The first threshold facing a foreign national who wishes to remain lawfully in Türkiye is the acceptance of the residence permit application by the administration. That threshold is not always crossed: deficiencies in the documents submitted, a failure to establish the purpose of stay in a manner that persuades the administration, or a failure to satisfy one of the conditions required by law will each lead to an unfavourable outcome.
A refusal decision is an administrative measure that directly affects the foreign national’s legal status in Türkiye. If no step is taken against the decision, the measure becomes final and the legal basis for the person’s presence in the country falls away. The legislation, however, affords both the possibility of an objection to the administrative authority and that of bringing an action for annulment before the administrative court.
In this briefing note we examine, by type of permit, the grounds on which residence permit requests are refused; we then assess the objection and litigation processes to be pursued against a refusal decision, the particular position where an extension request is refused, and the possibility of making a fresh application.
General Framework of the Grounds Leading to Refusal of a Residence Request
An unfavourable outcome in the residence permits afforded to foreign nationals is not attributable to a single cause. Procedural defects such as documents being drawn up incorrectly or the application timetable being missed may produce the same result just as readily as a failure to satisfy the required conditions from the outset.
The legislature has not gathered the grounds for refusal into a single provision but has spread the arrangement across different provisions of the legislation. Some of these grounds apply in common to more than one type of permit, while others are specific to a single type. For a refusal decision to be issued, it is sufficient that only one of these grounds be made out. When an application is being prepared, it must therefore be established in advance whether any such impediment exists in respect of the person concerned.
General Grounds for Refusal and the Application of Article 32
The unfavourable decisions issued both on initial applications and on extension requests draw largely on a common pool of grounds. Although in practice this pool is referred to in shorthand as the Article 32 grounds for refusal, the basis of the decision is not confined to that provision alone; other provisions of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458 and of its Implementing Regulation also come into play indirectly.
The general grounds for refusal apply in respect of all types of permit other than the long-term residence permit, the humanitarian residence permit and the residence permit for victims of human trafficking. Within that scope, the situations in which the administration issues an unfavourable decision are as follows:
- Those who are banned from entering Türkiye,
- Those assessed as giving rise to concerns from the standpoint of public order or public security,
- Those who have no passport, document serving in place of a passport, visa, residence permit or work permit, and those whose such documents are found to be forged,
- Those who do not hold a passport or a document serving in place of a passport that remains valid for at least 60 days beyond the date on which the visa, the visa exemption or the residence permit expires,
- Those found to be carrying one of the diseases regarded as a threat to public health,
- Those who, in respect of offences forming the basis for the extradition of offenders, are accused or convicted persons under the treaties to which the Republic of Türkiye is a party,
- Those who do not hold valid health insurance covering the period they will spend in the country,
- Those unable to put forward a justification for their entry into Türkiye, their transit through Türkiye or their stay in the country,
- Those without regular financial resources sufficient for themselves throughout the period of stay,
- Those who do not agree to pay debts arising from a visa breach or from an earlier period, or debts and penalties already made the subject of enforcement proceedings.
The occurrence of one of these situations in respect of the foreign national is sufficient for the request to be refused. For that reason, satisfying oneself that none of the impediments listed is present, before the application file is compiled, is the most critical preparatory step in the process.
Grounds for Refusal of a Short-Term Residence Permit
The basis for unfavourable decisions concerning short-term permits is found in Articles 32 and 33 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. Where one or more of the situations defined in those articles is present in the particular case, the request is refused. Those grounds may be listed as follows:
- Not relying on any of the grounds for short-term residence listed in Article 31 of the Law,
- Falling within the scope of one of the general grounds for refusal explained above,
- Failing to submit to the administration the information and documents relating to the request,
- Failing to notify the address details of where the person will stay in Türkiye,
- Failing, despite being asked to do so, to add to the file the criminal record issued by the official authorities of the state of which the person is a national,
- The place of accommodation failing to meet general health and safety standards,
- Being the subject of a deportation decision,
- Being among the foreign nationals to whom a visa may not be issued,
- Being among the persons who will not be permitted to enter Türkiye.
The presence of any one of these grounds means that the short-term residence request will be concluded unfavourably. Reviewing the matters listed one by one at the application stage forestalls losses that are difficult to make good afterwards. The conditions for the short-term residence permit and how the application is to be conducted are addressed separately in our note entitled short-term residence permit.
