Details of special passport offer to Turkish exporters revealed

ANKARA

The Turkish government has revealed the details of its special passport offer to exporters, a move to enable businesses to acquire visas quicker and gain visa-free entry to many countries as part of new incentives in the sector. 

According to a cabinet decision released on the Official Gazette on March 23, special passports will be granted to exporting companies with a minimum annual export volume of $1 million in the last three calendar years. 

The number of passports to be provided will be determined according to their export volume. Exporters’ wives and children will not be offered the passport. 

One passport will be given to companies with annual export volume between $1 million and $10 million, two to $10-15 million, three to $25-50 million, four to $50-100 million, and five to $100 million and more. 

There are, however, some exceptions. Exporters who were earlier charged with a one-year or more jail sentence for their willful crimes, or even if they were pardoned after being convicted for their acts against state security, constitutional order and some other key crimes, including bribery, rigging in a bid, fraudulent bankruptcy, money laundering and smuggling, will not be able to benefit from the new incentive.  

Companies that will benefit from this incentive will be determined by the Economy Ministry upon official foreign trade statistics. 

Applications will be made through a request form, which will be designed jointly by the Interior Ministry and the Economy Ministry. 

A number of sector representatives praised the cabinet decision, noting that they faced many problems obtaining visas for some key markets, including China and Europe, and that they were now happy with overcoming this obstacle. 

Over 450 companies are eligible to apply for the special passport.