To travel to Turkey, you need a visa for Turkey. This visa for Turkey has a 180-day validity period. Throughout this period you can make an unlimited number of trips to Turkey. Regardless of the number of trips, you can only stay in Turkey for a maximum of 90 days, consecutive or spread across multiple trips. If you stay any longer, the validity of the Turkey visa expires and you risk a fine and deportation.

Setting sun in Istanbul

Please Note: Do you want to stay in Turkey for less than 90 days on a holiday or business trip? If you are a national of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, or any other country in the European Union, as of 2020, you no longer need a visa for these purposes. Therefore, as of 2020, the information on this website about the Turkey visa has not been updated.

Validity period of 180 days

The validity period of the visa for Turkey is 180 days. This 180-day period begins from your preferred starting date, as indicated in the Turkey visa application form. Is it going to be a while before you go on your holiday, and don’t want the validity period to expire because you applied for the visa early? Then you can fill in the expected arrival date in the application form. You don’t need to have booked a flight ticket or arranged a place to stay to be able to apply for the Turkey visa.

If you don’t know exactly when you will arrive in Turkey, then it can be wise to fill in the earliest date on which you can possibly arrive. If you arrive later than the filled-in arrival date it won’t be a problem. If you arrive earlier, your Turkey visa will not be valid yet, and you will not be allowed to enter the country. For this reason, it is smart to maintain a margin of one or more days. For instance, if you booked your arrival ticket for 10 September, fill in 8 September or 9 September as your expected date of arrival in the visa application form. Should your flight be expedited for whatever reason, you will still have a valid visa for Turkey.

Maximum 90 days in Turkey

Despite the lengthy validity period of 180 days, you can only stay in Turkey for 90 days with a Turkish visa. This can be one consecutive period, but you can also split up this period of 90 days. That is because you are allowed to travel into Turkey an unlimited number of times with your Turkey visa. You can thus stay in Turkey for a single 90-day stay, or 90 one day stays, and everything in between. However, all these trips must be made within the overall validity period of 180 days. This validity term holds for the entire trip, meaning that not only must each arrival date fall within this period, but the final departure date must as well.
Apply for Turkey visa

Early expiration of the validity

In all cases, the validity of the Turkey visa expires after 180 days. But this can be shortened in certain situations. This is because you also have to adhere to the requirements set for your passport (or, for certain countries, their identity card). It can occur that the visa is still valid according to the indicated expiration date, but that your passport is valid for less than six months. In that case, you are no longer allowed to travel into Turkey with your visa. You will have to file for a new passport, and then use that passport to apply for a new visa before you can travel to Turkey again.

Take note: Certain countries can travel to Turkey with their ID card. However, if you applied for your Turkey visa with your passport, and your passport isn’t valid for the required length of time but your ID card is, you cannot travel to Turkey with this visa. Your ID card will not be accepted as a form of identification, only your passport.

What if your Turkey visa has expired?

If the 180-day validity period of your visa has run out, then the validity expires immediately. Likewise, if you stayed in Turkey for more than 90 days, the validity expires as well. Still want to travel to Turkey again or stay in Turkey for a longer period? Read the page on the expiration and extension of the Turkish visa.

Check for yourself if your visa is still valid

Before you travel to Turkey, it is wise to check if your e-visa is still valid. This can be easily seen on the visa itself; look for the box marked red in the example below.

Check the validity of the visa for yourself