Travel to Turkey.... Visa

Wil Ferch · 11-09-2010, 06:17 AM

Guys, I have a call out to the Turkish consulate in US but time is running short.

I'm taking a multiple-country trip soon into Europe and then was planning to hop over to Istanbul from Switzerland, for the weekend. All this in December. Europe is not a problem but Turkey, it seems , requires a Visa. Website says the process thru the consulate in US may take 6 weeks and also requires me to send them my passport ( ! )...which I don't want to relinquiush, and the timing does not work out.

Some have said that as an alternative.... you can buy the visa as you step off the plane and go thru Customs in Turkey. Anyone here care to confirm?

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

I don't have first hand knowledge but since I am going in May, I investigated. From Fodors: Obtaining visa at Ataturk Airport

"Just to clarify the procedure:
You submit your passport with visa fee, which for US passport is US$20. You can only pay in dollar bills (no change given)or in euro (15 euro). You cannot pay in Turkish lira, TC or credit/debit card. Sticker visa is affixed and passport returned. You than go to passport control and obtain an entry stamp."

Ian

Scuba Steve · 11-09-2010, 07:00 AM

I always find it odd when a country won't accept their own currency, but will gladly accept one or two others.

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

And they charge Canadians $60 because of some visa dispute . . .

Ian

Zeke · 11-09-2010, 07:06 AM

You ought to try and ship engine parts to Turkey which I did in a roundabout way. You might as well ship the car and expect it to be impounded for months.

stomachmonkey · 11-09-2010, 07:07 AM

You bringing a female?

Don't let her out by herself especially in the eve.

Jerome Ryals · 11-09-2010, 07:18 AM

What Ian said above is what a couple of friends of mine had to do about three months ago.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I've always had to send my passport off for visas. China, E. Germany and Hungary require(d) it. Totally normal. You can pay for the rush service and there are lots of travel agencies who can expedite it too. I've seen bicycle messengers drop off bagfuls of passports at the Chinese Embassy in DC. Ukraine and Czech Republic gave me visas at the border. Ukraine wanted $50 USD and it had to be USD. That was a lot of fun back in 1991 when they had just broken away from the USSR, but hadn't changed anything yet.

Wil Ferch · 10:06 AM

Question.....would you voluntarily lose possession of your passport via mail....even if nothing goes wrong but maybe ends up a timing crunch....IF.....you can instead do this stepping off the plane?.

So Ian...from your Fodors link....you do this "live" as you go thru pass controls?, and use cash?....probably right at the entering airport? When the "procedure" says... "you submit your passport", I'm assuming submittal is right there to an official who then gives it back to you after payment and stamping?.

Oops...maybe nevermind...as I re-read the Fodor's link posted and it makes this question clear and redundant. Maybe only to ask....the Fodor's dialogue is about 1/2 year old...hope the rules didn't change.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Depends on how you're getting there. If you're flying to a country that requires a visa, they usually require you to have one in your passport before boarding the plane. When I entered Ukraine, the whole place was still in chaos and getting one on the border was the only way, since Ukraine didn't yet have their own embassies and consulates. While the whole thing made for a great story, getting taken off the train by guards with rifles and dogs, while they held the whole train for about 40 min. for just two others and myself, it was a bit of a nailbiter at the time. And I'd rather get denied a visa and told in advance than to find out once I land in country that I have to board the next flight home.

My wife recently had to get a visa for Germany and had to pay for overnight delivery via FedEx to get her passport back.

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil Ferch

So Ian...from your Foddors link....you do this "live" as you go thru pass controls?, and use cash?....probably right at the entering airport? When the "procedure" says... "you submit your passport", I'm assuming submittal is right there to an official who then gives it back to you after payment and stamping?.

Yes. From other threads on Fodors, you walk off the plane & head toward a sign that says 'Visa'. You pay cash & they put a sticker in it & you head to immigration. Make sure you have blank pages in your passport.

Ian

gtc · gtc's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil Ferch

Some have said that as an alternative.... you can buy the visa as you step off the plane and go thru Customs in Turkey. Anyone here care to confirm?

This is what we did when I went to Turkey a few years ago... I guess it would have been Dec. 2005.

Very easy... you just get off the plane and walk up to a kiosk and buy a visa for something like 5 or 10 bucks.

Its a good time of year to go, by the way, not many tourists.

pwd72s · 11-09-2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milt

You ought to try and ship engine parts to Turkey which I did in a roundabout way. You might as well ship the car and expect it to be impounded for months.

Yep...Evren & Ruki had to pull strings to get my old car out of Customs. Even then it took months. Luckily, Ruki is skilled at doing that through family connections. Her grandma was married to Attaturk.

hcariss · hcariss's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtc

This is what we did when I went to Turkey a few years ago... I guess it would have been Dec. 2005.

Very easy... you just get off the plane and walk up to a kiosk and buy a visa for something like 5 or 10 bucks.

Its a good time of year to go, by the way, not many tourists.

I'm in Istanbul for work right now and it was $20 but that was for my UK Passport. I think that its also $20 for US passport. It's very easy to buy.

One tip: The line to Passport control can be very long, try to get off the plane as quickly as you can and make tracks for the Visa office which is next to the Passport control

Erakad · Erakad's Garage

As all said, you buy after you get off the plane...don't stress, you'll do just fine. Always gives me angst as well to surrender a passport to a foreign nation to do as they care. I know, unfounded concerns I'm sure, but I still favor those that give the "plane-side" visas.

pwd72s · 11-09-2010, 11:37 AM

Let us all know how it worked out, okay Will? My only trip to Turkey, I arrived by private sailboat...all was handled in the Marmaris harbormaster's office in a few minutes, aided by a "gift" of coffee.

Wil Ferch · 11-09-2010, 12:24 PM

I thank you all......I'll try to buy as I land. The process to mail my passport doesn't sit well with me ( seasoned traveler that I am), and the short time-line before departure nails it....as long as there is indeed a process to do this while "de-planing".

I'll report back. For giggles, my itinerary is to fly into Hamburg, Germany morning of Dec 3, visit friends/business partners there.....take a long train ride to Basel, Switzerland, stay there for a week until Friday, Dec 10, fly into Turkey Friday night..... meet up with new friend/possible business client that evening and all Saturday, Stay overnight....fly back to Basel on Sunday, stay overnight, fly back to States Monday morning Dec 13.....

Whew !....

Wil Ferch · 12:38 PM

I since found this on the net...although written in 2008, I believe. Notice embedded links requird to be opened--->

How to Get a Turkish Visa at the Istanbul Ataturk (Atatürk) Airport?

http://www.letsgoistanbul.com/before.htm

Wil Ferch · 12-15-2010, 06:32 AM

Update and follow-up.

As promised, I am reporting back my experiences after having taken my trip. No problem....walk off the incoming plane and head straight for the Visa kiosk right next to Customs counter. Pay with US cash. The only oddity was that they then place a sticky-style stamp ( like a large postage stamp) in your passport page where you normally expect a rubber-stamp to be done. This postage-stamp is the purchased visa and shows the amount paid ( $20 for US). They are then adament for you to "not request a receipt !!"...( as prominantly posted on the kiosk window)...as this stamp does double-duty as a receipt too. Makes reconciling corporate expense accounts a bit tricky, but still do-able.

Altogether....no issues.

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

Thanks for the update, Will. How was Istanbul?

Ian