Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Hi, I drove into Turkey in 2014 with my van and left after 2 month. Now it's 2016 and I intend to drive into Turkey at Ipsala in mid Feb in my car.

I understand that as of October 2015 you can now keep your car in Turkey for two years. I am entering on a tourist visa which I will extend to a short term residency visa on arrival in Fethiye. I contacted the automobile club to confirm this and they did, kind of. I have attached copy of email they sent me. Basically, if the border staff know the rules then we should be OK.

Any ideas?
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2016-02-04-10-44-21.jpg
    Screenshot_2016-02-04-10-44-21.jpg
    7.7 KB · Views: 71

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
So did I until last month. I intend to stay until mid October with two 10 day trips out of the country for business so around 9 months in total. I will keep you posted when I get to the border and see what happens.

Fingers crossed.

Would love to hear if anyone has driven over recently and had the two year allowance
 

REDDERS

senior member
Taking car into Turkey
Yes you can bring a vehicle in for up to two years,you will need to buy Turkish Traffic Sigorta at the Turkish border as you enter.
If you intend to travel,that will be ok,providing you don't intend to take your vehicle with you,as due to the temporary import rules,you may not be able to bring it back in,as when taken out of Turkey it cannot be returned for 6 months...
 
Taking car into Turkey
Yes you can bring a vehicle in for up to two years,you will need to buy Turkish Traffic Sigorta at the Turkish border as you enter.
If you intend to travel,that will be ok,providing you don't intend to take your vehicle with you,as due to the temporary import rules,you may not be able to bring it back in,as when taken out of Turkey it cannot be returned for 6 months...

You have me worried now lol. I usually drive to Turkey twice per year - usually for about 8-10 weeks each trip. I have been doing this for 5 years now and using the same car. This seems to conflict with the rules referred to in this thread although we have never been questioned or stopped or fined? Are these rules new and if so should I be alternating the cars I use to enter Turkey?
 

SLEEPY

Member
Taking car into Turkey
http://www.turkishliving.com/forums/cars-motoring-turkey/80912-bringing-car-turkey.html

Sp I do not think Redders information is 100% correct( Redders what's your source ?) , after my own discussion with customs I was not aware of any restrictions until you had used the initial 2 years.Then and only then would the car not be able to reenter for six months .
An additional two years will subseqently be granted if neither the car or owner have entered in the the aforementioned 6 months.

Abzlad let us know how you get on, safe travel
 
Last edited:

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
I cross in 10 days time in my car with two cats. Will post what was said and happened. I will ask the border staff questions about re-entry etc...
 
Taking car into Turkey
http://www.turkishliving.com/forums/cars-motoring-turkey/80912-bringing-car-turkey.html

Sp I do not think Redders information is 100% correct( Redders what's your source ?) , after my own discussion with customs I was not aware of any restrictions until you had used the initial 2 years.Then and only then would the car not be able to reenter for six months .
An additional two years will subseqently be granted if neither the car or owner have entered in the the aforementioned 6 months.

Abzlad let us know how you get on, safe travel

Sleepy- is that 2 years cumulative (eg 12 x 2 month stays) OR one 2 year non exit block stay in Turkey?
 
Last edited:

SLEEPY

Member
Taking car into Turkey
My understanding is that it's cumulative though what I am not sure about is whether it's the owner or the car.For example,you and your car enter on the 1st of March but you fly out of Turkey on the first of June for a month (the car stays in Turkey,which no longer needs to be parked at a customs bonded facility )is the 2 year clock on the car or your passport entry/ exit.
Nothing simple here !
 
Taking car into Turkey
My understanding is that it's cumulative though what I am not sure about is whether it's the owner or the car.For example,you and your car enter on the 1st of March but you fly out of Turkey on the first of June for a month (the car stays in Turkey,which no longer needs to be parked at a customs bonded facility )is the 2 year clock on the car or your passport entry/ exit.
Nothing simple here !

I have been told so many things over the years re what I can do and what I can't re entry with car. I have come to Turkey a total of 15 return journeys Glasgow - Akbuk in the past 9 years using 3 different vehicles ( total weeks = 120 +). So far so good and no problems re cars. Out again in April so we will see what's what.
 

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Well just crossed into Turkey with car. Easy enough, purchased insurance for 250lira then straight in. I asked about how long the vehicle can stay and they said, surprise surprise "6 months" the only thing different is when I came in my van in 2014, they date stamped a date into my passport that my vehicle must leave by. They did not do this, this time around. Just a normal entrance stamp that you would get at the airport. I said is it not two years and they looked like they kind of knew but just said take it up with people in Turkey. Whatever that means. I will ask again when I am in Fethiye.

I entered on a normal 90 day visa, don't know if that what the problem. I will get a 12 month residential visa in Fethiye and see what changes.

