Okay, let’s go straight to the point.
Not everyone is eligible to apply for a Turkish e-visa. It is only available to those who have a valid visa or residence permit from the United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, or any Schengen country.
If you’re not holding a valid visa from any of the mentioned countries, I’m afraid you will have to apply for a sticker visa at the Turkish Embassy. Unfortunately, I can’t be of much help regarding that because I didn’t get to experience it. All I know is that the application begins by filling out this form: Turkey Visa Application Form.
If you’re holding a valid US/UK/Ireland/Schengen visa or residence permit, read on. Here are the steps to get a visa completely online!
The process is the same for all these nationalities including Filipinos, although they might be a few changes in the prerequisites and duration of validity so please pay attention to details during your application.
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK), Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
1. Visit Turkey’s E-Visa Application Website.
The address is: www.evisa.gov.tr/en/.
Once it loads, enter your country, passport type, and security verification code.
2. Enter your travel date.
Your travel date must be within the next 3 months. You won’t be able to choose a date beyond that.
If you’re traveling over three months from now, you will have to wait until your travel date becomes clickable.
The validity of the e-visa will also be displayed. For example, in my case, since I’m holding a Philippine passport, my visa will be valid for 6 months (180 days), which means I can enter Turkey anytime within that period. Not to be confused with the allowed “length of stay”, which is only 30 days. Again, that means I can enter Turkey within the next 6 months, but once I do, I can only remain there not longer than 30 days.
3. Make sure you meet all the requirements.
The next page will display the list of prerequisites. You must meet ALL these requirements and be able to present them on your day of travel. Do not lie. Even if you’re granted an e-visa now, they may still deny you entry if you miss any of the following.
- You have a valid passport that covers your travel period. (In PH case, your passport must also have at least 6-month validity.)
- A return ticket.
- Hotel reservation.
- Funds of at least USD 50 per day of your stay in Turkey.
- Valid supporting document. This may be a valid visa or residence permit from the US, UK, Ireland, or any Schengen country. In case I haven’t emphasized it enough, the visa has to be valid. It must also be in physical sticker form, not electronic. E-visas, even if they’re valid, will not be accepted. You will be showing it when you enter the country.
You won’t be submitting the return ticket or hotel reservation online or at any point during your application. You will be presenting these (and the supporting document) to the Immigration Officers at the airport upon entering the country.
E-visas are available for tourism and business purposes only.
4. Complete the Application Form.
On the next page, fill out the short form with your personal details. It is important that you enter information exactly as they appear on your passport.
In case the info on your passport doesn’t match that on your e-visa, the e-visa will be considered void, so be very careful in typing your details.
When you click Save and Continue, you will be asked to verify the info you entered. Make sure you double check that the details are exactly as they are on your passport.
Click Verify.
5. Check Your Email.
You should receive an email asking you to verify your application. Click Approve.
If you don’t receive an email, check your Spam or Junk folder.
6. Make payment.
When you click Approve on your email, you will be taken to the payment page. Fill out the short form and pay.
The price of the visa is USD 20, payable using MasterCard, Visa, or UnionPay credit card.
7. Download your e-Visa.
Once the transaction is completed, you will be taken to a page that will tell you that the process is over and that the e-visa is ready for download. Click Download your E-Visa and you’ll get a PDF file. Print it out and voila! There’s your e-visa. The same file will be emailed to you separately.
The visa looks like this:
When I used it, the first thing the Immigration Officer asked me was if I was a Seafarer. I answered no, then he asked for my passport and supporting visa. Since my supporting visa was in my old, previous passport (which I always bring with me), I had to hand him that one too. He also checked my onward ticket — I was flying to Morocco next — looked at it very briefly, asked how long I would be staying in Turkey, and let me through. No other questions.
That’s it! Enjoy your stay in Turkey!
Note: When I visited Turkey in 2016, I was able to get a Turkish e-visa using my Japan visa and the application was smooth as butter. Back then, they accepted any visa from OECD countries. However: It’s no longer the case. I guess they narrowed down the list of accepted supporting visas recently. Too bad!
Last updated: 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ • 5️⃣ • 1️⃣5️⃣
More Tips on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Is this post helpful to you?
