Deportation, Administrative Detention and Entry Bans in Türkiye

A deportation decision is an administrative act directed at removing a foreign national from Türkiye. The decision is not the end of the matter: the law provides both a route to challenge it and a rule that the person may not be deported while that challenge is pending. Benefiting from that protection, however, depends on a time limit.

The subject is governed by Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. A deportation decision usually brings two further measures with it: administrative detention and a ban on entry to Türkiye. These are three separate measures, with separate time limits and separate routes of challenge.

Who is subject to a deportation decision?

The law lists the foreign nationals in respect of whom a deportation decision is taken. The principal categories are:

• Those assessed as requiring deportation under Article 59 of the Turkish Criminal Code.
• Leaders, members or supporters of a terrorist organisation or of an organisation established for profit through crime.
• Those who have used untrue information and false documents in entry, visa or residence permit procedures.
• Those who have supported themselves by unlawful means during their stay in Türkiye.
• Those posing a threat to public order, public security or public health.
• Those who have exceeded their visa or visa-exemption period by more than ten days, or whose visa has been cancelled.
• Those whose residence permit has been cancelled.
• Those who, without acceptable justification, have overstayed their expired residence permit by more than ten days.
• Those found to be working without a work permit.
• Those who breach, or attempt to breach, the rules on lawful entry or exit.
• Those found to have entered Türkiye despite an entry ban.
• Those whose residence permit extension application has been refused and who do not leave within ten days.

What the list shows is this: a significant part of the grounds concerns not serious crime but permit and time-limit breaches. The ten-day thresholds are therefore decisive in practice.

Who cannot be made subject to a decision?

The law separately lists those in respect of whom no deportation decision is taken, even where they fall within the categories above:

• Those in respect of whom there are serious indications that they would be subject to the death penalty, torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the country of removal.
• Those for whom travel is considered risky because of serious health problems, age or pregnancy.
• Those undergoing treatment for a life-threatening illness for which treatment is unavailable in the country of removal.
• Victims of human trafficking benefiting from the victim support process.
• Victims of psychological, physical or sexual violence, until their treatment is complete.

The law provides that these assessments are made individually for each person. Such persons may be required to reside at a particular address and to report in the form and at the intervals required.

Challenging the decision: the seven-day period

The deportation decision, with its reasons, is notified to the foreign national, their legal representative or their lawyer. Where the person is not represented by a lawyer, they are informed of the outcome of the decision and of the procedures and time limits for challenging it.

A person who applies to the court also notifies the authority that took the deportation decision.

The law also regulates how the proceedings run: the file is deemed complete once the defence is filed or the period for filing it has passed; whether a hearing is held is at the court's discretion; applications are concluded within fifteen days of the file being complete; and the court's decision on the matter is final.

The most important provision is this: subject to the foreign national's own consent, they may not be deported within the period for bringing the action, or, where a challenge is brought, until the proceedings conclude. An action brought in time therefore affords protection of its own force. If the period is missed, that protection falls away with it.

Invitation to leave Türkiye

Those subject to a deportation decision are granted, where so stated in the decision, a period of not less than fifteen and up to thirty days in which to leave Türkiye.

That period is not granted to everyone. The law provides that it is not granted to those presenting a risk of absconding or disappearance, those who have breached the rules on lawful entry or exit, those who have used false documents, those who have sought or been found to have obtained a residence permit with untrue documents, and those posing a threat to public order, public security or public health.

Those granted a period for departure are issued an Exit Permit Document. That document is not subject to any fee; obligations relating to visa and residence fees and the penalties attaching to them are unaffected.

Administrative detention

Not everyone subject to a deportation decision is placed in administrative detention. The law ties detention to particular situations: a risk of absconding or disappearance, breach of the entry or exit rules, use of false or untrue documents, failure to leave within the period granted without acceptable excuse, and posing a threat to public order, public security or public health.

As to periods, the law sets the following framework:

Extension is not available in every case: the law ties it to the deportation process being incapable of completion because of the foreign national's failure to cooperate or failure to provide correct information or documents about their country.

Where continued detention is found unnecessary, it is ended immediately and alternative obligations are imposed. The monthly review need not wait for the thirty-day period to expire.

Alternatives to detention

The law lists the obligations that may be applied instead of detention: residence at a particular address, reporting, family-based return, return counselling, voluntary service in work of public benefit, security, and electronic monitoring.

Where one or more is applied, the period may not exceed twenty-four months. For those within the scope of detention who are not detained, the imposition of one or more of these obligations is mandatory.

An electronic monitoring obligation may be challenged before the magistrate judge; the application does not suspend the obligation, the judge decides within five days and the decision is final. Those who fail to comply with the obligations may be placed in detention.

