A friend recently purchased a Rough Guide To Turkey. When he opened the book a piece of paper was enclosed that stated there was an update on passport requirements. The new requirement is that when one enters Turkey with a US passport, the passport must not expire for at least one year in the future. The old requirement was that it must be good for at least three months into the future to purchase a three month visa. I have called the Turkish embassy and they have no knowledge of this, but admitted that they do not regulate the passport and vias requirements. I have searched the web but have found nothing to verify. Does anyone know anything about this? Help, we have a group leaving for Turkey in a few week and this would effect several members.
According to the Turkish embassy in London's website "All passport holders are required to have a minimum of three months validity on their passports when they leave Turkey", I can't find any reference anywhere to having to have a year left on passport, this would also affect me, so hope they've got it wrong!
I found the same note in the Rough Guide on Turkey (saying 'all visitors', not just US citizens), and just like you I couldn't find this same information anywhere else - the Turkish consulate in my country couldn't help me either. I'll visit Turkey next month and I'm still wondering whether I should get a new passport or not (mine is valid till May next year). So I was wondering: what did you find out? Did your group already visit Turkey, and what are your experiences with regard to this issue? Did the Turkish government indeed change their policy or did the Rough Guide make a mistake? Could you let me know? Thanks a lot!
