Access to the asylum procedure is regulated under Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection  and the Implementing Regulation on the Law on Foreigners and International Protection. According to Article 65(1) of the Law Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, any foreigner or stateless person may lodge an international protection application in their own name, and applications must in principle be made in person to the governorates. However, Article 65(2) of the Implementing Regulation provides that, where unaccompanied children and other applicants are unable to make their applications in person, their applications may also be received by the relevant units at the places where they are located. Under Article 65(2) of Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, where applications are made to law enforcement units inside the country or at border gates, these applications must immediately be notified to the governorate, and the procedure relating to the application must be conducted by the governorate.

Pursuant to Article 65(3) of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, the international protection application process allows an applicant to submit applications on behalf of accompanying family members, provided that they have the same grounds for the application and the consents of adult family members are secured. The Implementing Regulation, Article 68(1), clarifies that separate consent is not required for family members who are under age. 

According to Article 65(5) of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, applications by persons whose freedom has been restricted must be immediately reported to the governorates, and the receipt and assessment of the application does not prevent other judicial or administrative actions, measures, and sanctions. The same rule is reflected in Article 67(2) of the Implementing Regulation on the Law on Foreigners and International Protection.

The Implementing Regulation on the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 68(1) to 68(4), details informed consent requirements for adult family members, joint assessment as the default, and the right to request separate assessment, plus the administration’s ability to separate a family member for independent assessment when appropriate. Under Article 68 of the Implementing Regulation, prior to granting consent for an application to be made on their behalf, adult family members must be fully informed of their rights as applicants, the procedures relating to international protection, the possibility of having their application assessed individually, and the fact that they will be regarded as applicants in all circumstances. The administration is also responsible for providing any other relevant information deemed appropriate. Family members for whom an application is lodged either by consent or, in the case of children under 18, without the need for consent, are formally recognized as applicants. The applications of these individuals are generally assessed jointly with those of the principal applicant who has submitted the application on their behalf. However, adult family members retain the right to request, in writing, that their application be assessed separately. In the absence of such a request, their applications will continue to be processed together with those of their accompanying family members. When it is deemed appropriate during the application process that any family member needs an independent assessment, the application of this person must be taken separately.

In addition, persons with special needs must be given priority in the rights and procedures under the international protection part of Law No 6458 as per Article 67 (2), and, under Article 65(2) of the Implementing Regulation, applications by unaccompanied children and other applicants who cannot apply in person may be received where they are located.

Under Article 69 of Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, at the time of registration, applicants are required to provide accurate identity information and, where available, submit identity or travel documents to the competent authorities. For the purpose of identity determination, applicants and their belongings may be subject to checks. Where applicants lack identity documents, identity is established through personal data comparisons and investigative measures, and where these do not yield results, the applicant’s own statement is taken as a basis. During registration, authorities collect information regarding the applicant’s reasons for leaving their country of origin or former habitual residence, experiences following departure, events leading to the application, and the routes and means of entry into Türkiye, as well as information and documents concerning any prior applications for or grants of international protection in another country. 

According to Article 69 (6) of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, those who are considered to pose a public health risk during the registration process are required to undergo a medical screening.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 71, allows the imposition of various administrative obligations on applicants for international protection. These may include requirements to reside in designated reception and accommodation centres or to live in a specific location or province. Upon the completion of the registration procedure, the applicant and the accompanying family members, if any, are often referred to a province that is open for residence at the time of the referral. If the registration location is not among the satellite cities, allowing the applicant to reside there is within the discretion of the authorities. The applicants are obliged to report to authorities in the form and intervals requested, to register with the address based registration system and to report their domicile address to the relevant provincial directorate of migration management. Under Article 77(1)(ç) of Law 6458, the international protection applications of those who fail, without excuse, to comply with reporting obligations three times consecutively, fail to go to the designated place of residence, or leave the designated place of residence without permission, may be considered withdrawn. 

Article 69 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection requires that international protection applicants are informed of the date and place of their interview during registration. However, the Implementing Regulation on Law on Foreigners and International Protection broadens this requirement in Article 66(2) by indicating that “the time and place of the interview on condition that this can be determined, shall be notified to the applicant during the application. Otherwise, time and place of interview may be notified to the applicant afterwards”.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 70, provides that applicants should also be provided with information about the procedural steps of the international protection system, their rights and duties, the requirements for complying with these obligations, the consequences of non-compliance or non-cooperation, and the avenues and deadlines for appeal. Upon request, interpretation services are made available during all personal interactions at the application, registration, and interview stages.

The Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection further sets out the circumstances under which an international protection application is deemed inadmissible in Article 72. Applications may be rejected as inadmissible if the applicant submits a repeated claim without presenting new grounds, if the applicant files a separate claim after previously consenting to a joint application without a justified reason, or if a new application is lodged after a prior refusal without providing different grounds. Applications are likewise inadmissible when the applicant arrives from a first country of asylum as defined in Article 73 or from a safe third country as described in Article 74 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. If any of these conditions become apparent at any stage of the procedure, the examination of the application is terminated. Decisions declaring an application inadmissible must be communicated to the applicant or their legal representative or lawyer, along with information on the consequences of the decision and on the available appeal procedures and time limits when the applicant is not legally represented.

Article 73 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection addresses applicants arriving from a first country of asylum, that is, a country where the applicant has already been recognised as a refugee and can still avail themselves of that protection, or a country offering sufficient and effective protection, including protection against refoulement. In such cases, the application in Türkiye is considered inadmissible and removal procedures toward the first country of asylum are initiated. The applicant is permitted to remain in Türkiye until removal occurs. If the first country of asylum declines to admit the applicant, Türkiye resumes the processing of the protection claim.

Article 74 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection governs applicants arriving from a safe third country. An application is treated as inadmissible when the applicant has previously lodged, or could have lodged, a protection claim in a country where that application could result in protection consistent with the 1951 Convention. Removal procedures to the safe third country are initiated, although the applicant is allowed to remain in Türkiye until removal. Should the third country refuse admission, Türkiye continues the examination of the claim. A country may be treated as a safe third country only if it satisfies several criteria: individuals must not face threats to life or liberty on Convention grounds; the country must respect the principle of non-refoulement, including by not returning persons to countries where they would face torture or inhuman or degrading treatment; it must provide access to refugee status and ensure Convention-compliant protection upon recognition; and it must not expose individuals to serious harm. The assessment of whether a particular country qualifies as a safe third country for an individual applicant is conducted on a case-by-case basis, including an evaluation of the applicant’s personal connections to that country and whether it would be reasonable for them to return there.

Article 64 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection sets out a number of exclusion grounds under which an applicant may be denied access to international protection. An applicant is excluded when: (a) they are currently receiving protection or assistance from a United Nations organ or agency other than the UNHCR; (b) they are recognized by the competent authorities of the country in which they reside as enjoying rights and obligations equivalent to those granted to that country’s nationals; or (c) there are serious reasons to believe that they have committed acts falling within the scope of Article 1(F) of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Where protection or assistance provided under paragraph (a) ceases for any reason, and the situation of the individuals concerned has not been definitively resolved pursuant to relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions, such persons may subsequently benefit from the protections afforded by this Law. In assessing whether an applicant falls within the exclusion ground set out in paragraph (c), authorities must consider whether there are reasons to believe that the applicant engaged in cruel or otherwise egregious acts outside Türkiye prior to lodging their application for international protection, regardless of the motive for those acts. In addition to excluding individuals who have committed or incited the commission of crimes or acts referenced in paragraph (c), the law also excludes from subsidiary those for whom there are serious indications of posing a threat to public order or public security. It further excludes persons who, although not falling under Article 1(F), have previously committed one or more offences that would carry a prison sentence if committed in Türkiye and who left their country of origin or residence solely to avoid serving the penalty for those offences. Such individuals may not benefit from subsidiary protection.

Exclusion of the principal applicant from international protection does not automatically result in the exclusion of their family members, provided that the grounds for exclusion do not independently apply to those accompanying individuals.

Turkish law does not impose formal limits on who may apply for international protection; however, several procedural requirements may restrict effective access to the asylum process.

At the registration stage, applicants must provide accurate identity information, submit documentation where available, and may be subject to checks for purposes of identity verification. However, the absence of identity or travel documents does not prevent registration; where identity cannot be established through personal data comparison or investigation, the applicant’s own statement is taken as a basis (Article 69 of the Implementing Regulation). Applicants are also required to provide detailed accounts of their reasons for flight and their travel routesLaw 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. Failure to cooperate with registration or interview obligations, or refusal to provide personal data, may lead to the application being considered withdrawn under Article 77 of the Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection. Additionally, failure to apply “within a reasonable period” after entry into Türkiye may influence the legal consequences of irregular entry, potentially affecting an applicant’s procedural position, but does not as such preclude access to the international protection procedure.

Individuals provided temporary protection are channeled through the temporary protection regime and their individual international protection applications are not processed during the period of temporary protection (Article 16 of the Temporary Protection Regulation).