The exit fee for travel abroad in 2026 is 1,250 TL. However, not every traveller pays this fee: exemption conditions apply, such as citizenship, age, a residence permit held abroad and the nature of the departure. Paying the fee does not provide a passport, a visa or a right of entry into any country. If the trip does not take place, the payment is not automatically treated as lost; a refund can be requested if the conditions are met.
Legal Nature of the Fee and How It Differs from Other Obligations
The exit fee for travel abroad is not a travel permit or a visa fee. Paying the fee does not remove any other exit barrier. The right to an exemption depends on the person's situation at the time of departure and on the documents that show it.
Persons Liable to Pay the Exit Fee and the Moment the Obligation Arises
The fee is set out for departures of citizens of the Republic of Türkiye. Each departure is assessed separately. Having paid once in the same year does not mean that an annual fee covering all later trips has been paid. In cases such as dual citizenship and the document used, the relevant citizenship and departure record should be checked. [1; Law No. 5597]
Travelling for tourism, education or work does not by itself create an exemption. In particular, being a student is not a general fee exemption unless the law separately sets out conditions for it. Other taxes and charges that are thought to be included in the airline ticket price do not prove that the exit fee has been paid.
Persons Exempt from the Exit Fee and the Documents That Prove the Exemption
Specific rules apply to persons who hold a residence permit abroad on the date of departure; persons under seven years of age; persons departing with a passavant (pasavan) or similar documents; persons travelling to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on an identity card; and the statutory groups of commercial vehicle crew. Each group has its own document and scope conditions.
Having an application for a residence permit pending is not the same as holding a valid residence permit. It must be checked whether the document is valid on the date of departure. The exemption for commercial vehicle crew is also not an unlimited right for everyone in the vehicle; the conditions on duty, vehicle and number of persons matter.
How and When Is It Paid?
Official digital channels used for tax payments, authorised banks and the related collection options can be used. It should not be assumed that the former fee-stamp (harç pulu) practice still applies; since 1 January 2025 a digital, tracking-based system has been in operation. When paying, the identity details and whether the collection is matched to the correct person are important.
Check that the payment record has been created before the trip and keep the payment receipt (dekont) accessible. If the payment is made from another person's account, verify that the fee has been recorded against the traveller's identity. A debit from a bank account and the creation of a correct fee record are not the same check.
Can the Former Amount Be Used at the Start of the Year?
Because of revaluation, the amount sometimes changes at the start of the year. A special rule covers persons who paid the former amount by the end of the previous year and depart within the first ten days of the new year. This does not mean that the former amount can be used for departures throughout the year. The departure date and the payment date are assessed together; if another rate change has been made later, its own commencement provision must be examined separately.
The amount of 1,250 TL stated in this article for 2026 is not an estimate of the fee for 2027. When planning travel for next year, the new official amount and the transitional rule should be checked.
Refunds for a Cancelled Trip or an Incorrect Payment
If the departure did not take place, or a payment was made although the person was exempt, the refund request can be assessed using the payment and departure records. The refund petition available in the Digital Tax Office (Dijital Vergi Dairesi) or the procedure of the unit that collected the fee is used. If there is a duplicate payment, both payment references must be stated together.
The refund file contains the identity details, the payment receipt, the payment date, the amount, the relevant trip or the departure that did not take place, and the bank account to which the refund will be paid. A cancelled airline ticket alone does not in every case show that the person left by another route; matching with system records is important.
| Step | Check |
|---|---|
| Travel plan | Citizenship and exemption status |
| Exemption | Document valid on the date of departure |
| Payment | Correct person, amount and collection record |
| Border crossing | Payment or exemption check |
| Refund | Unused or incorrectly collected payment |
Is a child's age determined by the date the ticket was bought?
Exemption conditions are assessed on the situation at the moment of departure. Buying the ticket earlier does not fix the age condition.
Can anyone who has paid travel?
The fee is purely a financial obligation. The passport, the visa, any exit restriction and the admission conditions of the destination country are separate matters.
When and With Which Document Is an Exemption Assessed?
For the exemption of a person holding a residence permit abroad, the validity of the document on the date of departure matters. An expired card, the mere presence of an address in a foreign country or a pending residence permit application does not create the same legal position. A valid document issued by the competent authority of that country, together with the required identity details, must be shown.
The age condition for children under seven is likewise assessed by the date of departure, not the date the ticket was bought. For the crew exemption, the link between the departure concerned and the duty is required, in addition to the job title. A personal holiday trip by an airline employee is not a departure as duty crew merely because the person is an employee.
Wrong Identity, Duplicate Payment and Failed Transactions
The fee payment must be matched with the correct identity number and departure transaction. The debit of the amount from a bank account and the recording of the payment for the correct person in the tax administration's system may not happen at the same time. Checking the payment record before travel reduces the chance of having to pay again at the border.
For a payment made in the name of the wrong person, or a duplicate payment, the application is prepared with the payment receipt and the identity record. If the departure does not take place, the refund conditions are assessed separately; it should not be assumed that an automatic refund will be made. Cancelling a flight, giving up the trip and making a payment although a right to exemption exists are different grounds, and the documents required for each may differ.
A Separate Check for Each New Departure
The fee is not an annual travel subscription. A payment made earlier in the same year does not cover all later departures abroad. An unused payment and a payment already used for an earlier departure must be kept apart. The special transitional rule for the turn of the year applies only within the date range and under the conditions stated in the regulation.
The travel file should keep the payment reference, the identity details, the exemption document and the date of the departure that actually took place. If the amount changes, whether an earlier payment remains valid is assessed under the current regulation; no action should be taken on the basis of the fee amount in an old social media announcement.
Decision to Make and File to Prepare Before Acting
Before travelling, check the identity number, the departure date and any exemption document. If there is a payment made for the wrong person or a duplicate payment, correct the records. For a trip that did not take place, assess the refund route by using the payment receipt and the departure record together.