My wife and I (USA citizens) are travelling to Turkey for 3 1/2 weeks this Fall, most of that time on the Aegean coast. I noticed that the visa we purchase at the port of entry will be a single entry Visa. Question: Will we have any problems taking a ferry to one of the Greek islands off the coast - will coming back to the mainland from one of the islands violate the terms of the visa? Thanks for any help.
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1556 posts
Are you referring to returning to the Turkish mainland? If so, are you sure your visa is single entry. I know when we were in Turkey 2 years ago the visa we got at IST airport was multiple entry (valid for 30 days I believe) since I used it to re-enter Turkey about 25 days later.
If you are ending your travel in Greece then the visa doesn't matter since Greece is part of the EU and you don't need a visa for a tourist visit under 90 days.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3122 posts
The port-of-entry visa is not a multiple-entry visa. For that you'll have to apply to the Turkish immigration service.
If you leave Turkey for a daytrip excursion to a Greek island you won't have any problems returning. Your passport will be held for you while you're on the Greek island and returned to you at the end of the excursion daytrip. But if you plan to stay in Greece for awhile that's a different situation. You will have officially left Turkey and when you return to Turkey you'll have to pay another $20 fee for another entry stamp unless you take the time to get a multiple-entry visa in advance before you leave the U.S.
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
508 posts
Jim - We have found different information out there about visas, but a friend from Turkey referred us to one of the Turkish Consulates and we found this information on the website under Consular Services.
United States of America: Ordinary and official passport holders are required to have visa to enter Turkey. They can obtain three month-multiple entry visas at the Turkish border gates.
I found the same information on the Turkish Embassy Washington DC website as well as the Turkish Ministry of foreign affairs link from the Ataturk Airport website.
Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3122 posts
I was wrong, Julie has it right. I just read the fine print on my old visa. You do get a multiple entry 90-day visa stamp at your port of entry.