Issue · October 2026 · everything a nomad needs, city by city

Nomadzine

The visa · Republic of Türkiye

Republic of Türkiye

Türkiye has run an express Digital Nomad Visa since April 2024, but only for university-educated 21-to-55-year-olds from a list of mostly European and North American countries earning at least USD 3,000 a month. Everyone else relies on the 90-in-180 visa-free or e-Visa stay, or on the short-term residence permit, whose tourism ground has become hard to obtain at first application. The one thing to know before applying is that the digital nomad certificate is only a pre-approval, and the residence card that follows is subject to the same closed-neighbourhood and income checks as any other permit.

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The routes

Researched 11 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice

  1. Nomad visa

    Digital Nomad Visa

    Dijital Göçebe Vizesi / Digital Nomad Visa, issued after a Digital Nomad Identification Certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

    Remote employees and self-employed people with foreign clients who hold one of the listed passports, are aged 21 to 55 and have a university degree.

    Income floor
    USD 3,000 per month, or USD 36,000 per year, evidenced by an employment or client contract and bank statements, as stated on the official GoTürkiye application page.
    Duration
    The official page states no validity. Wise's guide, updated August 2025, reports one year with the possibility of a one-year extension; the visa is followed by a short-term residence permit application in Türkiye.
    Cost
    The Digital Nomad Identification Certificate is free. Visa fees are charged by the consulate or visa centre and vary by nationality; Wise reported GBP 644 for British applicants through the Voya visa centre, including mandatory travel insurance. Residence permit fees in Türkiye then apply (see the short-term permit route).
    Processing
    No statutory time is published. Wise reports four to six weeks after submission; other 2025 guides cite one to four weeks, so the figure is disputed between sources.
    Eligibility
    Nationals of the countries listed on the official page (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus); aged 21 to 55; university graduate; employed by a company outside Türkiye or self-employed with non-Turkish clients; passport valid at least six months from arrival.
    Work rights
    Remote work for a foreign employer or foreign clients only; the official page excludes contracts with Turkish companies, and local employment needs a work permit under separate law.
    Dependants
    Not covered on the official page. Wise reports that family members apply separately for their own dependent or residence visas subject to the usual conditions.
    Leads to
    No direct path. Time on residence permits counts toward the long-term residence permit after eight years of uninterrupted residence; citizenship is governed separately.
    Apply
    Online pre-application on the GoTürkiye digital nomad platform for the certificate, then in person at a Turkish consulate or authorised visa centre abroad; the residence permit is then applied for through the e-İkamet portal in Türkiye.

    Documents Passport valid at least six months from the arrival date · University degree or diploma certificate · Employment contract with a foreign employer, or self-employment contract with clients that are not Turkish companies · Biometric photograph · Proof of monthly income of at least USD 3,000, such as bank statements · Digital Nomad Identification Certificate issued by the pre-application platform, presented at the consulate or visa centre

    Official page →

  2. Temporary stay

    Short-term residence permit (tourism, property and other grounds)

    Kısa Dönem İkamet İzni / Short-Term Residence Permit, Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection

    Anyone wishing to stay beyond the visa-free or e-Visa period, including nomads outside the 34-country list, on grounds such as tourism, owning property, research, language study or medical treatment.

    Income floor
    No fixed figure in the law. Türkiye Today reported in June 2025 that renewal applicants must show monthly income of at least 1.5 times the net minimum wage (about TL 33,156 per adult at that date) transferred from abroad into a Turkish bank account for three consecutive months; in November 2025 it reported one-year permits going to applicants showing three times the minimum wage.
    Duration
    Issued for a maximum of two years each time under the law; in practice tourist-ground permits are reported as usually granted for up to six months, with one year for stronger cases. Renewable.
    Cost
    For 2026, document (card) fee TRY 964 (Official Gazette No. 33117, 24 December 2025). Standard-group harç: TRY 348.10 per day for the first month, capped between TRY 653.70 and TRY 3,359.90, then TRY 2,232.30 per month (Official Gazette No. 33124, 31 December 2025), which works out at roughly TRY 27,900 for a one-year permit. Rates differ by country group; nationals of Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Kosovo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, Northern Cyprus and Palestine are exempt. A widely reported 1 May 2026 nine-fold increase was denied by the Presidency of Migration Management on 30 April 2026, which attributed the higher on-screen figures to a system error.
    Processing
    No statutory figure published. Applications are made online within the legal stay and the applicant may remain while the file is under evaluation.
    Eligibility
    Passport valid at least 60 days beyond the permit period; health insurance covering the permit period; a purpose of stay accepted by the provincial migration directorate; an address in a neighbourhood not closed under the 20 per cent foreigner quota. Tourism-ground first applications are reported as refused in the large majority of cases since 2025 unless itinerary and means are substantiated.
    Work rights
    A residence permit does not confer the right to work in Türkiye; local employment requires a work permit under Law No. 6735. Remote work for foreign employers on this permit is not expressly addressed in published rules.
    Dependants
    Spouses and children apply for a family residence permit, issued for up to three years at a time and never longer than the sponsor's permit.
    Leads to
    Eight years of uninterrupted residence, with sufficient stable income, valid health insurance and no social assistance in the previous three years, qualifies for the long-term residence permit.
    Apply
    Online via the e-İkamet portal of the Presidency of Migration Management, then an appointment at the provincial migration directorate; first applications must be lodged while the visa or visa-free stay is still valid.

