Turkey · visa route
Emigrating to Turkey
Turkey doesn't give settlement but a permit you renew every year or every two years — and two things decide this journey more than the form: the neighbourhood you choose (closed neighbourhoods refuse new applications) and the treaty that makes your company pension tax-free but leaves your AOW with the Netherlands. Whoever knows the rhythm lives there well and cheaply, with a healthcare route the far destinations don't have. This page shows how it really works.
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- Kind of journey
- Visa — the ikamet, renewed each time
- The check
- Check the neighbourhood in e-ikamet before you sign
- Note
- Whether Turkey exempts your pension depends on your fund — the AOW stays NL-taxed
Last updated: August 2026
The journey
Five phases, from the route choice to the renewal calendar
A route of clocks and of one check. The ninety visa-free days within which your application has to run, the pet's titre test with its months of lead time, the driving licence that has to be converted within six months, the renewal that comes back every year — and before everything the address check in e-ikamet, because a closed neighbourhood means a rejected application. Plus the treaty of 1986, which is more favourable than most new ones: if you keep the two halves of article 18 apart.
- 1
Orientation
A renewal route — with a CAK route and a half-true tax story
Ninety days you may be there freely; living starts with the ikamet, which you keep renewing until after eight years long-term residence opens. In this phase you learn the two things the forum gets wrong: Turkey is a CAK treaty country (pensioners enter the Turkish state system via the CAK — no lifelong private policy as in Thailand), and the treaty de facto exempts your company pension but leaves your AOW with the Netherlands. And you explore the region with the earthquake map beside it, because that's a settlement factor here.
- 2
Your visa
The route on paper, the neighbourhood as gatekeeper
The short-term ikamet asks a notarised rental contract or your own home, means and insurance; the property route only works from US$ 200,000 appraised value anymore, and remote workers have the digital nomad route. But the step that decides this journey is a quarter of an hour's work: check the exact address in e-ikamet before you sign — hundreds of neighbourhoods are closed to new applications, the lists online are always outdated, and a first settlement in a closed neighbourhood is an automatic rejection.
- 3
Closing the Netherlands
The CAK route, the exemption — and what it doesn't apply to
The familiar list with two lessons of its own. Healthcare: with a Dutch statutory pension you register with the CAK and fall under the Turkish SGK via a treaty form, against a treaty contribution — and Turkey's country-of-residence factor is among the lowest of the whole scheme. And tax: apply for the wage tax exemption for your company pension, which is exclusively taxable in Turkey — but not for your AOW, because that stays taxed in the Netherlands as long as you're a Dutch citizen. In this phase also have a Turkish adviser apply for a ruling on whether your pension fund falls under the Turkish exemption: that difference is zero percent or up to forty. Plus the SVB notification within four weeks, the proof of life that comes back periodically from now on, and the M form for your year of departure.
- 4
The move
By road — without the car, and with the longest clock for the pet
The household contents go by lorry in one to two weeks — no sea container needed. The car doesn't come along: import is effectively unaffordable with a consumption tax of 60 to 220 percent, and only pensioners have the tax-free blue-plate route. And the pet has the longest clock of the journey: Turkey demands a titre test with a three-month waiting period after the blood draw — have that test done in the Netherlands, and the ninety-day waiting period on every later return visit lapses too.
- 5
Arrival in Turkey
Address, number, bank — and two clocks that keep ticking
The chain after landing: address registration, the free tax number, a Turkish phone number (bank SMS only goes to +90) and then the bank account. Pensioners hand in the CAK form at the SGK; the driving licence has to be converted within six months (without a test, but your Dutch one goes back to the RDW); and every home carries the compulsory earthquake insurance DASK — a capped basic cover, not a full rebuild guarantee. After that the rhythm is the renewal calendar: ikamet, proof of life, DASK.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Turkey journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.2 of your plan
Check the neighbourhood before you sign
- Lead time
- a quarter of an hour — and it saves months
- Costs
- none
Since 2022 hundreds of neighbourhoods with many foreigners have been closed to new residence applications — in practice that hit precisely the Dutch favourites, such as parts of Alanya. A first settlement at an address in a closed neighbourhood means an automatic refusal; renewal at an existing address and family reunification remain possible.
