A visa is obligatory to travel to Turkey and can be purchased online or at the local airport. Many holidaymakers tend to manage such things before their departure and therefore prefer to buy their visa online. Unfortunately, the number of dubious sellers who try to take advantage of this behaviour increases. The European Consumer Centre Austria (ECC) advises caution.
The official website where the necessary travel document can be ordered is https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ and is operated by the Turkish foreign ministry. The e-visa costs 20 US dollar and is paid for via credit card. It is valid for a maximum period of 180 days and entitles to a maximum stay of 90 days in Turkey.
Other sellers often request an additional fee for their service or even provide fake visa. ECC Austria knows of cases where the websites of such dubious sellers were listed above the official website of the Turkish ministry on Google search. They charged between 80 and 100 US dollar. The document was incomplete or stated a validity period that was much longer than possible according to Turkish law (up to ten years).
Tips of ECC Austria
Consumers who bought such an overpriced or fake visa can take the following steps:
- Contact the Turkish consulate in Austria to check the validity of the visa.
- If you can't enter Turkey with this visa, buy a valid one directly at the local airport at your destination (costs: approx. 25 Euro).
- Get in touch with your credit card provider (e.g. Visa, Mastercard) and ask for a chargeback (refund of the amount you paid for the fake visa). Please note: No legal entitlement to chargeback exists.
