A lost or stolen residence card does not cancel your permit. Get a loss report from a police station, then apply to the provincial migration directorate for a new card with your passport copy, photographs and proof of address. Under Article 23(4) of the regulation implementing Law No. 6458 you pay the full card fee (964 Turkish Lira in 2026) and half of the permit fee for your nationality. Your foreigner ID number stays the same. If the permit expires within 60 days, also file an extension before expiry (Article 24).
Losing a residence permit card in Türkiye usually happens in an ordinary way: a wallet taken on a tram in Istanbul, a bag left in a taxi in Antalya, a card that never arrived by post. The first reaction is often panic, because the card is the document that shows a foreigner is lawfully in the country. The legal position is calmer than it feels. The card is only the physical proof of a permit that is recorded with the Presidency of Migration Management, and the implementing regulation of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, Law No. 6458, expressly provides for a new card to be issued when the original is lost or stolen. What creates real problems is delay: a permit that quietly expires while the holder waits for a new card, a trip abroad booked before the replacement is ready, or a lost passport that is never updated in the migration records. For 2026 the card fee itself is 964 Turkish Lira, and the replacement also costs half of the permit fee. This article explains the steps in the order a foreign resident should take them.
Article 19 of Law No. 6458 obliges every foreigner who stays in Türkiye longer than a visa, a visa exemption or ninety days allows to obtain a residence permit. The permit is a decision of the governorship, recorded in the migration system for a fixed period and for a specific purpose of stay. Article 23 of the Law provides that permits are issued separately for each foreigner, tied to the purpose of stay, and for a period sixty days shorter than the validity of the passport.
The card you carry is the ikamet izni belgesi, the residence permit document. Article 23 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (published in the Official Gazette on 17 March 2016, No. 29656) treats this card as a valuable paper under the Valuable Papers Law, Law No. 210, and states in paragraph 4 that where the card is lost, stolen, faulty or worn, the residence permit document is issued again. The consequence is important: losing the card does not end, suspend or cancel your permit. Your permit continues until its expiry date unless it is cancelled on a separate legal ground. What you need is a new copy of the document, not a new permit.
The replacement file starts with a kayıp tutanağı, a loss report recorded by the authorities. The Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management lists a loss report obtained from a police station or a courthouse as the first document for a replacement card. Go to the nearest police station with your passport, explain when and where you last had the card, and ask for a written report. Keep the original and make copies, because you will rely on it until the new card arrives.
If the card was taken together with a wallet, bank cards or a phone, tell the police that it was stolen rather than simply lost. A theft can be recorded as a criminal complaint, and that record helps if someone later tries to use your identity details, for example to open a phone line or a bank account. If you are asked to give a statement, you may have an interpreter; our guide on your rights when giving a police statement in Türkiye explains what to expect.
Before you apply, collect your foreigner identification number, the type and expiry date of the permit, your registered address and a copy of your passport. If you once photographed or scanned the card, keep that image with the loss report. These details speed up every later step, including the replacement application and any contact with banks, your employer or your landlord.
A replacement card is requested from the il göç idaresi müdürlüğü, the provincial directorate of migration management, in the province where you hold the permit. The Istanbul directorate states that applicants may apply to the directorate in person with the required documents. The exact channel differs between provinces: some directorates register the request through the e-ikamet system or an appointment, others take it at the counter. Before you go, check the website of your provincial directorate or call YİMER, the Foreigners Communication Centre of the Presidency of Migration Management, on 157. If someone tells you that a lost card can be replaced only through a paid intermediary, ignore it: the request is made directly to the directorate.
The list published by the Istanbul directorate for lost and stolen cards is short:
Other provinces may ask for slightly different papers, so treat this as the core file and confirm locally. If your address has changed since the permit was issued, update it first: Article 23(2) of the Regulation requires changes of address, marital status or name in the passport to be notified to the governorship within twenty working days.
The request concerns the document only. It is not a new assessment of the permit in the way a first application or an extension is, although the directorate can still act if it learns that a condition of the permit has ceased. The document is reissued for the same permit. The new card is then produced centrally and normally sent to the declared address. Production times vary with the workload of the province, and no binding deadline is published. Keep your application receipt and the loss report together with your passport until the card is in your hands.
