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What health insurance is accepted for a Turkish residence permit?

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Your health insurance must cover the whole permit period you request. Turkey accepts bilateral social security coverage, an SGK provision or general health insurance application document, or private insurance. For applications made inside Turkey, private policies from foreign companies count only if concluded in Turkey. Short-term applicants under 18 or over 65 choose the matching e-İkamet option.

Key facts

What The law says Source
How long it must run It must cover the permit period you request Regulation, art. 22(13); Migration general information
Turkish general health insurance People covered by general health insurance (genel sağlık sigortası) are treated as having valid insurance Regulation, art. 22(13)
Foreign insurers For applications made inside Turkey, private policies from foreign companies are accepted only if concluded in Turkey Regulation, art. 22(13)
Bilateral social security agreements If you can use health services in Turkey under such an agreement and document it, no private or public insurance is required Regulation, art. 22(13)
Permits of one year or more Without general health insurance: a one-year private policy, renewed at year end Regulation, art. 22(14)
Under 18 / over 65 (short-term and student permits) Select the “under 18 and over 65” option in e-İkamet Migration FAQ
Family permits The sponsor must insure all family members Migration FAQ; Law 6458, art. 35(1)(b)

What the Presidency accepts

The Presidency of Migration Management’s general information page lists four options, any one of which is enough:

  1. a signed and stamped document from the provincial social security office showing you use health services in Turkey under a bilateral social security agreement;
  2. a signed and stamped provision document (provizyon belgesi) from the Social Security Institution (SGK); for family permits it must cover the sponsor and family members;
  3. a signed and stamped document showing you applied to SGK to become insured under general health insurance;
  4. private health insurance.

Rules in the regulation

The regulation requires insurance that covers the permit period you ask for (art. 22(13)). Policies must contain what the relevant institutions’ rules require. For applications made inside Turkey, a private policy from a foreign company counts only if it was concluded in Turkey. If you are not covered by Turkish general health insurance, a request for a permit of one year or more needs a one-year private policy, renewed at the end of the year (art. 22(14)).

The regulation also lists cases where insurance is not required: when the Treasury has said private insurance cannot be provided, for people treated free of charge in Turkey under agreements of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health, and possibly when a foreign state says it will pay its citizen’s health costs (art. 22(15)–(17)).

Two-year permits with a one-year policy

The FAQ says that to ask for a two-year short-term permit when your insurance runs one year, you can use a “1+1 year” policy from the insurer or take out two years of general health insurance.

Sources

  1. Regulation on the Implementation of Law No. 6458, art. 22(13)–(17) (consolidated text, mevzuat.gov.tr) checked 2026-10-25
  2. Presidency of Migration Management: residence general information (İkamet Genel Bilgiler), 'Sağlık Sigortası Şartı' checked 2026-10-25
  3. Presidency of Migration Management: residence FAQ (İkamet Sıkça Sorulan Sorular), insurance questions checked 2026-10-25

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This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.