What I needed to travel to Turkey

First let’s go with the boring but necessary stuff. To travel to Turkey, you must follow the rules of the Turkish government. To come home, you must follow the rules of the Canadian government. Do a little research before your trip to make sure you don’t have any issues.

What you need to get to Turkey – or any country

Turkey’s entry requirements must be followed. For other countries I have travelled to I have found the official government website with entry requirements. I cannot find such a thing for Turkey!

However there are two good sources to follow – the Canadian government website https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/turkey, and the national airline Turkish Airlines website https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-ca/announcements/coronavirus-outbreak/turkey-travel-rules/ .

You should also be able to use information from our own national airline Air Canada, but I’m not recommending that. Keep reading to see why!

As far as covid rules, there is no requirement for testing as long as you are vaccinated.

You need a Turkish visa – and a free entry form

You do need a visa for entry to Turkey, which you can purchase online for $60 US. https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ is the official site.

There is also a entry form to fill in https://register.health.gov.tr/. This is a passenger locater form, where you provide your first hotel and contact information, for covid purposes. It is free to fill in this form.

I was never asked for the entry form while travelling to Turkey, but why not fill it in just in case? And the form is free, do not pay anything to fill it in!

Make sure you are on the right website or you will pay more

The first website I found in a google search is a travel agency that charges a fee on top of the visa fee. And the Air Canada information as I mentioned above provides a link to purchase an online visa, that adds a $20 fee! You will find many sites that want to sell you a Turkish visa. Don’t pay extra, use the official site above, https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/.

The first website that I found will also provide the entry form, and charge you $75 US for it! And I met someone who had paid this fee. She was on the wrong website. They are tricky!

The airline staff checking you in for your first flight should be checking these documents, and you won’t be checked upon entry. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work, it all depends on the people doing the work.

What you need to come home – to Canada or any country

And to return to Canada, since I came home after April 1, and I’m vaccinated, there was no requirement for covid testing! You still need to fill in the ArriveCan app though. You can get it started before you leave home, and complete it within 72 hours of your flight going home. No one will ask you for it since the customs agents can see it online.

Information on returning to Canada can be found at https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid.

If you are from the United States, you are still required to have a negative covid test to return. A friend from the US had been told she didn’t need the test, so she didn’t have one. She missed her flight unfortunately. And the bag she had already checked before being asked for a negative test stayed behind. That would not be fun!

Let’s hope we don’t ever need a test again to come back to Canada, but who knows…..