Asylum Application Rejected in Turkey: Appeal Deadlines and Your Right to Stay

If your international protection (asylum) application is rejected in Turkey (Türkiye), you have 30 days from notification to bring a case before the administrative court, and you are allowed to remain in the country until the proceedings end. If the application was declared inadmissible or was decided under the accelerated procedure, the deadline is only 15 days and the court's decision is final. These rules are set out in Article 80 of Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection.

The first thing to establish is therefore which kind of decision you received. This guide explains the three types of negative decision, the two remedies, how to build the case, what happens to your rights during the appeal, and what follows a final refusal.

• Ordinary refusal: optional objection to the International Protection Evaluation Commission within 10 days, and/or administrative court within 30 days.
• Inadmissible (Art. 72) or accelerated (Art. 79) decisions: administrative court only, within 15 days; the court decides within 15 days; final.
• Right to remain: until the objection or court proceedings are concluded (Art. 80(1)(e)).
• Who can file: the applicant, a legal representative or a lawyer.
• Legal aid: available for court applications to those who cannot pay (Art. 81(2)).
• After a final refusal: a deportation order may follow, with its own 7-day appeal.

Legal status of this guide. It reflects Law No. 6458 as currently in force, including the amendments made by Law No. 7196 (December 2019). It concerns international protection applications; Syrians and others under temporary protection are subject to a separate regulation. Last updated: October 2026.

In this guide

• The protection statuses in Turkey
• Three types of negative decision
• Deadlines at a glance
• What the decision must tell you
• The objection to the Evaluation Commission
• The administrative court case
• Arguments and evidence that matter
• Your rights while the appeal is pending
• Applications treated as withdrawn
• After a final refusal
• Common mistakes
• Frequently asked questions

The protection statuses in Turkey

Turkey maintains a geographical limitation to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and its law therefore distinguishes three statuses:

• Refugee — for those fleeing persecution because of events in European countries (Art. 61).
• Conditional refugee — for those fleeing persecution because of events outside Europe; they are allowed to stay in Turkey until resettled in a third country (Art. 62).
• Subsidiary protection — for those who do not qualify as refugees but who, if returned, would face the death penalty, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, or a serious individual threat from indiscriminate violence in armed conflict (Art. 63).

An application is examined against all three. A person may also be excluded from protection, for example where there are serious reasons to believe they committed certain grave crimes (Art. 64). Applications are made in person to the governorate and should be decided within six months of registration, although the applicant must be told if that period cannot be met (Art. 65, 78(1)).

Three types of negative decision

1. Refusal on the merits

After registration and a personal interview, the administration concludes that the applicant does not qualify for any of the three statuses, or is excluded. The decision must be individual, must take into account both the general situation in the country of origin and the applicant's personal circumstances (Art. 78(3)), and must state its factual reasons and legal basis (Art. 78(6)). It may rest on a finding that protection is available in another part of the applicant's own country to which they can safely travel and settle (Art. 78(4)).

2. Inadmissibility (Art. 72)

The application is not examined on its merits because the applicant: repeated the same application without new grounds; made a separate application without justification after consenting to be included in a family member's application; came from a "first country of asylum" where they are already protected (Art. 73); or came from a "safe third country" where they could have applied (Art. 74).

3. Refusal under the accelerated procedure (Art. 79)

The application is examined quickly — interview within three days of the application and decision within five days of the interview — because the applicant: raised nothing relevant to protection; misled the authorities with false documents or information; destroyed identity documents in bad faith; is in administrative detention for deportation; applied only to delay or prevent removal; poses a danger to public order or security or was previously deported on such grounds; or re-applied after an earlier application was treated as withdrawn. Applications by unaccompanied children may not be accelerated (Art. 79(4)).

The category matters because it determines the remedy and the deadline. It should be stated in the decision; if it is unclear, assume the shorter deadline until you have confirmed otherwise.

Deadlines at a glance

Decision	Objection to the Commission	Administrative court	Court's time to decide	Further appeal
Refusal on the merits and other decisions under the protection chapter	Optional, within 10 days	Within 30 days of notification	No special period	Ordinary appeal routes
Inadmissibility (Art. 72)	Not available	Within 15 days	15 days	None — final
Accelerated procedure (Art. 79)	Not available	Within 15 days	15 days	None — final
Administrative detention of an applicant (Art. 68)	Not available	Criminal judgeship of peace, no deadline	5 days	None — final; can re-apply

All periods run from notification of the decision to the applicant, the legal representative or the lawyer (Art. 80(1)(a) and (ç)).

What the decision must tell you

A negative decision must be notified to you, your legal representative or your lawyer. It must set out the factual reasons and the legal basis. If you are not represented by a lawyer, you must be informed of the result of the decision, how to object and the time limits (Art. 78(6); the same applies to inadmissibility decisions under Art. 72(3)).

