Your first month in Turkey: e-Devlet, the tax number and the rest of the admin

Turkish life runs on numbers: get a tax number on day one, your foreigner ID with your ikamet, and e-Devlet after that, and the rest of the admin falls into place.

The short version

• Tax number first. Foreigners can get a "potential tax number" online from the Turkish Revenue Administration, or at a tax office with a passport [3]. Banks, insurers and utility firms ask for it.
• Foreigner ID next. Your residence permit card carries an 11-digit foreigner identity number, which replaces the tax number for most jobs once you have it.
• e-Devlet. The government's online portal at turkiye.gov.tr. You can get a password at any PTT (post office) branch with photo ID, and a residence permit card is on the list [4].
• Register your address within 20 working days of arriving or getting your residence permit [1].
• Phones bought abroad must be registered to work on Turkish networks long term. In 2026 the registration fee is 57,241 TL (about £849) [5].

The order that works

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = TRY 67.4414).

Expect it to take longer than you think. Like the council back home, but with more photocopies and better tea.

The tax number (vergi numarası)

A tax number is the first Turkish number most Brits get, and the most useful in the first weeks. You need it before you have a residence permit card for almost anything with a contract: a bank account, health insurance, a phone line, electricity and water, and paying residence permit fees.

Getting one

1. Online. The Revenue Administration (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı, GİB) has a "Potential Tax Number Application for Foreigners" on its digital tax office [3]. You enter your passport and personal details and get a number back.
2. In person. Take your passport and a photocopy to the tax office (vergi dairesi) in Fethiye. Staff fill in a short form with you, and it's often done the same day.

Having a tax number doesn't make you a taxpayer in Turkey. It's an identifier, a bit like an NI number. Whether you pay Turkish tax depends on where you live and what income you have; our guide to Turkish taxes for Brits covers that.

The foreigner ID number

When your residence permit is issued, you get a foreigner identity number (yabancı kimlik numarası). It's 11 digits long, starts with 99, and is printed on your residence permit card. From then on it's your number for almost everything: hospitals, banks, the notary, the land registry and e-Devlet.

Tell your bank, insurer and phone company once you have it, so their records match the state's. Mismatched numbers are the classic Fethiye admin headache.

Address registration

The FCDO says you must register your address within 20 working days of arriving or getting your residence permit [1]. The migration authority adds that if your address changes, you tell both the migration office and the civil registration office (nüfus müdürlüğü) within 20 working days [2]. Bring your residence permit card, your passport and a rental contract or title deed. Once your address is linked to your foreigner ID, utility firms, banks and e-Devlet all show the same thing.

e-Devlet: the state in one website

e-Devlet (turkiye.gov.tr) is the government's portal, and it's genuinely useful. Once you're in you can check your residence and address records, see traffic fines, look up your title deed, pay some taxes and fees, see your health records and book appointments at state hospitals. There's an app too.

Getting a password

• At the PTT. Go to any PTT branch with photo ID. Accepted IDs include a passport and a residence permit card, provided the ID shows your Turkish identity number [4]. In practice, that means your residence permit card with your foreigner ID on it. You'll get an envelope with a temporary password, which you must change the first time you log in [4].
• Through your bank. If you already use Turkish internet banking, mobile signature or e-signature, you can log in with that and set a password [4].
• From abroad. Turkish embassies and consulates can also issue passwords [4].

Keep your password safe. e-Devlet holds a lot of personal data, and nobody legitimate needs it.

A bank account

Turkish banks, including state-owned Ziraat Bankası and the big private banks, open accounts for foreigners, but each sets its own rules. Expect to be asked for your passport, your tax number and proof of address, and sometimes your residence permit. Some branches are more used to Brits than others; in Fethiye the branches in the town centre usually see plenty of foreign customers.

Keep your UK bank account too. You'll need it for your pension, UK direct debits and transfers, and some UK banks close accounts when you move abroad. Our guides to keeping a UK bank account and banking in Turkey go into detail.

Your mobile phone

Turkey controls which handsets can be used on its networks through IMEI registration. Phones bought abroad work for a limited period with a Turkish SIM, after which they're blocked unless registered.

• The fee. Registering a phone bought abroad costs well over 50,000 TL (roughly £800 to £850) in 2026, up from 45,614 TL in 2025. Published figures for 2026 differ (we've seen about 54,300 TL and about 57,200 TL quoted), so check the exact amount on the payment screen before you pay. It's paid through the Revenue Administration's mobile phone fee service, using your identity number and the phone's IMEI [5].
• The alternative. Many Brits keep their UK handset for UK roaming and Wi-Fi calls and buy a cheaper phone in Turkey for the Turkish SIM. A dual-SIM phone with the UK SIM on roaming is another option.
• The SIM. Turkish operators sell lines to foreigners on a passport. When your residence permit arrives, update the line to your foreigner ID.

Keeping a UK number matters for banks and HMRC security codes. Our guide to keeping a UK mobile number has ways to do it cheaply.

The rest of the first month

• Health insurance. You need it for the residence permit, and it must cover the whole period you ask for [2]. Turkey has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK, and you can only join the state scheme after a year's residence on a valid permit [1].
• Driving. You can drive on your UK licence for up to six months; after that the FCDO says you need a Turkish licence [1].
• Blue Badge. If you have one, the FCDO says you must return it to the UK issuing authority once you live in Turkey [1].
• Earthquake and wildfire prep. Find out how AFAD, Turkey's disaster agency, sends alerts, and learn your building's assembly point. Our guide to earthquakes and wildfires in Fethiye covers this.
• Know where the consulate is. The British consulate is on Atatürk Caddesi in Fethiye and helps with lost passports and emergencies [6].

The migration authority's Foreigners Communication Centre (YİMER) answers questions about residence permits around the clock on 157 from a Turkish phone [2]. It's handy when an office gives you three different answers.

Don't forget the UK end

Tell HMRC you're leaving, usually on form P85, and work out your status under the Statutory Residence Test. Tell the DWP your new address if you draw a State Pension, and update your bank, pension providers and the DVLA. Our moving abroad checklist has the full list.

Stuck at the PTT counter or unsure which tax office to use? Our community group for Brits in Turkey has people in Fethiye who did it all last month.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Turkey (last updated 31 December 2025)
2. Presidency of Migration Management: Residence permit – general information (checked 8 November 2026)
3. Revenue Administration (GİB): Potential tax number application for foreigners (checked 8 November 2026)
4. e-Devlet Kapısı (turkiye.gov.tr): Help – getting an e-Devlet password (checked 8 November 2026)
5. NTV: The 2026 IMEI registration fee for phones brought from abroad (January 2026)
6. GOV.UK: British Honorary Consulate in Fethiye (updated 7 September 2026)

Keep reading

• Banking in Turkey as a Brit
• Turkish residence permits for Brits: the ikamet
• Turkish taxes for Brits: the UK link and your State Pension
• Keeping a UK mobile number and address for banks and HMRC while abroad