Guide to Using & Registering a Foreign Phone in Turkey

So you’re visiting or moving to Turkey and you want to bring your foreign mobile phone with you to happily use here. Great! Let’s cover all the basics so you can make informed decisions.

Scenario 1: Visiting for a short period on a tourist visa

A: If you come to Turkey with an international roaming package from another country, you can continue to use your phone normally in Turkey for an indefinite amount of time according to the arrangement with your home country’s provider. We would assume this is more expensive than just buying a local sim, but perhaps not – especially if it’s a short trip.

B: If you come to Turkey and would like to use a local sim card, you can purchase one at any main provider – Turkcell, Vodafone, Avea. You can usually find their kiosks after clearing customs in the arrivals section of the airport or visit any of the main shops located throughout the country. You will provide your e-visa, passport, and the phone you will be using. They will offer a prepaid package for you to accept. Save all the paperwork they provide you.

Note: If they don’t offer to do so, go ahead and ask them to insert the sim and verify it works. If they inform that your phone needs to be unlocked for the sim to work, you will likely have to unlock it on your own. This is usually done via the website of your phone’s original contract provider. It’s easiest to make sure your phone is unlocked before arriving to Turkey to save any extra stress. Some phones cannot be unlocked while under contract, so keep this in mind.

Note 2: If you’ve taken out your old sim and plan to use it again, make sure you put it somewhere safe. They’re tiny and can be easily lost.

Sim cards are supposedly given 90 days of use before they will be locked, and you should be receiving messages like the one pictured here indicating that your deadline is approaching. However, there have been multiple reported cases of phones locking arbitrarily anytime after the 30 day mark, so if you intend to stay a while and would like to be on the safe side, it makes sense to register as early as possible.

Scenario 2: Staying/Living in Turkey for longer than the length of a tourist visa
Before registering your phone, it’s important to consider the fees associated with it. As of 2022, registering a phone purchased abroad costs roughly ~2700 Turkish Lira and another phone from abroad cannot be registered to your passport for three years. Quality smart phones from Turkish producers (or even lower-end/older versions of international brands) can be purchased for just a little more, so if you have an older model or think you’ll be replacing yours with a newer model purchased abroad in the near future, keep the cost and three-year restriction in mind. Any phone purchased at a reputable shop in Turkey, regardless of brand, should be fine to use without registering. Secondhand phones can also be purchased (just make sure they aren’t locked when you’re purchasing them) at comparable rates.

If you decide to proceed with registering your foreign phone, you will need to have your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number to complete the process, so go ahead and research that. The typical way to do this is simply calling *#06# on your phone, but it doesn’t work on every model.

You will now need to pay a tax fee connected to your IMEI number at a local tax office (search for ‘vergi dairesi’ to find your nearest one). Take your passport, resident permit, IMEI number, and phone with you. Save the paperwork they provide you.

(If you don’t have a residence permit, you are still eligible to register your IMEI, although your mobile provider will likely lock you out shortly after the duration of your visa regardless.)

Note: You can check the status of your IMEI registration online. It usually takes a full business day for this registration to be complete. Link here: https://www.turkiye.gov.tr/imei-sorgulama

Once you’ve paid the tax and confirmed, you can complete the final steps in person or online. Regardless of which you opt/qualify for, you will need an e-devlet password (which if you don’t already have, you can get from your local PTT for a couple of Turkish Lira). (If you use online banking, you may not need the e-devlet password.) Now:

• To do it in person, you can simply take your residence permit, passport, tax receipt from registering your IMEI number, and e-devlet password to the local branch of your provider (or wherever you plan to buy your sim) and have them do it for you. They usually charge extra for this, but will go ahead and link it with your phone number.
• To do it online yourself, you will follow the steps via the official website. You will likely need a Turkish speaker to assist, or try using the Google Translate feature. The website is: https://www.turkiye.gov.tr/btk-imei-kaydet

Tip: Record your IMEI number in case of theft. In the event your phone is stolen, you can completely lock the phone by contacting your provider with the IMEI and your details. This prevents the phone from being used with other sims/providers as well.

Workarounds and Miscellaneous

• You may at any time receive a text message from your provider informing that you need to update your residence permit details with them. The simplest way is to visit a nearby branch with your passport and kimlik. If you have your provider’s app installed on your phone, you may also be able to do it there. If you’re directed to an external link however, do be careful that it’s not a scam of some sort. This process should be totally free and won’t require credit card details.
• Providers like Turkcell will typically disable sim cards after they’ve been inactive for six months.
• Some providers do now offer special rates and contracts for foreigners. We suggest shopping around and seeing your options.
• It’s worth noting that many smaller shops are licensed to provide basic mobile provider services, but can’t actually assist with any part of the registration process. You will need to visit a proper franchised branch for this.
• A couple of workarounds have been suggested to us that we should mention:
  • One method is changing sim cards roughly every three months before the phone it’s associated with is locked. We cannot verify this works, but it does appear to be a glaring loophole for anyone willing to constantly change their number and have to deal with the hassle of re-registering a sim card.
  • Some less than reputable shops will root your phone if it’s an Android and link it with a different IMEI for a nominal fee so you don’t have to pay the taxes. In addition to the risks of rooting a phone, this is almost certainly illegal and as your SIM is associated with your identity, we strongly advise against this route.

If you have any information that should be corrected or included in this piece, please do let us know in the comments.

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This article was las published in May, 2019 by Tarik Yassien.