Goreme1990

Hi Ken, According to the rules Goc will only give a one year tourist permit as they don't accept that you need more than a year to explore Turkey. Technically the two year ikamet is only granted on the basis of home ownership.

A tourist visa is different from a tourist permit. The latter allows for extended stays (up to a maximum of a year) but you have to prove you can pay for accommodation, daily needs and health insurance in case of accidents. Whatever the reason for them, the rules have to be followed.

Hi Dave, As Ken wrote, you can use a hotel address when you complete your application online for the residence permit, but you will have to show a rental contract at your interview in order to receive a residence permit. The immigration department will not accept a hotel address as your address for the duration of a residence permit.

Thank you so much for featuring me on Turkey Central Ken. I really appreciate your support. Being in such good company in the Daily Sabah article was wonderful too.

You have to show your passport as the tax free scheme is offered to tourists.

Hakim can you give us more information? Are you talking about buying something and then claiming the tax back when you go through the airport?

It's launched! Longing for Istanbul: The Words I Haven't Said Yet has been released. My latest post explains how it came about, with links to purchase your own copy. The journey starts here ... www.insideoutinistanbul.com/longing-for-istanbul

Do you mean you are leaving Turkey and your visa has expired. You need to get to the airport several hours earlier than normal as you will have to pay a fine for overstaying. Make sure you have lira on you as if you don't pay the fine you could be banned from returning to Turkey for several months or even years.

Thanks for this information Ken, it's very useful. We expect to have a great time! It's my birthday next Saturday and his in August and we are looking forward to being out and about, swimming and eating out. Masked and socially distanced as required of course!

I am going to Eski Foca with my husband as a birthday treat (yay!) in a few weeks. We will fly to Izmir and then plan to get the Izban from the airport to Hatundere and a bus from there. My question is, do I need to buy an Izban card and register my HES code? And, can we use the Izban card for the bus to Eski Foca? Thank you

As far as I remember, student RPs do not count towards long-term residence permits so you will need to have been in Turkey for 8 years on other types of permits to meet the requirements.

I'm really sorry you have been through this but it is not uncommon for Turkish men to get to a certain age (anywhere from 24 upwards) and marry due to family pressure. I have a close Turkish girlfriend who dated a Turkish man 10 years younger than her. She had already been married and didn't want children and always knew he would eventually marry someone else. What she, and all of us, her friends, didn't expect, was to find out that the during the summer of the second year they were together he got engaged to a girl from Morocco. At the time he said his sister was in hospital which we all accepted as the reason we didn't see him for a couple of weeks but later realised must have been when the girl came over to Turkey, met him and they decided to get married. About four months later we were on an overseas trip, where my Turkish girlfriend shared a room with this guy, and found out he was marrying someone else. When we told him we didn't want to see him any more because he'd lied to my best friend, and to us, he didn't understand why we were so upset. I don't know how to help you get over that man but do hope you can, otherwise he'll just keep coming back and expect to pick you up again like a discarded toy, even after he marries.

You are correct that taxes and commissions are separate from the prices listed on Hurriyet Emlak and other platforms. It is not standard practice to negotiate these charges into the sales price. The agents charge their commission separately from the property price and the tax is calculated on the fiscal value of the property as determined by and paid at the tapu (property title deed) office. By law the 4% tax is meant to be split between seller and buyer but in practice the buyer usually ends up paying the total amount.

Not in Istanbul. We included a translated notarised wedding certificate and it didn't make any difference.

I read it in the actual Turkish legislation at some point but think it's written in the information Doc Martin supplies and also know from personal experience. I live in Istanbul with my husband in an apartment we own that is only in my name. When we applied for a two year RP in December 2019 I was given two years in the home owner category and he was only given one in the touristic purposes category (just living with me, his wife, a home owner, is not enough). Since then I've read in FB expat groups of this happening to numerous people, but mainly in Istanbul. The extra year we paid for him was not refunded because between this application and the previous one we made some years ago, the wording of the receipt you sign after all your paperwork has been accepted now says no refunds will be given. Normally we read everything before we sign it but due to the stress of the whole application process we didn't. Even if we had though I think it would have been a case of sign this or your application won't be processed.