Among the restriction codes entered on the records of foreign nationals, one of those with the gravest consequences is Ç-114. For a foreign national who is abroad, the record has the effect of refusing them admission to the country; for a person already living in Türkiye, it may mark the beginning of the deportation process.
Deletion of the record and the recovery of the ability to re-enter the country do not happen of their own accord; the legal remedies must be pursued for that purpose. The two principal instruments available are an objection addressed to the administration and an action for annulment brought before the administrative judiciary. Below we examine how those avenues are used, the time limits to which they are subject, and the points that must not be overlooked when an application is made.
What Is the Ç-114 Restriction Code?
Ç-114 is a restriction record entered on the file of a foreign national who is assessed to have been involved in an offence during their time in Türkiye and against whom criminal proceedings have accordingly been conducted. As a result of that measure the person’s residence permit, work permit or visa is cancelled. The authority that creates the record is the provincial directorates, and by virtue of the record the foreign national is barred from entering the country for two years.
There is a point on which there is frequent misunderstanding here: the record does not require the proceedings to have ended in a conviction. The fact that an investigation or a prosecution has been conducted against the person is in itself sufficient for the code to be entered on their record.
The Rationale for Imposing the Code
The function of the Ç-114 record is to bar, for two years, the admission to the country of foreign nationals found to have been involved in an offence during their stay in Türkiye. Once the finding has been made, the record is entered directly by the provincial directorates without any intermediate stage.
Deletion of the record, the person’s ability to re-enter the country and the setting aside of any deportation decision are possible only through the use of the legal remedies. Given the technical nature of the process and its dependence on time limits, it is appropriate to obtain assistance from the outset from a lawyer experienced in the field of immigration law.
How Is the Ç-114 Restriction Code Removed?
Removal of the record may be achieved by two principal routes: an objection addressed to the administration and an action for annulment brought before the administrative court. In addition, a foreign national against whom a record has been entered may also enter the country by obtaining an annotated visa.
The action for annulment of the restriction record and the action for annulment of the deportation decision must be kept separate from one another. Each is brought against a different administration and subject to different administrative time limits. That said, there are exceptional instances in which, where a deportation action has been allowed, the restriction record has been deleted together with the deportation decision.
Each of these avenues is explained separately under the headings that follow. The general framework covering all restriction codes and the legal means available in the removal process is addressed in the study entitled “the restriction code and removal of the restriction code”.
Removal of the Record by Administrative Objection
A person against whom a Ç-114 record has been entered may apply to the administration and request that the record be lifted. The addressee of the application is the Presidency of Migration Management, and the request is submitted by way of a petition setting out the grounds relied on. The time limit for the application is 60 days running from the day following the date on which the record was notified to the person concerned.
Applying to the administration is not a mandatory stage; bringing an action directly before the administrative court may also be chosen. However, since it is not possible to return to the administrative objection route on the same matter once an action has been brought, and since in practice the objection often produces a concrete result, it is advisable to try that route first.
Where the administration rejects the request, gives no reply within 30 days, or gives a reply that lacks clarity, the possibility arises of bringing an action for annulment before the administrative court.
Action for Annulment to Remove the Record
The other legal means open to a foreign national against whom a record has been created and whose entry to the country is prohibited is to apply to the administrative judiciary. The action is directed against the Presidency of Migration Management, which issued the record. The action must be brought within the 60-day period running from the day following notification of the record.
Where an objection was made to the administration before the action, the days elapsing up to that application are counted within this sixty-day period. If, for example, the objection was made on the tenth day of the period and the administration replied on any day within the thirty-day reply period, the time remaining in which to bring the action is 50 days.
If the action seeking removal of the record and the entry ban is dismissed, an appeal may be brought.
For comprehensive information on all types of restriction code and on the action for removal, our article entitled “the restriction code for foreign nationals and the action for removal of the code” may be consulted.
Entering the Country with an Annotated Visa
One of the options that may be considered by foreign nationals against whom a restriction record has been entered and whose entry is prohibited is the annotated visa. Obtaining that visa does not mean that the record is deleted; it merely allows entry to the country notwithstanding the ban in force.
The annotated visa is an exceptional type of visa granted only in certain particular situations. Applications are made through the Turkish diplomatic missions in the country where the foreign national is present. The details of the matter are set out in the article entitled “what an annotated visa is and how it is obtained”.
