Applying for Turkish Visa as a Sri Lankan Citizen

Reason for this post: At the point when  wanted to visit Turkey as a visitor during 2022 I was not able to find any guidance online. 2 friends were able to guide me on how to do it. Finally, I was successfully able to get the Turkish visa stamped on to my passport. 

When to apply for visa: You MUST start the process minimum ONE MONTH prior the departure date. I was only able to get an appointment date after two weeks after submitting the online visa from and the embassy took another two week to process my application and stamp the visa sticker. 

Note, at the point of attending the visa interview embassy will also take all your old and current passports. Incase you need your passport during the two weeks (for exams and other reasons) do explain it to them during the interview. They will ask you to collect it when required and return as soon as possible. 

Steps to apply for the Visa: 

Steps 1 - Gather all the documents (Originals, scanned copies and photocopies)

Below is the primary list of documents you need.

Other than the above listed, I also included the COVID vaccination card, birth & marriage certificates (originals and translated) and fixed deposit certificates. For a business owner, ensure to attach business license under the applicant's name. Primarily, do your best to prove you'll be returning back to your home country and you have sufficient fund to spend during your stay in Turkey. 

For my convenience i did the below table in an Excel and updated the status and saved all documents in files/pen drive.  

No 4: The travel insurance costed me 9,176 LKR

No 6: I went to the bank and requested a bank statement of my savings account. It costed me 300 LKR. You can also submit the saving bank statements received monthly via the post. 

No 13: I used findmyfare.com to place a reservation using the option "Hold a seat for free". For the departure and arrival I matched my tour itinerary. 

Once all items in your table are marked as "YES" then you can start with the application. This is primarily because the the Turkey visa website does not save your details and allow you to continue later. 

Steps 2 - Filing the Visa form and booking an appointment date

If you are a parent travelling with your child, create the main account under the parent's name and later add the children's application. 

URL of the legit site to apply for visa is: https://www.konsolosluk.gov.tr/Visa 

Type in all the details accurately and upload the soft copies you will be able to submit the application and download the system generated visa Form containing all the details you filled. You need to take a print out of that form. 

As soon as the application is filled you need to also book an appointment to show the original and handover the copies. You must pick a date and time. 

Note: Incase you want to change the date later, it will be tedious because you will have to repeat step 2 over again. Hence, better stick to the original appointment date selected. 

Step 3 - Attending the interview on the date at the exact time

Turkey visa office is located at 92 Kynsey Rd, Colombo 00700. 

The security guard will invite you to come in after confirming your identity. You'll meet a visa officer who will review the documents in your file and ask for additional documents if required and you can submit them to the gate. 

The visa officer will also request you to make the visa payment in cash ONLY. It costs 12,200 LKR per person. 

At the end of the interview, the visa officer will give you a small paper token containing the application details. Keep it safely. 

It is the end of the visa interview and the waiting game begins!

Step 4 (Final) - You get your tourist visa stamped

After approximately two weeks time you will be called by the visa office requesting you to come and collect the passports on a specific date. 

In case you are unable to go and you want a another person to collect it on behalf of you, write a letter to the embassy providing enough details to show it is a legit request and also don't forget to include the paper token you got at the end of the interview. 

Turkish office paste a visa sticker which provides the duration the visa is valid for and the number of days you can stay in Turkey

The END!