Ikamet: Turkey residence permit for 1 year. How I got it in Antalya

To stay in Turkey for a year, you need to get a Turkish Residency Permit called Ikamet. It used to be relatively easy to do, but now in 2025 the government in Turkiye is more strict with granting residency permits than it was before. Most of the foreigners applying for tourism are rejected. Take this information under consideration when you pan to apply.

I applied for a tourist residency permit myself, without help from an agency.

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Contents:

• When to apply for Ikamet?
• Get a Turkish SIM card
• Rent an apartment
• Buy health insurance (Sigorta)
• Make biometric photos
• Apply for Turkish residency permit online
• Pay taxes for residency permit and card
• Get a Randevou date
• List of documents for residency oermit in Turkey
• Go to Randevou
• Can you stay in Turkey if your visa-free days are over but you still didn’t receive your Ikamet?
• When and how will you get your Ikamet?

There are many agencies and private agents offering to help you with the residency permit for a fee. Essentially, they will consult you on what documents you need and tell you how to get them, where you need to go. But you will need to get the documents yourself and go to Randevou yourself too.

Overall it wasn’t difficult to figure things out myself and get everything for Ikamet even without speaking Turkish. So my advice is to do it yourself.

When to apply for Ikamet?

Most countries are aloud to stay in Turkey up to 60-90 days without a visa. So if you want to stay as long as possible, apply on your last day. But if you do it earlier – it is not an issue.

Before applying for Turkey residence permit

Get a Turkish SIM card

The most popular are Vodafone, Turk Telekom and Turkcell. They are slightly different in price, Vodafone the most expensive, Turkcell – cheapest. The average price (2021) is 250 TL first month and after you will spend about 50-100 TL monthly depending on your needs.

Rent an apartment

This step can be the most time consuming and sometimes difficult. You are in a foreign country where you don’t know the rules and the language. I wrote about my experience in this article Antalya, Turkey: how to rent an apartment long-term

In residence permit applications, as of 15/02/2022

“Rental agreements will be required to be notarized by the lessor, not by the foreign national who wants to obtain a residence permit, and the identity information will be required to be attached to the copy of the agreement. A notarized copy of the rental agreement will be submitted by the foreigner during the residence permit application along with other documents.”

Update as of July 2022

Official news (in Turkish) about restricted neighborhoods

Official list of neighborhoods that are restricted for new Ikamet applications

Buy health insurance for Ikamet (Sigorta)

If you have a medical insurance from back home or a travel insurance – that will not be enough. You need to buy a Turkish health insurance (“Sigorta” in Turkish means “insurance”). The prices at the moment in 2022 are around 1000 Turkish lira, but the inflation is very high and the prices are still rising.

You can buy insurance offline, at the “Sigorta” offices. Most popular are Anadolu and Allianz. The tourist insurance or the one you have from back home will not be enough.

I have been told that for the first year you can only buy the most basic one. After the first year you can get a more expensive but also a better one. 

Important: the 1st day of the insurance has to be also the day when you apply for your Ikamet online. It will also be the start of your 1 year residency.

Make biometric photos for Ikamet

In the busy touristic/expat areas you will see a lot of “Photo” shops. There they will make the photos you need. Don’t forget to ask them to send them to your email too. You will need to upload a photo during the online Turkey residency application.

Apply for Turkish residency permit online

Apply for Turkish residency permit at official website https://e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr

This is how finished application form will look like: https://e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr/Ikamet/BasvuruFormuOrnegi/BasvuruFormuBos?tur=0

If you are applying for tourist Ikamet, then your source of income will be savings or passive income/pension. If you are staying with a spouse, then one of you can be a provider for the other.

Get your tax number and pay taxes for the residency permit and card

Get your tax number at the tax office or online.

The amount you need to pay depends on your nationality. You will see the actual amount in your application form.

Get a Randevou date

After you fill in all the information online, you will be able to get a randevou date, time and address. If you are applying together with a spouse/partner or even a friend – one of you can get the randevou date for both.

List of documents for residency permit in Turkey

• Printed and signed application form (1 copy)
• 4 biometric photos
• Passport copy: main page and the page with an arrival stamp
• Notarized copy of your rental contract (you can do it at a “Noter” office, they are all around Antalya). Bring the payment slip from the Noter too.
• Copy of the owner’s ID and if the contract is signed by the agent – their power of attorney.
• Copy of TAPU – document, proving the ownership rights for the apartment you are renting.
• Your tax number
• Tax payment slip
• Insurance

Documents proving you have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family (if applying together). Officially you need to have them. And in 2023 it became very important to have bank statements or other documents when you apply for Ikamet.

The full updated list of documents is published on the official Turkish government website, please check it to make sure you have everything.

Go to Randevou

Best part of the whole process of getting Ikamet – at the randevou you wil be told if some of the required documents are missing. And will be given time to get them. Taxes can be paid in the same building, it’s also possible to make copies. If you need to get the documents – you can come later.

In Antalya the randevou process was essentially telling us if all the documents are there. My husband had to pay additional taxes (they are different for each country). 

So overall there was no need to worry if you’re missing some document. But in 2023 things are getting more strict.

Can you stay in Turkey if your visa-free days are over but you still didn’t receive your Ikamet?

Yes. When you apply your residency days in Turkey officially start. Before the randevou you need to have a copy of your application form with you when you go out. 

After the randevou you will get a slip, confirming your documents are submitted. Carry that slip with you until you get your Ikamet card (Kimlik) – this is the official Turkish ID card.

When and how will you get your Turkish residency card (Kimlik)?

We got it in Antalya delivered to our apartment in about 1 week after the randevou. I read that sometimes it can take up to 2 months or even longer.

Within the year we travelled to many cities in Turkiye, check out where we we went to here.

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