1. Get a Private Health Insurance in Turkey ( Recommended)

We recommend you obtain private health insurance upon your arrival in Turkey. After arriving in Turkey, please visit or contact any Turkish health insurance agency with your passport and obtain a "Health insurance for foreigners" (in Turkish "YABANCILAR İÇİN SAĞLIK SİGORTASI") policy issued for at least 1 year. The document must be issued in Turkish by an insurance company in Turkey.

We can suggest you companies, or you can find a well-known company to get a health insurance, such as Turk Nippon, Allianz, Sompo, Aksigorta etc. Just make sure that it is an appropriate health insurance for the residence permit as requested. As IRO We do not provide a direct assistance or have any responsibility with health insurance. Therefore, it is your responsibility. You must contact the agencies, follow through with all transactions, and make sure you understand your policy coverage very well.

A comprehensive health insurance must cover the below-given points and these points must be clearly articulated in the health insurance plan/agreement:

*Non- Contracted Institutions: Institutions (hospitals, physicians’ offices, and the other health institutions.) do not have an agreement with the insurer. (The minimum coverage cost may differ)

The insurance document must include the below statement: (please make sure your health insurance company adds this note to your health insurance document):

“İşbu police 10.06.2021 tarihli ve 8/2021 sayılı vize ve ikamet izni taleplerinde yaptırılacak özel sağlık sigortalarına ilişkin genelgede belirlenen asgari teminat yapısını kapsamaktadır.”

(The sentence above is stating that the insurance fulfills the coverage required for the residence permit.)

IMPORTANT NOTE:Regardless of its type, make sure that your insurance can be used for residence permit purposes.

2. Home Country Social Securiy (BASED ON ELIGIBILITY FOR EUROPEAN STUDENTS):

Students from below mentioned European countries can benefit from the Bilateral Social Security Agreements as alternative insurance coverage In Turkey.

If your country and Turkey has a social security agreement, you need to bring the “Right to Health Assistance Certificate” with you. You can request and collect it from your local Social Security Office.

(Also, we cannot guarantee that this insurance is acceptable all the time. So, the immigration office can ask you to purchase insurance in Turkey.)

To be covered by Turkish Public Health Insurance, you must activate your certificate in Istanbul.

After activating your insurance, do not forget to obtain a Provision (provizyon) document from the same social insurance institution and bring it to us. Otherwise, bilateral agreements are not valid for residence permit applications.

You need to go to the closest one of the authorized social security centers in Istanbul, the addresses of which are given below.

Tuzla SGK – Tuzla Social Security Office

Kadıköy SGK – Kadıköy Social Security Office

The below-given countries have a Bilateral Social Security Agreement with Turkey. If you are from one of those countries, you can benefit from Turkish Public Health Care after activating your certificate. Note: the list is subject to change.

Warning: Even if you get approval for this kind of health insurance, your health insurance in Turkey is valid up to 6 months in Turkey.

Note: You can benefit from public health services (public hospitals, clinics etc.) with the social security number given to you by the social security institution.

❗Please make sure that you contact your home university’s exchange office and confirm if there is an active bilateral social security agreement between your country and Turkey.