Car Inspections & Residence Permits

[Cosetta]

For anyone owning a car who has yet to do the annual or biannual inspection, things have changed since August 15, 2008.  The inspection no longer takes place in Kas as it used to, now you have to go either to Fethiye or to Kumluca near Antalya. 

The car inspection place in Fethiye is open MWF from 9-12 and is on the Uzumlu road (sign says Araç Muayene ...) not far from the main highway. If you go there, make sure you check before leaving that the inspector actually wrote your chassis number correctly.  If not, big headache!

Unfortunately, the Maliye in Fethiye where you have to pay the fee is far away from the inspection place.  The Maliye is near the beach on the road to Çalış and close to the new government hospital.

Re residence permits.  In lieu of lots of money in a Turkish bank, if you are retired you can have your government pension notification and statement of amount translated into Turkish (Dilek hanim at Everything Legal can do a sworn translation for you). Present this translation  and your original and to the Antalya police together with the application and other documents and money required to obtain a residence permit.  This can save you from having to bring thousands and thousands of pounds into Turkey just to get your permit.

Warning:  people who once had a residence permit and let it expire, then started doing visa runs while they were still living in Turkey, are liable to a large fine for having a condition of unjustified ''interrupted residence''.  Such persons if they want to again acquire a regular residence permit will be subject to a large fine AND, additionally, they will have to start from scratch to reapply for a new residence permit as though they never had one.

If you let your residence permit expire more than 15 days while you are in Turkey, (meaning you could have renewed it) kiss that one good-bye.

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=2309.0

[Lantana]

Thank you Cosetta
This is very helpful. Looks like a trip to Fethiye for us next week.

Lantana

[kevincat99]

Hi Cosetta
Thanks for that information however a couple of questions....

if your car is registered in Antalya rather than Mugla does the same apply as before you needed a paper saying that your vehicle was free of fines, insured etc before you could pay for your test fees - does the same apply and will the Maliye [or the vehicle inspectorate] check this for you if your vehicle is registered in a different province?

[ii] the Visa problem is unsettling as I know a few people who obtained one in coming to Turkey to import goods, buy a car etc and then let it lapse and went onto 3 monthly visas. The reasons being convenience cost and not being sure how long they might remain in Turkey.
There are people who have been here years and never had a residence permit merely taking out quarterly ones and avoiding all the bureaucracy.
Will there be checks on this ...........?
Will there be queues of foreigners throwing themselves on the mercy of the Emniyet?

Finally where did this information come from - has it been published somewhere and available to foreigners or is it another Turkish mystery/

Hope to hear from you and thanks

[Cosetta]

Our car is registered in Antalya province, but the inspection point can be anywhere in Turkey.  You do indeed need that paper proving that you paid the road tax, all fines, etc.  That you can still get in Kas as before.  Only the inspection cannot be done in Kas anymore.   Therefore, we got the paper in Kas but paid our fees (ytl 110 this year) in Fethiye and did the inspection there.

The visa problem ... if people continue to do visa runs, no problem.  This can go on forever or at least until the gov puts a stop to it. The problem only arises for those who want to renew a long-expired residence permit.  The law says you have to renew it within 15 days of expiration.  After that the assumption is that you have left Turkey. 

So if you get tired of visa runs and want again to have a res permit, and your passport shows a string of tourist visas after your res permit expired, then you fall into the dubious category of ''unjustified interrupted residence''.  Not sure how long qualifies for a ''justified interruption of residency'' but probably at least 6 consecutive months outside Turkey.

Because we live here at least 7 months consecutively, my husband was trying to decide whether to renew his res permit or start the visa run thing. We were told that once he does this he can never again renew his res permit.  Wanting to confirm that info I searched on the Net and found the answer on the web site of a Turkish lawyer:

http://www.buyingrealestateinturkey.com/residencepermit.php

This web site info confirms what our well-connected Turkish neighbors told us.

[kalkan wife]

Re: Car Inspections. Our car is less almost 12 months old, when are inspection required? I must admit I had never heard of them, hope I haven''t been breaking the law! Thanks

[Cosetta]

Cars that are not SUVs, 4x4 and do not have 4-wheel drive need to do the inspection procedure every 2 years.  Cars such as Honda CR-Vs have to be inspected annually.

You must pay the road tax in January and in July.  Before you can go to the inspection point, you have to get a paper from the tax office in Kas or Fethiye saying that you don''t owe any fines or taxes.  With that paper you can go to the tax office (Maliye) in Fethiye and pay the inspection cost (this year ytl 111).  With the next paper you go to the inspection place on the Uzumlu road.  Be sure to have a fire extinguisher and a Turkish first aid kit (ilk yardim) in the boot of your car.  And do not tint your windows, they will strip the tinting off!

[Cosetta]

Re residence permits ...

We were able to renew ours with a notarized translation of my husband''s pension statement, plus a copy of the house Tapu, an electric bill and the usual other docs.  No bank statements or cash in bank necessary.

[rat2]

kevincat

The rules have always been published on the Turkish Embassy London website www.turkishembassylondon.org/ , although I haven''t visited it recently. The 3 monthly renewal has never been a legal option, as far as I can tell, merely a loophole presumably tolerated as a sop to the duty-free and boat-trip empires. The rules clearly state that if you intend to stay more than three months, you should obtain, as we did, a 1 year residence visa from the Embassy in London (you have to show proof of income and state why you want to stay - not a trick question but if you want more than a holiday you must declare it). On arriving in Turkey, for some odd reason, you then have 1 month (not 3 or even 1 year) to visit Antalya and convert (at great expense) to a Residence Permit. It may have changed since we moved here in 2004, I don''t know, but we''ll be jumping through the same hoops as Cosetta in February when we renew. I would not like to have the kind of gap in continuity Cosetta mentions as it clearly demonstrates that someone who knows the rules has ignored them.

r2

[Cosetta]

Addendum:

Due to a flurry of protests from residents with cars registered in the 07 province, the Gov has decided to allow a 1-time (?) car inspection in Kas this coming Friday and Saturday, Oct 11 & 12.

Announced over the loud-speaker system in Kalkan.