Visas Requirements for Transfers in Istanbul
Last updated: May 8, 2018
Even if you’re a seasoned pro, the world of visas can be a daunting one. What might be true for a citizen of one country might not be true for a citizen of another and the issues surrounding them can seem endless: Different kinds of visits require different visas—whether or not you need a visa depends on whether you plan on leaving the airport—airlines may not tell you when you need one, etc., etc., etc. It’s enough to make you want to stay home! Here, the members of Trippy.com tackle the question of whether or not a visa is required to make a transfer at the Istanbul airport. While the general consensus here is no, they do not, always be sure to check the government websites of the country to which you are flying just in case there have been any changes!
Do I need a visa if I’m landing in Istanbul and don’t plan to leave the airport?
It sounds funny, but whether or not you leave the airport is one of the deciding factors in whether or not you need a visa. It will also depend on your own nationality. Here, some of our members sort out whether you will or won’t need one:
“As long as you stay in the transit area of the airport you do not need any visa. But if you have more than six or so hours to wait for the connecting flight you could consider to make an extremely short but nevertheless fascinating visit of one of the most interesting places in the world. The Turkish visa (which costs you about 15 USD) is just a sticker which you get immediately after paying into your passport. It is not a regular visa procedure but just a way to get money, the Turkish visa is maybe the easiest in the world, you have not even to complete any application forms, just to pay and to enter Turkey.”
“The question is a legitimate one. Although most countries allow visa-free transfers if the passenger remains "airside", i.e. does not pass through immigration, in some cases a visa is required, usually for political or security reasons. I seem to recall, for example, that the UK Government recently announced that Algerian passport holders would require a visa to change aircraft at a British airport.”
“It is better to call the embassy but anyway you may require a transit visa which costs 10$ or €. not like regular visa which costs for US citizens 100$.”
“I want to travel from Multan Punjab, Pakistan to Amsterdam, Netherlands but I like to stay Istanbul for two nights. May I can avail visa facility at Istanbul, Turkey airport?”
“That depends on your nationality. Most citizens of "civilized" countries get the visa at the airport after a few seconds for a modest fee (around 20 USD or so). But tell them that you want to stay in Istanbul for a few days. If you already have a valid Schengen visa (which you need for Amsterdam, unless you are EU-citizen or citizen of a few other countries as USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Israel) you will not meet any trouble at all.”
“I'm a Pakistani passport holder and I'm having a layover in Istanbul while travelling to Toronto. Do I need a visa for this brief 1.30hr stopover?”
“You will only be in transit at the airport and will not be passing through immigration so no transit visa is necessary.”
“As suggested above, if you are flying through the same airline, or even if this is one single ticket with multiple airlines, you will not need a visa, unless you wish to go outside the airport, which does not make sense anyways for this tight layover.”
“That is correct. You only need a visa if you present your passport at passport control to leave international airside for a domestic flight or to exit the airport. Signage will direct you from your arrival plane to your transit plane without going outside.”
“I am travelling from Sweden to India on visa on arrival. I have a layover time of 3 hours in Istanbul, Turkey. Will I need a transit visa. I will have to board a different flight in Istanbul to India.”
“If you remain Airside, there is no visa required. Otherwise Swedish passport holders have Turkish Visa exemption.”
“The answer is NO...”
Of course, you might need to move from one airport to another within Istanbul and that can present a whole host of issues:
“I am arriving Istanbul as transit passenger & using two airports, one is Istanbul Ata Turk Airport & 2nd is Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen (SAW). My next/connecting/transit flight is from a different airport, i.e Sabiha Gokcen (SAW), DO I NEED VISA? as Technically I would be leaving the ONE airport & stepping outside - on main Turkish soil.”
“If you need visa for entering Turkey you cannot move from one Istanbul airport to another without a Turkish visa. Most probably you can get this visa right at the airport of arrival. All international Turkish airports have visa counters in the arrival area before you reach the passport control. At these counters you can get your visa immediately. You give them your passport and they give you the visa within a few seconds after you have paid the visa fee which is different for different nationalities. The exact fee (in USD or EUR) for different nationalities is shown on a board at the counter. The visa is nothing more than a small sticker in your passport. The procedure I describe here is for tourists who stay for holidays in Turkey. Maybe transit visa are issued the same way. And maybe there are different fees for them. But it seems that not all nationals can get the visa upon arrival. Check that with the Turkish Embassy (website) in your home country.”
