Do you need a visa?
A visa or a visa exemption never covers more than 90 days. To study, you then need a student residence permit.
| Your passport | To enter |
|---|---|
| Turkish passport | No visa, no permit. If you went to secondary school in Türkiye or Northern Cyprus, you enter university through the national YKS exam.YÖK — Yükseköğretime giriş |
| Any other passport | The official Study in Türkiye portal, run by YÖK (the Council of Higher Education), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ask for a study visa from a Turkish consulate. You must use it within 6 months of issue; the consulate has 90 days at most to decide.Study in Türkiye (YÖK) — Visa and residence; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye — General information about Turkish visas; Göç İdaresi — Vize sıkça sorulan sorular |
| Passport eligible for the e-Visa | The e-Visa is for tourism or business only. To study, you go through the consulate.Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye — Visa information for foreigners |
Whatever your passport, staying more than 90 days requires a residence permit. Apply for it within the time your visa or exemption covers.
Mevzuat — Kanun 6458, Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu
Not verified
The official pages disagree for a student whose passport is visa-exempt: the YÖK portal and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs speak of a study visa from a consulate, while the Presidency of Migration Management and the regulation let you apply for the student permit in Türkiye after entering without a visa. Check with the Turkish consulate for your passport. No up-to-date official page gives the price of a study visa.
The student residence permit
You apply online on e-İkamet, once your pre-registration at the university is done.
- Residence card
- TL 964
- Göç İdaresi — Belge bedeli ve harç miktarı (2026)
- since 1 January 2026 (TL 810 in 2025); no nationality is exempt
- Residence duty (harç)
- none
- Göç İdaresi — İkamet sıkça sorulan sorular
- for a student enrolled at a Turkish institution
Not verified
The number of biometric photos: two on the document list, four in the migration office’s questions and answers. Bring what your e-İkamet appointment asks for. The length of the first permit for a bachelor’s is not published.
Getting a place
There is no national platform: you apply directly to the university you choose, and it makes the selection.
- Secondary school outside Türkiye
- Direct application to the university
- YÖK — Yükseköğretime giriş
- with the TR-YÖS, the SAT, the Abitur, the International Baccalaureate or the exam the university sets
- Secondary school in Türkiye, whatever your nationality
- National YKS exam
- YÖK — Yükseköğretime giriş
- since 2026; embassy schools and a few programmes excepted
Not verified
The 2027 TR-YÖS calendar, an official count of English-taught programmes and the number of international students in Türkiye appear on no official page read. YÖK’s rules mention a financial guarantee when you apply, with no amount.
The Türkiye Bursları scholarship
The Turkish government scholarship. It is open to students of every nationality, except Turkish citizens and people who lost Turkish citizenship, and it places you in a university and a department.
- 2026 applications
- 10 January 2026 to 20 February 2026
- Türkiye Bursları — 2026 applications
- a single window, for every country
What it pays: tuition, a year of Turkish lessons, health insurance, a flight to Türkiye and a flight home after you graduate, and the monthly stipend. Housing too: in a bachelor’s, a dormitory for the whole degree; in a master’s or a PhD, a dormitory the first year, then a housing allowance to rent.
Source: Türkiye Bursları — What the scholarship covers; Türkiye Bursları — Full-time programmes
| Who can apply | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Associate degree and bachelor’s | Under 21, at least 70% average (90% for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy).Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes |
| Master’s | Under 30, at least 75% average. No master’s or PhD scholarship is awarded in health sciences.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes; Türkiye Bursları — Full-time programmes |
| PhD | Under 35, at least 75% average. A research proposal and a written sample of your research go with the application.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes; Türkiye Bursları — Application in 5 steps |
| Research scholarship (short stays) | For researchers and academics, under 50.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes |
| Your degree | You have graduated, or you graduate at the end of the current academic year, before August.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes |
| Your nationality | Every country is eligible. Turkish citizens and former Turkish citizens cannot apply.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes |
| Already in a Turkish university | Not eligible for the level you are currently enrolled in.Türkiye Bursları — Scholarship programmes |
A Merit scholarship pays a stipend twice as high. It asks for a weighted average of at least 90% and the exam scores the Presidency sets for each level; the official page lists them.
Source: Türkiye Bursları — Full-time programmes; Türkiye Bursları — What the scholarship covers
In 2025, the scholarship received 125,668 applications from 171 countries.
Not verified
The housing allowance for master’s and PhD scholars is printed twice on the official pages, with two different amounts: none is given here.