Which neighbourhoods are closed changes continuously — there have been periods of closure and of reopening, and every static list online is out of date the moment you read it. The only reliable check: enter the exact address in e-ikamet before you sign a rental or purchase contract — the system itself blocks on a closed neighbourhood — and check the announcements on goc.gov.tr.
Where you arrange it
What this step rests on
This is step 2.2 of 29. The other 28 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
What it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.800 – € 7.000
Where does that difference come from?
- De eerste maanden€ 2.000 – € 5.000
Open the breakdown below: there you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 750 – € 1.700
- De verhuizing
- € 80 – € 350
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.000 – € 5.000
View the itemsPer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Verblijfsvergunning (harç en kaartleges)€ 550 – € 850
- Apostilles, beëdigde vertalingen en de noter(estimate)€ 100 – € 350
Nederlandse akten krijgen een apostille bij de rechtbank en in Turkije een beëdigde vertaling met noter-bekrachtiging; ook het notariële huurcontract en een eventuele volmacht lopen via de noter. Tientjes tot ruim honderd euro per document, dat bij een gezin optelt.
- Zorgverzekering voor de aanvraag(estimate)€ 100 – € 450
Onder de 65 vraagt de ikamet een ziektekostenverzekering die de hele vergunningsperiode dekt: een eenvoudige polis die aan de minimumeisen voldoet kost per jaar globaal € 100 tot € 300 per persoon, en ruimere dekking of een hogere leeftijd maakt het snel een veelvoud. Boven de 65 vervalt de eis, en gepensioneerden met een Nederlands wettelijk pensioen stappen na aankomst over op de CAK-verdragsroute — dan is dit alleen de overbrugging.
De verhuizing
- Reis(estimate)€ 80 – € 350
Vliegen, enkele reis Amsterdam-Antalya of Istanbul — drieënhalf tot vier uur, met veel aanbod en lage tarieven buiten het hoogseizoen. Rijden kan ook (drie tot vier dagen), maar de auto zelf blijft buiten deze begroting: die gaat niet mee.
De eerste maanden
- De eerste maanden(estimate)€ 2.000 – € 5.000
Borg (doorgaans één tot twee maanden), huur vooruit, tijdelijk gemeubileerd wonen en de inrichting. De kusthuren zijn naar Nederlandse maatstaven laag — een appartement in Alanya of rond Antalya kost omgerekend grofweg € 400 tot 900 per maand — maar ze worden jaarlijks fors geïndexeerd, dus reken in euro's en met marge. Istanbul ligt daar duidelijk boven.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 7% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 17.500.
De overdrachtsbelasting (tapu harcı) is 4% — wettelijk half om half tussen koper en verkoper, in de praktijk vaak volledig voor de koper. Daar komen de kadaster-administratiekosten, het verplichte taxatierapport, de beëdigde tolk bij de overdracht en het wisselcertificaat bij. Samen 5 tot 7% — en anders dan in Spanje loopt de overdracht via het kadaster, niet via een notaris.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 31 August 2026.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Turkey, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Turkey: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that only a short update when something in Turkey really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Turkey
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
The move
- 7 min
Your car and your driving licence in Turkey: the blue plate and the six months
Turkey is the most expensive car country in Europe inside one of the cheapest countries — buying a car costs more there than in the Netherlands. Against that stands a scheme that virtually no Dutch site explains properly: whoever has retired abroad may bring their own car in tax-free on an MA plate. And your driving licence must be exchanged within six months.
Updated 31 August 2026
- 2 min
Your pet to Turkey: the double titre clock
Turkey requires a rabies titre test with three months' waiting time after the blood sample — and because Turkey is a high-risk country for the EU, the same titre requirement will later apply on every visit back to the Netherlands. Whoever has the test done in the Netherlands before departure solves both clocks in one go; whoever postpones it ties their animal down for months.
Updated 30 August 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 9 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and why "just staying registered" isn't an option.
Updated 7 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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