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Knowledge Bank » Legal Matters » Residency and Visas
The KTLN Guide to Long Term Residence Permits (LTRP) |
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Thursday, 19 November 2015 |
It's taken a while to develop an understanding of how the new rules work. This KTLN guide was completely re-written (December 2015) and with updates reflects the position as at December 2017. It has been drafted with the help of local DGMM officials and also foreigners who have gone through the permit application process. With help and feedback from KTLN readers we aim to keep it up to date as a valuable resource for people who wish to apply for a residence permit. Disclaimer Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) Their head office is in Ankara but they have provincial and district offices. Our nearest provincial office is in Antalya, and our closest district office is in Kaş. For foreigners in Kaş district (including Kalkan), the office that you should deal with is the local one in Kaş. We provide contact details below. Do I need a Long Term Residence Permit (LTRP)? It means that you don't have to go to the trouble of renewing your permit every year, and if you meet the qualifying criteria, it is free to apply, apart from a small administration fee. UK in Turkey advice DGMM Helpline DGMM Website Types of residence permits
In this article, we look at LTRPs only. Long Term Residence Permit (LTRP) These criteria specify that you must:
Where do you apply? Following the opening of the Kaş DGMM office in December 2015 if you went online to book an appointment initially you could only see an option for the provincial office in Antalya but from early 2016 an option to select Kaş has become available. DGMM Kaş office contact details ADDRESS: Andiflil Mah. Halk Konutlari Sokak, Yeni Halk Çarşısı 10/3-9, Kaş, AntalyaEMAIL: We are advised that an email address for the Kaş office will be provided in due course. PHONE: 0242 836 3159 FAX: None OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday between 08.30 and 17.30 with one hour for lunch between 12.30 and 13.30. Currently the office has only one member of staff who is genuinely helpful. He speaks some English but if your Turkish is not good you may find it useful to have a translator with you if you plan to visit the office. Below: A map showing where the new office is - round the back of some new office units on Halk Konutları Sokak.
If you qualify to apply for a LTRP you may immediately apply for it without having to wait for your existing STRP (or blue book/ikamet) to expire. Renewal applications Use it or lose it This does not mean that once your residency has started - i.e. you are resident in Turkey, your residency will become invalid if you subsequently stay out of Turkey for a period of 6 months. The 6 month deadline only applies from the date you apply until the date you actually begin using your residency. However, with long term residency, if you stay out of Turkey for more than one year, your permit will be cancelled. Calculating the 8 years Law No 6458 says:
There is some discretion on this, so for example if you have been outside the country for medical reasons (perhaps you were too ill to travel), then if you provide evidence to support your case, this will be properly considered. In calculating the uninterrupted period of 8 years, if you have gaps in your residency permits, previous residence permit periods will not be taken into consideration. Article 28 of the relevant law says:
N.B. Even though the DGMM should have computer records showing when you have entered and left Turkey you may have to provide evidence of your comings and goings by reference to the stamps in your current passport, and perhaps an old passport. What documents are required?
The DGMM application online portal
Be aware that the system is not perfect. From our own experience and from feedback we have received it is fair to say that sometimes it is not possible to get all the way through the online process. Do as much as you possibly can, and if you encounter problems our advice is to contact the local DGMM office in Kaş and ask for guidance. It appears that the English pages for applying do not always work properly but we have heard that the web pages in Turkish are more reliable. N.B. Before you start make sure you have an electronic copy of your biometric photo on your computer as you will need to upload it as part of the online application process. If you don't upload a photo you can not continue with the application. Also please note that when you input your date of birth the format is MM/DD/YYYY - example 27th June 1960 would be entered as 06/27/1960. Here is the link to the web page where you start the application process: Apply here for LTRP Please note that you can’t log in to do this from outside Turkey. If you are a couple applying you may find that after you have submitted your first application, your web browser will remember this and when trying to submit your second application it won't let you, because it says you have already submitted one. The way we found to get round this was to use a different web browser for the second application. Choose "First Time Application". Choose "New Application" Complete the online Pre-registration form. Details in red must be completed. Details in black are optional but it may help to smooth the application process if you answer these questions. Note the Date of Birth field format: MM/DD/YYYY. You will be sent an activation code. You will also be allocated a unique application reference number which you should make a note of. Type in the activation code to continue. Select "Long Term Residence Permit" Complete personal information. Note that you must upload a digital photo of yourself (the applicant). Complete the details. Complete details - normally this will be taken from your passport.
