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Turkey Restriction Codes Explained: G-87, V-87, N-82, Ç-Codes and How to Remove Them

By Av. Talha Yayla · October 5, 2026 · 13 min read

A restriction code (tahdit kodu) is a short label — such as Ç-105, G-87, V-69 or N-82 — that the Turkish migration authorities record against a foreigner's name to show that an entry ban, a prior-permission requirement or another restriction applies. The codes are internal administrative classifications: they are not listed in any published law. The legal basis for what they do is Article 9 of Law No. 6458, which allows entry bans of up to five years, extendable by up to ten more for serious public order or security threats.

That distinction — the code is internal, the law is public — explains most of the confusion around this subject. This guide sets out what the code families mean, what the most frequently encountered codes are understood to mean, how to find out which code you have, and how codes are removed.

What a code is: a database annotation used by border police, consulates and migration offices.
Legal basis: Law No. 6458, Art. 9 (entry ban and prior permission); Art. 54 (deportation grounds).
Main families: Ç (time-limited entry bans), G (security-related), V (visa and residence annotations), N (entry subject to permission or payment).
Not published: the code list is set by internal instruction and changes; treat online lists, including the table below, as a guide and verify against your own file.
How to learn your code: from the notification you were given, or through a lawyer's written request to the migration authorities.
How codes end: expiry, payment, lifting by the administration, a special visa, or annulment by an administrative court.

Read this before relying on any code table. Because the codes are not published in legislation, every list in circulation — on law firm websites, forums and here — is compiled from administrative practice and court files. Meanings and durations are revised by the administration without announcement. The code and period that count are the ones in your own record.

What restriction codes are, legally

Turkish law does not mention "restriction codes" at all. What the law provides is this:

the Presidency of Migration Management may ban the entry of foreigners considered objectionable on grounds of public order, public security or public health (Law No. 6458, Art. 9(1));
the entry of deported foreigners is banned by the Presidency or the governorates (Art. 9(2));
a ban lasts at most five years, extendable by up to ten years for a serious public order or security threat (Art. 9(3));
the Presidency may lift a ban or permit entry for a specific period despite it (Art. 9(6));
admission may be made subject to prior permission — by the Presidency for public order, security or health reasons, and by the governorates because of unpaid administrative fines and public debts (Art. 9(7)).

A restriction code is how one of these decisions is entered in the system. The code is shorthand for the reason; the decision behind it is what has legal effect and what can be challenged. Two consequences follow. First, a code must correspond to a real decision with a legal basis and, where the law requires, reasons and notification (Art. 10). Second, when a court examines a code, it does not ask whether the code number was correctly chosen but whether the underlying restriction is lawful.

The code families

Family	General function	Typical origin
Ç	Entry bans for a defined period	Overstay, illegal work, irregular entry or exit, criminal proceedings, deportation
G	Restrictions based on public order and security assessments or specific offence types	Intelligence or police information, criminal records, security assessments
V	Annotations concerning visa and residence procedures	Cancelled permits, address problems, sham marriage findings, voluntary return, conditional entry
N	Entry subject to prior permission or to payment	Unpaid fines, requirement of clearance before entry, international alerts
Others (O, K, A …)	Special situations	For example protection applicants who left their assigned province, persons wanted in smuggling matters, or court-ordered travel restrictions

The family tells you roughly what kind of problem you are dealing with. A Ç code usually has an end date. A G code usually means that someone in the security apparatus has formed a view about you, and it will not expire quietly. A V code is often not a ban at all but a flag that triggers a check or a condition. An N code generally means: not before you obtain permission or settle a debt.

Ç codes: time-limited entry bans

These are the codes most ordinary visitors and residents encounter. The following meanings are those consistently reported in practice.

Code	Commonly reported meaning
Ç-101 to Ç-105	Breach of visa, visa exemption, residence permit or work permit periods. The series is graded by the length of the breach, from a ban of a few months at the lower end to five years at the top (Ç-105).
Ç-113	Irregular entry into or exit from Turkey
Ç-114	Foreigner subject to judicial proceedings (a criminal investigation or prosecution)
Ç-115	Foreigner released from prison
Ç-116	Earning a living by illegitimate means; conduct regarded as a threat to public morality or health
Ç-117	Working without a work permit
Ç-118	Residence permit cancelled
Ç-119	Unpaid administrative fine for working without a permit
Ç-120	Unpaid fine for a visa or residence breach
Ç-137	Invited to leave Turkey but did not leave within the period
Ç-138	Inadmissible passenger (INAD) — refused entry at the border
Ç-141	Entry subject to the Ministry's permission
Ç-149	Considered a threat to public security
Ç-150	Attempted entry with a forged or fraudulent document
Ç-167	Shorter overstay, with a short ban

For the overstay series, the length of the ban depends on how long the breach lasted and whether the fine was paid. The scale is set by the Ministry of Interior under Article 9(4) and has been revised more than once, so durations quoted for individual codes should not be relied upon. What the statute itself guarantees is the ceiling of five years, and the possibility of no ban at all for a person who reports the overstay to the governorate before it is detected, pays the fine and has not exceeded the Ministry's limits.

