Visas and entry requirements: what we can and cannot do
Requirements depend on your nationality. We issue the documentation applications usually lack — we do not submit them and cannot influence the outcome.
Visa questions are the most common reason a treatment date slips, and almost always because the paperwork was started too late rather than because it was refused.
Start this first
Before booking anything, check what your nationality needs for Türkiye and how long it currently takes. Requirements and processing times change, and the official source for your country is the only one worth relying on.
Where a visa is needed we issue an invitation letter and treatment confirmation naming the dates and the facility. We do not submit applications on your behalf and cannot influence the outcome, but that documentation is what applications usually lack.
Passport and entry
Check the expiry date against the requirement for your nationality rather than against your travel date; many countries require validity well beyond the stay. Check it for the companion too, which is the passport people forget.
Travel for treatment is a stated purpose at the border. Carrying the invitation letter and treatment confirmation in printed form, not only on a phone, makes that conversation shorter.
Companions
Companions usually need their own visa on the same terms as the patient, and they should be named in the invitation letter. Adding a companion after the letter is issued means a new letter and, sometimes, a new application.
Decide who is coming before the documentation is requested. It is the cheapest decision to get right early and the most expensive to change late.
Topic
More in Travel and logistics
- The invitation letter: what it contains and what it provesPatient details, diagnosis, dates, the treating facility and its authorisation number — issued in English once the plan is confirmed.
- Arrival and airport transfer: the first hoursWho meets you, which airport your plan names and why, and what actually happens on the first day.
