Legislative amendment concerning the usage of foreign- plated vehicles in Turkey

The period that a foreigner could use his or her foreign-plated vehicle in Turkey was limited. For retirees this period consisted of maximal 12 months and for non- retirees 6 months.
The temporarily imported car had to leave the country after the date of import and registration; otherwise the owner of the vehicle could get a penalty because of not obeying the law. After this time the vehicle could be brought into Turkey again, however this was only possible after the vehicle was at least for 185 days outside Turkey.

This temporary import regime satisfied the expectations of the ordinary tourist but not that of expat, the semi permanent retiree or the student living and working in Turkey and planning to use their car for longer than 6/12 months.

The good news is that from 3 October 2015 onwards amendment has been made for the retirees as well non- retirees such as expats / students extending the possibility to use foreign-plated vehicles in Turkey from 6/12 months to 24 months. For both groups, retirees as well the non retirees, the maximal period of 24 months is with the introduction of this amendment applicable. Pay attention to the fact that you need to make a specific request to the customs in this respect.

The main condition of bringing a foreign plated vehicle into Turkey is that only those who are domiciled for 185 days within the last 6 months outside Turkey.

In addition not everyone can make use of this car during his stay in Turkey; only the partner, the children or parents of the one that has imported the car may during this period use the car under condition that the importer of the car is staying himself in Turkey. This means that this amendment does not allow importing a car from abroad so that family and friends can easily make use of it. In other words if the importer of the car does leave Turkey without the vehicle within the 24 months, he must station the car at the Customs or leave a written notary commitment to the Customs that no one will use this vehicle . This amendment is perhaps a bit misleading with regard to import cheap cars to Turkey but brought a real advantage for many expats staying in Turkey for a period longer than six months.

More about this issue could be found on the Turkish Customs (Turkish).