave Turkey before their applications are evaluated, their applications will be rejected.
All applicants must be in Turkey during the evaluation process of their residence permit applications.
The evaluation of a residence permit application may take approximately 15 days after Haliciso (Halic International Student Office) submits them to the authorities. Once evaluated, the system automatically sends SMS messages to the applicants’ Turkish mobile phone numbers. If you did not provide your Turkish mobile phone number in the application form, you may send an email to istanbul.duzenli@goc.gov.tr and inquire about the status of your application. It is very important to add your online application form (in PDF) and a copy of your passport ID page (in PDF or JPEG format) to your email.
If you are going to travel abroad after your application is evaluated and before you receive your permit card, you can do so if you have a valid visa period that has a multi-entry right.
However, if you do not have a valid multi-entry visa period, you need to obtain a document showing that you applied for a residence permit. With that document, you can depart from Turkey without any issue for 15 days. If you want to stay abroad for more than 15 days without your permit card, you should obtain a new visa to enter Turkey.
After successfully applying for a residence permit you are entitled to a document called “Ikamet Izni Muracaat Belgesi – Residence Permit Application Form” which can be obtained from Istanbul Immigration Office by going there in person with original passport.
and lastly
Receiving Your Residence Permit
All Students Residence Permits arriving at the university will be delivered to the International Office and we will notify students via email. Each student must collect his/her own card from the International Office following the notification.
When your Student Residence Permit arrives at the International Office from PTT and the university mailroom, the International Office personnel will make a copy of it and enter your information on Higher Education Council’s database called YÖKSİS.
YÖKSİS record will enable students to apply and obtain their Student Istanbulkarts at a Sales Point in Istanbul. Find the instructions link below.
Please note, when you collect your Student Residence Permit from the International Office you must wait one week for your YÖKSİS ID to become active and then visit an Istanbul Card application center for an application. If you go early you might have to go back again.
Your YÖKSİS ID is an 11 digit number and it is identical with your foreigner ID number on your Student Residence Permit that begins with 99. This ID number is a unique number assigned to each student for statistical and integrated online systems/database purposes. Therefore, using someone else’s YÖKSİS ID or Student Residence Permit ID is counterfeiting and subject to serious penalties.
If you had a temporary YÖKSİS ID starting with 98 to apply for Istanbul Card in the past, check with the student affairs office and see if you need to update your records with your actual 99 ID number. You must use the 99 number eventually and for renewing your Istanbul Card.
