After a few false starts, I have been granted the Turkish Working Holiday Visa for New Zealanders!
My first glimpse of Turkey were stopovers between Iran and France – I didn’t even get to leave the airport!
The first time I remember flying over the city and seeing the harbour & minarets – I’d never seen anything like it before.
Later, I was cutting it fine to get back to France for classes. My flight was later that evening, so a grabbed a beer (after not being able to have a proper beer for 6 weeks in Iran!) and watched the sunset over the planes.
I had to come back!
Getting the Turkish Working Holiday Visa isn’t straight forward, and there was no information online, so here’s my guide to help you….
When I found out that New Zealand had a Working Holiday Agreement I was surprised. It didn’t seem like an obvious choice of diplomatic relations, but I’m not complaining!
At the time of writing this guide (mid-2016) the there is no publicly available information on the Turkish Embassy in Wellington website. So here’s my guide on getting Turkish Working Holiday Visa…
This guide is based on my experience, if you’ve had a different experience let me know in the comments.
Contents
This is a loong post! So here is a handy contents to help you get to the main sections.
- Quick Facts
- Intro
- Eligibility
- Application requirements
- Process
- Step-by-step guide for the online application
- Conclusion
- Next steps once in Turkey
QUICK FACTS
WHV Agreement since: TBC
Quota of visas available per year: 100
Average annual quota used: TBC
Processing time: 21 days (my unofficial estimate, it could be longer depending on how proactive you are/aren’t.)
Difficulty to get visa: 5/10 (medium)
**Difficulty to use visa**: 10/10 (hard) – While you might be able to get the visa in New Zealand, the immigration situation in Turkey requires a lot of patience. In fact, it renders the benefits of working holiday visa more hassle than it’s worth. See How to get the Turkish Short-Term Residence Permit for more info.
Time allowed before entry: 3 Months
Can apply outside of NZ: Yes, at any Turkish Embassy.
Introduction
Turkey and New Zealand have a reciprocal Working Holiday Visa agreement for 100 visas for each country per year. Turkey is a popular destination for tourists, and New Zealanders can visit for 90 days.
At the time of writing this guide (mid-2016) the there is no publicly available information on the Turkish Embassy in Wellington website. So here’s my guide on getting Turkish Working Holiday Visa…
Eligibility
- New Zealand Citizen
- Hold a bachelor’s degree (or higher)
- 18-30 years old (inclusive)
- Have no dependents [travelling with you]
Application requirements
- Completed online application & appointment booking
- I found this website to be a bit fiddly. See the step-by-step guide below for my suggestions on how to navigate it. It took me over 10 times till I got it correct, so if you have to restart a couple of times don’t loose heart!
- For the online application you need to upload the following files:
- Passport photo
- Copy of birth certificate
- Flight itinerary
- Hotel booking
- Travel insurance
- Bank statement
- You will need to print out the application form created, then take it with you to your appointment. So access to a printer is required.
- One passport size photo in digital file.
- Passport – valid for at least two years at time of application
- Return flight bookings
- Flights just need to be in and out of the country, not necessarily originating from New Zealand.
- See my article on making flight itineraries for visa applications.
- Travel Insurance
- See my article on how to have the right travel insurance for visa applications.
- Proof of funds (Bank statement)
- Copy of Birth Certificate
- Certified copy of your degree
- This can be certified by a justice of the peace (JP)
- Hotel reservation
- Application fee $208 NZD
Process
A quick overview of the process:
- Collate & scan documents
- Apply online & upload documents
- Book appointment online
- Print off the application form
- Attend the appointment and submit physical copy of documents
- Wait
- Submit passport and pay fee (if application is accepted)
- Wait
- Pick up your passport with visa
- Go to Turkey!
Step-by-step guide for online application
First, you need to collate documents outlined in Application Requirements and scan the copies listed as required for the online application.
Once this is done you can start the online application…
All visa applications for Turkey require an online application. To do this go to: https://www.konsolosluk.gov.tr/Visa
Be aware that the website is not very forgiving of mistakes! So if you get some information wrong, and need to go back and change it, you may find yourself having to start again. Be prepared to fill out this form 5 times or so as it can be fiddly.
The website loads in Turkish. You can change between English and Turkish language in the top right corner
For the first step, you need to decide the correct Type of visa to apply for and the Purpose of trip. Unfortunately, there is no Working Holiday Visa option. Given that work is meant to be incidental, I erred on the side of caution and chose the closest to “Holiday” as I could get, in this case I selected:
- Tourist / Business person
- Touristic Visit
- Multiple Entry (This is often a given on long-term visas, but best to specify as the Turkish Embassies only issue 90 day visas)
[When writing this blog I found that I was having issues with the online form, and had to keep restarting the application. I changed the combination for Type of Visa and Purpose of trip to “Working Visa” & “Special Employment Purpose”. If you have the same issue you can try different combinations.]
New Zealanders can enter Turkey for 90 days without the need for a visa. You will see a notification of the visa exemption, then still have the ability to continue with the application.
After clicking “Continue online form” you will be advised of the documents that are required for this visa application.
Once you tick “I agree with the statements above.” The personal information form will appear.
When filled out click “Save and Proceed” and you will have to verify your email address within 10 minutes.
Step 3: Contact information
I only filled the mandatory fields to speed things up.
Step 4: Travel information
Next, is Travel History.
If your flight itinerary does not show you returning to New Zealand, but travelling to another country, then you will need to check if a visa is required for that country. If there is visa-free travel for that country then the second question below can be marked as “Not Applicable”, in my case I had an itinerary travelling to Japan and had a visa, so I added it in.
The Details of your travel need to match the itinerary of your flights, and the hotel booking that you supply.
Next, you need to upload your supporting documentation.
When I got to this step I was missing one of the scans, so I just uploaded one twice to get past this step. Then I provided the correct copy at the appointment.
Once you click “Save My Documents and Check Application” you are prompted to check your entire application, and it appears to have the ability to edit information in your application. Note: I found editing any information at this point just kicked me out of the application and I had to start over again! So I would recommend
Note: I found editing any information at this point just kicked me out of the application and I had to start over again! So I would recommend not editing anything at this point, unless it is a crucial part of the application (like an error in your passport number).
Scroll right to the bottom of the page and you will see the “Continue” button.
Now you will be able to submit your application. Click the “Submit” button.
Now you are prompted to make an appointment to give your documents.
Once you have selected your appointment date and time, make sure you download, print, and sign a copy of your application. You will need to take this with and supply it at your appointment.
That’s it for the online application. If you’ve made it this far you deserve 50 gold stars!
Now following the original process:
Collate & scan documentsApply online & upload documentsBook appointment onlinePrint off the application form- Attend the appointment and submit physical copy of documents
- Wait
- Submit passport and pay fee (if application is accepted)
- Wait
- Pick up your passport with visa
- Go to Turkey!
A Few more notes
- The appointment was literally just a scheduled time to submit my documents. There wasn’t any lengthy discussions etc.
- I found the best way of communicating with the consular section was via email. They also called me to let me know that my application was successful.
Conclusion
I found The Turkish Working Holiday Visa application tricky, but it was mainly the online application part, after that it was fairly normal.
Next steps once in Turkey
Once in Turkey you’ll want to:
- Register for a residence permit (Guide on this coming soon)
- Be safe in Turkey (Guide on 2016 safety considerations in coming soon)