Erdal Nuhbasa – Law and Consulting Firm – Legal Services
Erdal Nuhbasa – Law and Consulting Firm – Legal Services
Entry ban to Turkey is regulated by Law No. 6458. The Directorate General of Migration Management has the authority to prohibit the entry of a foreigner.
If a foreigner receives an entry ban, a restriction code is assigned to their passport. (changing passport is not solution for removing entry ban). This code prevents the person from entering Turkey through any border gate, including airports, land borders, or seaports. Because of this restriction code, the person will not be allowed to enter Turkey until the ban is removed or expires.
Knowing the reason, duration, and code of an entry ban is important for anyone who has a travel ban to Turkey and wants to remove it. It is also important to know your legal rights. For example, after receiving an official notification of an entry ban, you have 60 days to file an appeal in the administrative courts. Once you know your entry ban code, it becomes easier to take steps to remove the ban and enter Turkey.
In the following sections, we will answer the most common questions, such as:
Entry bans to Turkey can happen under different reasons, usually decided by the Turkish immigration authorities. The most common reason is overstaying a visa. Besides overstaying, there are many other reasons a foreigner may receive an entry ban in Turkey.
If you don’t know whether you have an entry ban to Turkey it is highly recommended to check before traveling to avoid problems at airports or border gates. You can ONLY learn about your entry ban through immigration offices in Turkey. Since you cannot enter the country while banned, you must grant power of attorney to a lawyer. Your lawyer can then submit a petition to the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM).
You can check the meanings of entry ban codes here: Turkey Entry Ban Codes – What They Mean
Tip: Waiting until you are in the passport control queue to find out about a ban can be shocking. Checking your status in advance is the safest approach.
Entry ban decisions must be notified according to Article 10 of Law No. 6458. However, in practice, ban decisions are sometimes not notified directly. In such cases, you need to grant power of attorney to a lawyer to learn your entry ban status.
Overstaying is the most common reason for entry bans in Turkey, so it’s important to understand how it works. If you entered Turkey legally but stayed longer than allowed, you may face an entry ban. This situation is called overstaying. Not all overstays carry the same penalty, so acting quickly can help minimize the consequences.
Overstaying can occur after the end of a short-term or long-term residence permit, or a valid visa. In any case, it means you have stayed in Turkey without proper authorization. However, even if you exceed your legal stay, it is sometimes possible to remove the entry ban by fulfilling certain conditions.
Conditions to Avoid an Entry Ban After Overstaying
If you have committed a visa violation, you can pay the visa violation fine by going to the Visa Violation Department at the airport by yourself. Your lawyer is not allowed to pay the fine, that’s why you need to pay by yourself at the airport. Getting visa process will not be affected by the visa violation fine but after you have your visa and you are in the airport you will need to pay the fine to enter into country.
| Overstay Duration | Typical Entry Ban |
|---|---|
| Up to 3 months | 3 months |
| 3–6 months | 6 months |
| 6–12 months | 1 years |
| 12–24 months | 2 years |
| Over 24 months | 5 years |
You can pay Visa Violation Fine to the Fine Collection Cashier (Para Cezası Tahsilat Veznesi) in the airport. Ministry of Treasury and Finance has these places at the international airports. Important issue is, only you are able to pay visa violation fine; even If you are out of Turkey, your friend, your lawyer or any person is not allowed to pay the fine on behalf of you.
This may bring the following question to your mind: “I am not in Turkey and how can I pay the visa violation fine?”
Don’t worry, once your ban on entering Turkey expires and you come to Turkey with a valid visa, you can visit the visa violation office and pay the fine.
Things to consider when making a payment;
– Payment is made only in Turkish Lira
– Payments must be in cash only.
In addition to the cases mentioned earlier related to overstaying the legally recognized period, there are several other circumstances that may result in a ban on entry to Türkiye. In the cases listed below, a ban on entry to Turkey is applied from 3 months to 5 years.
The ban on entering Turkey varies between 6 months and 5 years depending on the reason for the ban. Exceptionally, for very serious crimes or public security reasons, the ban on entry to Turkey can be imposed indefinitely.
Each ban has a code and thanks to these codes, it is possible to know “Why do you have entry ban?”. You can check what is your entry ban code means through here.
But, If you have not been notified of the reason for the ban, it is possible to find out through giving power of attorney a lawyer. Also, If you want to learn “When will your entry ban finish?” it is only possible to check this status with a lawyer. For more details you can contact me.
Foreigners who have overstayed in Turkey will be banned from entering the country for periods ranging from 1 month to 5 years. This period is determined according to the overstaying period.
In order to understand the process of lifting the ban on entry into Turkey, it is important to know why the ban was imposed in the first place.
To remove an entry ban to Turkey, the foreigner must prove that the decision made by the administration is unlawful.
If an entry ban to Turkey is applied unfairly, the foreigner has the right to challenge the decision in administrative court and request the ban to be removed.
Sometimes a person may receive an entry ban by mistake, because their name, surname, nationality, or birth year is similar to another banned person, especially if officials do not have that person’s passport number.
To avoid entry bans, travelers should follow visa and immigration rules. If you think you may have a ban, you should contact me the for information.
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