Staying in Turkey after the semester

If you wish to stay in Turkey after your period of studies, please be careful about your legal status. Plan ahead and arrange for the proper documents so that your stay is legal.

The Student Residence Permit

The Student Residence Permit is dependent on active enrollment at Boğaziçi University. As soon as the semester is officially over, you have ten days to leave the country.  If you miss this 10-day deadline for application, even if only by a few days, you will face a fine when you exit the country and will be subject to a travel ban preventing you from re-entering Turkey for a period between three months and five years.

Summer Study

If you plan to attend the Boğaziçi Summer Session, you will need to extend your Student Residence Permit. The best way to learn what the protocol for this is to contact the Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of Migration Services, as the procedures will depend on what country you are from and what type of visa you originally entered the country with. You will need to apply for the extension in person, at the Migration Services Office in Fatih.

Tourism, Unpaid Internship, or Unpaid Work

You will need to exit the country, and re-enter with a 90-day tourist visa.

Work 

To be legally employed in Turkey requires that your prospective employer apply for a permit to hire a non-TC national. The employer must be able to prove that you can do work that a TC-national can't do. To obtain a work visa can take months.

Questions about your Residence Permit?

Call "157," the hotline of the Ministry of the Interior, Directorate of Migration Management, with any question about the immigration regulations of the Republic of Turkey. Many languages available.