And then there’s the issue of whether or not you have to collect your luggage before your connecting flight:
“A visa for a US citizen, even a transit visa, is 100 not 15 which will keep me from seeing this fascinating place. I have heard of others who DID require a visa to change planes at Istanbul, in order to go out of the international area in order to claim their luggage, then check it in again for the next flight. I am flying Turkish Airlines for both legs of my trip...I'm wondering whether luggage automatically gets loaded into the connecting flight, so you don't have to go to luggage claim. That seems like it may be a key question. Has anyone actually been through this scenario?”
“My last change at Istanbul airport was between two Turkish Airline flights Almaty, Kazakhstan - Istanbul to Istanbul - Vienna. Did always stay in the transit area and had not to care about my luggage.”
“Whenever you check-in your luggage from USA, you should EXCLUSIVELY mention that you would like your luggage to go DIRECTLY to your destination and you DO NOT want to pick it up from Istanbul. In most of the cases of ''Connecting flight (less than 4 hours – I strongly think) it is DEFAULT but I dunno the policy of Turkish Airlines, so, if u will mention this I am 95% sure that your luggage will go to your destination. May be your friends had more hours between their flights, or they wanted to have their luggage exclusively, or might be their second airline was different.”
“I had a two-way flight with Turkish Airlines, going from Tehran to Prague with connection in Istanbul: 1. In the way for going, I spend 6 hours at airport, but outside of transit section, with no visa! and they didn't give me my luggage, so it was carried directly to Prague (while it was automatically and I had no request myself) 2. In return way, it was more than 1 day to stay in Istanbul, so I went to visit that great city, no visa was required at all. I also got my luggage with no claim and request. 3. For visa issue, please consider that my nationality is Iranian.”
The Wonderful World of E-visas:
It depends on where you’re going but certain countries are now issuing what’s called an “e-visa”. Needless to say, this has opened a totally different can of worms for those trying to figure out the visa situation. Here, our members try to sort it out as much as possible.
Will take a layover tour for just three hours, do I need a visa for that?
“Visa requirements for all countries vary by citizenship. However, assuming you are a US citizen then yes, you do need a visa to enter Turkey (the length of your layover is irrelevant). The system has changed and you now get an evisa, which works in the same way as the ESTa which some citizenships require for entry to the USA. Go to the official evisa website: https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ Complete your application, pay the fee (20USD..the site accepts Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay) and you'll be emailed an evisa document. Although the data will be held on the electronic systems used by border control officers imo it's a good idea to print out a copy and take it with you. I've just done my evisa and found the process both easy and efficient. Don't leave it too late though. Make sure you get your evisa at least 2 days before you arrive. And make sure you don't make any mistakes in the application because if you do it can't be corrected. You'll need to make and pay for another evisa. You can still get a visa on arrival if you prefer (it's not been fully phased out yet) but an evisa is quick, easy and ...most importantly...means you won't have to join the potentially very long visa-on-arrival queue!”
Arriving by Land
Whether you arrive by land or air you’ll need to have your paperwork in order when you arrive. While the paperwork may be the same, the experience may not. Here’s what to expect if you arrive by land:
“I wonder if anyone has actually arrived by land recently - I have a hard time imagining that they are very strict at borders like say the Georgian one, where buses and minivans ply constantly. They will of course check the passports, but I really doubt if they are up to date with the evisas. Has anyone experienced this?”
“I'm pretty sure they're all set up for e-visas with computers now. After all there only 20 open road border crossings into Turkey (12 of them from Iran, Iraq and Syria - although they might have closed a few more of the Syrian ones by now). Probably the same with seaports.”
“Make sure you have a printed copy of your e-visa.”
“20USD is the same, or less than, you'll pay if you want a visa on arrival: mfa.gov.tr/data/KONSOLOSLUK/... 20USD is only aournd 15 euro/13GBP. I'm pretty tight with money but that seems pretty good value for a 90-day visa.”
“The evisa site is a good one - when I was there 2 years ago I didn’t need a visa if using my NZ passport and it still shows as exempt from needing a visa. There are a few countries that are exempt. Certainly the site makes it very easy to get info and to get a visa if needed.”
