Turkey restarts online visa service for Iraqis

ARBIL – Anadolu Agency

A passport official checks the online visa at Dalaman Airport in Muğla. AA Photo

Turkey restarted its e-visa process for Iraqi nationals on Oct. 3, allowing them to apply for a visa free of charge via the Internet, Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq said.

The online e-visa service for Iraq was temporarily stopped following the kidnapping of 46 Turkish nationals and three staff from the Mosul consulate on June 11 by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, a day after the terrorist group took control Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı said in a written statement on Oct. 2 that Iraqis could receive their visas within three minutes via the website www.evisa.gov.tr and would not have to wait at the Ibrahim Khalil border – the crossing point between Turkey and Iraq.

The number of e-visa applications was 103,646 in the period from April 17 up to June 21, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.  On June 20 alone, the number of e-Visa applications was 3,686 and the total fee for visas was $2.1 million.

A majority of the visa applications, 15,417, came from England, while the United States was in second with 14,053 and Norway third with 12,092 applications.