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Turkey’s immigration system — residence permits, work permits, deportation, entry bans and citizenship — is governed primarily by the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (No. 6458) and the Turkish Citizenship Law (No. 5901), applied by the Presidency of Migration Management, the Ministry of Labour and the administrative courts. Our office in Bakırköy, Istanbul advises and represents foreign nationals across this entire field, in English, whether they are in Turkey or abroad.
Residence Permits
We handle first applications, renewals and transitions between permit types: short-term permits based on tourism, property ownership or business ties; family permits; student permits; and long-term residence after eight years of lawful stay. Refusals are increasingly common in Istanbul, often for documentation or neighbourhood-quota reasons, and each refusal letter states a ground that determines the right response — a corrected fresh application, or an annulment action before the administrative court within sixty days. We also advise on the consequences of overstays and on regularising status after a gap.
Work Permits
Work permit files run between the employer, the Ministry of Labour and — for applicants abroad — the Turkish consulate. We prepare and follow applications for employees, advise employers on the eligibility criteria they must satisfy, and challenge refusals before the administrative courts. For company owners and senior managers we structure the application around the company’s own standing, and for domestic workers and other special categories we apply the sector-specific rules.
Deportation, Administrative Detention and Entry Bans
Removal (deport) decisions, administrative detention in removal centres and entry bans are the most urgent files in this practice. The deadlines are severe: an annulment action against a removal decision must be filed within seven days. We obtain the file through official channels, file the annulment action — which suspends removal in most cases — and object to administrative detention before the criminal judgeship of peace. For clients already abroad, we identify the restriction code behind an entry refusal and pursue the ban’s annulment or a special-permission visa as appropriate. A detailed overview is available in our guide to deportation, detention and entry bans in Turkey.
Turkish Citizenship
We represent clients in citizenship through marriage (after three years of genuine marriage), general naturalisation based on residence, and exceptional citizenship including the investment routes, as well as in proceedings following a refusal. Citizenship files are examined closely — interviews, home visits and security checks are standard — and applications succeed on preparation: consistent records, complete documentation and a lawful residence history. Where an application has been refused, an administrative court action is often available and worth assessing.
International Protection
For clients within the international protection system we advise on applications, negative status decisions and the interaction between protection status and removal proceedings, including objections and court applications with suspensive effect.
Why Work With an Immigration Lawyer in Istanbul
Migration files are administrative files: they are won on deadlines, documentation and knowing how the authorities actually apply the rules, which shifts far more often than the legislation itself. We follow the current practice of the Istanbul offices daily, act under power of attorney for clients abroad, and coordinate with our Family and Divorce Law practice where residence rights depend on marriage, and with Real Estate Law where they depend on property. You can reach us by phone or WhatsApp for an initial assessment of your situation and the realistic options.
Who applies for the work permit — the employee or the employer?
For a foreigner already legally in Turkey, the application is filed by the employer through the Ministry of Labour's online system. If you are abroad, you first apply at a Turkish consulate and your employer completes the domestic leg within the following days. The work permit also counts as a residence permit for its duration.
What types of residence permit exist in Turkey?
The main categories are short-term (including tourism, property ownership and business), family, student, long-term (after eight years of uninterrupted lawful residence) and humanitarian residence permits. Each has its own documentation and renewal rules, and time spent on some permits does not count towards others — a detail that matters for long-term residence and citizenship planning.
My residence permit application was rejected. What can I do?
A rejection can be challenged before the administrative courts within sixty days of notification. In many cases it is also possible to correct the underlying deficiency — insurance, address registration, financial documentation — and file a fresh application. Which route is better depends on the ground of refusal and your visa status after the rejection.
How long do I have to appeal a deportation decision?
An annulment action against a removal decision must be filed with the administrative court within seven days of notification. Filing the action automatically suspends the removal until the court decides, except in narrowly defined public order and security cases. Because the period is so short, immediate legal help is critical.
Can a person held in a removal centre be released?
Administrative detention is reviewed on objection by the criminal judgeship of peace, and continued detention must be justified monthly. An objection supported by concrete circumstances — lawful residence prospects, fixed address, family ties — frequently results in release, sometimes with alternative obligations such as reporting duties.
When can I apply for Turkish citizenship through marriage?
After three years of marriage to a Turkish citizen you may apply, provided the marriage is genuine and subsisting, you live in family unity, and there is no conduct incompatible with the application. The authorities interview both spouses and examine the family's actual living situation.
I found out I have an entry ban to Turkey. Can it be lifted?
Entry bans are recorded with restriction codes and vary in duration and effect. Depending on the code and the underlying reason, a ban may be challenged before the administrative courts or, in some cases, overcome through a visa issued with special permission. The first step is identifying the exact code and its legal basis — we do this through official channels before advising on strategy.
Do you handle cases for clients who are outside Turkey?
Yes. With a power of attorney issued at a Turkish consulate or notarised and apostilled abroad, we conduct court cases, permit applications and citizenship files while you remain abroad, and report to you in English at each stage.
In the office or by video, we listen to your situation and review your documents.
We set out in writing which action to file, the estimated timeline and cost items.
Filings, hearings and evidence are followed by a single lawyer.
You hear from us on every development by WhatsApp or e-mail.