The criminal case ends. The immigration file begins.

TCK 59 is the bridge, and it is short enough to quote in substance: a foreign national sentenced to imprisonment for an offence is reported immediately to the Ministry of the Interior, for assessment in connection with deportation proceedings — after a decision has been made on execution of the sentence under probation or on conditional release, and in any event once execution of the sentence has been completed.

The other end of the bridge is Article 54 of Law no. 6458, which lists those about whom a deportation decision is taken. The first category is those assessed as requiring deportation within the scope of TCK 59. The list also includes those who are directors, members or supporters of a terrorist organisation or of a criminal organisation formed for profit, and those who used untrue information and false documents in entry, visa and residence permit procedures.

Under Article 53 of Law no. 6458, the deportation decision is taken by the governorate, either on the instruction of the Directorate General or of its own motion, and is notified with its reasons to the foreign national, their legal representative or their lawyer. Where the person is not represented, they or their legal representative are informed of the outcome, and of the procedures and time limits for objection.

Article 53/3, as amended in November 2024, then sets out the process:

• The foreign national, their legal representative or their lawyer may apply to the administrative court within seven days of notification of the decision.
• The applicant must also notify the authority that made the decision that an application has been made.
• The file is treated as complete once the defence is filed or the time for filing it has passed. Whether a hearing is held is at the court's discretion.
• Applications are concluded within fifteen days of the file being complete, or of the completion of any interim decision or hearing.
• Where service cannot be effected at the address the claimant has given, the period in Article 26/3 of Law no. 2577 is applied as two months rather than one year — an address that has gone stale can end the case without a decision on its merits.
• The court's decision is final.
• Subject to the foreign national's own consent, they are not deported during the period for bringing the action, or, where the judicial route is used, until the proceedings have concluded.

Seven days, from notification, with no appeal at the end. There is very little in Turkish procedure that moves like this, and almost nothing else that ends so definitively.

Article 55 provides that even where a person falls within Article 54, a deportation decision is not taken in respect of certain categories. Among them:

• Those in respect of whom there are serious indications that they will be subjected to the death penalty, torture, or inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment in the country to which they would be deported.
• Those for whom travel is considered risky by reason of serious health problems, age or pregnancy.
• Those whose treatment for a life-threatening illness is ongoing and for whom no treatment is available in the country to which they would be deported. Both limbs have to be shown, and the second needs country and medical material rather than assertion.
• Victims of human trafficking who are benefiting from the victim support process.
• Victims of psychological, physical or sexual violence, until their treatment is complete.

These are not asserted; they are evidenced. Medical reports, country material and the specific circumstances of the individual are what carry an Article 55 argument, and assembling them takes longer than seven days — which is why the work starts before the decision is served, not after.

Under Article 57, where a person within the scope of Article 54 is apprehended by law enforcement, the matter is reported immediately to the governorate for a decision, and the assessment and decision period cannot exceed forty-eight hours. Those placed under administrative detention are held in removal centres under Article 58.

Administrative detention is a different thing from criminal remand. It is ordered by an administrative authority rather than a judge, it is served in a different type of institution, and it has its own written notification requirements and its own route of challenge. Being released from criminal custody does not mean being released.

It also has written limits. Detention in a removal centre may not exceed six months, extendable by up to six months more where removal cannot be completed because the person will not cooperate or will not give correct information about their country (Article 57/3). Whether it remains necessary is reviewed by the governorate every month (Article 57/4). The person, their legal representative or their lawyer may apply to the sulh ceza judge, who concludes the review within five days; that decision is final, but a fresh application can be made where the conditions have changed (Article 57/6). And Article 57/A provides obligations that replace detention altogether — residence at a stated address, reporting, a security, electronic monitoring — for a period that cannot exceed twenty-four months. In most files that is the real way out.

Article 56 provides that those in respect of whom a deportation decision has been taken are given a period of not less than fifteen days and up to thirty days to leave Türkiye, where the decision so states. That period is not granted to those who present a risk of absconding or disappearing, those who have breached the rules on lawful entry or exit, those who have used false documents, those who have attempted to obtain or have obtained a residence permit with false documents, and those who present a threat to public order, public security or public health.

The reason this matters is on the next section. Leaving within that period can change what happens to your ability to return.

Article 9 governs the ban on entering Türkiye.

• The Directorate General may prohibit the entry of foreign nationals whose entry is considered objectionable on grounds of public order, public security or public health.
• Entry is prohibited for foreign nationals who have been deported from Türkiye.
• The ban is for a maximum of five years. Where there is a serious threat to public order or public security, the Directorate General may extend it by up to ten further years.
• The Directorate General may lift the ban, or, while the ban remains in place, permit entry for a defined period.

Two situations where a ban need not be imposed

Article 9/4: where a person whose visa or residence permit has expired applies to the governorate to leave Türkiye before the authorities have detected the position, and a deportation decision is then taken, the authorities may decide not to impose an entry ban — provided the administrative fines have been paid and the periods of breach determined by the Ministry have not been exceeded. The paragraph is written as a discretion, not as a right.

Article 9/5: for those invited to leave under Article 56 who leave within the period given, an entry ban is not necessarily imposed — again a decision left to the administration rather than a guarantee.