I will keep you posted
 

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Also on entry, they did not even check my car or luggage in any way. They simply "asked", luggage OK? To which I said yes then off I went. This left me a little concerned as I am English with Arab heritage. Bin Mohamed in my passport, unfortunately. You'd think with all the ISIS stuff going on and people seeking over their to fight they might have decided to search my car. Luckily they did not as the bazooka, mortar, machine guns, anti tank missels and many many drugs would have been discovered. Joking of course, or am I ;)
 

Spurs

Spurs
Taking car into Turkey
Never get any of this grief if you have a Turkish plated car.............Has anyone ever looked into how long you bring one into the UK for & how long it must stay out before it can come back?
 

suzyq

Member
Taking car into Turkey
. Temporary imports

You can usually use a vehicle with non-UK number plates without needing to tax or register it in the UK if all of the following apply:

you’re visiting and don’t plan to live here
you only use the vehicle up to 6 months in a 12-month period (one single visit, or several shorter visits adding up to a 6-month period)
the vehicle is registered and taxed in its home country
You must tax and register your vehicle in the UK if you become a resident or your stay is longer than 6 months.

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports
 

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Bringing car into turkey update:

OK so let's recap quickly. I crossed into Turkey around 12th February 2016 in my UK registered car on a tourist visa. I had not been in Turkey for over a year. This car had never been into Turkey.

I crossed at Ipsala. They informed me at the border the car can stay a maximum of six months. The car information and leave by date were NOT stamped into my passport like when I came over in 2014 in a van. I thought that was odd.

I applied for a one year residency visa in March 2016. First time applications can only be for one year maximum.

I plan to leave for China for 8 days in April so went to the Fethiye customs near the harbour as I didn't want to get all the way to Istanbul and they ask where is my car?While there in Fethiye customs they discovered a problem/irregularity.

I looked at the Turkish Customs website

It states a foreign car can come into Turkey for a maximum of two years or the length of the Visa. Maximum 730 days

My problem was that my tourist visa meant my car could stay until mid August (180days) according to his computer when checking my vehicle registration as nothing was in my passport, but I had to leave within 90 days as per my tourist visa. The very helpful customs guy was confused by this asking how can my car stay longer than me? Why he was asking me, God only knows as I don't make the rules. The car should have been logged to leave after 90 days, same as my tourist visa.

So after we understood the Customs irregularity this is what I discovered. My one year residency visa expires in March 2017. He said when I come back from China (I leave in two days) come back to the Customs office and they will extend my car visa(let's call it that) to match my residency visa. So effectively my car will be in Turkey for a year if I so wanted. He also stamped that into my passport.

It is actually leaving with me late September to return in January, before my residency visa expires and making sure I do not spend more than 120 days out of Turkey in one stint as that automatically cancels my residency visa making bringing the car back a problem.

So if you come to Turkey with a residency visa for one or two years. The car can stay the length of your visa up to a maximum of 730 days in one stint.

As for the car being out of Turkey for 180 days before you begin this process, Who knows. I think I've done my bit lol.

Anyway, when I return from China, I will let you know what happened. Hope this clears some stuff up

Car does not have to go to bonded warehouse as before. If you want it, it can be and those days will be added to car visa but still not beyond your residency visa.

This could all change though of course

[/URL]
 
Last edited:

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Another quick update:

So went to China via Dalaman-Istanbul-China

Took the paperwork from Fethiye customs regarding leaving my English car in Fethiye at my house while away for 8 days. The car had now been stamped into my passport the previous week before I left in Fethiye as mentioned earlier. In Istanbul, nobody mentioned it, not Police or immigration. Did not see any Customs. Nobody mentioned anything on my return either. Paperwork was never taken out of its plastic pouch at any point although I was ready.

I am not saying you should not have it. It is a free service. It was just in case someone asked. Just nobody seemed to care for it
 

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Small correction. Most of you already know this but your residency visa would be cancelled if you stay out of Turkey for 120(cumulative) days in any 12 months and not 120 in one stint as I previously mentioned.

Also as you can buy car insurance at the border for around 260TL. When my Turkish insurance ran out after 3 months, I found that it was considerably cheaper to buy another 3 months rather than try to buy 6 months or 12 months. 6 months was around 850TL. 3 months x2 is around 520TL. Also I had to go to the friendly insurance people near the Cinema in central Fethiye to sort it out. You cannot pay over the phone. They had to run to the bank and pay via Bank Transfer while I paid them the cash equivalent in the office. Also the insurance ended up coming from Erdine border crossing while I was in Fethiye. Strange but saves you a bit of money
 
Last edited:

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
Just a quick one.

Flew from Dalaman to Birmingham early July for 10 days then back again. Left car at apartment.

Nobody at the airport cared about my car stamp that they saw as it was on the same page. Nobody asked any questions. That's twice now.

Don't know what that means.
 

Abzlad

Member
Taking car into Turkey
UPDATE:

I plan to visit Fethiye customs next week to extend my car stamp in my passport to match my residence visa. It is currently in still on tourist visa which finishes on 10th August 2016 although my resident visa goes to March 2017.I was told by Fethiye customs to come in a few days before and they will extend it.

I am going to ask a few questions like:

If I drive out of Turkey with my English car (it has been in 8 months so far not exceeding the 730 day limit) does the clock stop or continue?

If I come back in early January (not being out of Turkey for more than 120 days in year so not cancelling my residence visa), is it OK to bring the car back without the threat of being turned away at the border as it is on their computer systems?

Does anyone have any other questions they might want answering while I am there?
 

Latest Posts

Top Bottom