    Documents Passport and copy, valid 60 days beyond the requested permit · e-İkamet application form and appointment · Four biometric photographs · Health insurance covering the requested period · Proof of accommodation, such as a notarised lease or property deed · Proof of financial means, in practice bank statements showing transfers from abroad · Fee and document-fee receipts

    Official page →

  3. Residence

    Long-term residence permit

    Uzun Dönem İkamet İzni / Long-Term Residence Permit

    Foreigners who have already lived in Türkiye for eight uninterrupted years on residence permits.

    Income floor
    Sufficient and stable income to support oneself and any family; no published figure.
    Duration
    Indefinite.
    Cost
    Document fee TRY 964 in 2026; harç as per the annual tariff.
    Processing
    Not published.
    Eligibility
    At least eight years of continuous residence in Türkiye, no social assistance received in the past three years, sufficient and stable income, valid medical insurance.
    Work rights
    Does not itself authorise local employment; a work permit is still required.
    Dependants
    Family members apply separately for family residence permits.
    Leads to
    Indefinite residence; naturalisation is governed by separate citizenship law and is not automatic.
    Apply
    e-İkamet portal and the provincial migration directorate.

    Documents Proof of eight years of uninterrupted residence · Evidence of stable income · Valid health insurance · Passport and biometric photographs

    Official page →

Without a visa, by passport

The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated

  • EU / EEA / SwitzerlandVisa-exempt for 90 days in any 180-day period for ordinary passport holders (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland all listed as exempt by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)Remote work on a visa-free stay is not addressed in published rules; practitioners describe it as a grey area and any local employment needs a work permit. Most EU and EEA nationals qualify for the Digital Nomad Visa instead.
  • United KingdomVisa-exempt for touristic purposes, 90 days in any 180-day periodNot addressed in published rules; described as grey by practitioners. British nationals are on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • United StatesVisa-exempt, 90 days in any 180-day periodNot addressed in published rules; described as grey by practitioners. US nationals are on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • CanadaVisa-exempt, 90 days in any 180-day periodNot addressed in published rules; described as grey by practitioners. Canadian nationals are on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • AustraliaVisa-exempt for touristic visits and transit, 90 days in any 180-day periodNot addressed in published rules; grey in practice. Australians are not on the Digital Nomad Visa list and would need a short-term residence permit to stay longer.
  • IndiaVisa required; an e-Visa is available only to holders of a valid Schengen, US, UK or Irish visa or residence permit, otherwise a consular visaNot addressed in published rules; grey in practice. Indian nationals are not on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • BrazilVisa-exempt for up to 90 daysNot addressed in published rules; grey in practice. Brazilians are not on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • South AfricaVisa required; one-month single-entry e-Visa online, or a three-month multiple-entry visa from a consulateNot addressed in published rules; grey in practice. Not on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • JapanVisa-exempt for up to 90 daysNot addressed in published rules; grey in practice. Not on the Digital Nomad Visa list.
  • RussiaVisa-exempt for touristic and business travel up to 60 daysNot addressed in published rules; Russian nationals are on the Digital Nomad Visa list and are reported by Türkiye Today to face strict scrutiny on tourist residence permits.
  • UkraineVisa-exempt for up to 90 daysUkrainians are on the Digital Nomad Visa list and, per Türkiye Today in June 2025, receive more lenient tourist-permit treatment, with permits of up to two years when renting a whole residence.

Tax

When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer

Residency trigger
Under Articles 3 to 5 of Income Tax Law No. 193 a person is a full taxpayer on worldwide income if settled in Türkiye (legal domicile) or present continuously for more than six months in a calendar year; temporary absences do not interrupt the count. Article 5 excludes people in Türkiye for a specific and temporary assignment, a narrow carve-out assessed case by case. Non-residents are taxed only on Turkish-source income.
Special regime
No nomad-specific regime. Two general provisions matter: Article 23/14 exempts wages paid in foreign currency by an employer with no legal seat or business in Türkiye, for genuine employment, paid from abroad; and the service-export deduction for contractors selling software, design, engineering and similar services exclusively to non-residents, historically 80 per cent of qualifying income, which one Istanbul law firm reports was raised to 100 per cent for 2026 by Presidential Decree 11257 (other 2026 guides still cite 80 per cent, so the rate is disputed). Progressive rates reach 40 per cent under Article 103.
Social security
Employees of foreign companies are not automatically enrolled in Turkish social security (SGK); a coverage gap is common. Bilateral social security agreements allow certificates of coverage from partner countries, voluntary insurance under Law No. 5510 is possible, and private health insurance is required in any case for residence permits.
Treaties
Türkiye has an extensive treaty network. For a resident remote worker the practical effect is that the other state must give relief, not that Turkish tax disappears; a tax residence certificate (mukimlik belgesi) from the Revenue Administration is used to claim treaty benefits abroad.