Article 23(4) of the Regulation sets the rule: when the card is lost, stolen or worn, the card fee is charged in full and the harç, the residence permit fee set under the Fees Law, Law No. 492, is charged at half rate. A faulty card caused by a printing error is taken back and replaced. The figures for 2026 come from the fee page of the Presidency of Migration Management.
| Element | Rule for 2026 |
|---|---|
| Card fee (belge bedeli) | 964 Turkish Lira, set by the General Communiqué published in the Official Gazette of 24 December 2025, No. 33117; no nationality is exempt |
| Residence permit fee (harç) | Half of the fee that applies to your permit; the amount depends on your nationality and the duration of the permit |
| Base fee for nationals of countries not in a special group | 348.10 Turkish Lira per day for up to one month (first month between 653.70 and 3,359.90 Turkish Lira), then 2,232.30 Turkish Lira for each further month |
| Nationals exempt from the permit fee by reciprocity | Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Kosovo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, the TRNC and Palestine (the card fee still applies) |
| Where to pay | Tax offices, the banks named by the directorate, or online after the application is created in e-ikamet |
Because the permit fee is calculated by nationality under the reciprocity principle, there is no single replacement price that applies to everyone. The Presidency has also warned that it does not ask applicants to transfer money to personal or company bank accounts. Pay only through the official channels and keep every receipt.
In the weeks before the new card arrives, your passport is your primary identity document. Carry it together with the loss report and the application receipt. Police officers who carry out identity checks can usually confirm your status from your foreigner identification number. Under Article 40 of the Misdemeanours Law, Law No. 5326, refusing to give an officer your identity or address details, or giving false details, is itself a misdemeanour, so answer clearly and show the documents you have.
Private institutions are less flexible. Banks, notaries, mobile operators and some employers ask to see the card itself, and a loss report does not replace it as an identity or travel document. If you know you will need to sign a contract, open an account or complete a property transaction, tell the other side about the replacement and ask what they will accept in the meantime.
Domestic flights, intercity buses and hotels usually accept a passport as identification. There is no legal rule that confines you to your province while the replacement is pending.
Article 5 of Law No. 6458 provides that entry into and exit from Türkiye are made through border gates with a valid passport or a document that replaces a passport. The residence card is not a travel document, so its absence does not in itself prevent departure. The difficulty arises on the way back.
Article 12(1)(b) of the Law exempts from the visa requirement foreigners who hold a valid residence or work permit on the date of entry. The exemption is linked to the permit, not to the plastic card, but airlines and border officers often ask to see the card before boarding or at passport control. In practice, a holder who travels before the new card arrives may be asked to show a visa or an e-visa that their nationality would otherwise need. If the trip cannot wait, carry the loss report, the replacement receipt and a copy of the old card, and check the visa rules for your nationality before you leave. Our article on the visa regime for Türkiye explains which nationalities need a visa.
If the card disappears while you are outside Türkiye, report it to the local police, enter Türkiye on the visa or visa exemption available to your nationality if the border officer requires it, and apply for the replacement as soon as you are back. Do not stay abroad longer than planned to wait for paperwork: Article 33(2) of the Law allows short term residence permits to be cancelled on account of time spent abroad, under rules set by the Regulation.
The yabancı kimlik numarası, the foreigner identification number, is assigned under Article 8 of the Civil Registration Services Law, Law No. 5490, which authorises the Ministry of Interior to give identity numbers to foreigners covered by Law No. 6458 and to keep their records. The number belongs to you, not to the card. A lost card therefore does not change your number, and the replacement card carries the same one.
This continuity matters. Your tax registration, bank accounts, health insurance, employment records and e-Devlet account are all tied to that number. You do not need to register again with any of them because the card was lost, although some institutions will want to see the new card once it arrives.
This is the most serious risk, and it is entirely separate from the lost card. A replacement application does not extend the permit. If your permit is close to its end date, you must also apply for an extension. Article 24(2) of Law No. 6458 allows an extension application from sixty days before expiry and, in any event, before the permit expires. A foreigner who applies in time receives a document that is not subject to fees and may stay in Türkiye with it until the decision, even if the old permit has expired in the meantime. Our guide to residence permit renewal in Türkiye covers that process in detail.