Presumably you are already living in Turkey so provide your address here in Turkey. Complete this screen using the drop down selection options that the web site provides for your address. If you are retired, on the Work Information page select "Çalışmıyor". Provide details of your school. You may need to use Google! Note that completing this page is optional. If you prefer not to complete it, click Next. Note that completing this page is optional. If you prefer not to complete it, click Next. Show your income details. Provide details of your health insurance. Complete the declaration page. Complete this declaration. Now select Kaş office and make an appointment. (If it will let you). Note: We had no success with the online appointment system, despite repeated attempts. See screen shot below. In the end we contacted the DGMM office in Kaş for assistance.
You should be provided with a list of Documents Required for Residence Permit Applications. Make sure you take them to your appointment. Note that you need to print off your completed application form that you have filled in online. This may be downloaded as a PDF document. (We will go into the documents in more detail later in this article). Paying the fee Walk through the doors into the Maliye main office and pay at the "Vezne" window on the right hand side. You will be given a receipt for this fee which you should keep and take with you to the DGMM office as proof of payment. N.B. You will need your tax number with you when making this payment. Also, you may need to quote tax reference number "9069". If you prefer you can also pay at Ziraat Bank, Vakıf Bank or Halk Bank in Kaş. Your appointment in Kaş If your application is in order you will be provided with an official document (see example below) which is your proof of application. This must be signed and stamped by the DGMM manager in Kaş.
It bears your photo and can be considered to be a kind of temporary residence permit document. It allows you to stay in the country for up to 90 days, until you receive your official permit card. Note that your previous short term residence permit is cancelled. If you need to travel abroad whilst your application is being processed, this document enables you to leave Turkey for up to a maximum of 15 days only. If this number of days is exceeded a fine may be levied, and the application process will have to begin again.One important point to note here is that you must keep with the above document your receipt which proves that you have paid the necessary residence permit card fee. Permits are posted to you You will receive an SMS text message on your Turkish mobile phone containing a bar code number so you can track where your permit card is. Please click here for more information on how your permit will be delivered and how you can keep track of where it is. Feedback suggests it is taking about two months to process LTRP applications, (as at November 2017) so you may need to keep checking on progress at the local DGMM office.Your residency should be dated from the date you hand in your application. KTLN advice on documentation - it's as simple as A B C... A. Residence Permit Application Form B. Passport and existing permit Please note that when applying for a STRP (i.e. up to 12 months), your passport must have at least 60 days more than the period of residency you are applying for, but for LTRP applications this 60 days extra rule does not apply. This is because the expiry date on a LTRP is shown as unlimited, and it is therefore impossible to have a passport that expires 60 days after an unspecified date. Just make sure that for the duration of your LTRP you continue to hold a valid UK passport. As mentioned earlier you may have to show the entry and exit stamps from your passport over the last eight years. So in some cases you may need to refer to your old passport, if you have kept it! By definition you will already have short term residency so you will need your plastic card or your blue book to hand for the relevant details. Do not post your original passport or existing ikamet, but take them with you to your appointment. C. Biometric passport photograph Essentially the term "biometric" in this situation means the type of photo required for a passport. It can't be any old photo. The photo must be less than 6 months old, at the time of your application. Feedback we have received suggests the background colour must be white. (Biometric photos with a cream background that were accepted for a UK passport application were rejected due to the background colour not being white).
