Turkish Visa for U.S. Citizens

All US citizens intending to visit Turkey will be requiring a valid Turkish Visa at any Border Control. Earlier, the procedure of acquiring the Turkish Visa necessitated a visit to the national embassy or consulate or obtaining one on arrival at air, land, or seaport. At present, the procedure has evolved a lot to the convenience of all travelers and tourists. Vide the existing procedures, Turkish Visa for the citizen of United States is acquirable without indulging in the traditional stamped and stickered visa through simple and time saving online mechanism. This new convenient system has eased out the travelers manifolds, without getting into long lines of waiting individuals at the immigration offices. This system is called the Turkey eVisa.

The online visa is valid for a stay of visitors up to 3 months including business travelers, tourists, however, the in-transit travelers (United States citizens) who only need to change flights at a Turkish airport for next country of destination need the passport and the ticket for next destination country. However, irrespective of your nationality, you will be asked to provide a valid Turkey Transit Visa in case your mode of crossing Turkey is through road, rail, or sea. In the United States, there is a misperception that Turkey is an EU country, for which they ignore obtaining a Schengen Visa. This creates huge confusion and embarrassment for the Turkish authorities as well the visitors. Therefore, when visiting Turkey and then making entry into EU countries, you must be in possession of a Schengen Visa. In case you are entering Turkey through a cruise ship just for embarkment not exceeding 72 hours, there will be no requirement of having any type of Turkish visa, the only document that will let you stay in Turkey is the United States Passport.

In addition to holding this visa, American citizens must also adhere to the Turkish entry policies including possession of documents related to COVID – 19 safety protocols. Furthermore, all United States travelers are advised to follow the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) which is an Embassy Registration Service. Through this program, one provides his / her details of travel to the US embassy at Turkey to be contacted in case of any emergency back at home or anywhere else. The process is the same as for filling the forms for applying for a Turkish online visa and takes just a couple of additional minutes. 

WHAT DOCUMENTS SHALL A US CITIZEN CARRY FOR OBTAINING A TURKISH VISA?

When anyone from the United States plans to travel to Turkey, he/she would be requiring some documents in hand. Your passport must be valid for the next 150 days from the expected day of arrival in Turkey. You are also bound to provide an email address for establishing any contact and provision of your visa. A valid and active debit or credit card is also necessary for immediate payments required for the visa processing. All the applicants from the United States of America must know that they will be asked to provide the following information when filling the form for a Turkish Visa:-

• Your name and surname.
• Place and date of birth of the applicant/applicants
• Your valid passport number.
• Date of issue and expiry of the passport.
• Email and mobile number.
• Country of origin and expected date of arrival in Turkey.
• Turkish authorities hold the right to ask multiple security questions from the citizens of the United States during filling out the visa form.

HOW MANY DAYS CAN I STAY IN TURKEY ON A SINGLE VISA?

Once you have been provided with a Turkish visa (as a United States Citizen), it is valid for the next 180 days but you can stay in Turkey for 90 days as a tourist, short vacation traveler, or business traveler. In case you intend to make several entries and visits to Turkey on a single visa, you must apply for a multiple entry visa. 

HOW TO GET A TURKISH VISA?

• When planning to apply for a Turkish Visa or, you just need an active internet connection and a laptop, tablet, or a mobile device for filling up the form online. Applying from your comfort zone makes your worries of waiting in lengthy lines shed away.  

• Although a United States Citizen can apply for a Turkish visa any time before arrival, however, chances of facing unforeseen delay may ruin your travel plan. 
• Frequent travelers and agencies always suggest applying for the visa at least 48 hours before the planned flight time so as any necessary delays in the processing of the visa are compensated and your travel plan does not need any unnecessary alteration and adjustments.  
• All the applicants of visas are suggested to avoid booking a flight and hotels before the approval of the visa. There always remains a chance of cancellation of the application by the Turkish Immigration Department for any valid reason, due to which the applicant may lose money.
• After completing the form, you will be asked to pay for the Visa Fee and then to deposit the application. Make sure that the application remains error-free, else you may face delays in the process.
• The applicant will receive an email for confirmation of visa or rejection of the application.
• Turkish Passport Control Office will have a confirmation of your visa in their online records, but to stay safer and avoid any issue it is suggested that the visa received vide email must be kept handy on your mobile or tablet. To stay further safe from delays and impediments, get a printout of the visa to be produced at the immigration counter when entering Turkey. 

Under the ongoing COVID – 19 pandemic situations, all United States Citizens, entering Turkey must meet the existing protocols developed by the Turkish health ministry for travelers. This would include additional documents as per the requirements of authorities and a PCR negative test result for each of the individual members and also the Passenger Locator Form.