If the expiry date passes without an extension application, the stay becomes unlawful. Article 54(1)(g) of the Law requires a removal decision for permit holders who overstay their permit by more than ten days without an acceptable reason, and overstaying also creates a fee penalty calculated under the Fees Law. Article 9(4) allows the authorities not to impose an entry ban on a foreigner who applies to the governorship to leave before the overstay is detected, pays the fines and stays within the periods set by the Ministry. A lost card is not, by itself, an acceptable reason for missing the extension deadline. For the calculation of overstay penalties, see our article on visa violation penalty calculation in Türkiye, and for the difference between bans on entering and leaving, our guide to entry and exit bans in Türkiye.
When a bag is stolen, the passport often goes with the card. The two problems are handled by different authorities. The passport is issued by your own state, so the replacement or an emergency travel document comes from your embassy or consulate in Türkiye. The residence card is issued by the Turkish migration authorities. Ask the police to record both documents in the same loss report, because both the consulate and the migration directorate will want to see it.
Apply to the consulate first. A residence permit cannot be issued for longer than sixty days less than the passport validity (Article 23 of the Law), and the directorate must link your record to a valid passport before it can print a card that matches it. Once you have the new passport, take it to the provincial directorate and ask for the passport details to be updated in the same visit as the card request. Article 23(2) of the Regulation already requires a change of name in the passport to be notified within twenty working days; we advise treating any new passport in the same way and within the same period. If you plan to leave Türkiye, do not travel on the new passport until the directorate has recorded it, because the border record should match the passport linked to your permit.
For an overview of the permit types, the conditions attached to each and the grounds on which a permit can be cancelled, see our complete residence permit guide for Türkiye.
No. The permit remains valid until its expiry date; Article 23(4) of the implementing regulation only provides for the card to be issued again.
Go to the nearest police station with your passport and obtain a written loss report, stating that the card was stolen if that is what happened.
To the provincial directorate of migration management in the province where your permit is held; the channel (counter, appointment or e-ikamet) varies by province, so confirm it on the directorate website or by calling 157.
The card fee is 964 Turkish Lira, plus half of the residence permit fee that applies to your nationality and permit duration.
You still pay the card fee, because no nationality is exempt from it; only the permit fee portion falls away for exempt nationals.
No. A lost or stolen card leads to reissue of the document for the existing permit, not to a new application, unless your permit is also expiring.
No. The number is assigned to you under Law No. 5490 and stays the same on the replacement card.
Yes. Exit requires a valid passport under Article 5 of Law No. 6458, but returning without the card may lead to a request for a visa, so check your nationality's visa rules first.
No. It only proves that the loss was reported; carry it together with your passport.
No. You must also file an extension application before the expiry date under Article 24(2) of the Law, otherwise you risk an overstay.
Your stay becomes unlawful from the expiry date, and an overstay of more than ten days without an acceptable reason triggers a removal decision under Article 54(1)(g); seek advice immediately.
Report both losses to the police, obtain a new passport from your consulate, then update the passport details and request the new card at the migration directorate.
There is no published binding period; production and postal delivery times depend on the province and the season.
Directorates generally expect the permit holder to attend in person for photographs and identity checks; a lawyer can prepare the file and accompany you, and local practice on representation should be confirmed in advance.
A lost or stolen residence card is an administrative problem, not a loss of status. Under Law No. 6458 and Article 23(4) of its implementing regulation, the permit continues and only the document is reissued, against a loss report, a passport copy, photographs, proof of address and payment of the full card fee (964 Turkish Lira in 2026) and half of the permit fee. The real risks lie around the replacement: a permit that expires without an extension application, a trip abroad that ends with a visa request at the border, and a new passport that is never linked to the migration record. Dealing with these points in the right order keeps a lost card from turning into an overstay or a removal decision.
Our Turkish residence permit services cover replacement cards, extensions and passport updates for foreign residents in every province. If your card was lost close to its expiry date, if you also lost your passport, or if you are already outside Türkiye and need to plan your return, our legal team can review your file, prepare the applications and handle the contact with the migration directorate.
