Turkey visa for Ukrainian passport holders

No. Ukrainian passport holders are exempt from visas for travel of up to 90 days, and the Turkish foreign ministry adds something almost no other nationality has: Ukrainians may use a valid biometric identity card instead of a passport. It is written for direct travel from Ukraine, which since the closure of Ukrainian airspace means a land or sea crossing rather than a flight, so most journeys still need the passport.

Quick facts

Visa-free

Visa required: No
Maximum stay: 90 days
Passport types covered: Ordinary, diplomatic, official and service
Biometric identity card accepted: Yes, for direct travel from Ukraine, so land or sea
Travelling via a third country: Carry the passport
Passport validity if you use one: Duration of stay plus 60 days

Entry requirements

A Ukrainian passport of any type, or a valid biometric identity card if the journey is a direct one from Ukraine to Türkiye.
No visa. The ministry exempts ordinary passport holders, and separately diplomatic and official or service passport holders, for travel of up to 90 days.
If you travel on a passport, note that the 60-day validity addition does not apply to you: Ukraine is on the ministry’s list of countries whose citizens may enter on a national identity card, and that list is exactly what the rule exempts. The ministry still advises everyone to carry a document valid at least six months from arrival.

Two documents work, and only one of them works everywhere

The Turkish foreign ministry states that Ukrainian nationals holding diplomatic and official or service passports are exempt from visas for travel of up to 90 days, and that ordinary passport holders are exempt for the same period. There is nothing to apply for and no fee.

It then adds a separate sentence: Ukrainian nationals may use their valid biometric identity cards for their direct travels from Ukraine to Türkiye. Only a handful of entries on the whole page mention an identity card at all, and this one attaches a condition about the journey rather than about the traveller.

Passport validity is set by statute. Article 7.1b of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, no. 6458, requires a travel document valid for at least 60 days beyond the duration of stay of the visa, e-Visa, visa exemption or residence permit. The ministry’s worked example is that a 90-day duration of stay needs 150 days of validity at entry.

Good to know

The identity card allowance is written about the journey, not about you, and that is the part worth reading twice. The ministry says Ukrainian nationals may use their valid biometric identity cards for their direct travels from Ukraine to Türkiye. It matters more than it looks, because Ukrainian airspace has been closed to civil aviation since February 2022. There are no direct flights to take. Most journeys now begin with a land crossing into Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia or Hungary and a flight from there, and that is not a direct travel from Ukraine in the sense the sentence describes. The transit country also applies its own rules to whatever document you are carrying, and an airline checking you in outside Ukraine will be looking for a passport. Read the identity card allowance as covering a direct land or sea crossing, and take the passport for anything routed through a third country.
Ukraine’s entry is worded without the 180-day window that its neighbours on the same page carry. The ministry gives Ukrainians exemption for travel of up to 90 days and stops there, while the entries for the Netherlands, Poland and Saudi Arabia all specify 90 days in any 180-day period. Two of the other three identity card entries, Romania and Bulgaria, also name the window. The silence is drafting rather than a different entitlement, and the ministry answers it elsewhere on its own site: its general visa guidance states that the length of stay provided by a visa or a visa exemption cannot exceed 90 days within each 180 days, and that this is binding for all foreigners travelling to Türkiye. So the window applies to Ukrainians too. Do not read the missing phrase as a fresh 90 days on every arrival.
The ministry’s own page carries entries that have visibly expired, which is the reason to check yours close to departure. Norway’s entry still describes an identity card allowance as running until 31 December 2022, a date more than three years in the past, and it is still published. That is not a reason to distrust the Ukrainian entry, which is written without an end date, but it is a demonstration that this page is not comprehensively maintained. Anything you are relying on should be read again in the week you fly rather than remembered from a previous trip.
The 60-day validity addition that catches most visitors does not catch you. Türkiye normally asks for a travel document valid 60 days beyond the duration of stay, which is 150 days against a 90-day allowance. It then exempts the citizens of countries who may enter on a national identity card, and publishes that list: 21 entries, with Ukraine at number 14 alongside Germany, France, Georgia, Poland, Bulgaria, Moldova and others. So the sum is not the standard a Ukrainian passport is held to. What the ministry does ask of everyone is advisory rather than statutory, a document valid at least six months from the date of arrival, and that is the number worth meeting, because an airline desk applying a blanket six-month habit is a likelier obstacle than a border officer applying the exemption.