This is currently the equivalent of US$500 per calendar month. Typically, you will demonstrate you can support yourself in one of two ways:
If you qualify to apply for a LTRP, and your application is successful, your residence permit will show "Valid Until: Süresiz" which means it is unlimited. If your proof of income relates to a regular pension then this will continue for as long as you are alive, and you will be able to easily demonstrate whether the amount you receive meets the LTRP requirements. However if your proof of income is money in the bank, for a LTRP there is no set amount specified by the DGMM. This is because there is effectively no time limit on your permit, so it is impossible to calculate US$500 per month for an unknown number of months. So for a LTRP application the DGMM will look back at your time in Turkey as a resident (at least 8 years), and consider your financial circumstances. If you are relying on a pension income it's easy to confirm the amount per month. If you are relying on money in the bank they will make a judgement call on what you have available.
E. Demonstrating you have somewhere to live The DGMM aslo want to see an official document that confirms you are living at your stated address. You need a "Place of residence and address" document from the Nüfus office. Ask for a "Yerlesim yeri ve diğer adres belgesi". There is no charge for this. Also, if you are living together as a couple, any one of the above will probably be in the name of just one of you. This is not a problem. The original can go in one application folder, and a copy in the other folder. You may be asked to show that you have Dask (earthquake) insurance. This is mandatory in Turkey. Living in rented property The DGMM office wants to see the rental agreement confirmed as authentic by a notary. Alternatively if the rental agreement is not notarised, the property owner will have to provide proof of identification plus proof of ownership of the property (see section above on tapus). Moving - change of address F. Valid health insurance KTLN has a separate guide on SGK health insurance. With Private Health Insurance, the policy must have the following clause in Turkish:
Here is a translation: “This policy covers the minimum indemnification that is required by the 6/6/2014 dated and 9 numbered memorandum for those applying for residency that need to be covered by a private health insurance”. If it does not have this clause it will not be accepted. If you have a policy issued by a non-Turkish company - for example PPP in the UK, then this may be acceptable providing that the insurer has a recognised representative based in Turkey. This representative will be asked to confirm that the policy complies with the above special wording. Many companies offer private health insurance - you can ask banks or insurance brokers to get you a quote. Some private health insurance providers operate age limits beyond which they will not take on new customers. And if they do take on new customers of any age, premiums for older people may be quite expensive, and normally any pre-existing medical conditions will not be covered. If you are married to a Turkish person, you may be covered under your spouse's SGK/Bağkur policy. N.B. Please note that a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is not valid in Turkey, and will not be accepted as proof of health insurance.G. Not receiving support from the Turkish state H. Criminal record checks
Update: An apostilled UK criminal record check is also required, even though this is not explicitly listed as a required document on the official DGMM web site. You will be asked to obtain this and hand it over to the DGMM within 6 months of starting your application. You can do this whilst your application is being processed. Our advice is to provide it as soon as you can. You will find this link a good starting point: ACRO Criminal Records Office Apostille services are available at this UK government web site: www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised Other things If you have existing SGK health insurance make sure you notify the local SGK office of your new LTRP otherwise your cover will expire. This should be done as soon as possible after your LTRP has been approved. Finally a reminder that if your circumstances change in a significant way you should contact the DGMM as soon as you can. For example, if you marry or divorce or a partner dies. And as we mentioned above, if you change address you need to notify the authorities (including DGMM) within 48 hours. Feedback please If you are applying for a Short Term Residence Permit (STRP) click on the following link: The KTLN Guide to the Short Term Residence Permits (STRP) If you wish to cancel your residence permit because you are leaving Turkey to return to your country of origin, click on the following link: The KTLN Guide for expats leaving Turkey and returning to the UK Kalkan Turkish Local News - your window on Kalkan Turkey. Independent. Comprehensive. Reliable.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 10 December 2017 |