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Istanbul migration officials formally ended the use of notarized sponsorship letters on April 20, 2026.
This decision creates an immediate need to clarify the current protocols for address registration and residence permit applications. Applicants now encounter significantly tighter documentary scrutiny, where even minor discrepancies between contracts, utility bills, citizenship registry records, and title deed records may result in rejection.
Successful filings now depend on the absolute alignment of the following documentation.
Standards for foreigners sharing rentals with Turkish citizens
Shared residency between foreign nationals
Student dormitory registrations
Title deed holders registering solo
Registering at spouse’s address
Foreigners registering for vacant apartments
Registering with title deed holders
Registering at your employer’s address
(The employer is the person whose name appears on the back of the work permit.)
Under the current implementation in Istanbul, documentary consistency is decisive.
Lease contracts, title deed status, utility subscriptions, and citizenship registry records must align without contradiction.
With notarized sponsorship mechanisms removed from practice as of April 20, 2026, direct legal and residential ties to the address are now examined more strictly during both address registration and residence permit procedures.
For the time being, these rules have been introduced following the ban. However, should they be deemed difficult to implement in practice, a further regulatory amendment may be introduced by the Directorate of Migration Management.
Immigration officers we met at the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management confirmed this.
Previously, if an applicant attended an address registration appointment and was informed of missing documents, they were granted up to 30 days to submit the missing documents and complete the process without obtaining a new appointment.
Under the new practice, this period has been reduced to one day only. If the completion of missing documents takes longer than one day, the directorate will not accept the applicant upon return and will require a new appointment to be scheduled.
During family residence permit applications, if the Turkish citizen's spouse was not employed or, even if employed, was not covered under the social security health system, it was previously possible to obtain a low-cost health insurance policy, such as complementary health insurance, in the name of the Turkish citizen and include the foreign applicant under the same policy for application purposes.
This practice is no longer accepted.
Under the new implementation, if the Turkish citizen is not covered by the Social Security system, complementary health insurance policies are not considered sufficient. Instead, private health insurance must be obtained.
In Türkiye, private health insurance premiums are at least twice as high as complementary insurance policies. For example, at age 45, the most affordable private health insurance policy currently averages approximately ₺50,000 (around $1110) per year, whereas under the previous practice, policies could be obtained for approximately ₺5,000–₺10,000 annually.
There is, however, a practical rationale behind this change. While it is technically possible to obtain complementary health insurance without active social security coverage, such insurance cannot be effectively used if social security premium debts remain unpaid.
In practice, it functioned merely as a formal requirement rather than real coverage. For this reason, the Directorate of Migration Management has excluded complementary policies from acceptable coverage in such applications.
About the author: Kagan Orhan is a human resources and immigration consultancy expert at Expat Solutions Turkey, dedicated to facilitating the adaptation processes of foreigners in Türkiye with the expertise and knowledge in managing legal procedures such as residence permit applications, work permits, business establishment, real estate, and citizenship processes for foreigners settling in Türkiye with their team of lawyers and consultants.
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