How To Get Tourist Visa For Turkey
It’s quite common for foreigners living in Turkey to want to travel to other countries and discover the beauties of our planet. If you want to go for a two-month tour to European cities, you will need a tourist visa because your Tourist Passport will not suffice. The good news is that you don’t need a travel agency and can apply for it yourself.
If you are planning to travel to turkey, or have plans to travel there in the near future, applying for a tourist visa is essential. Tourist visas allow you to visit Turkey for a particular period of time and do not entitle you to work.
Before you apply Turkey Tourist Visa, you must check that you are not a passport holder of the country to which Turkey has a visa exemption agreement. If it is not the case with your nationality, this guide will help to introduce you to the procedure for getting the Turkish Tourist Visa very easily.
Do you want to go to Turkey? Most likely, the answer is yes. We’ll first start off a little lighter though and talk about how you will eventually be able to do that using the second part of our two-part series on getting a Turkey visa. Now, we talked about the four different types of Turkish visas in Part One. However, there’s a little more guessing involved for tourist visa applicants. This is different from all of the other type of visas because Turkish embassies or consulates may or may not require tourist visa applicants to attend an interview.
How To Get Tourist Visa For Turkey
A Turkish Tourist Visa is an authorization to enter Turkey and stay here for a specific amount of time under purposes related to tourism as sightseeing, vacations, visiting friends or family members, etc.
A Turkey Tourist visa can be obtained in two forms, according to your nationality.
- e-visa for tourism purposes.
- Turkish Sticker Visa for tourists.
Note that if you are eligible for the first, which is easier and cheaper to get, you do not need to apply for the second.
Do I Need a Turkey Tourist Visa?
Turkish is quite welcoming when it comes to tourists. In recent years the country is trying to increase the number of visitors which stagnated after a failed coup and several terrorist attacks. As a result, nationals many countries will be able to travel visa-free to Turkey, and many others can apply for an e-visa, which is quick and easy to get.
You will be able to travel to Turkey, and stay here for up to 90 days within half a year if you are a national of any of the countries listed below:
| Albania | Andorra | Argentina |
| Belize | Bolivia | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Brazil | Bulgaria | Chile |
| Colombia | Czech Republic | Denmark |
| Ecuador | El Salvador | Estonia |
| Finland | France | Georgia |
| Germany | Greece | Guatemala |
| Honduras | Hong Kong | Hungary |
| Iceland | Iran | Israel |
| Italy | Japan | Jordan |
| Kazakhstan | Kosovo | Kuwait |
| Kyrgyzstan | Lebanon | Liechtenstein |
| Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malaysia |
| Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro |
| Morocco | New Zealand | Nicaragua |
| North Macedonia | Panama | Paraguay |
| Peru | Qatar | Romania |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | San Marino | Serbia |
| Seychelles | Singapore | Slovakia |
| Slovenia | South Korea | Sweden |
| Switzerland | Tajikistan | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Tunisia | Ukraine | Uruguay |
| Uzbekistan | Vatican City | Venezuela |
On the other hand, Russian passport holders can enter Turkey visa-free and stay here for up to 90 days within half a year, without exceeding a maximum of 60 days per visit.
Nationals of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brunei, Costa Rica, Latvia, Macao, Mongolia, Thailand, and Turkmenistan as well, can stay in Turkey for up to 30 days per visit, and 90 days per six months.
If you are not a national of either one of these countries, you will have to travel to Turkey with either an e-visa or a sticker visa. Check our article on who needs a Turkey visa to find out what type of tourist visa for Turkey you need.
Turkey Tourist Visa Purposes of Entry
When applying for a Turkey Tourist Visa, you should pay attention to the purpose of your trip to Turkey, as there is a list of only a few purposes eligible for application.
Find the acceptable purposes of applying for a Turkey Tourist visa listed below:
- Touristic Visit. If you are planning to travel to Turley for sightseeing, vacation, and other similar purposes.
- Business meeting/Commerce. If you want to attend a business meeting or other unpaid commerce-related activity in Turkey.
- Conference/Seminar/Meeting. When planning to participate at a conference, seminar, meeting or other similar activity in Turkey.
- Festival / Fair / Exhibition. If you want to take part in a fair, festival, exhibition, etc., in Turkey.
