Almost everyone is now visa-free for 90 days in any 180, including Chinese nationals since January 2026. The rule that actually turns people away is the 150-day passport validity.
- Your passport must be valid 150 days from the date you arrive - not three months, not six. This is the rule that gets people turned away at check-in, and a passport with 5 months left looks fine and is not.
- Most Western, Gulf and East Asian nationalities need nothing for 90 days in any 180, Chinese nationals included since 2 January 2026; Russians get 60 days, Indians need a visa unless they hold a Schengen, US, UK or Ireland one.
- evisa.gov.tr is the only official site - everything with a similar name charges several times the government fee for the same document.
- The 90/180 window is rolling and leaving does not reset it. Staying longer needs a residence permit applied for from inside Turkey; overstaying means a fine and a re-entry ban.
- Antiquities are taken seriously. Buying an old-looking object without an export certificate - coins and fossils sold openly in bazaars included - is how tourists end up in a police station at the airport.
The 150-day passport rule
This is the rule that gets people turned away at check-in, and almost nobody knows it.
- Your passport must be valid for at least 150 days from the date you arrive. Not 3 months, not 6 months from booking. 150 days from arrival.
- The logic is 90 days of permitted stay plus 60 days on top, which is the general Turkish requirement.
- You also need at least one blank page.
- Count the days before you book. A passport with 5 months left looks fine and is not.
Where your nationality lands
| You hold | What you need |
|---|---|
| USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia | Nothing. 90 days in any 180 |
| China | Nothing, 90 days, exempt only since 2 January 2026 |
| Russia | Nothing, but 60 days rather than 90 |
| Taiwan | e-Visa, one month, single entry |
| India | Visa required. An e-Visa is available only if you hold a valid Schengen, US, UK or Ireland visa |
| Cambodia | Visa in advance from a Turkish embassy or consulate |
- The visa-free list grew a lot in 2024 and again in 2026. If you last checked before your previous trip, check again, because you may have been made exempt.
- evisa.gov.tr is the only official site. Everything with a similar name charges several times the government fee for the same document.
- 90 days in any 180 is a rolling window, counted backwards from each day you are in the country, not a per-entry allowance. Leaving and coming back does not reset it.
- Staying past 90 days needs a residence permit, applied for from inside Turkey, and overstaying carries a fine and a re-entry ban.
At the border and on the way out
- Entry is stamped and the stamp is what counts. Check it before you leave the hall.
- You cannot take out more than the equivalent of USD 5,000 in Turkish lira, and other currencies above USD 5,000 must be declared.
- Antiquities are taken seriously. Buying an old-looking object without an export certificate is how tourists end up in a police station at the airport. This includes coins and fossils sold openly in bazaars.
- Dual Turkish nationals, including children, face additional rules, and a Turkish parent's travel permission may be required.
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