Grounds for Refusal of a Family Residence Permit
In the case of the family residence permit, an unfavourable decision arises from two sources: the existence of general grounds for refusal, and a failure to satisfy the special conditions laid down for this type of permit. Even one of the required conditions remaining unmet results in the refusal of the request. The principal grounds encountered in this framework are as follows:
- The applicant being among the persons banned from entering Türkiye,
- A failure to satisfy the family residence conditions laid down in Articles 34 and 35 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458,
- One of the general grounds for refusal being made out in respect of the applicant,
- The existence of a deportation decision issued in respect of the foreign national,
- The applicant being assessed as falling within the scope of foreign nationals to whom a visa will not be issued.
In the family residence permit, the conditions are laid down separately in respect of both the foreign national requesting the permit and the person in the position of sponsor. If the request is not to be concluded unfavourably, the conditions required of both parties must be satisfied together. The details of these conditions and the operation of the process are examined in our note entitled family residence permit.
Grounds for Refusal of a Student Residence Permit
In applications made for the purpose of study, a refusal decision may rest both on the general grounds applicable to all permits and on special grounds specific to this type. The presence of one of the following situations leads to the refusal of a student residence request:
- Failing to satisfy the conditions laid down in Article 38 of the Law,
- Being among the persons falling within the scope of the general grounds for refusal,
- Being among those subject to a ban on entering Türkiye,
- Being the subject of a deportation decision,
- Being counted among the foreign nationals to whom a visa may not be issued,
- Failing to produce the documents required for the student residence application,
- Failing to share the information concerning the address at which the person will stay in the country.
The same criteria apply in respect of requests for the extension of a student residence permit. The conditions required on application and the step-by-step operation of the process are set out in detail in our note entitled student residence permit.
Grounds for Refusal of a Long-Term Residence Permit
The long-term residence permit and the conditions for qualifying for it are governed by Article 42 and the following provisions of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. Those provisions set out the criteria on the satisfaction of which the permit may be granted. Where even one of the required conditions cannot be met, the request is refused. Those conditions are as follows:
- Not constituting a threat from the standpoint of public order or public security,
- Having resided in Türkiye with a residence permit uninterruptedly for at least 8 years,
- Holding valid health insurance,
- Not having benefited from any social assistance in the past 3 years,
- Having a regular and sufficient income capable of supporting the person and any family members.
A failure to satisfy one or more of the criteria listed leads to an unfavourable outcome for the long-term residence application. The conditions required for this type of permit and the details of the application process are addressed in our note entitled long-term residence permit.
Grounds for Refusal of a Humanitarian Residence Permit
The humanitarian residence permit is a type of permit granted where the situations exceptionally identified by the Law are present. Where the conditions laid down specifically for this type are not made out, the request is not granted. The scope of this permit, governed by Article 46 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458, and the conditions required are explained in detail in our note entitled humanitarian residence permit.
Grounds for Refusal of a Residence Permit for Victims of Human Trafficking
The residence permit afforded to victims of human trafficking is likewise among the permits of an exceptional character. In this permit, the conditions required for the other types are not required. Accordingly, a failure to satisfy any of the conditions listed above does not result in the refusal of this permit.
That said, the permit does not provide an unlimited guarantee. Where a foreign national who has been allowed to remain in Türkiye on this basis is found to have re-established contact with the persons who committed the offence, the permit is cancelled by the competent authority.
The conditions and grounds for refusal applicable to all types of permit are assessed together in our general note entitled residence permit.
Objection to the Administrative Authority against the Refusal Decision
An unfavourable decision issued on the basis of at least one of the grounds for refusal is notified to the applicant or to the lawyer representing them. Once notification has been effected, the time limits for pursuing rights begin to run.
A foreign national whose request has been refused may choose one of two routes within 60 days beginning on the day following notification of the decision: objecting to the Directorate General of Migration Management, or bringing an action directly before the administrative court. Where the objection route is chosen, the competent authority has a period of 30 days in which to conclude the application. The possibilities that may arise following an objection to the administration are as follows:
- If the objection is upheld, the way is opened for the residence permit to be issued.
- If the objection is dismissed, the administrative court must be approached within the remaining part of the 60-day period for bringing an action. This is because the 60-day period is suspended at the moment the objection is made; following the refusal response, the balance of the period continues to run.
- If no response is given to the objection within 30 days, the request is deemed to have been impliedly refused, and an action for annulment may be brought within 60 days of that date.
Care must be taken in calculating the time limits. The 60-day period running from the day following notification of the refusal decision is a period common to both the administrative objection and the action. By way of example, in a case where the objection is made on the tenth day and an unfavourable response is received twenty days later, the time remaining in which to bring an action for annulment is 50 days; the action must be brought before that period expires.
Where the time limits are calculated incorrectly, or overlooked altogether, the refusal decision becomes final; that situation raises the risk of deportation for the foreign national. It is therefore appropriate to seek the opinion of a lawyer practising in the field of the law on foreigners before any step is taken.
