As a rule, foreigners entering Turkey must obtain a visa. Some citizens of certain countries are granted visa exemption for a certain period of time. All foreigners whose visa or visa exemption period has expired must apply for a residence permit appropriate to their purpose of stay in order to maintain their legal right to stay in Turkey. Foreigners who cannot return to their home countries due to the risk of war and persecution are expected to apply for international protection, not a residence permit.
Humanitarian residence (Turkish: İnsani İkamet İzni) is a type of residence permit granted in exceptional circumstances. Residence permits entitle foreigners to legal stay in Turkey for the duration of their validity. According to Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, there are six different types of residence permits for foreigners who will stay in Turkey for different purposes: short-term residence permit, family residence permit, student residence permit, long-term residence permit, humanitarian residence permit and human trafficking victim residence permit.
Holders of an International Protection Applicant Identity Document or an International Protection Status Holder Identity Document do not need to apply for a residence permit, as these documents serve in place of a residence permit and entitle their holders to legal stay in Turkey.
According to Article 46 of Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, humanitarian residence may be granted to foreigners who are deemed to meet the following conditions:
- In the best interest of the child,
- When a person cannot be removed from Turkey despite a deportation order or entry ban, or when it does not seem reasonable or possible for the person to leave Turkey,
- When it is evaluated that the person is within the scope of Article 55 of the Law titled “Those who will not be deported”,
- When persons against whom a deportation order has been issued or whose application for international protection has been found inadmissible or whose application for international protection has been considered under the accelerated procedure lodge a judicial appeal,
- Until the return of persons assessed to be from the first country of asylum or safe third country is completed,
- When it is not possible for foreigners who need to be allowed to enter and stay in Turkey for urgent reasons or for the protection of national interests, public order and public security to obtain one of the other residence permits due to their circumstances that constitute an obstacle to the issuance of a residence permit,
- In extraordinary circumstances
You need to apply for a humanitarian residence permit at the Provincial Directorate for Migration Management (PDMM) located in the providence where you live. Humanitarian residence permit applications cannot be made through the online e-residency system, unlike other types of residence permit applications.
You will need the following documents to apply for a humanitarian residence permit:
- Application petition (preferably in Turkish),
- 4 biometric photographs,
- Identity card or identity document (passport, travel document, photocopy of identity card),
- Certificate of residence or notarized lease agreement or commitment letter,
- For applications for children, photocopy of parents’ passport and ID card, birth certificate (translated and notarized),
- If applying for health reasons, a health report (Turkish: heyet raporu) from a public hospital.
Neither having a valid passport nor having entered Turkey legally are required conditions in order to apply for a humanitarian residence permit.
The Provincial Directorate of Migration Management will not provide you with an interpreter for your application. However, if you do not speak Turkish or do not have a common language in which you can communicate with the officers at the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management, you can request interpretation support when you are interviewed for your application or when you receive oral or written explanations. You do not have to pay an additional fee for interpreting services.
Yes, you need to pay a fee for a humanitarian residence permit. The fees vary annually and depending on the country of origin. You can find out about the current fee amount at: https://www.goc.gov.tr/belge-bedeli-ve-harc-miktari
In practice, the fee is calculated and the address of the relevant Tax Office is shared with the applicant when he/she goes to submit his/her application documents to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management. After the applicant goes to the relevant Tax Office and pays the fee, he/she is expected to submit the receipt to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management.
If your humanitarian residence permit application is rejected, the fee payment will not be refunded.
You may be exempted from paying the fee if the immigration authorities consider that your financial situation is insufficient to pay the application fee. However, this is subject to the assessment of the competent authorities.
Irregular entry or irregular stay in Turkey does not prevent you from applying for humanitarian residence. However, due to irregular entry or stay, you may face an administrative fine in accordance with Article 102 of the Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. After your humanitarian residence application is received, you will be notified of this administrative fine along with the fees you have to pay.
If you believe that this administrative fine is unfair and unlawful, you can appeal this administrative fine before the competent Criminal Judge of Peace in your province within 15 days of the notification of the fine.
You are required to register in the address registration system within 20 working days from the date your humanitarian residence permit is issued. It is very important to complete your address registration by going to the Population Directorate and Provincial Migration Management where you reside. The General Directorate of Security and the Gendarmerie General Command can check address declarations. Foreigners who make false address declarations may be prosecuted.
Humanitarian residence entitles you to legal stay in Turkey. Your right to legal stay is granted for a maximum period of 1 year. This period can be extended for a maximum of 1 year, unless the circumstances that led you to obtain humanitarian residence change.
