TURKEY Immigration Updates

There have been recent changes in Assembly, Maintenance and Service visas in Turkey. 

Turkey amended its work permit regulations in January 2015 with respect to Assembly, Maintenance and Service (AMS) visas. An AMS visa is a short-term (90-day) technical work visa for foreign employees, under certain conditions, to engage in assembly, maintenance, service, or technical training work for the benefit of a Turkish company without the need for a work permit. This visa is a very practical category for many companies in the technology, construction, and energy sectors because it generally has a very low documentary burden and is adjudicated solely at the consular post, most often within a few days.

Historically, the problem with this visa category was twofold: (1) the 90-day period was calculated consecutively within a year and (2) the visas were generally issued as single entry. Therefore, unless an assignee remained in Turkey for the entire 90-day period uninterrupted, the full 90 days per year could not be used. 

On January 22, 2015, the work permit regulations were changed to state that AMS visa holders can remain for up to three months in total within a year. And the regulations now allow foreigners with an AMS visa to enter Turkey on multiple occasions provided that they do not remain in Turkey more than three months in total within a year.

The change in the wording of the regulation appears to convey that the 90-day period is now calculated cumulatively over the period of a year, not consecutively. It also states that these visa holders should be granted multiple entries, which is welcome news regardless of the calculation of the 90 days, particularly since the vast majority of consular posts issue single-entry AMS visas. 

In the meantime, it is best practice to provide a copy of the legal changes to the consular post when applying for an AMS visa in order to insist that consular posts follow this regulatory change and grant one-year multiple-entry AMS visas. However, the calculation of the 90-day period (cumulative vs. consecutive), is in the hands of the passport officers at entry points to confer later entries for AMS visa holders whose period is beyond 90 days consecutively (yet have not been present in Turkey for 90 days cumulatively). AMS visa holders should anticipate that some consular officers and passport officers will not have full awareness or knowledge of this legal change for some time.