A Ç-114 code deserves a separate word. It is entered because a criminal file exists, not because of a conviction. If the investigation ends in a decision not to prosecute, or the trial ends in acquittal, the basis for the code has gone and its removal can be requested with the court documents.

G codes: security-related restrictions

Code	Commonly reported meaning
G-26	Involvement in the activities of an illegal organisation
G-34	Forgery offences
G-42	Drug offences
G-43	Smuggling offences
G-58	Homicide
G-64 to G-67	Offences such as threats, theft, robbery and fraud
G-78	Carrier of a disease regarded as a threat to public health
G-82	Activities against national security
G-87	Considered a danger to general security
G-89	Foreign terrorist fighter assessment

G-87 is the code most often litigated. It is applied on the basis of a general security assessment, frequently derived from intelligence information that is not disclosed to the person concerned, and it is often recorded with no stated end date. People with a G-87 code are refused at the border, refused visas and residence permits, and may be made subject to a deportation order under Article 54(1)(d) if they are in Turkey.

From a legal point of view, a G code rests on Article 9(1), and Article 9(3) still caps any entry ban at five years plus a possible ten. Administrative courts examining G-87 cases generally ask the administration to produce the information on which the assessment was based; where the file contains nothing concrete and individual — only a formula — the restriction is open to annulment. Where the administration does produce specific information, such as a foreign conviction, an ongoing investigation or documented links, the courts give it considerable weight. The outcome therefore depends on what is actually in the file, which cannot be known before the case is brought.

Desk with two computer monitors in a bright office — A code is a database entry. What can be challenged is the administrative decision behind it.

V codes: visa and residence annotations

Code	Commonly reported meaning
V-68	Residence permit applications subject to the Ministry's permission
V-69	Residence permit cancelled
V-70	Marriage found to be one of convenience
V-71	Not found at the registered address; whereabouts unknown
V-74	Exit to be notified to the authorities
V-84	Entry allowed on condition of applying for a residence permit within ten days
V-87	Person who was under temporary protection and returned voluntarily

Several of these are not entry bans in themselves. V-71 typically arises when an address check finds nobody at the registered address; it leads to cancellation or refusal of a residence permit and can be cleared by showing where you actually live and correcting the registration. V-69 records a cancellation and matters mainly for the next application. V-84 is a conditional entry: the person is admitted but must apply for a residence permit within ten days.

V-87 has particular significance for Syrians and others who held temporary protection status and signed voluntary return papers. It records that the person gave up that status by leaving. Re-entry and re-registration afterwards are restricted, which is why a voluntary return form should never be signed without understanding that the step is, in practice, very difficult to undo.

N codes: permission and payment

Code	Commonly reported meaning
N-82	Entry subject to prior permission (istizan): the person must obtain clearance, normally through a visa application at a consulate, before travelling
N-99	Subject of an international (Interpol) alert
N-119, N-120 and similar	Unpaid administrative fines or costs; entry conditional on payment

An N-82 code is not a ban in the strict sense. It corresponds to Article 9(7): admission is conditional on prior permission. The practical effect is that visa-free travel and e-Visas no longer work for the person; an application has to be made at a Turkish consulate, which refers it for assessment. Many N-82 holders do obtain visas when they can show a clear and lawful purpose of travel. If permission is repeatedly refused without reasons, the restriction itself can be challenged.

Payment-related codes are the simplest to resolve: pay the amount due, keep the receipt, and ask for the record to be closed.

How to find out which code you have

Check the documents you received. Notifications given on deportation, on departure with a fine, or on refusal at the border often state the code.
Have a lawyer request the record. With a power of attorney, a lawyer can ask the provincial directorate of migration management or the Presidency in writing for the restriction record: the code, the date, the authority that entered it and the period.
Read a visa or residence refusal carefully. A refusal that refers to Article 7, Article 15(1)(b) or (c), or to the existence of a restriction, indicates a code.
Do not expect details by telephone. General enquiry lines give general information; the content of a restriction is disclosed to the person concerned or their lawyer.

For more on checking and on the general rules, see Entry Ban to Turkey: How to Check It and How to Lift It.

Told at the border or the consulate that "there is a code"? Send your passport details and whatever document you were given. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form. Identifying the exact code and the authority that entered it is the first step; the remedy depends on it.