Practicalities

Phone and SIM
A foreign phone works on Turkish networks for 120 days per year without registration; after that its IMEI is blocked unless registered at a PTT post office with the passport. The 2026 registration fee is TRY 54,258 (about USD 1,263), set from 1 January 2026 after the presidential revaluation rate of 18.95 per cent; some outlets quote TRY 57,241 based on the earlier 25.49 per cent rate, so the figure is disputed. Travel eSIMs are not affected.
Health insurance
Residence permit applicants must hold insurance covering the whole requested permit period; the permit cannot be granted for longer than the cover.
Address and closed neighbourhoods
A permit address must be in a neighbourhood not closed under the 20 per cent foreigner quota. Law-firm compilations count 1,169 closed neighbourhoods in 2025, with whole districts such as Fatih and Esenyurt in Istanbul closed to new tourist-permit applicants.
Overstay penalties
Fines are set administratively at exit and, as reported by Turkish law firms, run at about USD 50 for the first month plus USD 10 per further month, converted to lira, plus the TRY 964 document fee and a visa fee if entry was visa-free. Reported entry bans: none for up to three months if paid on voluntary departure, one month for three to six months, three months for six months to a year, one year for one to two years, two years for two to three years, five years beyond that. Someone who leaves without paying may settle within ten days at a Turkish consulate to have the ban lifted.
Banking and money flows
Banks and the Revenue Administration scrutinise regular or large foreign income landing in Turkish accounts. Tourist-permit renewals are reported to require three consecutive months of transfers from foreign accounts into a Turkish account, so a local account is effectively needed for that route.
Tax certificates
The Revenue Administration issues a tax residence certificate (mukimlik belgesi) to residents who need to claim treaty relief in another country.

Türkiye for remote workers: a nomad visa for 34 nationalities, a tightening tourist permit for everyone else

Where remote workers base and why

Istanbul, Antalya and Izmir remain the main bases, with the Mediterranean coast favoured for winter stays and Istanbul for connections and coworking. The pull is cost of living priced in lira, direct flights across Europe, the Gulf and Asia, and a 90-day visa-free entry for most European, North American and many other passports.

The counterweight is the residence system. The 20 per cent neighbourhood quota has closed entire districts of Istanbul and parts of Antalya to new registrations, and the tourism ground for a short-term permit, once a routine extension, is now the hardest route in the country. Nomads who qualify for the Digital Nomad Visa bypass the worst of this because they arrive with a purpose the migration directorate recognises.

What applicants report about the process

The Digital Nomad Visa runs in two stages. The online certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is free and typically quick, but it guarantees neither the visa nor entry nor the later residence permit. The consular stage costs whatever that consulate charges, reported at GBP 644 for British applicants including compulsory insurance, and takes weeks rather than days; one guide says four to six weeks, others one to four, so timing is disputed.

For the short-term permit, Turkish-language and English reporting from mid-2025 onward describes tourist-ground first applications being refused unless the file shows a substantiated itinerary and funds, and renewals being tied to bank-verified foreign transfers of at least 1.5 times the net minimum wage per adult. A November 2025 report pushed back on the idea that tourist permits are refused categorically, noting six-month grants are common when the tourism purpose is documented. Whichever is true in a given province, applicants should expect to prove means rather than declare them.

Banking and daily money

Fee arithmetic changed the economics in 2026. A standard-group national pays about TRY 27,900 in harç plus the TRY 964 card fee for a one-year permit, before insurance, so the late-April reports of a nine-fold rise were less a new tariff than the first time many applicants saw the annual total on screen. The Presidency of Migration Management denied any change on 30 April 2026.

The phone rule bites nomads harder than tourists: a foreign handset stops working on Turkish networks after 120 days unless registered for TRY 54,258, so most long-stayers use an eSIM or buy locally. Inbound foreign income into a Turkish bank account is watched by both banks and the tax authority, and anyone present more than six months in a calendar year becomes a full taxpayer on worldwide income unless the temporary-assignment exception applies.

What is changing

The direction of travel is restriction on the tourism ground and encouragement of the nomad route. The Digital Nomad Visa has not been widened beyond its 34 listed nationalities since launch, so Australians, Indians, Brazilians, South Africans and Japanese nationals still have no dedicated permit and must rely on the tightening short-term permit.

Fee tariffs and the IMEI charge are re-set every January by the revaluation rate published in the Official Gazette, so figures quoted here hold for 2026 only. The service-export deduction rate for 2026 is reported differently by different practitioners and should be confirmed against the decree before relying on it.

Researched from goturkiye.com · mfa.gov.tr · en.goc.gov.tr · goc.gov.tr · e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr · turkiyetoday.com · turkiyetoday.com · turkiyetoday.com · hepsiveri.com · wise.com · the authority