Visa Requirements for Interns
Researchers can have 4 different types of visas to work as an intern at ComNets Lab. These are; ordinary visa for longer than internship duration, ordinary visa for shorter than internship duration, visa-free access and e-Visa. In all this cases, since it has lots of benefits (such as accessing to e-Government portal, opening any bank account in Turkey), it is advisable to apply for residence permit after arriving Turkey. Ordinary visas can be obtained from the Republic of Turkey consulates where located in researchers’ own country or residence country. Additionally, regardless of visa status, researchers are required to take out worldwide health insurance to work in the ComNets Lab.
Visa Policy of Turkey
The visa policy of Turkey deals with the requirements which a foreign national wishing to enter Turkey must meet to be permitted to travel to, enter and remain in the country.[1] Visitors to Turkey must obtain a visa from one of the Turkish diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the 78 visa-exempt countries and territories or one of the 42 countries and territories whose citizens are eligible to apply for an e-Visa online. Turkish visas are documents issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its subsequent diplomatic missions abroad with the stated goal of regulating and facilitating migratory flows.[2][3]
Visitors of most nationalities must hold a passport valid for no less than 150 days from the date of arrival. The passport validity requirement does not apply to citizens of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland who can enter with a passport expired for less than five years, citizens of Germany who can enter with a passport or an ID card expired for less than one year, and citizens of Bulgaria who are only required to have a passport valid for their period of stay.[4] An identity card is accepted in lieu of a passport for citizens of Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine. The validity period requirement also does not apply to nationals of countries whose identity cards are accepted.[5]
Even though Turkey is a candidate country for the membership in the European Union, it has a more complex visa policy than the visa policy of the Schengen Area.[2] Turkey requires visas from citizens of certain EU member states and Schengen Annex II countries and territories – Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Grenada, Kiribati, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vanuatu. On the other hand, Turkey grants visa-free access to citizens of other countries and territories –Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Iran, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Qatar, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
From 2nd March 2020, Turkish Government announced that visas are lifted for 5 EU Member States which are Poland, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Spain and also visas are lifted for the Norway and United Kingdom.
Regular Visa Application
It is advisable to apply 2 months earlier as for some countries the visa processing can take extra time for background checking. But mostly it takes 3-5 business day. General visa application documents are;
e-Visa
The Electronic Visa (e-Visa) Application System allows visitors travelling to Turkey to easily obtain their e-Visas online, in approximately three minutes. It is possible to obtain e-Visa 7/24 at everywhere with internet connection. The applicants can obtain their visa after they fill in the necessary information concerning their identity, passport and travel dates and pay visa fee online. Please note that e-Visa is only valid when the purpose of travel is tourism or commerce. For other purposes, such as work and study, visas are given by Turkish Embassies or Consulates. You are kindly advised to have a travel document/passport valid for at least 6 months as from the date of your arrival in Turkey.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues efforts to strengthen the e-Visa system and to better enable foreign nationals to easily obtain their visas. In this context, necessary arrangements will be made to allow foreign visitors to obtain e-Visas from authorized airline companies offices, including those companies’ offices in airports. Fees for e-Visas obtained via the e-Visa website are lower than the fees for visas obtained upon arrival to Turkish airports. Information regarding visa fees can be found on the website. Regardless of the visa regime applied towards the citizens of a country, the travel document holders of that country need to obtain visa from Turkish missions beforehand. If you have a valid visa, you do not need a residence permit up to 90 days. On the other hand, foreigners who shall reside, work or study in Turkey, should register themselves at the nearest local police department upon their arrival in Turkey, regardless of the validity of their visa.
As of 1 January 2015, in accordance with the article 7.1b of “the Law on Foreigners and International Protection” no. 6458, foreigners wishing to enter Turkey should carry a travel document (passport) with an expiration date at least 60 days beyond the “duration of stay” of their visa, e-Visa, visa exemption, or residence permit. In order to enter Turkey having a visa with 90 days “duration of stay”, foreigners should hold a travel document valid at least for an additional 60 days which totals to 150 days (90 days + 60 days) of validity at the time of entrance. The following categories are exempted from this provision: Citizens of countries who are allowed to enter Turkey with their national ID’s in accordance with “European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe”.
Application for Residence Permit (After Arrival)
Researchers who have visa/e-Visa/visa-free access for shorter than internship duration, should apply for a residence permit from Ministry Of Interior Directorate General Of Migration Management website (e-ikamet). People who have a residence permit will have a foreigners ID number (11 digit number which starting with 99), which will facilitate many transactions.
Document requirements:
Application submission and the procedure:
e-Government Gateway (e-Devlet)
It is recommend that people who have residence permit to apply for the e-Government (e-Devlet) application from PTT centers. The e-Government gateway is a website offering access to all public services from a single point. The aim the portal is to offer public services to citizens and residents, businesses, and government agencies in an efficient manner through information technologies.This way, the government targets offering its services to the citizens through the easiest and most effective way.
With the e-Government concept that has started to replace the bureaucratic and classical government concept, the aim is to offer every government agency and every individual easy access to systems using information technologies and to government agencies and services offered by these agencies. Services offered to the citizens through the e-Government portal may be grouped as follows; information services, e-services, payment transactions, shortcuts to agencies and organizations, information updates and announcements and messages to citizens from agencies.
Opening Bank Account in Turkey
To the researchers who are wishing to open a Turkish bank account, it is recommended to apply digital banking. This banking is quite easy and bank officials visit customers for account opening procedures. The details will be given to the researchers after coming Antalya.