Hi Guys its been a while since i drove a truck to Turkey and beyond, but there looks like a chance i might have to go that way again soon as my boss has some work lined up. Yeras ago we ran on two passports at one time, one was in the embassy the other with us, and the company would apply and pay and get the visas for us, there was also an option at one time for aobtaining a visa on the border, although that changed at one point and we had to go into bulgaria and get one at the embassy there.
Now this work is only into and out of Turkey, and like i said earlier we used to have to get our visa from the Turkish embassy in London, has this system changed ? or can we get one on the Border ( kapicule for example ).or must we obtain one before leaving the uk…your advice is will be invaluable.
Another slight problem is the fact we are running on Bulgarian number plates, should this make a difference ? they are english trucks, right hand drive, but re registered and with english drivers…well me at least.
truckyboy:
Hi Guys its been a while since i drove a truck to Turkey and beyond, but there looks like a chance i might have to go that way again soon as my boss has some work lined up. Yeras ago we ran on two passports at one time, one was in the embassy the other with us, and the company would apply and pay and get the visas for us, there was also an option at one time for aobtaining a visa on the border, although that changed at one point and we had to go into bulgaria and get one at the embassy there.
Now this work is only into and out of Turkey, and like i said earlier we used to have to get our visa from the Turkish embassy in London, has this system changed ? or can we get one on the Border ( kapicule for example ).or must we obtain one before leaving the uk…your advice is will be invaluable.
Another slight problem is the fact we are running on Bulgarian number plates, should this make a difference ? they are english trucks, right hand drive, but re registered and with english drivers…well me at least.
It might be the same for British citizens, but I’m not sure. Bulgarian citizens can travel into Turkey for 90 days without visas, including lorry drivers, bus drivers, sailors etc. This is according to the Turkish embassy website in BG based on signed memorandum between BG and TR in 1993. As your lorry is registered in Bulgaria and you are EU citizen, you might be treated by the law as Bulgarians are.
Best way call Turkish embassy in London of UK embassy in Ankara.
I found more info, British citizens are not treated as same as Bulgarians, but its easy, you need to get e-vasa over the internet.
Visa regime for truck drivers of a country may differ from the overall visa regime effective for citizens of that particular country. For further information, please contact the nearest Turkish mission.
Regardless of the visa regime applied towards the citizens of a country, the travel document holders of that country need to obtain visa from Turkish missions beforehand.
Scroll down while in the Ministry page for more info
United Kingdom: Diplomatic passport holders are exempted from visa for their travels up to 90 days. Ordinary, service and special passport holders are required to have visa to enter Turkey. Ordinary passport holders (British citizens) can obtain three month-multiple entry e-Visas via the website www.evisa.gov.tr. UK passports holders with “British National Overseas", “British Subject” and “British Protected Person” nationality are subjected to visa and they can only get their visas from the Turkish diplomatic or consular missions abroad.
toby1234abc:
For entry to Turkey, you will need to apply on line for an Evisa, it takes a minute to do, valid for 90 days, as a tourist visa.
In my experience, a tourist Visa is not valid if you try to enter Turkey with a truck.
You’ll need a work Visa.
I believe thats wrong, work visa only if you stay and work/live in Turkey, for the purpose of truck driving, bus driving, sailing he will need e-visa for multiple entry according to Turkish foreign ministry.
toby1234abc:
For entry to Turkey, you will need to apply on line for an Evisa, it takes a minute to do, valid for 90 days, as a tourist visa.
In my experience, a tourist Visa is not valid if you try to enter Turkey with a truck.
You’ll need a work Visa.
I believe thats wrong, work visa only if you stay and work/live in Turkey, for the purpose of truck driving, bus driving, sailing he will need e-visa for multiple entry according to Turkish foreign ministry.
I’ve just checked on the Turkish Consulate website and it says lorry-drivers must apply to the Consulate General. E-Visa’s are not available to lorry-drivers. Doesn’t necessarily have to be the Consulate in the UK though. We generally get them in Greece.
toby1234abc:
For entry to Turkey, you will need to apply on line for an Evisa, it takes a minute to do, valid for 90 days, as a tourist visa.
In my experience, a tourist Visa is not valid if you try to enter Turkey with a truck.
You’ll need a work Visa.
I believe thats wrong, work visa only if you stay and work/live in Turkey, for the purpose of truck driving, bus driving, sailing he will need e-visa for multiple entry according to Turkish foreign ministry.
I’ve just checked on the Turkish Consulate website and it says lorry-drivers must apply to the Consulate General. E-Visa’s are not available to lorry-drivers. Doesn’t necessarily have to be the Consulate in the UK though. We generally get them in Greece.
Well then Truckboy has to obtain visa via Turkish consulate. Obviously for different EU countries Turkey has different requirements.
Seems odd, as a truck driver, you are not employed by an employer in Turkey but on the other hand you are working there and not a tourist.
How does it work for a Turkish driver driving in TIR and non TIR countries, will he need a work visa to drive in the UK ?
toby1234abc:
Seems odd, as a truck driver, you are not employed by an employer in Turkey but on the other hand you are working there and not a tourist.
How does it work for a Turkish driver driving in TIR and non TIR countries, will he need a work visa to drive in the UK ?
Not sure about Turks, but the reason you see a lot of Iranian trucks in Germany and Italy but very very few in the UK is because its very hard for them to get a UK visa. Thats what I’ve being told by an Iranian driver at any rate.
Even to enter the US we need a slightly different I-94 visa for transport workers, ie truck drivers It looks identical to the tourist one and merely has a few different letters or numbers on it. Thankfully you get them at the border and they last 90 days at a time for multiple entries.
Thanks for the replies, i will phone the turk embassy in london to clarify. Even though the truck is bg registered, the driver holds a uk passport, i too have bg id and residence but it doesnt count.so although i looked at the e visa it doesnt seem to cover driving overland…so will get it clarified.
As gb1 said, when I went to Turkey it was on a work visa not a tourist visa, can’t remember how long it was valid, something like 90 days maybe.
(I’m on hols in UK so can’t check)
toby1234abc:
Seems odd, as a truck driver, you are not employed by an employer in Turkey but on the other hand you are working there and not a tourist.
How does it work for a Turkish driver driving in TIR and non TIR countries, will he need a work visa to drive in the UK ?
We always needed a visa for motorsport events outside the EU, even though we were working for a British company doing an international event, however we never needed to pay for the Turkish visa just had to show our circuit pass at immirgration control and got a stamp that said entry for the purposes of F1.
Dolph:
Obviously for different EU countries Turkey has different requirements.
Yes they do, we dont need any kind of visa.
are you sure? lorry drivers need to jump through different hoops to get there, than ordinary citizens.
Yes, two friends of mine have done it lately. A couple of years ago there was a finnish truck with estonian driver stuck at the Kapikule because they didnt know that estonians need visa to get there.
okay then, no visa needed for estonians as tourists either, but I still have two passports from the time I use to do Turkey regular and one passport was waiting in the embassy for a visa for weeks while I used the other one to go to ukraine, balkans etc