How a code is removed

Route	Works for	What it involves
Expiry	Time-limited Ç codes	Waiting out the period; confirming the record is closed before travelling
Payment	Fine- and cost-based codes	Paying the debt and requesting closure of the record
Administrative application	Codes whose factual basis has ended (acquittal, non-prosecution, corrected address, annulled deportation)	A reasoned request with documents to the authority that entered the code (Art. 9(6))
Special annotated visa	Persons with a concrete basis for entry — family, work, study, treatment	Visa application at a consulate, approved by the migration authorities, allowing entry despite the code
Annulment lawsuit	Codes that are unfounded, unreasoned or disproportionate, especially G codes	Action before the administrative court with a request for a stay of execution

Challenging a code in court

The procedure is the ordinary annulment action under Law No. 2577:

Time limit: 60 days from written notification or, where there was none, from the date you learned of the restriction — for example the date of refusal at the border or at the consulate (Art. 7). Document that date.
Court: the administrative court at the seat of the authority that entered the code; for restrictions entered by the Presidency of Migration Management, the Ankara administrative courts.
No automatic suspension: a stay of execution has to be requested and is granted only where the act is clearly unlawful and causes harm that is difficult to repair (Art. 27).
What the court looks at: whether a concrete factual basis exists, whether an individual assessment was made, whether the period respects the statutory ceiling, and whether the restriction is proportionate to its effect on family and private life.
Appeal: the judgment can be appealed under the ordinary rules.

If a deportation order has been issued on the basis of the same assessment, it must be challenged separately and much faster — within seven days; see how to appeal a deportation order in Turkey.

Common mistakes

Trusting a duration found online. The scales change; only your file is authoritative.
Confusing the code with the decision. Asking for "the code to be deleted" without addressing the reason behind it achieves nothing.
Treating a G code like an overstay. It will not expire unnoticed and needs a reasoned application or a lawsuit.
Travelling to find out. A refusal at the border costs a ticket and adds an inadmissible-passenger entry to the record.
Ignoring a V-71. An unresolved address flag quietly blocks the next residence permit.
Paying someone who claims to "remove codes from the system". Codes are removed by the authority that entered them or by a court judgment, not by intermediaries.

Frequently asked questions

What is a restriction code (tahdit kodu) in Turkey?

It is an internal code recorded by the Turkish migration authorities against a foreigner to indicate an entry ban, a requirement of prior permission or another restriction. The codes are not listed in legislation; their legal basis is Article 9 of Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection.

What does the G-87 code mean?

G-87 is understood to indicate that a foreigner is considered a danger to general security. It is usually based on a security assessment whose content is not disclosed, leads to refusal of entry, visas and residence permits, and can be challenged before the administrative court, where the administration must substantiate the assessment.

What does the V-87 code mean?

V-87 is reported to mark a person who held temporary protection in Turkey and left through voluntary return. It restricts re-entry and re-registration under temporary protection, which is why signing a voluntary return form has long-term consequences.

What does the N-82 code mean?

N-82 indicates that entry is subject to prior permission. The person is not banned outright but cannot enter visa-free or with an e-Visa; a visa application must be made at a Turkish consulate, which seeks clearance from the authorities.

What are the Ç-101 to Ç-105 codes?

They are the series used for breaches of visa, residence permit and work permit periods. The applicable code and the length of the entry ban depend on the length of the overstay and on whether the fine was paid, with five years as the statutory maximum.

How long does a restriction code last?

It depends on the code. Entry bans may last up to five years and may be extended by up to ten years for serious public order or security threats (Art. 9(3)). Time-limited codes expire; security-based and permission-based codes generally remain until lifted by the administration or annulled by a court.

How can I remove a restriction code?

Depending on the code: by waiting for it to expire, paying the fine or cost on which it is based, applying to the authority to lift it with documents showing the reason no longer exists, obtaining a special annotated visa, or bringing an annulment lawsuit before the administrative court within 60 days of learning of it.

Can I see my restriction code online?

No public online service shows restriction codes. The code can be learned from the notification documents or through a written request made by the person or their lawyer to the migration authorities.

Does a restriction code mean I have a criminal record in Turkey?

No. A restriction code is an administrative annotation, not a criminal conviction. Some codes are entered because a criminal investigation exists, but the code itself is not a finding of guilt and can be removed if the proceedings end in the person's favour.

Legal basis and sources

Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Articles 7, 9, 10, 15 and 54 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
Law No. 2577 on Administrative Procedure, Articles 7 and 27.
Code meanings: compiled from administrative practice as reflected in notifications and court files; not an official list.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Restriction codes are internal classifications that are revised without publication; nothing in the tables above should be treated as an official statement of the meaning or duration of any code.