Action for Annulment against the Deportation Decision
The course to be followed by a foreign national who wishes to challenge a deportation decision taken against them is to bring an action for annulment of that decision. The period within which the action may be brought is seven days from notification of the decision. If the request is refused, the avenues of appeal and appeal on points of law are closed; what remains is the option of an individual application to the Constitutional Court with a request for an interim measure.
The administration waits for that period to expire before carrying out deportation. A person who wishes to remain in the country must therefore bring the action immediately after notification of the decision. Deportation is suspended once the action is brought; there is no need to make a separate request for a stay of execution.
In an action brought within time, the court may also be asked to lift the restriction record and the entry ban that form the ground of the deportation decision. Where that request is included in the petition, deletion of the record is likewise achieved within the same file when the action is allowed. The details of the matter are explained in the study entitled “how a deportation decision is set aside”.
By contrast, a foreign national held in administrative detention in a removal centre is not released by the bringing of the action for annulment. In order to be released, they must also object to the administrative detention decision.
Objection to the Administrative Detention Decision
An objection against an administrative detention decision is made to the criminal judgeship of peace at the place where the deportation decision was taken. The maximum period of administrative detention that may be applied in removal centres is six months; in certain particular situations a further six months may be added to that period.
What must not be overlooked here is that the objection has no suspensive effect on the deportation decision. Even if the foreign national is released from administrative detention, deportation continues from where it left off. For that reason those who wish to remain in the country must, independently of the objection to detention, also bring an action for annulment of the deportation decision.
The details of the matter are examined in the article entitled “objection to an administrative detention decision in a removal centre”.
How Long the Process Takes
Removal of the record following an objection made to the administration takes approximately one to three months. An action for annulment brought before the administrative court takes on average one year to be concluded. Despite the statutory provision requiring an action for annulment of a deportation decision to be determined within fifteen days, in practice those files are concluded within four to six months.
Factors that lengthen these periods include a failure to set out the grounds of objection with sufficient clarity, the submission of incomplete documents to the file, and a heavy workload at the authority to which the application is made. Likewise, recourse to appeal and appeal on points of law following dismissal of the action for annulment is a further element that lengthens the total period.
Legal Fees and Litigation Costs
The costs of an action concerning a Ç-114 record are approximately TRY 4,000 on the basis of the 2023 tariff published by the competent authorities. Where a separate action has also been brought against the deportation decision, the necessary costs must be paid for that file as well. The fee payable by those making an individual application to the Constitutional Court with a request for an interim measure was set at TRY 2,220.60 for 2023.
Courts with Subject-Matter and Territorial Jurisdiction
In actions seeking removal of a restriction record, subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction lie with the Ankara administrative courts. Actions seeking annulment of a deportation decision are heard by the administrative court of the place where the governorship that issued the deportation decision is located.
Conclusion
Whether a foreign national against whom a restriction record has been entered can re-enter the country, whether the deportation decision is set aside and whether the record is deleted from their file all depend on the proper use of the remedies explained above. For those remedies to produce a favourable outcome, it must be clearly demonstrated that the record does not rest on a concrete and valid ground. That characteristic of the process makes it important to obtain advice from a lawyer experienced in the field.
Independent Legal Assessment
The most contentious aspect of the Ç-114 record is that the mere conduct of an investigation or prosecution, without any conviction, is treated as sufficient for the record to be created. That can result in a two-year entry ban even for persons whose file has ended in a decision not to prosecute or in an acquittal. Submitting in full, with the application petition, the documents showing the outcome of the criminal process therefore forms the strongest foundation of the file.
The points to be observed in practice are as follows:
- Obtaining the decisions showing the outcome of the investigation or prosecution and adding them to the file
- Documenting the notification date and calculating the 60-day period so as to include the days spent on the administrative objection
- Where there is a deportation decision, using the seven-day period without delay
- Expressly requesting removal of the restriction record in the deportation action, so as to avoid the burden of a second set of proceedings
- Opening a separate objection file before the criminal judgeship of peace for persons in administrative detention
Independent Legal provides advisory services and conducts litigation in proceedings for the removal of a restriction record, the annulment of a deportation decision and objections to administrative detention.