6.3 mln visitors get Turkish visas in 2015

ISTANBUL

Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft approaches to land at Antalya International airport in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey, January 8, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

More than 6.3 million foreigners obtained a Turkish visa in 2015 using the country’s Electronic Visa System (e-Visa), according to data obtained from Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.    

A total of 7,232,322 people applied for a visa through the e-Visa system in 2015, while some 87 percent of all applications (6,343,581) were accepted, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 25.    
  
The e-Visa figures showed a 17.4 percent increase in 2015 compared with the previous year.  
    
On average 17,379 e-Visas were granted daily in 2015, with the highest number seen on July 13, 2015, when 46,747 visas were given out.      

Citizens of the U.K., Iraq, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium were granted the most visas in 2015. It was also reported that $140.66 million in visa fees was collected.      

Almost 12,497,000 e-Visas have been processed since April 17, 2013, when the service kicked off. Since then a British citizen named Michael Gerard won a flight ticket from Turkish Airlines as a gift for being the 10 millionth e-Visa holder.      

Individuals are able to apply for e-Visas on “www.evisa.gov.tr” in about three minutes on average. The e-Visa helps eliminate queues at border gates and airports.      

Tourist and commercial visas can be obtained in the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s offices abroad, at border gates and as well as on e-Visa application system.