Turkey: visa and entry rules

Turkey's borders: every crossing point

Turkey's land border crossings, neighbour by neighbour:

With Georgia: Sarpi (the main one, on the coast near Batumi), Turkgozu, Cildir-Aktas.
With Armenia: closed.
With Iran: Gurbulak - Bazargan, the largest crossing on the Iranian side.
With Azerbaijan: Dilucu, a short stretch of border with Nakhchivan.

The border with Armenia is closed. Turkey sealed it unilaterally in 1993 and there is no through traffic. There is no overland route from Yerevan to Kars: people go around through Georgia.

Sarpi is the main gateway from the north. The whole flow from Batumi passes through it. It is open around the clock and can be crossed on foot.

By sea and by air the country is fully open, with no entry restrictions.

Bringing a car into Turkey

A foreign-plated car is admitted for 730 days - but not for everyone. The right to temporary import comes from the 185-day rule: over the previous 12 months you must have spent at least 185 days outside Turkey. For an ordinary tourist that happens by itself; for someone who already lives in the country for long stretches, it does not.

The two years are counted over a five-year period, and once the allowance has been used up in full, the right to bring a car in is suspended: you have to build up 185 days outside the country again.

The owner drives. A temporarily imported car may be used by the person who brought it in and by close relatives who meet the same conditions. Residents of Turkey may not drive it.

What happens if you break the rules: fines, seizure of the car and additional customs charges, as well as restrictions on bringing a vehicle in later.

Travelling to Turkey with a pet

A microchip is compulsory, to ISO standard 11784 or 11785, and it has to be implanted before the rabies vaccination - otherwise the vaccination does not count.

The rabies vaccination must be given no later than 21 days before entry.

The veterinary certificate is issued shortly before the trip and endorsed by the state veterinary service of the country of departure.

You cannot bring in more than two animals at a time without separate paperwork: personal import means up to two cats or dogs per person.

Certain dog breeds are not allowed into Turkey - the ban covers fighting breeds, and it applies regardless of documents.

There is no quarantine if the paperwork is in order.

Overstaying your visa in Turkey

The fine is paid on the way out, and it grows with the length of the overstay. The overstay is spotted at the airport as you fly out; you can pay there and then, but without paying you will not get through smoothly.

The entry ban is tiered. The longer the overstay, the longer the ban: from a few months for a short delay to five years for a serious one. The migration service decides which tier applies, and it cannot be guessed in advance.

Leaving voluntarily is better than waiting to be caught. If you go of your own accord and pay the fine, that is usually the end of it. If the overstay is discovered during a check inside the country, a removal procedure is added, and that in itself brings a ban.

Count both limits at once. There are two ways to overstay in Turkey: to sit out more than the 60 days granted on entry, or to use up all 90 days within the 180-day window. The second is noticed less often and later, but the consequences are the same.