What Rights and Restrictions Apply to Foreigners With a Long-Term Residence Permit?
In short: the long-term residence permit, rights and restrictions
✅ Allowed
- Obtain an indefinite residence permit after 8 years of uninterrupted residence on a residence permit or on the ministry’s conditions (Law No. 6458, Articles 42 and 43).
- Enjoy the rights granted to citizens, with reservations (Article 44).
- Keep the accumulated time if departures do not exceed 6 months a year and a year in 5 years (Article 28).
- Appeal a refusal, cancellation and non-extension: the decision is served with an explanation of the procedure (Article 25).
⛔ Not allowed
- Vote, be elected, work in the civil service, import a car duty-free (Article 44).
- Stay abroad for more than a year in a row without reasons of health, study or compulsory service: the permit will be cancelled (Article 45).
- Count on the President not restricting the rights: he may restrict them partly or fully (Article 44, paragraph 2).
- Refugees, persons with subsidiary protection, a humanitarian permit and temporary protection cannot switch to long-term status (Article 42).
This is a short summary of the text of the law. Details, quotations of articles and links to the official texts are below. The visa-free stay depends on your citizenship, and amounts and lists of countries are set by secondary acts, so check them on the date of your decision.
The long-term residence permit is the highest status of a foreigner before citizenship: it is issued without a time limit and gives rights close to those of citizens. The rights and restrictions of a long-term residence permit in Turkey are described in Articles 42–45 of Law No. 6458. Below the law is explained in plain language: who can obtain it, what it gives, what it does not give and when it is cancelled.
The material is for information and does not replace advice from a lawyer. Additional conditions are determined by the ministry, and the President may restrict the rights of holders of a long-term residence permit.
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 are filed through e-İkamet, and the rules are posted by the Presidency of Migration Management.
Who can obtain a long-term residence permit
Article 42 says that to foreigners who have stayed in Turkey without interruption on a residence permit for at least eight years, or who meet the conditions determined by the ministry, the governorate (valilik), in agreement with the ministry, issues an indefinite residence permit. Article 43 lists the conditions for the transfer to it.
- at least eight years of uninterrupted residence on a residence permit;
- no social assistance in the last three years;
- sufficient and regular income for oneself and the family;
- valid health insurance;
- no threat to public order or security.
For those to whom the long-term residence permit is issued on the ministry’s conditions, the other conditions apart from the absence of a threat are not required (Article 43, paragraph 2). Refugees, conditional refugees and persons with subsidiary protection, recipients of a humanitarian residence permit and those granted temporary protection are not given the right to move to long-term status (Article 42, paragraph 2).
How the eight-year period is counted
Article 28 says that a stay outside Turkey of more than six months in a year or more than one year in total over the last five years is considered an interruption of residence, except for compulsory state service, study and health. After an interruption the earlier periods are not counted. In the calculation, student residence permits are counted at half, the others in full. So long departures can reset the accumulated time.
Rights of holders of a long-term residence permit
Article 44 gives them the rights enjoyed by citizens of Turkey, with exceptions.
“Uzun dönem ikamet izni bulunan yabancılar … Türk vatandaşlarına tanınan haklardan yararlanırlar” (Article 44). Foreigners with a long-term residence permit enjoy the rights granted to citizens of Turkey, with reservations.
The reservations are named directly in the law. They do not extend to the military obligation, electoral rights, the civil service and the duty-free import of a car. Social security rights are kept on general grounds and are subject to the relevant legislation. The President may restrict these rights partly or fully. This means that the real scope of the rights has to be checked against current decisions, and not from the text of Article 44 in isolation.
Restrictions and obligations
- No political rights. One cannot vote, be elected or work in the civil service (Article 44; for citizens these rights are fixed in the Constitution, Articles 67, 70, 76).
- No military obligation, but no right to “civil” privileges either. Exemption from the military obligation does not make a person a citizen.
- The President’s restriction. The President may restrict the rights listed in Article 44 (paragraph 2).
- Conditions for keeping it. A long absence may cost the residence permit (see below).
When the long-term residence permit is cancelled
Article 45 names two cases: the foreigner seriously threatens public order or security; the foreigner is outside Turkey for more than a year in a row for reasons not connected with health, study or compulsory state service in their own country. If the permit is cancelled on the second ground, the procedure for applying again is determined by the regulation. Any refusal, cancellation or non-extension is served on the foreigner or a lawyer with an explanation of how to appeal, and family ties, length of residence and the interests of a child must be taken into account when making the decision (Article 25).
The long-term residence permit and citizenship
A long-term residence permit does not give citizenship automatically. The general route under Article 11 of Law No. 5901 requires five years of uninterrupted lawful residence, knowledge of Turkish and an income, and the period of residence on a residence permit is counted. So if you have been in Turkey on a residence permit long enough, two prospects open: long-term status under Article 42 and citizenship under Article 11. Read more about the general routes in the article on Law No. 5901, and about the rights under other statuses in the articles No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13.
Practical steps
- Keep a calendar of departures: under Article 28, interruptions can reset the accumulated time.
- Keep proof of income and valid health insurance.
- Watch the extension: the application is filed 60 days before the end of the term, but before it expires (Article 24).
- Check whether there are restrictions introduced by Presidential decisions.
- Show the documents to a lawyer who works in migration law.
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Conclusion
A long-term residence permit gives indefinite residence and rights close to those of citizens, but it does not give electoral rights, the right to the civil service and a number of others. It can be lost on a threat to security or on absence from the country for more than a year in a row without a valid reason. 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: Dosseman (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons; photos of the complexes are used with the site owner’s consent.
