Turkish lawyers of 15+ years now eligible for privileged green passport

Duvar English

Lawyers who have been members of a bar association for at least 15 years will now be allowed to apply for a green passport, a special status waiving visas for certain countries, granted to public servants.

Applicants will have request forms created by the administration of their bar association and then get them signed by authorized individuals assigned by the association or the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, Turkey's Official Gazette reported Jan. 17.

After receiving an authorized signature, the applicant will make an application to take their request form to the Passport Unit of the Population and Citizenship General Directorate.

Security measures to prevent fraudulent applications

As a safety measure to prevent fraudulent applications, bar associations will prepare a list of the signatures and seals of authorized individuals and present it to the Population and Citizenship Directorate of their province.

The Population and Citizenship General Directorate reserves the right to request from the Justice Ministry information about whether the applicant is involved any ongoing investigations under Turkish criminal law involving crimes against the nation and the government and crimes under anti-terrorism law.

Should the applicant lose any of the necessary conditions, their passport will immediately be revoked.

The Interior Ministry will be handling a potential transition to online passport services.

Changes to the green passport

A green passport allows the owner entry into European Union countries without a Schengen visa, and was granted to public servants only originally.

In recent years, the scope of the passport has been extended to include tradesmen who reach a certain level of exports out of Turkey.

National athletes, members of parliament and mayors also hold green passports.

Public servants' spouses and children under 25 also hold green passports.