Rights in a removal centre

The law lists what is to be provided in removal centres. Those most often needed in practice are:

• Emergency and basic health services are provided free of charge where the foreign national cannot meet the cost.
• Access to and contact with relatives, a notary, a legal representative and a lawyer, and access to telephone services, are provided.
• The opportunity to meet visitors, the consular officer of their country of nationality and an officer of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is provided.
• The best interests of children are observed, and families are accommodated separately.

Bans on entry to Türkiye

An entry ban is a measure separate from the deportation decision, and it has two sources. The Directorate General may prohibit the entry of foreign nationals whose entry is considered objectionable on grounds of public order, public security or public health. In addition, the entry of foreign nationals deported from Türkiye is prohibited by the Directorate General or by the governorships.

As to duration the rule is that an entry ban lasts no more than five years. Where there is a serious threat to public order or public security, however, the Directorate General may extend it by up to a further ten years.

Two situations are distinguished for notification: bans imposed on public order grounds are notified by the competent authority at the border gate when the person arrives to enter Türkiye; bans linked to deportation are notified by the governorships. The notification also states how rights of objection may be exercised.

What can be said about restriction codes

In practice, entry bans and prior-permission requirements are entered in the system records as restriction annotations, referred to by codes made up of letters and numbers. Because the meanings of those codes are not published in legislation, we do not set out a list of codes here.

What matters legally is not the code but the decision behind it: which authority imposed it, on what statutory ground, for what period, and whether it was notified. Any objection or action is directed at that decision.

The first step is therefore not to guess at the code but to establish the measure underlying the record and its reasoning. Applications made without knowing the reasoning usually come to nothing.

Lifting an entry ban

The law gives the Directorate General two powers: it may lift the entry ban, or it may permit the foreign national to enter Türkiye for a specified period while the ban otherwise stands. The second matters in practice for those with business to attend to in Türkiye before the ban expires.

The law also provides for two situations in which an entry ban may not be imposed:

• Foreign nationals whose visa or residence permit has expired and who themselves apply to the governorship to leave before the position is detected by the competent authorities, provided they have paid the administrative fines and have not exceeded the overstay periods set by the Ministry.
• Those invited to leave Türkiye who leave within the period granted.

These two provisions are decisive for people in Türkiye on an expired permit: the difference between coming forward and being apprehended can directly affect whether an entry ban follows.

The costs of removal

The law provides that the travel costs of foreign nationals to be deported are as a rule borne by them. Where the person's money is insufficient, or they have none, the cost is met by the Directorate General; an amount sufficient to meet their basic needs is left to them.

The provision most often overlooked is this: entry to Türkiye may be refused so long as the costs remain unrepaid. Separate obligations are also laid down for natural and legal persons who guarantee a foreign national's stay or return, and for employers who employ a foreign national without a permit.

Frequently asked questions

• How many days do I have to challenge a deportation decision? An application is made to the administrative court within seven days of notification. The period was reduced from fifteen days to seven by the amendment of 21 November 2024.
• Will I be deported if I bring an action? The law provides that the person may not be deported within the period for bringing the action or until the proceedings conclude.
• Can I appeal the court's decision? The law states that the court's decision on this matter is final.
• Is detention challenged in the same court? No. An administrative detention decision is challenged before the magistrate judge, who decides within five days.
• Can I see my lawyer in a removal centre? The law provides for access to and contact with a lawyer.
• How long can an entry ban last? As a rule five years; where there is a serious threat to public order or public security it may be extended by up to a further ten.
• How will I find out there is a ban? Bans on public order grounds are notified at the border gate. Anyone with a past breach or removal would do well to have their position checked before travelling.
• My residence permit expired — will a ban follow if I leave voluntarily? The law provides that no entry ban need be imposed on those who apply to leave before the position is detected, provided the fines are paid and the prescribed overstay periods are not exceeded.
• Can a ban be lifted? The Directorate General may lift an entry ban, or permit entry for a specified period while the ban otherwise stands.
• Can you tell me what my restriction code means? The meanings of the codes are not published in legislation. What governs is the decision underlying the record, and that decision and its reasoning must be established first.

How we work on these files

Our first step is to establish the date of notification and the seven-day period, and to ensure the action is brought in time. We examine the ground on which the decision rests and the documents on file, and assess whether any of the situations in which no deportation decision may be taken applies. Where there is administrative detention, we separately pursue the route before the magistrate judge. In files involving an entry ban or a restriction record, we first establish the basis and duration of the record, and prepare applications for its lifting or for permission to enter for a specified period accordingly.