UPDATE ON E-VISAS/ MARCH 2014
Following an international briefing from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday 27 th March, we are now in a position to inform you of the methods which will be available to obtain a visa to enter Turkey as a tourist or business visitor in the coming months. The MFA anticipate stopping the visa on arrival system at some point after the 2014 tourist season but no date has yet been formally agreed. They have stated that until further notice there will be both e-Visa and visa on arrival procedures available during this transition period. Updates to the e-Visa system The Directorate of Information Technologies gave a presentation at the meeting on updates to the e-Visa system which will further improve the application process. These include the introduction of ‘Family’ and ‘Group’ applications which will allow up to 10 people travelling together to apply under the family e-Visa application and up to 100 people (e.g. tour groups, large wedding parties etc.) to apply under the group application. These application types will require only one bulk payment at the end of the process. These will be available on the system as early as next week. The MFA have also acted on customer feedback to introduce the use of debit cards as a payment method. They are currently negotiating with the Ministry of Finance to get the necessary agreement to add these to the system, hopefully by mid April. The cost of e-Visa remains at 20 US Dollars. Once an e-Visa has been issued it must be printed out and kept safe to be shown to Immigration officers on arrival in Turkey. If, however visitors arrive without the paper copy they should have little problem on entry as the information from the approved visa application is sent instantly to the port of entry systems. The MFA do stress that it ishighly advisable to carry a paper copy of the visa, or that an electronic copy on a smart phone or other device be available to show to the Immigration Officer as proof in case of problems with the computer systems. If a visitor arrives without having purchased an e-Visa: At Istanbul airport only there will be 3 options: WiFi areas to be introduced in the arrivals areas for customers to apply for e-Visa on their own smart devices. Self service kiosks (similar to the self service check in machines) for customers to use to apply for the e-Visa. 3 machines are being delivered next week with more to follow. The old sticker on arrival visa counters will remain but the cost of purchasing on arrival will now be £20 payable in Sterling cash (there will be new stickers displaying the new cost). At all other airports in Turkey there will be only the one option: The old sticker on arrival visa counters will remain but the cost of purchasing on arrival will now be £20 payable in Sterling cash (there will be new stickers displaying the new cost). The cost of the visa on arrival has been increased in order to encourage all visitors to purchase the e-Visa online before they travel in preparation for the move to e-Visa only later in the year. Although other options are in place, we advise all British nationals to obtain an e-Visa prior to arrival in Turkey to avoid any unnecessary delays.