Action for Annulment against the Refusal Measure
An action for annulment may arise in two ways: it may be brought directly without recourse to the administrative objection route at all, or the litigation route may be taken once the objection stage has been completed. The judicial forum with subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction in the action is the administrative court at the place where the authority that issued the unfavourable decision is situated. The period for bringing the action is 60 days, beginning on the day following notification of the refusal decision.
The statement of claim must be prepared so as to set out clearly the nature of the dispute and the bases of the application. Submitting to the file, in full, the information and documents supporting the merits of the request is decisive for the course of the proceedings.
An appeal lies against the decision of the court of first instance. The party dissatisfied with the decision submits the notice of appeal to the court that gave the judgment within the 30-day period beginning on the day following the date of notification. At this stage the file is examined by the regional administrative court. It must not be overlooked, however, that the decision to be given by the regional administrative court is final in character and that no appeal on points of law lies against it.
Refusal of an Extension Request
The refusal of requests for the extension of a residence permit is governed by different provisions of the Law according to the type of permit. If any of the conditions required when the permit was granted, and present at the time of the application, has subsequently ceased to exist, the extension request will not be granted.
The same result follows where the conditions laid down specifically for extension cannot be satisfied, or where errors are made in matters of time limits and procedure. What needs to be known about the operation of the extension process is set out in our note entitled residence permit extension.
Timing is decisive at this point: the extension request must have been submitted to the administration within the final 60 days of the residence permit held. Applications made outside that window are refused. Where an unfavourable decision is issued, the foreign national again has the options of an objection and an action for annulment.
Objection and Litigation against a Refusal of Extension
The objection and annulment mechanisms to be pursued where an extension request is refused are the same as the principles applicable to the refusal of an initial application. A person whose extension request has not been granted may avail themselves of the legal possibilities explained above on the same terms.
Accordingly, in respect of both the administrative objection and the action for annulment, there is a common period of 60 days beginning on the day following notification of the unfavourable decision. Once that period has expired, those requests can no longer be put forward.
The Importance of a Request for a Stay of Execution
Where a foreign national whose extension request has been refused, or whose existing permit has been cancelled, takes the litigation route and also requests a stay of execution in the statement of claim, they may continue to benefit from residence while the proceedings are pending.
That result depends on the request being expressly put forward in the statement of claim; this matter must without fail be borne in mind when the pleading is drafted. Where a stay of execution is ordered, the person concerned continues to enjoy the rights conferred by the residence permit until the action has been concluded.
Reapplying after a Refusal Decision
An unfavourable decision does not constitute an absolute bar to making a fresh application. The matter is governed by Article 21(10) of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. Under that provision, a person whose residence permit or extension request has been refused must put forward a different ground if they are to make a fresh application within 6 months. During that period a new request cannot be submitted on the same grounds.
A foreign national who insists on relying on the same ground may, by contrast, renew their application on the same grounds once the 6-month period has expired. The period begins on the day following the day on which the refusal decision was notified to the foreign national.
Conclusion
Two questions come to the fore where residence permit requests are refused: which situations count as grounds for refusal, and how to proceed when faced with an unfavourable decision. In these processes an error as to procedure or time limits may produce consequences extending as far as the decision becoming final and the foreign national being deported. Structuring the process correctly from the outset is therefore far more effective than efforts at correction made afterwards.
The Independent Legal Assessment
What is decisive in residence permit disputes is most often not the argument on the substance of the ground for refusal, but the correct management of the process in procedural terms. A substantial proportion of the losses encountered in practice stem from the objection period and the litigation period being taken for two independent periods, or from the date of implied refusal being calculated incorrectly where the administration remains silent.
The second critical point is reading the reasoning of the refusal decision correctly. A decision resting on a documentary deficiency and one resting on an assessment of public order cannot be approached with the same legal strategy; in the former it may suffice to remedy the deficiency and make a fresh application, whereas in the latter the limits of the administration’s discretion must be contested before the courts.
In determining the road map in a concrete file, the following headings should be given priority:
- Establishing the date of notification by documentary evidence and calculating the 60-day period accordingly
- Distinguishing whether the ground for refusal rests on the general grounds or on a special condition specific to the type of permit
- Making a deliberate choice, according to the nature of the file, between the administrative objection and direct litigation
- Including a request for a stay of execution in the statement of claim where the foreign national’s residence is continuing
- Assessing together the 6-month limit and the requirement of a change of ground, where a fresh application is contemplated
- Ascertaining in advance whether there is a restriction record giving rise to a risk of deportation
Independent Legal provides advisory services and conducts litigation in the field of the law on foreigners, from the preparation of residence permit applications through to the objection and annulment proceedings to be pursued against refusal decisions.