Turkish passport

Turkish passport
Turkish passport
	The front cover of a current Turkish biometric passport
Type	Passport
Issued by	Turkey
First issued	1 June 2010 (biometric passport)
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility	Turkish citizenship

Turkish Passports are issued in accordance with the Passport Act (No. 5682) from 15 July 1950^[1] to Turkish citizens to travel abroad. Citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) are also eligible to apply for a Turkish Passport if they wish to, as well as the TRNC passport or the Republic of Cyprus EU passport.

Passports are issued by the Turkish Police (or by the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Nicosia for Turkish Cypriots) and applications are filed at police stations which have a passport office. Passports issued since 1 June 2010 are biometric and valid for up to 10 years (5 years for special passports).

Ranked in the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index, a Turkish Passport placed 51st in 2016.^[2]

Types

Ordinary passport (Template:Lang-tr), after 2010 also referred to as Maroon Passport (Template:Lang-tr). It is issued to^[3] Turkish citizens who don't qualify for any of the following passport types.

Special passport (Template:Lang-tr), also referred to as the Green Passport (Template:Lang-tr) allows the bearer to travel visa-free to some countries.^[4] As opposed to the regular passport, it is exempt from the passport fee and is only subject to the booklet fee (TRY87.5 [c. USD30] as of 2015^[update]).^[5] It is issued to;^[6]
- Former members of the National Assembly
- First, Second or Third grade public servants.
- Retired First, Second or Third grade public servants.
- Mayors
- The spouse of special passport holders
- Unwed and unemployed children of special passport holders who live with their parents until they turn 25.
Service passport (Template:Lang-tr), also referred to as the Grey Passport (Template:Lang-tr). It is issued to;^[7]
- People who do not qualify for the Special or diplomatic passports, however, are assigned to travel abroad for official and/or government related purposes.
- National athletes
- Turkish citizens working for International organizations of which Turkey is a member
- Employees of the Red Crescent
- Employees of the Turkish Aeronautical Association
- Spouse of the service passport holders
- Unwed and unemployed children of the service passport holders who live with parents, until they turn 25.
Diplomatic passport (Template:Lang-tr), after 2010 also referred to as Black Passport (Template:Lang-tr). It is issued to;^[8]
- Members of the National Assembly, and the non-PM ministers
- Head judges of the judicial organs, and their deputies
- Diplomats
- Negotiators that are to deal with international issues
- Spouse of the diplomatic passport holders. However, this passport can only be used when accompanying the primary passport holder.
- Unwed and unemployed daughters, and sons younger than 18 years of age of the diplomatic passport holders who live with parents. However, this passport can only be used when accompanying the primary passport holder.

Biometric passports

Turkish Biometric passports (Template:Lang-tr), compatible with the new ICAO standards, have been available since 1 June 2010.^[9] Applications for the new passports can be submitted online through the government's website [2].^[10] Passports are then sent via mail.

The biometric passports have different colour covers; regular passports in maroon and diplomatic passports in black, in compliance with ICAO standards.^[11]

Fees

A Turkish passport has been one of the most expensive passports in the world for many years. As a result of increasing public demands, the cost of ordinary passports was almost halved in June 2010. Despite the massive reduction, the Turkish passport remains the most expensive passport in the world.^[12] The passport law was then amended to increase the maximum validity of a passport from 5 to 10 years. It currently costs TRY620.60 (c. USD215) for a 10-year passport, including the compulsory booklet fee. ^[13] In addition to the expensive passport prices, the Turkish state charges TRY15 (c. USD5) from Turkish passport holders (excluding ship and aircraft crew, those who live abroad and those with dual citizenship) every single time they leave Turkey.

Visa requirements for Turkish citizens

Holders of an ordinary Turkish passport may travel without a visa, or with a visa received upon arrival, to 100 countries, as of 2014 according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

On 29 September 2011, the EU Commissioner of Interior Affairs, Cecilia Malmström indicated that the visa requirement for the Schengen area will eventually be discontinued. Visa liberalization will be in several phases. These will include the reduction of visa paperwork, more multi-entry visas, and extended stay periods.