You must obtain a student visa before departing your home country in order to register as a student at a Turkish university. Students who come to Turkey without a student visa will not be allowed to register as students at the university nor receive a residency permit once in the country.

Student visas must be obtained from a Turkish consulate, generally the one nearest to your place of residence in the country of your nationality. Student visas cannot be issued from within Turkey. You must take or mail a copy of your "Letter of Acceptance" from a Turkish university and a completed visa application form to the appropriate Turkish Consulate. Consulate staff can provide you with an application form upon request.

Please note that it generally takes around eight weeks from the time you submit your application until you receive your visa. The student visa will be stamped in your passport. Although a time limit will be indicated on your visa, your student visa remains valid as long as you are enrolled in school.

Note that rules seem to change regularly, so check with the Turkish embassy or consulate for the latest information about visa requirements. Within a month of arrival in Turkey, all international students must obtain a residency permit (Ikametgah Belgesi). This permit is required by the Directorate of Security in each province. You must submit the required documents and your passport to the Bureau of Foreign Residence Registration. You will be given a receipt indicating the date you can pick up your passport and residency permit. The process usually takes no longer than two to three days. It is necessary to return to the bureau to pick up your documents and passport. Students enrolled in a degree program at any university are usually given residency permits valid for one year at a time. The international office of your school will need to fill out some of the forms, so that's the best place to start.