Türkiye is the largest destination for Iranians leaving Iran. Visa-free entry, established Iranian community in Istanbul, and accessible long-term residence.
Key facts
Visa-free entry
90 days per visit
Largest community
Istanbul (Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü)
Banking access
Hard — needs residence permit + buffer time
CBI route
Open · USD 400K property
Türkiye is the single largest destination country for Iranians leaving Iran in the 2020s. Visa-free entry, geographic proximity, established Iranian-language services in Istanbul (especially Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü, Şişli), and a relatively predictable residence permit pathway combine to make it the most-used relocation option.
The Iranian community in Istanbul has grown materially since 2018, with full Persian-language doctors, lawyers, schools (including Iranian-curriculum and bilingual options), real estate brokers and food businesses now widely available in the western European-side districts.
Türkiye allows visa-free entry for Iranian citizens for up to 90 days per visit. Longer stays require a Turkish residence permit, with banking and bureaucratic friction higher than for some other nationalities — plan extra time and document buffer.
Visa-free entry · 90 days
Iranian passport holders enter Türkiye visa-free for up to 90 days. Longer stays require a residence permit applied for in-country.
Largest Iranian community in Istanbul
Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü and Şişli have the densest Persian-language services, schools and businesses outside Iran.
Banking is harder
Opening a Turkish bank account as an Iranian typically requires a residence permit + tax number + active Turkish address. Plan for post-arrival timing.
CBI route is open
USD 400,000 property purchase remains an accessible route to Turkish citizenship for Iranian applicants.
The procedure
How Iranians actually move to Türkiye
Istanbul hosts one of the largest Iranian communities outside Iran, and Iranian applicants are among the most frequent users of the company-formation and property routes rather than employment. Banking and transfer arrangements are the step most likely to require in-person problem-solving.
01
Confirm your entry status before you book anything
Before you leave
Whether your passport needs a visa, and how long you may stay before a residence permit is required, is set per nationality and changes without much notice. Your permitted stay is the clock your whole permit timeline runs against.
For Iranians
Iranian ordinary and official passport holders are exempt from a visa for travel of up to 90 days, per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Because Iranian entry arrangements have been revised more than once, check the ministry listing close to your travel date rather than at the point you start planning.
Documents issued abroad generally need an apostille from the issuing country and a sworn Turkish translation before a Turkish authority will accept them, and they are far harder to obtain once you have left. See the residence-permit document checklist.
03
Get a Turkish tax number
First week
A tax number (vergi numarası) unlocks almost everything else — a bank account, a lease in your name, utilities and the permit application itself — and is available to foreigners before any permit exists. See the e-Devlet guide.
Arrange health cover that the directorate will accept
First week
Health insurance is a condition of the residence permit, not an optional extra, and whether cover from your home country counts for anything here depends on the agreement between the two states. See the permit-compliant insurance guide.
For Iranians
There is no social-security agreement between Türkiye and Iran, so a permit-compliant private policy is the route. Iranian applicants are also more likely to be applying through a company they have formed, which changes which cover the directorate expects to see.
The application is made online through e-ikamet, which also issues the appointment. The fee has two parts — a universal document fee and a permit fee set per nationality under the reciprocity principle. See the short-term permit walkthrough.
Address registration ties your permit to a real residence and is what makes it usable. It is normally completed once you have a lease or title in your name. See the arrival checklist.
Banks ask for a tax number and usually proof of address. Beyond that, willingness to onboard a foreigner varies by nationality and by branch more than by any published rule. See the bank-account guide.
For Iranians
This is reliably the hardest step for Iranian applicants. International sanctions exposure makes Turkish banks cautious, transfers from Iran are impractical through normal channels, and the account is usually opened in person with more documentation than other nationalities present. Plan it as a multi-visit task.
08
Understand when you become a Turkish tax resident
Ongoing
Spending more than 183 days in Türkiye in a calendar year generally makes you a Turkish tax resident, which changes what Türkiye may tax. What your home country does about that is governed by the treaty between the two states. See the 183-day rule explained.
For Iranians
Türkiye and Iran have a double-taxation treaty, but Iranian applicants more often reach Turkish tax residency through a Turkish company than through employment income — which puts corporate tax and dividend treatment, not salary, at the centre of the question.
What do Iranians need to know before moving to Türkiye?
Bring fully apostilled copies of all key documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, education credentials). Iranian apostille is processed by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Bracket-C nationality fee tier in our residence permit calculator is the relevant range for Iranian applicants.
Most arrivals base in Istanbul (Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü, Şişli, Ataşehir). Smaller communities exist in Ankara, Antalya and Trabzon.
Persian-language schools and bilingual programs exist in Istanbul; international schools (English-medium) are also widely available for those not focused on Persian-curriculum continuity.
Translations: documents in Persian require sworn-translator translation into Turkish. Plan for ~2-3 weeks of paperwork lead time.
Do Iranians need a visa for Türkiye?
Visa-free for 90 days per visit. Longer stays require a Turkish residence permit. Iranian passports fall into the Bracket-C nationality range for residence permit fees in our calculator.
How are Iranians taxed when moving to Türkiye?
Türkiye and Iran do not have a comprehensive double tax treaty in force at the same level as EU treaty partners. Tax planning for Iranian residents in Türkiye should be done with a Turkish tax advisor familiar with Iranian-source income treatment.
How big is the Iranian community in Türkiye?
Estimated 70,000–120,000 Iranian citizens are medium-to-long-term residents of Türkiye, the largest concentration of Iranians in any country outside Iran.
Official sources
Every immigration, tax and social-security claim on this page traces to one of the authorities below. Where a rule depends on your specific nationality — above all whether you need a visa — check the authority directly rather than any guide, including this one.