Turkey Visa Rip-Off?

jaybeetoo

jillie1974 wrote: »

actually, the visa is for everyone.
UK passport holders pay £10
other EU passport holders pay €10/15
US citizens pay $15

Never having been to Turkey before, from your post I assume you pay in cash (£ sterling) at the port of entry? I don't need to take any Lira with me to pay?

Roger1

jillie1974 wrote: »

actually, the visa is for everyone.

No, it's not.

louby40 wrote: »

We've been to Turkey for the past 5 years and everyone that enters pays for a Visa - whatever your nationality.

No, they don't.

This page - http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa - lists the requirement country by country, and there are many including several EU/EEA/Swiss, whose passports are 'exempted' from the visa, including Italy as mentioned by IanRi.

Pollycat

Roger1 wrote: »

No, it's not.No, they don't.

This page - http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa - lists the requirement country by country, and there are many including several EU/EEA/Swiss, whose passports are 'exempted' from the visa, including Italy as mentioned by IanRi.

And there are many counties who do need a visa to enter Turkey for tourism purposes.

Of the first 9 countries listed (all those beginning with 'A'), 6 out of the 9 need visas.

So that makes this statement totally inaccurate:

Buzby wrote: »

Of course it is a rip-off! it is a tax levied mainly on British travellers. In my book that's racism - either everyone is charged or nobody.

And this one too:

Buzby wrote: »

For info - the Visa charge is ONLY if you have a UK Passport, anyone else goes in free. It appear a former Prime Minster (M Thatcher) hacked off the Turks and they responded with this charge for a mall selection of countries they disliked. It has always been £10, as it was an act of their Parliament and cannot be increased without an amendment.

So maybe many Heads of State from many different countries hacked off the Turks too. :cool:

Buzby wrote: »

Yes, it is Dalmation airport, but again the Thomson terms state 'immediate departure' passengers are exempt. So I'm really looking for factual accounts, not opinion.

Buzby:
For someone interested in 'facts', maybe you should get yours correct before making sweeping (inaccurate) statements.

Mr_Wang

I believe that countries which that charge for a visa upon arrival are little more than cash making scams for the government. Or rip off's if you prefer that term.
They serve as nothing more than a sticker as the visa hasn't been checked, or pre authorised etc. So yes, Turkey fits this bill.
But consider Indonesia who have you change your local currency to USD at an inflated rate in order to buy an Indonesian visa :cool:

Visas in which you have to send off for are less so, as I guess there is some kind of admin fee involved in processing and pre authorising the Visa. But even so, some visa even have a processing fee which of course is a scam. An example for this would be China. Or the fact India charge near on £100 for one visa!

But consider this, most countries price their visas according to what their citizens are charged to get into your country. A kind of "if we're paying to get into your country, you're paying to get into ours" And so you can't really blame them.

But for me, as much as I cant stand paying visa fees, the worst, and the thing which bugs me the most is departure tax. It's like a final scam before you leave. They even take it of you with a smile :cool:

duchy

Buzby wrote: »

Of course it is a rip-off! it is a tax levied mainly on British travellers. In my book that's racism - either everyone is charged or nobody.

For info - the Visa charge is ONLY if you have a UK Passport, anyone else goes in free. It appear a former Prime Minster (M Thatcher) hacked off the Turks and they responded with this charge for a mall selection of countries they disliked. It has always been £10, as it was an act of their Parliament and cannot be increased without an amendment.

Yes, it is Dalmation airport, but again the Thomson terms state 'immediate departure' passengers are exempt. So I'm really looking for factual accounts, not opinion.

My opinion is you should get the name of the airport right-Your spelling is a bit "spotty" ! Perhaps as you are travelling with Thomson you should ask them though-Personally it's only a tenner-Hopefully it won't impact to hard on your holiday budgeting

Reciprocal visa charges happen worldwide. If you are annoyed with anyone it should be the UK government for not negotiating properly a zero charge in both directions -however to blame Thatcher is a bit silly.....How many Prime Ministers and Foreign and Home secretaries have we had since who could have changed this ?

Just another thread claiming "scam" where no scam exists <yawn>

browneyedbazzi

The word 'scam' implies fraud/dishonesty.

How is anything a 'scam' if the charges are lawfully made and information about the charges are available to consumers? When you're planning/costing a holiday you should look into the visa requirements and take them into account when making a decision about where to go.

BTW...I'm Canadian and pay $60US or 45 Euros for a 90 day multiple entry visa for Turkey but when I had a stop there for an excursion from a cruise ship we didn't need a visa.

littlereddevil

The op isn't having a stop from a cruise ship. They are flying to Turkey to catch the cruise, so entering Turkey and having to pay seems not to be a ripoff.
I have Indian,Chinese and Vietnamese visas in my passport which cost me hundreds!
And a large amount of £10 Turkish ones too.
I don't grudge any of them.

FreddieFrugal

jaybeetoo wrote: »

Never having been to Turkey before, from your post I assume you pay in cash (£ sterling) at the port of entry? I don't need to take any Lira with me to pay?

They accept £10 notes only if from UK, no change (notes must be free of any tears and blemishes). You could pay online but it works out more expensive. You don't need to convert to Lira first.

Pollycat

Mr_Wang wrote: »

I believe that countries which that charge for a visa upon arrival are little more than cash making scams for the government. Or rip off's if you prefer that term.
They serve as nothing more than a sticker as the visa hasn't been checked, or pre authorised etc. So yes, Turkey fits this bill.

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you on the above.

But it is not visas on arrival that the OP is saying is a rip-off.

The point he makes (several times) is that it's only UK passport holders who are charged - and he sees that as the rip-off..

Buzby wrote: »

A selective charge based solely on your point of origin passport is a rip off.

Buzby wrote: »

Of course it is a rip-off! it is a tax levied mainly on British travellers. In my book that's racism - either everyone is charged or nobody.

And on that point, he has been conclusively proved wrong.

PompeyPete

IanRi wrote: »

They accept £10 notes only if from UK, no change (notes must be free of any tears and blemishes). You could pay online but it works out more expensive. You don't need to convert to Lira first.

British passport holders entering Turkey can pay for their visa on entry either in sterling (£tenner), €15, or US$20. They can't mix the currencies, and there is no change.

Obviously paying by €uro or US$ you are paying OTT. But I expect that many British passport holdes live in the €urozone or across 'The Pond', and so don't use GBP on a day-to-day basis.