Frequently asked questions

Do Ukrainian citizens need a visa for Türkiye?

No. The Turkish foreign ministry exempts Ukrainian ordinary passport holders, and separately diplomatic and official or service passport holders, for travel of up to 90 days.

Can Ukrainians travel to Türkiye on an identity card?

Yes, on a valid biometric identity card, and the ministry frames it for direct travel from Ukraine to Türkiye. With Ukrainian airspace closed to civil aviation there are no direct flights, so in practice that means a land or sea crossing. A journey connecting through a third country is outside the wording.

What if my flight connects somewhere on the way?

Carry the passport. The identity card allowance is written for a direct journey, and the country you connect in applies its own rules to the document you are travelling on.

How much passport validity does Türkiye require?

Less than most travellers. The usual rule is the stay plus 60 days, but Ukraine is on the ministry’s national identity card list and that list is exempt from it. Carry the six months the ministry advises everyone to hold from arrival.

Is the 90 days counted within a 180-day window?

Yes. The Ukrainian entry does not repeat it, but the ministry’s general visa guidance says the 90 days within each 180 days rule is binding for all foreigners travelling to Türkiye.

Does the exemption cover working in Türkiye?

No. A visa exemption for travel does not carry a right to work, which requires its own permission under Turkish law.

Related pages

Other passports for Turkey

Other destinations for Ukraine passport holders

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 31 August 2026.

Same passport validity page, closing line: "You are kindly advised to have a travel document/passport valid for at least 6 months as from the date of your arrival in Türkiye." Separately, www.evisa.gov.tr returns a 1.4 KB application shell with no server-rendered text, so the form the supporting visa or residence permit must take could not be checked there on 2026-09-02 and no claim is made about it. Read 2026-09-02.
Same page, for the comparison between Chinese travel documents. Macao Special Administration entry: "Ordinary and official Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China passport holders are exempt from visa for their travels up to 30 days." Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of PRC entry: ordinary and official HKSAR passport holders "are exempted from visa for their travels up to 90 days". Read 2026-09-02. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa
Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "General Information About Turkish Visas": "The length of stay provided by visa or visa exemption cannot exceed 90 days within each 180 days. The regulation of 90 days of stay within the last 180 days is binding for all foreigners that will travel to Türkiye." Read 2026-09-01. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/general-information-about-turkish-visas.en.mfa
Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Visa Information For Foreigners", Ukraine entry: "Ukrainian nationals holding diplomatic and official/service passport are exempted from visa for their travels up to 90 days. Ordinary passport holders are exempted from visa for their travels up to 90 days. Ukrainian nationals may use their valid biometric identity cards for their direct travels from Ukraine to Türkiye." Read 2026-08-31. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa
Same page, the only other entries mentioning an identity card. Bulgaria: "Identity card and ordinary passport holders are exempt from visa for their travels up to 90 days in any 180-day period." Romania: "Identity card holder Romania citizens are exempted from visa for their travels with touristic purposes up to 90 days within any 180-day period." Norway: Norwegian citizens travelling to Türkiye from Norway for touristic purposes are exempt "by using their national identity cards with chips instead of their passports until 31 December 2022", a date still published on the live page. Read 2026-08-31. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa
Same page, "Passport Validity Requirements While Entering Türkiye in Accordance with Law on Foreigners and International Protection": under article 7.1b of Law no. 6458, a traveller should carry a travel document with an expiration date at least 60 days beyond the duration of stay of their visa, e-Visa, visa exemption or residence permit; the worked examples are 90 days of stay plus 60 equals 150 days of validity, and 30 days plus 60 equals 90. Exempted from the article are citizens of countries allowed to enter on a national identity card, citizens of countries whose expired passports are accepted, and holders of diplomatic, special and official passports. The country lists are published at countries-whose-citizens-are-allowed-to-enter-Türkiye-with-their-national-id_s.en.mfa, the in-page link using the older "turkey" spelling and redirecting to the homepage. The national identity card list has 21 entries and Ukraine is number 14, so a Ukrainian passport is exempt from the 60-day addition. Re-read 2026-09-02. Read 2026-08-31. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

Do Ukrainian passport holders need a visa for Turkey?