Job Discussion Forums

[teacher07]

if applying for a tourist rp can u apply at any police station?? i am currently in istanbul but the next appointment isnt until june. im heading to izmir for a break in a few weeks and was wwondering if i could apply there?

thanks in advance

[Qaaolchoura]

There's no such thing as a "tourist residency permit." There's a residency permit, and the only difference between getting one with a work permit or a tourist visa is that in the latter case you have to show you have money in the bank.

Izmir is very easy to get a residency permit. Though it took me two days to get documents together (because I was running around and got a late start), once I handed everything in, I got the little blue book in a week. To get the RP you will need:

* Two forms. You can get them somewhere on online, or at the office in Konak.

* Five passport-sized photos. The photo shops seem to have trouble with this, so I showed them the form.

* A statement from a Turkish bank showing that you have at least 2500 dollars. A money order might work, as will opening a bank account. I changed money, since when trying to open a bank account at the place I picked up the money order, they wouldn't let me and I left in a huff and forgot about it. Unless you're an old Englishman and an obvious retiree, you need to have the money for real, and the transaction needs to come from the a Turkish bank. The doviz can be bribed while the bank can't. I heard the guy who processes the permits telling an old man to do exactly that, but when I tried, he made me do it for real. I think they assume young people will be working illegally and do it for the sake of form, or they just don't like Americans. Not sure which was the deciding factor.

* A statement of where you'll be living for a year. You can ask the hotel to make a statement saying that you've paid to stay at the hotel for the whole year. Mine had no trouble with that.

* 400 lira for the blue book and permit (you won't need quite that much, but bring it with you).

* At least three hours to spend and a lot of patience.

Regards,
~Q