Ask for a copy of the decision and of your interview record. At the end of each interview a record must be drawn up and a copy given to you (Art. 75(6)). The interview record is the single most important document in the appeal: refusals are usually based on what it says, and many appeals turn on showing that it is incomplete, mistranslated or was not properly assessed.

The objection to the Evaluation Commission

For ordinary refusals, the law offers an administrative remedy: an objection to the International Protection Evaluation Commission (Uluslararası Koruma Değerlendirme Komisyonu) within ten days of notification (Art. 80(1)(a)). The Commission re-examines the file and its decision is notified in the same way.

Points to weigh before choosing this route:

• It is optional. You may go directly to the administrative court instead.
• It is not available for inadmissibility decisions, accelerated-procedure decisions or detention.
• It is free and needs no formal structure, and it allows new documents to be put before the administration.
• The right to remain continues while it is examined (Art. 80(1)(e)).
• If the Commission also refuses, the court route remains open against that decision — but track the dates carefully, and where there is any doubt about time limits, file the court case within 30 days of the original notification rather than rely on the objection to extend time.

The administrative court case

1. Time limit. Thirty days from notification for ordinary decisions; fifteen days for inadmissibility and accelerated decisions (Art. 80(1)(ç)).
2. Court. The competent administrative court (idare mahkemesi) — as a rule, the one with jurisdiction over the authority that took the decision.
3. Who files. The applicant, a legal representative or a lawyer. Those who cannot afford a lawyer are entitled to legal aid for court applications under the Attorneys Act (Art. 81(2)); the request is made to the bar association of the province.
4. Petition. An annulment action, written in Turkish, identifying the decision and its notification date and setting out the facts, the legal grounds and the evidence. The claimant asks the court to annul the refusal.
5. Procedure. In 15-day cases the court must decide within 15 days and its decision is final (Art. 80(1)(d)). In ordinary cases the general rules of administrative procedure apply, the proceedings take longer, and the judgment can be appealed.
6. Effect of success. If the court annuls the refusal, the administration must re-examine the application in light of the judgment. The court does not itself grant status.

Arguments and evidence that matter

The court reviews the lawfulness of the decision. The following lines of argument are the ones that correspond to what the statute requires of the administration:

• The interview was defective. No interpreter although one was requested (Art. 70(2)); an interpreter who did not speak the applicant's language or dialect; the applicant was not able to present their account fully; family members were present without consent; no record was given.
• Individual circumstances were not assessed. The decision uses general wording and does not engage with the applicant's own account or documents, contrary to Art. 78(3).
• Country information is wrong or outdated. Current, reliable reports show that people in the applicant's position are at risk.
• Credibility findings are unsound. Alleged inconsistencies are minor, explained by trauma or translation, or do not go to the core of the claim.
• Internal protection is not realistic. The part of the country said to be safe is not accessible or not safe for this applicant (Art. 78(4)).
• Subsidiary protection was not considered. Even if refugee criteria are not met, the risk of torture, death penalty or indiscriminate violence must be examined separately (Art. 63).
• Wrong procedure. The case was treated as inadmissible or accelerated although the statutory conditions were not present — for example, a country was treated as a "safe third country" without the individual assessment that Art. 74(3) requires.
• Special needs were ignored. Victims of torture, sexual violence or other serious violence, and other persons with special needs, are entitled to priority and to appropriate treatment (Art. 67).

Evidence should be individual wherever possible: identity documents, party or organisation membership cards, summonses, arrest warrants, court judgments, medical and psychological reports documenting past ill-treatment, news reports naming the applicant, messages containing threats, and statements from witnesses. Every foreign-language document needs a Turkish translation.

Received a negative decision? Send a photo of it and the date you received it. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form. Whether you have 30 days or 15 is the first thing to be confirmed.

Your rights while the appeal is pending

• Right to remain. You are allowed to stay in Turkey until the objection or court proceedings are concluded (Art. 80(1)(e)). The exception is Article 54(2), which permits a deportation order at any stage against applicants assessed to fall under the terrorism- and security-related grounds; even then the prohibition on return to torture or persecution applies (Art. 4).
• Identity document. The International Protection Applicant Identity Document replaces a residence permit and is free of charge (Art. 76).
• Residence and reporting. You may be required to live in a designated province and to report at set intervals, and you must keep your address registered (Art. 71). Failure to comply has serious consequences — see the next section.
• Education and health. Applicants and their family members have access to primary and secondary education. Applicants with no health coverage and no means are covered by general health insurance for one year from registration; persons with special needs and others approved by the Ministry may be covered longer. Those who receive a negative administrative decision are removed from that coverage (Art. 89(1), (3)).
• Work. An applicant may apply for a work permit six months after lodging the protection application (Art. 89(4)(a)).
• Restrictions after a negative decision. Rights other than education and basic health care may be restricted for those who have received a negative decision, on an individual assessment notified in writing (Art. 90(2)).

