When you come to Turkey, the period during which foreign-owned phones can officially work has been doubled from 30 days to 60 days.
The change in this period before the phone is blocked and effectively switched off was announced by Turkey’s Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Lutfi Elvan on Friday July 11.
This news is also an ideal opportunity to tell Voices readers how they can register their mobile phones in Turkey before their ringing tones fall silent.
What gets blocked:
A mobile phone that has been brought from outside of Turkey, or – normally – a foreign-owned mobile with a Turkish SIM.
What to do next
Legally, a person can only register one foreign-owned mobile phone every two years, so it is a good idea to see if you phone is already registered. To do this, check the http://www.mcks.gov.tr/tr/imeisorgu.php
1) On this page, you will be asked for a 15 character IMEI number. This can be found by dialing *#06#
2) Enter the Characters (Karakterler) and press Sorgula.
Registering your phone
What’s needed:
165TL cash
Your phone and its IMEI number (dial *#06# to obtain it)
Passport and residency. (From our experiences you don’t require a photocopy of these documents, but information can change unexpectedly)
Where to go next:
Tax Office
First port of call is the tax office (Vergisi). For those living in Didim, it is located just off Ataturk Boulevard and to the side of the new Ataturk Square. When you enter the building go to the right and you will be given a form to fill in.
Once done, you’ll be guided over to the opposite desk (in the left hand corner), to hand over the form and the tax: 115TL cash. This used to be 100TL, but increased as of October 2013.
This tax will be paid in the name of the cell phone owner and the name on the receipt should be the same as that on your passport.
As an alternative, we have been reliably informed that you can go to the PTT or a local bank and ask for a Certificate of Registration to complete this first stage.
Police station
If, again you live in Didim, from the tax office head over the other side of the Ataturk Square to the police station, where you’ll need to get a registration document. This is a new practice as of October 2013.
Here you will fill out another form and you will be given an overseas entry and exit document. Readers have warned this may take a few minutes, or the police may call you back the following day for this document. There is no cost for this document.
GSM phone shop
Head over to your favoured phone shop (Avea, Turkcell, Vodaphone) and hand over the tax office receipt and your police overseas entry and exit printout. Complete the necessary forms, hand over 50TL and the staff will register your phone. At the phone shop, may have to shell out for a new SIM and put credit on it, so the final cost may well be slightly more than you envisaged.
Register online
If you feel adventurous, you will still have to complete the tax office (pay the 115TL tax) and police station visits, you can bypass the GSM operator and complete the registration process by completing the application at www.mcks.gov.tr/tr/index.php
As part of this process, you will need to submit information from the tax receipt and ID information and the system will confirm the tax was paid and will check your identity using the national police department’s records.
So there you have it. If you experience any changes to this, then email us at info@voicesnewspaper.com