Within one month of a student’s arrival in Türkiye, international students must obtain a residence permit. To obtain a residence permit, students need the following documents:

• Online application form E-ikamet
• Health Insurance
• Passport copy with an arrival stamp on it
• Original student certificate
• Forms obtained from the International Programs Office
• Tax number from the Tax Office in Türkiye with an official receipt

Under the current Directorate of Migration Management regulations, all students who are in Turkey for educational purposes are required to obtain a residence permit, even if they hold a visa or are exempt from a visa.

• After submitting your online application form, you will be eligible to receive a Letter of acceptance if you are accepted to our university.  With this letter of acceptance, you must apply to the Turkish Embassy to obtain a Student Visa.
• Countries with visa exemption to Türkiye do not need to obtain a student visa.
• Please inform the university before applying for visa to the Turkish Embassy so university can follow up your visa process.

• Equivalency Papar (Denklik Belge) can be attained from Turkish Education Attache at your country’s Turkish Embassy / Consulate.
• If you dont have Education Attache at your country then you can also obtain this paper from Istanbul – Türkiye

e-Denklik (MEB)

To obtain a residence permit card in Türkiye, all students are required to have at least one year of health insurance. To receive a residence permit for a longer period, it is recommended that the health insurance be issued for two years or longer.

Istanbul Card is a contactless smartcard designed to be used on the vehicles of Istanbul. You can use this card on every public transportation. We recommend you get one of these cards to ease your travels and pay less. To get the student transportation card you need;

• 1 Passport Size Photo
• Student Certificate: You can obtain this document from the Student Affairs Office, the International Students Office or through OIS.
• Card Fee (165 TL)
• For your card requests in the Student category, if you are applying for the first time or due to loss, you can apply for an online card via the link https://bireysel.istanbulkart.istanbul/

• You can also apply in person to the nearest Istanbulkart Application Center. If your Istanbulkart in the discounted category has malfunctioned and is out of use, you must apply to our Istanbulkart Application Centers with the defective card for renewal.

• You can visit https://www.istanbulkart.istanbul/kartlarimiz link or contact ALO 153

White Desk for information about card purchase conditions and required documents.

Banks throughout the country offer full foreign currency and TL services; you can process your banking transactions via the Internet or use the telephone banking option. You will need the following documents:

• Student certificate
• Passport and Turkish Residence Permit

We highly recommend choosing banks that have branches in many regions, allow easy international money transfers, and offer user-friendly banking apps, such as VakıfBank, Garanti BBVA, Akbank, Yapı Kredi, and Türkiye İş Bankası.

After receiving your residence permit cardyou can buy a SIM card from different agents such as Türktelekom,Turkcell, Vodafone, etc. A temporary prepaid SIM card can also be provided using your passport, but for more suitable call plans, monthly or yearly subscription packages are more economical once you have obtained your residence permit

It is a lot more convenient to use a local SIM card than use the SIM card that you are using in your home country. Here there is something that you need to know. Turkish law requires all mobile phones that operate through a local SIM card to be registered.

If you put a Turkish sim card to your foreign phone in 6 month they will block your phone for usage of Turkish sim cards. You will be excluded from the network as an “unregistered” phone. When it is excluded, it can be difficult and/or time-consuming to have it reactivated on a Turkish network.

How to register your phone: You must enter your 15-digit IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number on e-Devlet and pay the associated tax of 1,200 USD.

If you do not want to pay this fee, you can purchase an affordable mobile phone sold in Turkey and use your local SIM card in that phone. 

To use most online government services on e-Devlet (turkiye.gov.tr), you need a password (“e-Devlet şifresi”). Foreign residents can obtain one if they meet certain conditions:

• You must have a Foreign Identification Number (Yabancı Kimlik Numarası) – usually given when you get your residence permit.
• You must have a valid residence permit card or proof of legal stay.

• Visit a PTT (Turkish Post Office) branch in Turkey with:
  • Your passport
  • Your residence permit card

Ask the staff for an “e-Devlet şifresi” (e-Government password). Pay a small fee
(around 1USD). You will get a temporary password (in an envelope or via SMS).

• Visit to www.turkiye.gov.tr and log in using our foreign ID number
• The temporary password (You’ll be asked to change the password after your first login.)

Notes: You usually need a Turkish mobile number to receive confirmation codes. Without a valid residence permit or foreign ID number, you cannot get a full e-Devlet password.

After receiving a visa refusal, the student must submit a refund request within three months. Refund requests that are not submitted within this three-month period will not be considered by the university. Visa refusal refunds are processed in January each year.