How to apply to Türkiye Bursları
One portal, once a year, 5 steps: the Türkiye Scholarships Application System (TBBS). The window is the same for every country.
The 5 steps on the official portal
- Create your personal account
- Upload your documents
- List your universities and programmes
- Write your letter of intent
- Check and approve
Whatever the language of your programme, a scholar without a C1 certificate in Turkish follows a 1-year Turkish course and must earn the C1 certificate by the end of that academic year.
Not verified
The call for 2027 is not published: no official opening or closing date exists yet. The official calendar prints months with no year, and the programmes page calls the January to February window yearly, so the 2026 window is the benchmark, not a promise. For the results, the calendar says early August, with no exact day.
Be told when the call opens
The call for 2027 is not published. Leave your email and we write to you once, when the official call appears.
Noted. We write to you once, when the call opens.
From place to permit
- Get your place
- Get your visa
- Pre-register at the university
- Pay for the card and file your documents
- Get the decision
- Ask for public health insurance
- Renew
Not verified
No official page read says how long before the start of term you can apply for the visa or the permit.
A sample plan before you buy
A bachelor’s student starting in September 2027, with a passport other than Turkish, arriving on 1 September 2027 with a visa or an exemption covering 90 days.
- By 30 November 2027 at the latestPay for the card and file your documentsCounted from the official ruleGöç İdaresi — e-İkamet, öğrenci ikamet izni başvurusu
The 7 other steps of this route follow in order, with no date set in advance.
The follow-up adds:
- the rest of your destination’s fiche and, for each service the process requires, direct links to the local companies that provide it;
- the dates of your steps, published by the official source or worked out for your passport, your level and your start date;
- an email reminder 30 days and 7 days before each date that falls during your access;
- an alert when a rule for your destination changes: before, after, effective date, official source;
- your plan in your calendar, and steps you can tick off.
€24 for 30 days, in one payment: nothing renews.
Automated service, with no adviser: the dates are worked out from the official rules.
Tuition fees
At a public university, the State sets a minimum for students admitted from abroad: twice what a student costs per year. Each university then sets its price, with no maximum.
- Medicine
- TL 230,870
- Resmî Gazete — Karar 11625, katkı payları ve öğrenim ücretleri 2026-2027
- minimum per year; cost per student: TL 115,435
Not verified
The real price of each programme at public universities and the range at foundation universities are not published nationally. The list of countries whose students pay the single cost, not double, under an agreement with YÖK was not found.
Health
| Your situation | Your cover |
|---|---|
| You ask for public insurance (GSS) within 3 months | Turkish social security covers you. Premium: about TL 1,321.20 a month in 2026. The whole year is paid within a month of your GSS registration.Mevzuat — Kanun 5510, Sosyal Sigortalar ve Genel Sağlık Sigortası Kanunu; SGK — Prime esas kazanç miktarları 2026 |
Not verified
When the 3 months start: the current law counts from the start of the academic year, the regulation and the social security pages from your first registration. Counting from your first registration is the safest. How many months are paid in advance for a year is not stated.
Working while you study
| Your level | Work allowed |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s or associate degree | With a work permit, after your first year of study, part-time.Mevzuat — Kanun 6735, Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu; Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı — Çalışma izni değerlendirme kriterleri |
| Master’s or PhD | With a work permit, from the start.Mevzuat — Kanun 6735, Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu |
| Compulsory internship in your programme | No work permit needed.Study in Türkiye (YÖK) — Work opportunities |
Your student residence permit does not give you the right to work: you need a separate work permit.
Study in Türkiye (YÖK) — Work opportunities; Mevzuat — Kanun 6735, Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu
Not verified
The 24-hour weekly cap often quoted appears in no official text read: the law only says part-time.
Bringing your family
Your student permit only lets you bring your spouse and your children. Your parents and other relatives get no right from it.
Source: Göç İdaresi — İkamet izni çeşitleri; Mevzuat — Kanun 6458, Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu
Not verified
Whether a scholarship or money sent by relatives counts as income: no official page read says.
The companies and registers for your file
For each need of your file: the official rule, the register that lists the approved providers, and the companies that serve students.
After your degree
Your student permit ends on the day you graduate. You have 10 days to apply for a new permit.
- Permit after the degree
- 1 year
- Göç İdaresi — İkamet izni çeşitleri
- once, if you apply within 6 months of graduating
- Work permit
- apply within a year of graduating
- Mevzuat — Kanun 6735, Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu
- assessed under rules set for graduates