After receiving your humanitarian residence, you can apply for a work permit, access your right to education. You can benefit from emergency health services in Turkey, but you are not entitled to free health insurance.
In order to extend your humanitarian residence permit, you must go to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management 60 days before the expiration date and before your residence permit expires to request the renewal of your humanitarian residence permit.
You will be issued a fee-free document when you apply to extend your humanitarian residence. With this document, you can reside in Turkey until your application for the extension of your residence permit is finalized.
It is possible to apply for a family residence permit for your spouse and children. You may be expected to fulfill some additional conditions along with official documents to prove your family ties. You should find out the conditions for applying for a family residence permit from the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management.
The law does not foresee family reunification procedures for humanitarian resident permit holders. Your family members can come to Turkey with a passport and visa/visa exemption and apply for a family residence permit in Turkey.
For your newborn child, you should apply to the District Population Directorate with the birth report you received from the hospital and get a birth notification form. You should then go to the Provincial Migration Management and apply for a family residence permit to register your child.
Anyone who fears that if he/she returns to his/her country, he/she will face a risk to his/her safety due to war and persecution has the right to apply for asylum (protection) in Turkey. According to Turkish law, Syrian citizens, stateless persons and refugees who came to Turkey from Syria due to the civil war in Syria since April 2011 are subject to the protection regime called “temporary protection” in Turkey. Non-Syrian nationals are subject to the “international protection” procedure in Turkey. The Temporary Protection Identity Document issued to persons registered under temporary protection and the International Protection Applicant Identity Document issued to persons registered under international protection entitle them to legal stay in Turkey and they do not need to apply for a residence permit.
Persons staying in Turkey with a residence permit, including a humanitarian residence permit, will have their residence permit invalidated if they apply for temporary protection or international protection, as a foreigner in Turkey cannot have a residence permit and a temporary protection or international protection registration at the same time. If you are staying in Turkey with a residence permit and are considering applying for asylum (temporary protection or international protection), you can contact the Refugee Rights Turkey Refugee Support Line at +90 850 218 48 30 for free information and support on procedures and your rights.
According to Turkish law, if your address changes, you must update your address information both at the Population Directorate in the district where your new address is located and at the Provincial Migration Management.
Foreigners staying in Turkey with a residence permit, including humanitarian residence permits, do not need a road permit for intercity travel. Therefore, you can travel as you wish. The only requirement is that if you change your residence address, you must inform the Provincial Immigration Administration of your new address without delay and update your address.
No, humanitarian residence holders do not have regular notification/signature obligations.
Your application for humanitarian residence may be rejected, for example, because the assessment is that you do not meet the conditions stipulated in the law. In this case, you are expected to leave Turkey within the deadline given to you by the immigration authorities.
If you believe that you meet the conditions for humanitarian residence, you have the right to appeal the negative decision before the competent administrative court within 60 days of the notification of the decision. In this regard, it is extremely important that you seek the support of a lawyer as soon as possible after the notification of the negative decision, because if you do not leave Turkey within the time period that the authorities ask you to leave the country, you may be subject to deportation and administrative detention decisions. An appeal to the court against the rejection of your humanitarian residence request does not eliminate the risk of deportation.
In Turkey, legal aid services are available for people who need legal assistance but cannot afford to pay the legal fees and costs of the proceedings without causing significant hardship to themselves and their families. In Turkey, legal aid is provided through bar associations. A bar association is a professional organization to which lawyers in a province or region belong. Within each bar association, there is a Legal Aid Office established to ensure that people who cannot afford to pay for legal fees and legal expenses can benefit from legal aid services. Asylum seekers in Turkey can also benefit from the services provided by Legal Aid Offices.
If you are unable to afford legal aid, you can go to the bar association in your province and request legal support and counseling.
In order to benefit from legal aid, you must not already be represented by a lawyer. If you are represented by a lawyer, you will not be able to benefit from legal aid.
The bar association to which you apply for legal aid will first assess your financial situation. For this purpose, the bar association to which you are applying may request documents from various official offices to determine whether there is any property registered in your name, or other documents such as a poverty certificate issued by the mukhtar’s office. The staff at the bar association will also make an assessment of the merits of your request for legal aid. If both of these conditions are met, your request for legal aid may be accepted.
If you have any questions about legal aid, you can contact the legal aid office of the bar association in your province, our Refugee Rights Center or other civil society organizations for more information.