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A few days ago, one of the Istanbul Expat Community members contacted us about an issue he was experiencing.
His work permit had been cancelled, and from the date of cancellation, he was required to apply for a residence permit within 10 days. However, when he entered his passport information on the application screen of e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr, he received the following error:
"You have exceeded your permitted stay in Türkiye (more than 90 days). Please enter the passport information with which you most recently entered Türkiye."
He then contacted Alo 157, the official Foreigners Communication Center, to ask for information. The officer told him he needed to leave Türkiye and re-enter after 24 hours—essentially carrying out a border hop/visa run.
This did not make much sense to him, so he also raised the issue in several Facebook groups, where he said he got similar responses.
Before purchasing a flight ticket, however, he decided to contact our company and give it one last try.
The reason for this error is that residence permits and work permits are processed through different government systems.
Residence permits are administered by the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) under the Ministry of Interior, while work permits are administered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Because these are separate systems, there can occasionally be problems when information is transferred or matched between them.
In some cases, the passport information linked to a person's work permit is not properly connected to the e-Residence (e-Ikamet) system operated by the DGMM.
As a result, when the foreigner starts a residence permit application, the system may fail to recognize that the person has been legally residing in Türkiye under a valid work permit.
Instead, it may look at the passport information associated with the person's original entry into Türkiye and calculate the permitted stay from that date, effectively overlooking the period covered by the work permit.
This usually does not cause a problem for people who regularly leave and re-enter Türkiye for holidays. However, it can occur with foreigners who have remained in Türkiye for a long period without traveling abroad.
Normally, you should make a “Passport Update” appointment through randevu.goc.gov.tr and go to the Kumkapi Coordination Center in Istanbul.
An important point to remember is that the foreigner must have an active e-Devlet password.
If the appointment system gives you a date that falls outside the 10-day period in which you are required to submit your residence permit application, you should still make the appointment.
You do not necessarily have to wait until the appointment date.
You can go to the Kumkapi Coordination Center before the 10-day period expires—preferably on the appointment date or before noon on the following day—explain your situation to the officials, and request that your passport information be updated.
Once the officials update your passport information, the information should also be updated in the e-Ikamet system. You can then proceed with your residence permit application without having to leave Türkiye or carry out a visa run.
If your work permit has recently been cancelled, do not wait until the last day of the 10 days to start your residence permit application.
If you encounter the "you have overstayed in Türkiye" error, do not immediately assume that you need to leave the country and perform a visa run.
First, check your work permit status through e-Devlet and, where necessary, request a passport information update through the Migration Management system.
Immigration procedures can involve multiple government systems, and a technical or data-matching problem does not necessarily mean that you have actually overstayed your legal period of stay.
Unfortunately, the Alo 157 call center sometimes provides answers based on standard information and response templates available to its operators.
As a result, operators may not always be able to identify alternative solutions or administrative procedures for specific technical problems involving different government systems.
This does not necessarily mean that they are intentionally providing incorrect information. Rather, the operator may simply not have access to a different solution or the latest information about a particular administrative issue.
For important immigration matters, we therefore recommend calling 157 at least two or three times and speaking with different operators.
Explain your situation clearly and ask whether there is an alternative procedure before making a decision such as leaving Türkiye.
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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