Applications treated as withdrawn

An application is deemed withdrawn, and its examination stops, if the applicant: states in writing that they withdraw it; fails without excuse to attend the interview three times in a row; absconds from the place of detention; without excuse fails three times in a row to report, does not go to the assigned place of residence, or leaves it without permission; objects to the collection of personal data; or does not comply with the obligations at registration and interview (Art. 77).

This is how a large number of files end — not with a refusal on the merits, but because the applicant moved to another city for work or missed signature days. The consequences are severe: the right to remain is lost, a deportation order becomes possible (Art. 54(1)(i)), and a new application will be handled under the accelerated procedure. A decision treating the application as withdrawn can be challenged in the administrative court, and Article 46(1)(ç) allows a humanitarian residence permit while court proceedings against a decision under Article 77 are pending. If you had a valid excuse — illness, hospitalisation, a failure of notification — document it.

After a final refusal

Once the refusal is final and no other right to stay exists, the person falls within the deportation ground in Article 54(1)(i). What can still be done:

• Challenge the deportation order. It is a separate decision with a separate seven-day appeal, during which removal is suspended. See how to appeal a deportation order in Turkey.
• Rely on Articles 4 and 55. A refused applicant can still not be sent to a place where there is a serious risk of torture, death penalty or inhuman treatment, and health-related bars apply too. See who cannot be deported from Turkey.
• Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights. Where there is a serious risk to life or physical integrity, an individual application with a request for an interim measure may be made after domestic remedies are exhausted.
• A subsequent application. A new application based on genuinely new facts — a change in the country of origin, new evidence, activities since arrival — can be made. One that merely repeats the earlier claim will be declared inadmissible (Art. 72(1)(a)).
• Another legal basis for stay. Marriage, study or work may open a route to an ordinary residence permit; in certain circumstances a humanitarian residence permit is possible.
• Voluntary return. Support in cash or in kind may be provided to applicants and status holders who wish to return voluntarily (Art. 87). The decision must be genuinely voluntary and informed.

Common mistakes

1. Assuming 30 days when the decision is an inadmissibility or accelerated decision with a 15-day limit.
2. Relying only on the objection to the Commission and losing track of the court deadline.
3. Appealing without the interview record.
4. Submitting only general country reports and nothing about the applicant personally.
5. Leaving the assigned province or missing reporting days during the appeal, which leads to the application being treated as withdrawn.
6. Introducing a completely different story on appeal. New evidence helps; a new account damages credibility.
7. Contacting the home country's consulate while claiming to fear that state.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to appeal an asylum rejection in Turkey?

Thirty days from notification to apply to the administrative court against an ordinary refusal, with an optional objection to the International Protection Evaluation Commission within ten days. For inadmissibility decisions and decisions under the accelerated procedure, the only remedy is the administrative court and the deadline is fifteen days.

Can I stay in Turkey while my asylum appeal is pending?

Yes. Article 80(1)(e) of Law No. 6458 provides that the person concerned is allowed to remain in the country until the objection or judicial proceedings are concluded. An exception exists for applicants assessed under the terrorism- and security-related deportation grounds.

What is the International Protection Evaluation Commission?

It is the administrative body that examines objections against international protection decisions. An objection can be lodged within ten days of notification. It is optional and is not available against inadmissibility, accelerated-procedure or detention decisions.

What is the accelerated procedure?

It is a fast-track examination under Article 79 used in listed situations, such as applications made from administrative detention or solely to delay removal. The interview takes place within three days and the decision within five days of the interview. The court deadline is fifteen days and the court's decision is final.

Is the court's decision final?

In inadmissibility and accelerated-procedure cases, yes: the administrative court decides within fifteen days and its decision cannot be appealed. In ordinary refusal cases the general appeal routes of administrative procedure apply.

Can I get a free lawyer for my asylum appeal?

Yes, if you cannot afford one. Article 81(2) provides that applicants and status holders without means receive legal assistance under the legal aid provisions of the Attorneys Act for their court applications. Apply to the legal aid office of the local bar association.

What happens if my appeal is rejected?

The refusal becomes final and, if you have no other right to stay, a deportation order may be issued. That order can be challenged separately within seven days, and you still cannot be returned to a place where there is a serious risk of torture or death.

Can I apply for asylum again after a rejection?

Only on new grounds. A repeated application that puts forward no different reason is declared inadmissible under Article 72. A subsequent application should be based on new facts or evidence that did not exist or could not be presented before.

Why was my application treated as withdrawn?

Under Article 77 this happens if you withdraw in writing, miss three consecutive interviews or reporting dates without excuse, do not go to or leave your assigned place of residence without permission, abscond from detention, refuse the collection of personal data, or do not comply with registration and interview obligations.

Legal basis and sources

• Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Articles 4, 46, 54, 61–81, 85–90 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
• 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
• Presidency of Migration Management — en.goc.gov.tr.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. It does not cover temporary protection. Deadlines are short and depend on the type of decision; have your decision checked immediately.