What Rights Arise After Obtaining a Residence Permit?

On obtaining a residence permit, a foreigner gains the lawful right to be in Turkey for the term of the permit, but not all the rights that are usually expected. The rights of a foreigner with a residence permit in Turkey are described in Law No. 6458: it determines how to extend the permit, whom one may bring into the country, how the period of residence is counted and when the right of residence is lost. Below is gathered what the law directly says, and it is shown what a residence permit does not give.

The material is for information and does not replace advice from a lawyer. The amounts of fees, lists of documents and conditions of individual types of residence permit are determined by secondary acts and the migration service’s website.

Where the law is published

Law No. 6458 was adopted on 4 April 2013 and published in the Official Gazette on 11 April 2013 under No. 28615: mevzuat.gov.tr. Applications for a residence permit are filed through e-İkamet, and the rules are posted by the Presidency of Migration Management.

The right to stay lawfully for the term of the permit

A residence permit is issued for a term and for a particular purpose, and under Article 23 the term is set at no less than sixty days shorter than the validity of the passport. For a short-term residence permit, Article 31 allows a term of up to two years at a time. The permit is issued to each person separately and in accordance with the purpose of the stay.

The right to extend the permit and stay until a decision

Article 24 allows a residence permit to be extended. The application for extension is filed sixty days before the end of the term and in any case before it expires. The applicant is issued a document free of charge, and until a decision is made the person may stay in the country on the basis of that document, even if the term of the permit has already ended.

“Bu yabancılar, ikamet izni süreleri sona ermiş olsa dahi haklarında karar verilinceye kadar bu belgeyle Türkiye’de ikamet edebilir” (Article 24). Those who have applied for an extension may stay in Turkey on the document issued, even if the term of the permit has ended, until a decision is made.

The right to bring a family to Turkey

Article 34 allows a family residence permit to be issued to the spouse, as well as to the minor and dependent children of a person with a residence permit, for no more than three years at a time and no longer than the residence permit of the person who “supports” them. The conditions for the sponsor are set out in Article 35: an income of at least the minimum wage for the family and at least a third of the minimum wage for each family member, housing meeting sanitary norms and health insurance for all, a certificate of no conviction for crimes against the family in the last five years, residence in Turkey on a residence permit for at least a year, and registration in the address system. A family residence permit gives a child under eighteen the right to study in primary and secondary school without a student residence permit (Article 34, paragraph 4).

If the residence permit was issued for work, research or on the grounds named in Article 35, the condition of one year of residence does not apply. If the foreigner is married to a citizen of Turkey, they are also exempt from this condition. Divorce and the death of the “supporting” person are also provided for: after three years on a family residence permit in marriage to a citizen of Turkey, on divorce one can obtain a short-term residence permit, and on the death of the sponsor a short-term permit is issued without this term (Article 34).

How the period of residence is counted

The term of a residence permit matters for the transition to a long-term permit and for citizenship. Article 28 of Law No. 6458 says that a stay outside Turkey of more than six months a year or more than one year in total over the last five years is considered an interruption of residence, except in cases of compulsory state service, study and health. After an interruption the earlier periods are not counted. When calculating continuous residence, student residence permits are counted at half, the others in full.

“Bir yılda toplam altı ayı geçen veya son beş yıl içinde toplam bir yılı aşan Türkiye dışında kalışlar ikamette kesinti sayılır” (Article 28). A stay outside Turkey of more than six months in a year or more than a year in the last five years is considered an interruption of residence.

The right to change the ground

Article 29 says that if the ground for a residence permit has ended or another has arisen, the foreigner may ask for a residence permit for the new purpose. Article 22 lists the cases in which applications may be filed directly with the directorate, for example when the ground changes, and on a transfer from a family to a short-term permit. The procedure for transitions is set by the regulation. If you are a property owner, the ground is described in point “b” of Article 31 (more in the article on Law No. 6458).

What a residence permit does not give

• The right to work. A residence permit does not replace a work permit: working without a permit is among the grounds for deportation (Article 54), and the conditions of the permit are determined by Law No. 6735. Article 27 says only the reverse: a valid work permit is considered a residence permit.
• The right to vote and to serve in the civil service. These rights belong to citizens (Constitution, Articles 67 and 70). Some public rights the law directly does not give even to holders of a long-term residence permit (Article 44).
• Citizenship. A residence permit does not give a right to citizenship, but the period of lawful residence on it is taken into account when applying (Law No. 5901, Article 15).
• The right to buy property outside the list. The list of countries is determined by the President (Law No. 2644, Article 35), and a residence permit does not change it.

Associations and other rights

Foreign natural persons who have the right to reside in Turkey may form associations and join those already formed (Civil Code, Article 93). Banks, medicine and renting will be covered in separate articles of the list.

When a residence permit is lost

In a refusal or cancellation, family ties, length of residence and the interests of a child must be taken into account (Article 25), and the decision is served on the foreigner or a lawyer with an explanation of how to appeal it. Article 54 names breaching the term of a residence permit by more than ten days without a valid reason, and the cancellation of a residence permit, among the grounds for deportation. More on deportation in the article on Law No. 6458. We cover the rights of holders of a long-term residence permit in article No. 14, and rights without a residence permit in article No. 11.

Conclusion

A residence permit gives the right to stay lawfully in Turkey for the term of the permit, to extend it and stay until a decision, to bring a family and send children to school, to change the ground and to accumulate time for long-term status. It does not replace a work permit, gives no electoral rights and does not cancel the list of countries for buying property. Read the other questions of this section on the page “Laws of Turkey”.

The material does not replace advice from a lawyer. The information was checked against the text of Law No. 6458 as of 21 October 2026.

Photo: Zeynel Cebeci (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons; photos of the complexes are used with the site owner’s consent.