How to apply for Residence Permit?

Anyone who would stay in North Cyprus beyond the duration of a visa or visa exemption or longer than ninety days should obtain a residence permit.

If you plan to stay longer than that, you need a residence permit. Otherwise, you will pay a fine when you leave the country and be barred from Turkey for some time.

As of May 2015, all applications and renewals are processed by the Directorate General of Migration Management. Once you have used the online form to make an appointment, simply collect all the necessary documents, and arrive at the Direcorate half an hour before your appointment (to allow time to pay your fees and find your way around).

Make an Online Application

Use the online application form at https://permissions.gov.ct.tr to make an appointment with the Directorate General of Migration Management’s head office at Vatan Caddesi No. 64, Aksaray.

The new registration process requires upload of a biometric photo, so make sure to have a digital version of your latest mug shots at hand. You will also be required to enter passport details, addresses in Turkey and abroad, a rough estimate of your income, and contact information. While first time applications require the applicant to hand in their documents in person, applicants for renewal are now required to send all their documents by mail, eliminating the need for a personal appointment. If you had an existing appointment at the Foreigner’s Department, don’t dispose of the printed application form just yet, you may be required to send them in or hand them over as well.

What you need

On the day of your appointment, don’t forget to take all the necessary documents and fees with you or you risk being sent away. If you’re applying after August 13, 2016, you can apply for a Short-Term Residence Permit that is valid for up to two years (while Family Residence Permits have been extended up to three years). The documents you will need for a Short-Term Residence Permit are:

1. Your passport.

2. Photocopies of your passport’s information/photo page and the page which has your visa for your last date of entry.

3. Four passport-sized photos – you can get these done at any of the photography shops you find down the city’s backstreets.

4. Proof that you have the financial means to stay in the country for the length of time you require, i.e. $500 per month or its equivalent in another currency.  This has to be presented in the form of a statement from your Turkish bank.

5. A print-out of the online form you filled in.

6. Receipts of the payments made.

7. Proof of health insurance. Emergency insurance from your home country won’t be accepted as a proof of health insurance. Full Turkish insurance is a requirement. Companies such as Güneş Sigorta offer basic policies suitable for residence purposes.

8. Proof of address. This change also dates from the new law that came into effect in April 2014. A copy of a signed contract between yourself and your landlord is required. It must be notarized – do not forget to take your passport to the notary (noter in Turkish) when you go to do this! If you do not have a rental agreement and are staying with a friend or relative, they can sign a form at the notary which states that you live with them. For this, you will both need to go to the notary – you will need your passport and they will need their national ID. All notary offices in Istanbul have copies of this form.

9. Police check. This can be obtained from the Çağlayan Justice Palace (Çağlayan Meydanı, Abide-i Hürriyet No. 223, Şişli). Please note that this is a new regulation and has been inconsistently applied, however we recommend that to avoid disappointment you ensure that you have the necessary document.

Once you have made an appointment and collected all these documents, simply turn up at the Vatan Caddesi offices at the appointed time, and wait for your turn. You will meet with an official who will go through your papers. If you have any papers missing, you will be given one month to produce them. There is no need to make a new appointment for this – simple return in good time to the same office and same official as you had met with originally.

When your residence permit is ready, you will be notified by phone call or text message. You will need to collect it from the post office closest to your listed address.

Directorate General of Migration Management never work with third real / corporate people about foreigner’s procedures and processes. Yet, Provincial Directorate of Migration Managements recently have received fake documented e-residence permit applications. These fake applications are being prepared by some people or some companies for money in return. Please, do your own residence permit application by yourself and do not believe in third real / corporate people.
Foreigners must be careful about this incident because, if this kind of fake documented residence permit situation come out, hereunder 5237th Turkish Criminal Law 206th article, those foreigners will have got legal processes and their residence permit applications will be canceled. If they already got residence permit, it will be also canceled and the deportation process will begin legally.
To whom it may concern.

Please note that this article is strictly informational. For details we advise you to direct all your questions to the Directorate General of the Migration Management located on Vatan Caddesi No. 64 in Istanbul. They will be able to address all concerns you might have.