Turkey stops residence permits for immigrants in all districts of Istanbul
After President Erdogan’s announcement on the return of the NATO summit, the pressure on migrants have increased. The practice of “not granting” a residence permit applied in 10 districts of Istanbul has spread to all 39 districts.
CORRECTION (16.07.2023)
“The claims that 39 districts in Istanbul have been closed to residence permits do not reflect the reality“
The Directorate of Migration Administration stated that the claims that 39 districts in Istanbul had been closed to residence permits of foreigners were not true, and reported that only 10 districts had been closed to new residence permit applications. The Presidency announced that it had taken measures by conducting density analyses on the foreign population in order to prevent spatial concentration.
According to the official data of the Presidency, the number of foreign nationals residing in Turkey reached 5 million 400 thousand last year. Istanbul is in the first place with 1 million 294 thousand.
In Istanbul, where official population is estimated at 15 million 908 thousand and dynamic population is estimated at 20 million, the practice of not granting residence permits to immigrants, which was implemented in 10 districts by the Ministry of Interior as of October 2022, has spread to 39 districts. According to the news in media with the new decision taken, the residence permit for foreign nationals has been stopped except in mandatory cases.
In Istanbul, where the residence permit has been stopped except for cases such as life safety, health, education and rights arising from international trade, residence permits will not be issued to foreigners until a second decision by the decision taken by the ministry on October 7, 2022.
According to the figures of the Provincial Migration Administration a year ago, 1 million 294 thousand 124 foreign nationals live in the city, except for foreigners who gained citizenship through the acquisition of real estate in Istanbul. x
President Erdogan had told reporters on the plane returning to NATO, “Our citizens will feel visible changes in the issue of irregular migrants in a short time with the work being done.” (Source: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/istanbul-duzensiz-gocmene-kapatildi-6975893)
