Question
Can I study in Turkey?
17 January 2022. Related: All topics, Disclosure, Travel.
Can an HIV positive individual study in Turkey? Are there any people living with HIV studying in Turkey? Can HIV positive international students get a visa to study in Turkey? I checked their home affair website and read some travel and residency restrictions. It says ‘foreigners may not be granted student visa if they have an infectious disease which might be considered as a public health threat’. What I really wanted to know is does this mean HIV? I mailed to the local Embassy and they haven’t even replied. Please help me. Thank you.
Answer
Hi, how are you doing?
Turkey has no restrictions for people living with HIV. You can check this here: https://www.hivtravel.org/Default.aspx?PageId=143&CountryId=183
As there is no restriction, being HIV positive will not be a barrier to you getting a student visa. There will be people who are HIV positive that are studying in Turkey.
HIV is not listed as a disease with a ‘potential public health threat’.
Josh.
Hi Liliana, Turkey has no restrictions for entering the country while HIV positive. As i-base is a UK based charity, legalities of employment I am less certain of in the UK. This is a link to Red Ribbon Istanbul, a charity similar to i-base that is located in Turkey: https://www.kirmizikurdele.org/hiv-hakkinda-her-sey
Hello,,, can you be denied to work as a caregiver when having a positive HIV medical??
Can the employer as for a HIV test and had not been written in job offer?
Can I be denied for my HIV positive test entering turkey?
Hi Leo, I am sorry to hear the stress you are having with sorting this out. Unfortunately i-base cannot help any further. i-base is a treatment service for HIV and not a Turkish immigration specialist. It appears all the information we have you have found yourself. Good luck with the rest of your studies.
Hi, Mr.Josh. Of course I tried to. I also sent a couple of mails(not just only one) to the institution that I’ve been trying to get admission – Izmir Institute of Technology. But I don’t know what’s wrong with me. They also haven’t replied me back yet. But I did a little bit checking to their international office website and saw admission requirements. But in that admission requirement paragraph, I can’t find any keywords related to medical certificate. So, I think the university wouldn’t ask for any further medical related examination for international student.
But I can’t even figure out what to do now with student visa. All I have to do right now is trying to get to local Turkey Embassy and speak to consulate face to face asking for HIV regulations and restriction for visa. About Red Ribbon Istanbul, yes, I contacted them on Facebook and got some sort of counselling from them. They first showed me that information from hivtravel.org. But when I tried to show them about the statement released from European commission codes containing regulation articles and one of them says Foreigner with disease which can be considered as a public health can be denied from getting visa and entry to Turkey, they explained me that legislation is actually a copycat of the original one from EU statement because Turkey once intended to join the union but it turned into a failure later. But they said it is still in force. And they told me if I come to Turkey as an international student applying for student visa and residence permit , there wouldn’t be any obstacle because the residence permit form has no medical status declaration. But even if they said there’s nothing to be afraid of, one of my friends currently studying in Karabuk informed me he was asked for medical examination when he applied for his student visa to Turkey as I mentioned in my above comment. That’s why I’m here asking for information to Turkish immigration specialist. Thank you.
Hi Leo, it is disappointing to hear that the embassy has not wrote back. Have you tried speaking to the the place of education you are wishing to study? Often they have an international office for which they can appropriately signpost. If not, ‘Red Ribbon Istanbul’ focusses on providing information for people living with HIV in Istanbul. This is their contact information: https://www.aidsactioneurope.org/en/organisation/kirmizi-kurdele-istanbul-dernegi-red-ribbon-istanbul-cso
Hi Mr.Josh. Yes, I tried to contact local Turkish Embassy 2 months ago by mailing and asked for further questions what I needed to know. But they haven’t replied me back yet. That’s why i’m here asking for Immigration policy and regulations with HIV. A lot of information provided in hivtravel.org is not reliable. They have shown countries without restrictions for HIV positive individual but in reality, consulate in each country embassy asks for medical examination to visa applicant no matter his/her duration of stay. So, is there any websites about HIV immigration can we trust? Thank you.
Hi Leo, if you follow the link in the main question you can see that there are no restrictions regarding HIV. i-Base is not designed to provide information regarding travel. If you have any further questions please consider speaking to your local Turkish embassy.
Hi Erdem, Thanks for your information. May I know one? Is it sure Turkey has no restrictions for PLHIV if one wants to come to study? Because one of my friends who is currently studying in Karabuk told me that he was asked to have a medical examination by Turkish Embassy while applying for his Turkish Student visa. Can you show me some sort of reliable information about Turkey visa policy of HIV restriction that you undoubtedly mentioned above? Thank you.
Hi Erdem, thank you for adding this information.
Hi, Turkey has no restrictions for people living with HIV but Health insurance in Turkey does not cover foreigner’s HIV treatment.