UK citizens looking to invest in a Turkey property for holiday rental purposes can advise their guests on how to save on additional charges when it comes to the national change-over to the government’s new e-visa system in April this year, Oceanwide PropertiesTurkey has learned.
For that’s when tourists to Turkey must buy their entry visa online via a credit or debit card and at present, the Turkish Immigration Authorities say the statutory pass into the country will only be able to be purchased in US dollars (the cost being 20 US dollars) prior to a holidaymaker’s visit. The on-line transaction must also be carried out using Mastercard or Visa, say the government – no other cards or means of payment will be accepted.
At the current moment tourists from the UK and other western countries can ‘buy’ a visa (paper) sticker for £10 at Turkish airports in Dalaman, Bodrum and Antalya. But this will change on April 10 this year. This reason for the change-over is to make the whole visa process quicker for both immigration officers and tourists, say the Turkish Tourist Board. And indeed, it should mean no more lengthy queues at airports for UK or other European holidaymakers looking to enter the country.
Cutting Back on The Cost
For the thousands of holidaymakers or those looking at investing in property in Fethiye, Kalkan or other popular Turkish Mediterranean resorts, there is a way of cutting back on the additional cost this would result in (£2.50 or as much as £5 depending whether tourists are using a credit card and what the company’s charges are) and that’s by ensuring the debit card they use does not charge them a minimum fee for transaction.
If using a credit card then it’s important to make sure the lending institution doesn’t charge for changing sterling into foreign currency (referred to as a loading charge).
In an earlier blog post we warned that UK citizens should be wary of newly-established ‘agencies’ which offer to negotiate the new e-visa system for tourists since these firms too would charge an administration fee for their services (the system is easy enough for individuals to carry out by themselves on-line).
Time Constraints for Purchasing the New E-Visa
For peace of mind, holiday makers should ideally consider purchasing an e-visa several weeks before their intended flight date. However the pass can be bought up to 24 hours beforehand (although obviously we wouldn’t recommend this here at Oceanwide Properties – not only would it be stressful considering there are so many other things to consider a day before going on holiday, but also because of the time difference in that Turkey is two hours ahead of the UK in that respect.
If you’re considering investing in a property in Turkey to rent out to tourists or indeed to stay in yourself for several months of the year or even for retiral purposes then please do contact us here at Oceanwide Properties Turkey where we would be happy to explain the buying system here and go over any other questions you may have.
