Türkiye Cancels 930% Residence Permit Fee Hike After Public Backlash

(TÜRKIYE) — Türkiye’s Ministry of Interior reversed a planned 930% increase in residence permit fees on May 1, 2026, keeping the fee schedule that took effect in January in place after a brief period of uncertainty for foreign residents.

The ministry said it had “officially reversed an additional increase in residence permit fees that was scheduled to take effect after May 1.” The decision left the existing January 2026 rates in force and withdrew the much higher tariffs that had been expected to apply.

Communications on the reversal came from the Ministry of Interior and the Presidency of Migration Management, also known as Göç İdaresi. The current structure remains the one published in the Official Gazette on December 31, 2025, Issue No. 33124.

That means applicants continue to face the January schedule rather than the higher charges that appeared imminent in late April. People who saw larger amounts in the online e-ikamet system during April 28–30, 2026 should now see the January 2026 rates reflected instead.

Under the fee schedule still in effect, the residence permit card fee remains ₺964 for all applicants. The single-entry visa fee remains ₺9,376.40, the standard work permit fee stays at ₺12,574.90, and the unlimited work permit fee stays at ₺125,802.20.

Students and many long-term residents remain less exposed to swings in the broader tariff structure because they often pay only the card issuance fee of ₺964. U.S. citizens also avoid the feared jump and continue to pay the January 2026 reciprocal tariff.

The ministry tied the system to reciprocity, a longstanding principle in cross-border fee policy. “While some nations are charged in Turkish Lira, others face U.S. dollar-denominated fees, and several are entirely exempt.”

That framework helps explain why residence permit fees in Türkiye do not fall into a single uniform category beyond the card charge itself. Currency denomination, the level of the tariff, and whether an applicant pays at all can depend on nationality.

Citizens of Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Kosovo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Palestine remain exempt from residence permit fees, paying only the ₺964 card fee. That exemption remained intact after the reversal.

The abandoned increase had drawn attention because of its scale. According to the figures cited by Turkish authorities, a one-year permit for many Western nationals, including U.S. citizens, would have risen from about $85 to more than $630, or nearly ₺28,500.

A two-year permit could have reached roughly $1,260. A three-year family permit could have approached $2,000, a level that had raised concern among expatriates and foreign spouses of Turkish citizens.

Those numbers also placed residence permit fees at the center of a wider policy question for Türkiye. The government had to weigh revenue needs against the country’s appeal to foreign residents and digital nomads, especially at a time when long-stay migration rules have become a practical issue for many households.

The reversal points to that recalibration without changing the underlying structure of the system. Türkiye still uses reciprocity to shape fees, still applies different treatment to different nationalities, and still preserves a mix of Turkish lira charges, U.S. dollar-linked tariffs, and exemptions.

In practical terms, the ministry’s move removes a sharp cost increase that would have landed immediately on applicants renewing or seeking residence permits after May 1, 2026. It also restores predictability for people who had seen higher figures appear in the application system during the final days of April.

That short window mattered because applicants often plan filings around annual budgets, housing commitments, and family timelines. A sudden jump from roughly $85 to more than $630 for a one-year permit would have altered those calculations at once.

Family permit holders faced an even steeper problem under the proposed increase. A fee nearing $2,000 for a three-year family permit would have carried different weight from a routine administrative charge, especially for households working within ordinary Turkish budgets.

Work-related permits also remain expensive, though unchanged by the reversal. The standard work permit fee stays at ₺12,574.90, while the unlimited work permit fee remains ₺125,802.20, preserving the January structure rather than the proposed higher schedule.

Single-entry visa applicants also stay under the current rate of ₺9,376.40. Residence permit card issuance remains the most stable element of the system because the ₺964 charge applies across applicant categories.

Göç İdaresi has been central to how applicants track those changes because its systems and public communications shape what people see during the filing process. Official fee information is available through the [Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management](https://en.goc.gov.tr/documents-for-residence-permit-fee-amount).

U.S. citizens and other foreign residents often watch these changes closely because reciprocity can link Turkish fee decisions to the way nationalities are classified and charged. The [U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Türkiye](https://tr.usembassy.gov/) also monitors developments that affect Americans living in or moving to the country.

Broader U.S. immigration fee updates remain separate from Türkiye’s domestic residence system, but official information is published through the [USCIS Newsroom](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom). No new Turkish residence fee schedule replaced the January 2026 structure after the ministry’s reversal on May 1, 2026.

For now, the immediate effect is straightforward: Türkiye canceled the planned 930% increase in residence permit fees, the January 2026 tariffs remain in force, and applicants who feared a sudden tenfold jump now face the same schedule set out in the Official Gazette on December 31, 2025.