Incoming Students
If you intend to spend your study abroad period at Istanbul Galata University within the scope of the Erasmus+ Student Exchange programme, you should contact your university’s Erasmus+ Office to find out if there is an Erasmus agreement between our institution and your university, and if there is, you should ask your university to notify us about you as an exchange student candidate.
Application Dates:
Fall Semester: July 1
Spring Semester: November 1
Students who will come to our university within the scope of Erasmus+ program should complete the following documents before the application deadlines and submit them to the Erasmus Office. The Erasmus+ Coordination Office will issue an acceptance letter for students who submit their documents in full.
● Application Form
It will be sent via e-mail by the Erasmus+ Coordination Office.
● Transcript
● Online Learning Agreement/OLA
● Copy of Passport (Pasaport fotokopilerinin yanı sıra; Türk Vatandaşlığı olan öğrencilerin kimlik kartı, Mavi kartı olan öğrencilerin de Mavi Kartlarını yollamaları gerekmektedir.) (In addition to a copy of passport, students with Turkish Citizenship should send their ID cards, and students with a Blue Card should send their Blue Card.)
● 2 photos
● Copy of Health Insurance
Incoming students should have health insurance that will be valid during their stay in Turkey. In order for an insurance taken from an internationally valid company abroad to be valid in Turkey, the insurance should be approved by an authorized insurance agency in Turkey within the scope of the “Circular on Private Health Insurances”. If this company does not have an agency in Turkey or the existing agency does not approve the insurance, the student should be included in the SGK system for General Health Insurance (GSS) or take out a new private health insurance within three months from the first enrollment date.
We recommend our incoming Erasmus+ students to take out Private Health Insurance in Turkey in order to avoid any challenges regarding regulations.
Course Enrollment
The enrolment of the courses included in your Online Learning Agreement (OLA) is made at the beginning of the academic term and the course add-drop processes are made within the specified date range. If you want to make any changes to your curriculum, after the approval of your institution, relevant changes should be made online through the OLA system.
- After the Mobility
In order to complete the mobility, the Erasmus+ Incoming Student Dismissal Form should be submitted to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office.
The following documents will be sent to your university by our office.
Transcript: Transcript: The transcript will be sent by the Erasmus+ Coordination Office to your university’s International Relations/Erasmus+ Office via e-mail.
Certificate of Attendance: The Certificate of Attendance, which covers the start and end dates of the mobility, will be issued and submitted to the student by the Erasmus+ Coordination Office upon the request of the student.
Residence Permit for International Students
Students from countries that are exempt from visa for Turkey are not required to obtain a student visa to enroll in the university.
Application:
International students who have enrolled to the university for the first time should apply to the residence permit online at https://e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr/ after enrolment, within the visa or visa exemption period (This period is 30 days for students who enter the country with the conditional entry form of residence permit). You should prepare the following documents and submit them to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office within 15 (fifteen) days from the application date.
Important Notice: Residence permit applications should be made within the visa period, and those who enter conditionally should apply within 10 days.
Required documents:
1. Printout of your online application. You can complete your online application using the link below: https://e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr/
2. Copy of passport (page with your photo, validity and expiry dates and last date of entry)
3. Students with e-visas should bring their visa printouts with them.
4. Copy of residence permit (if applicable)
5. 4 biometric photos
6. Student certificate (you can get it from Istanbul Galata University Department of Student Affairs)
7. Address statement
8. The original receipt showing that you have paid the card fee (You can make the payment to the nearest tax office)
9. Health Insurance Policy (Turkish version)- In order to apply for residence, all international students should have health insurance during their education in Turkey.
In case the student is under the age of eighteen and arrives without a visa;
1. Letter of Consent: The mother and father of the international students should give consent for them to study and live in Turkey, and therefore, they should have a Letter of Consent issued by the competent authorities in their country.
2. Birth Certificate
Some important issues have been determined for these two documents (Letter of Consent and Birth Certificate). Regarding the documents subject to approval, if the relevant country is a party to the Apostille Convention, the document issued by the authorities of the country should be “apostilled”. The translated version of the apostilled document to be submitted should be notarized. However, the document that the international brings to our country without an apostille, which is issued in their own country, should be approved by their country’s embassy or consulate in our country.
Key Information:
You must apply online for a residence permit before the expiry of your visa and/or current residence permit.
● If the relevant procedures are not followed, legal action will be taken.
● As long as your residence permit is valid, you do not need a visa to enter Turkey.
● The address you provide when applying for a residence permit should be accurate and complete.
● If the residence permit is lost, an application should be made to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management immediately.
● The information of the students who are enrolled or not enrolled, who are on excused absence (suspending the study), who are suspended due to disciplinary punishment and who have Erasmus-Exchange status, will be communicated to the relevant institution every semester. In this case, students who will stay in Turkey for any reason should apply for a short-term residence permit.
Procedures regarding the residence permit are carried out by the Directorates of Migration Management. For this reason, in case of any amendment/update in the rules, please contact the institutions with the information below and follow their web pages.
For your inquiries:
Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management
Hırka-i Şerif Mahallesi Adnan Menderes Bulvarı No:64, 34091 Fatih/İstanbul E-mail: istanbul@goc.gov.tr
Tel: 0212 499 40 00
Foreigners Communication Center (YIMER) Phone: 157 E-mail : istanbul.duzenli@goc.gov.tr
NOTE: Please do not leave Turkey without obtaining or renewing your Residence Permit! You should submit a copy of your Residence Permit to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office.
Additional Information:
Currency
The currency of the Republic of Turkey is Turkish Lira (TL). Daily exchange rates are announced by banks and exchange offices. You may also follow up-to-date information on the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s website.
Opening a Bank Account
You should go to any tax office in person with your passport and get a special tax identification number for foreigners. You can open your account and do all your banking transactions by going to the bank branch where you intend to open an account, together with the tax identification number you received from the tax office, your passport and your residence permit from the Directorate General of Migration Management.
Useful Information and Links
If you are planning to bring your phone into Turkey, you should have it registered within 120 days of your arrival in Turkey. Otherwise, your phone will be blocked. You have to pay a fee at any tax office in order to register your phone. You can go to any mobile service provider(Turkcel, Vodafone, Türk Telekom) with your payment receipt, device IMEI number, and passport to have your mobile device registered. You can purchase pre-paid/invoiced SIM cards from the Subscriber Registration Centre or any mobile service provider branch.
The registration process can be finalized by filling in the necessary information by logging into the system via the link https://www.turkiye.gov.tr/btk-imei-kaydet on the e-Government gateway, which is the only registration authority for those who can obtain the e-Government password, with the ID that will be given to you after the residence permit application.
Emergency Numbers:
112 (Police; Fire Department; Ambulance)
Useful Links:
Weather Forecast: https://www.mgm.gov.tr/ Exchange Rates: http://www.tcmb.gov.tr/yeni/eng/
Bus- http://www.iett.gov.tr/en/ Train – http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/tcdding/index.htm