- Sportive Activity. If you want to travel to Turkey to attend a sportive activity either as a sports person or a fan.
- Cultural/Artistic Activity. If you are planning to become part of cultural or artistic activity.
- Official Visit. When traveling to Turkey as a part of an official delegation, representing the government or other public institutions of your country.
- Visit Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. If you are planning to travel to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for any of the reasons listed above.
How to Apply for a Turkey Tourist Visa?
To apply for a Turkey Sticker visa for tourism, you will need to complete several steps, as given below. Make sure you follow the guidelines and meet the specified requirements in the given order:
- Check when to apply.
- Find out where to submit the application.
- Complete the online Turkish tourist visa application form.
- Compile the required documents.
- Attend the interview.
When to Apply?
It is very important to apply on time for your Tourist Visa for Turkey. Too early, and your application will not be accepted. Too late and you may lose your trip to Turkey due to delayed processing. Therefore, make sure you apply on time.
The earliest you can lodge your application is 60 days before the date of your trip. On the other side, the latest you can apply is one month before this date.
Where to Apply?
Depending on how the Turkish authorities in your country of residence have regulated visa submission, you will need to submit your application for a tourist visa at one of the following:
- The Turkish embassy or consulate in your country of residence.
- A third-party visa-processing center, to which Turkey has outsourced visa submission in your country.
Complete the online form for a Turkey Tourist Visa
The first concrete steps towards the completion of your application file for a Turkish tourist visa is filling in the online visa application form at the website of the pre-application system. The form contains a few questions as your name and surname, date and place of birth, and the reason for application.
The system will come up with the visa type you need to apply for and a list of the main documents that you need to submit for your visa application. Upon the completion of the form, you will also receive a date for your visa interview.
Required Documents to Apply for a Turkey Tourist Visa
A very important part of the application process for a Turkey tourist visa is collecting the documents required. Through these documents, you can prove that you meet the criteria to enter and stay in Turkey for the desired period.
Make sure you obtain every single one of these documents and submit them to the consular officer on the day of your interview.
- The completed Turkish tourist visa application form.
- Your valid passport or another travel document.
- Two photographs in accordance with the Turkish visa photograph requirements.
- Proof of income or savings. You should prove you have enough money to support yourself throughout the whole period of your stay in Turkey. The possession of a minimal amount of €50 for every day you plan to spend in Turkey must be presented. This can be done through recent bank statements, a letter of support from another person, etc.
- Travel insurance. It is compulsory to have Travel Medical Insurance in order to be able to travel to Turkey. The insurance must cover the whole territory of Turkey with minimal coverage of €30,000.
- Travel Itinerary. Present a booked flight from your home country to Turkey and back, a bus ticket, or any other proof that you intended to leave Turkey once you are done with your trip.
- Proof of accommodation. Depending on where you will be staying while in Turkey, you will need to present a document as proof of accommodation. If you will stay at a hotel, present a hotel reservation. If you have been invited to stay over at friends or relatives in Turkey, then you need to present a letter of invitation from the host.
- Police Clearance Certificate. This document should be obtained at the relevant authorities in your country of residence and prove that you have not been involved in any criminal activities in recent years.
- Documents regarding the company organizing the travel are required from group travels
- Documents regarding your employment status:
- If you are employed: a guarantee letter from your employer, and pay slips for the last 3 months.
- If you are a business owner: your company’s certificate of establishment and registration, the company’s trade license, and the company bank account statement showing transactions for the last 3 months.
- If your spouse provides for you: the same applicable documents as listed above, for your spouse.
Note that the Turkish authorities in charge of visa processing in your country of residence have the right to ask from you to submit additional documents, aside from the ones listed above.
Turkish Tourist Visa interview
The visa interview for a Turkish visa is a crucial part of the application process. The interview helps the consular officer to decide whether you should be granted a visa to Turkey or not.
The interview is a short meeting between you and an interviewer, to whom you also need to submit the required documents that you have collected.
Turkey Tourist Visa Application Processing
This processing of your application for a Turkey Tourist Visa may take about 15 working days. In some countries, this period may be extended, whereas, in others, you can receive an answer to your application as soon as three working days after the interview.
If you want to track your application, you can do so at the website of the pre-application system, from where you first started your application.