Your first residence permit in Türkiye: from tourist entry to the ikamet card

A foreigner who entered Türkiye as a tourist may apply for a first short-term residence permit (kısa dönem ikamet izni) from inside the country, as long as the application is submitted on e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr before the lawful stay ends. The order of the steps matters more than any single document. This guide covers the timing, the grounds the Directorate accepts, the documents, insurance and address, and what the state charges in 2026.

1. The deadline: inside the visa or visa-free period

The first application must be registered on e-ikamet while your visa or visa-free stay is still valid. The day you submit the online form and receive the application document (müracaat belgesi), your stay becomes lawful until the decision, even if the 90 days run out before the appointment. If you submit after the visa period, the days in between count as overstay: a fine at the border and, for longer overstays, an entry ban. Count your days from the entry stamp, not from the day you rented a flat.

A practical rule: begin collecting documents in week one and submit the online form no later than two weeks before the visa period ends, so that a rejected upload or a wrong field can still be corrected.

2. Which ground to apply under

The short-term permit under Law 6458 art. 31 lists several grounds. The ones a newly arrived person can realistically use are: tourism purposes (limited to one year, and refused in some provinces where the Directorate considers the accommodation ground insufficient), owning immovable property in Türkiye, attending a Turkish language course, medical treatment, a business connection, and scientific research. The ground decides the extra documents: a title deed for the property ground, a course enrolment for the language ground, a hospital letter for treatment. Choose the ground you can document, not the one that sounds simplest.

İstanbul and several other provinces have neighbourhoods (mahalle) closed to new foreign registration. A lease in a closed neighbourhood means the application cannot be registered; the list is published by the Directorate and changes.

3. Documents for a first application in 2026

• Signed e-ikamet application form.
• Passport valid at least 60 days beyond the permit period you request, with a copy of the identity page and the entry stamp.
• Four biometric photographs on a white background, taken within the last six months.
• Health insurance covering the whole requested period and meeting the Directorate's minimum-coverage circular; see our health insurance guide.
• Proof of address: a lease in your name (notarised where the district requires it), a title deed, or a notarised undertaking from a host. A hotel confirmation is accepted only for the shortest permits.
• Proof of means: bank statement, pension letter or sponsor documents; the Directorate measures them against the net minimum wage per person.
• Tax number; see our tax number guide.
• Ground-specific documents, with apostille and notarised translation where foreign.
• Receipts for the card fee and harç in your name.

4. What the state charges in 2026

Two payments go to the state, by you, against receipts in your own name: the residence permit card fee of ₺964 and the residence harç calculated by nationality and duration under the Harçlar Kanunu table. Turkmenistan and Syria are exempt from harç; group A countries pay the dollar-denominated annual amount; others pay the lira amounts in the table. The payment reference is generated by e-ikamet and settled at a tax office or bank. No other amount is payable to the state, and the Directorate states that file trackers and intermediaries are not recognised.

State fees and notarial tariffs are paid by you directly to the state or to the notary; they never pass through us and we receive nothing from any notary. The figures above are the official 2026 tariff, last checked 24.10.2026.

5. After the appointment

The legal processing period is 90 days. During it you may leave and re-enter Türkiye for up to 15 days per trip with the application document and the fee receipts. The card is posted by PTT to the address in the application; register that address at the Nüfus Müdürlüğü within 20 business days of the permit being issued, and keep the same address until the card arrives. A permit granted for less than the period you asked for is usually a passport-validity issue: the permit cannot run past the passport minus 60 days.

Our Arrival Pack covers this sequence: tax number, lease and notary, insurance through a licensed broker, e-ikamet step cards in your language, the appointment pack and a person beside you at the Directorate. You submit, you sign, you pay the state.

Sources

• e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr — first application form and appointment
• goc.gov.tr — Presidency of Migration Management: short-term permit document lists, closed neighbourhoods, fees
• mevzuat.gov.tr — Law 6458, art. 31–33 (short-term residence permit)
• gib.gov.tr — Harçlar Kanunu: residence harç table

Questions