Phone Registration in Turkey: IMEI Rules, Fee and Steps
Which phones Turkey’s IMEI system touches, what registration costs, and how to apply on e-Devlet or at an operator counter.
Table of Contents
Turkey registers phones by their IMEI number. A phone you carry in works with a Turkish SIM for 120 days without registration, and you apply within 120 days of your entry date. The 2026 fee is 54,258 TL (communiqué no. 98), paid before you apply. A phone on your home SIM, roaming, is outside the rule.
The short version
Roaming is outside the rule. A Turkish SIM is not.
- Home SIM, roaming: outside the regulation (art. 2). Nothing to register.
- Turkish SIM in a phone from abroad: 120 days without registration; apply within 120 days of your entry date.
- Fee: 54,258 TL (2026 fee, communiqué no. 98), paid before you apply.
- Posted or ordered online: BTK does not register those phones.
Does the rule touch your phone?
Tap the road signs: how the phone arrived, which SIM is in it, who applies and whether your passport’s right is free. BTK, Turkey’s telecoms authority, keeps the lists the bays stand for.
The IMEI gate
Where does your phone end up?
Tap the signs. The phone drives to the bay that matches, and the slip prints what to do. It opens on a phone carried in luggage with a Turkish SIM.
Every case, with what to do, is printed below.
Carried in · Turkish SIM · adult on e-Devlet
White list: register in four steps
- Find the number. Dial *#06# for the 15-digit IMEI.
- Check your right. On e-Devlet: Kayıtlı Cihazlarım ve Kayıt Hakkı Sorgulama.
- Pay the fee. 54,258 TL on the internet tax office. The receipt shows the IMEI, your first and last name and your ID number.
- Apply. Under IMEI Kaydet on e-Devlet. The result shows there; BTK’s line 120 helps.
Not sure about the right? Step 2 answers it before you pay.
- 2026 fee
- 54,258 TL · communiqué no. 98
- Deadline
- Within 120 days of your entry date (regulation art. 14)
- Without registration
- 120 days of use
Sources: BTK registration page, regulation art. 14, communiqué no. 98. Checked 20.10.2026.
Carried in · Turkish SIM · no e-Devlet
White list: apply at an operator centre
- Find the number. Dial *#06# for the 15-digit IMEI.
- Pay the fee. 54,258 TL on the internet tax office. The receipt shows the IMEI, your first and last name and your ID number.
- Go to a centre of Türk Telekom Mobil, Turkcell or Vodafone with your passport, the application and the documents for your status (see the counter below).
- Ask for the result at the centre, or call BTK’s line 120.
Not sure about the right? The centre’s check comes with the application.
- 2026 fee
- 54,258 TL · communiqué no. 98
- Deadline
- Within 120 days of your entry date (regulation art. 14)
- Without registration
- 120 days of use
Sources: BTK registration page, regulation art. 14. Checked 20.10.2026.
Carried in · Turkish SIM · a child’s phone
White list: a parent or guardian applies
- Find the number. Dial *#06# for the 15-digit IMEI.
- Parent or guardian logs in to their own e-Devlet and uses the child’s identity details.
- Pay the fee. 54,258 TL on the internet tax office. The receipt shows the IMEI, your first and last name and your ID number.
- Apply under IMEI Kaydet. The result shows on e-Devlet; BTK’s line 120 helps.
Not sure about the right? Check it on e-Devlet before you pay.
- 2026 fee
- 54,258 TL · communiqué no. 98
- Deadline
- Within 120 days of your entry date (regulation art. 14)
- Without registration
- 120 days of use
Sources: BTK frequently asked questions, regulation art. 14. Checked 20.10.2026.
Carried in · tourist contract with an operator
Paired white list: one phone number
A tourist or expatriate citizen who signs a subscription contract with an operator has the phone’s IMEI and the contract’s number entered together in BTK’s system. The phone then opens only for that number.
Take your passport and the contract to an operator subscriber registration centre. Paired numbers also sit on the black list; the pairing is what opens the phone for that one number (regulation art. 12).
Sources: BTK registration page, MCKS list definitions, regulation art. 12. Checked 20.10.2026.
Home SIM · roaming
Outside the gate: nothing to register
The regulation leaves out devices of users on international roaming (art. 2). While your home SIM roams, there is nothing to apply for.
With a Turkish SIM in the phone, the luggage route applies: 120 days of use without registration, and the application within 120 days of your entry date.
A phone that arrived by post or online order stays outside the gate only while it roams: BTK does not register those phones.
Sources: regulation art. 2, BTK registration page. Checked 20.10.2026.
Bought in a Turkish shop
White list: the importer registers it
The importing company notifies BTK of every phone it brings in legally. Phones sold without that notice are found in inspections and closed to communication.
Check the IMEI on e-Devlet (IMEI Sorgulama) before you pay. If a phone you bought shows as unregistered, go back to the place you bought it: BTK treats it as a defective good under Law 6502.
Sources: BTK frequently asked questions, e-Devlet IMEI Sorgulama. Checked 20.10.2026.
Second-hand, bought in Turkey
Check the number before you pay
Ask the seller to dial *#06# and read out the 15 digits, then run them through e-Devlet IMEI Sorgulama. The query shows whether the phone was imported legally and whether it is reported lost or stolen.
A phone reported lost or stolen goes on the black list after BTK verifies the report, and its connection is cut.
Sources: e-Devlet IMEI Sorgulama, regulation arts 10 and 15. Checked 20.10.2026.
Posted or ordered online from abroad
No registration route
BTK does not register phones that arrive by post or that were bought on the internet.
A phone in use that BTK has no record of is put on the black list and cut off when its use period ends (regulation art. 10).
Sources: BTK frequently asked questions, regulation art. 10. Checked 20.10.2026.
Carried in · Turkish SIM · this passport’s right is used
Right used: no registration on this passport
BTK registers 1 phone per passport in 3 calendar years (decision 1111, 14 May 2019). The right can’t be handed to someone else, paid or free, and the legal responsibility for a phone registered on a passport stays with the passport holder.
A phone in use that BTK has no record of is put on the black list and cut off when its use period ends (regulation art. 10). To see the date of your last registration, use Kayıtlı Cihazlarım ve Kayıt Hakkı Sorgulama on e-Devlet.
Sources: BTK registration page, decision 1111 art. 4, regulation art. 10. Checked 20.10.2026.
The bays are BTK’s lists. The next chapter reads them one by one.
Four lists, one gate
BTK’s registration system sorts every phone by its IMEI onto lists. Tap a tab in the ledger: each page gives BTK’s definition, then what it means for you.
BTK’s register
Four lists, one book
BTK list
White list
BTK’s definition: IMEI numbers of devices whose connection is open.
For you: a registered phone. A phone you register through the steps below lands here, and so does a phone an importer has notified to BTK.
BTK list
Grey list
BTK’s definition: IMEI numbers outside the white and black lists, of devices whose connection is open.
For you: nothing to apply for. Operators find these numbers and report them to BTK, which checks them before listing (regulation art. 11).
BTK list
Black list
BTK’s definition: IMEI numbers of illicit, lost or stolen devices and of devices whose identity has been altered.
For you: a phone reported lost or stolen goes here after BTK verifies the report, and the operator cuts it off. A phone in use that BTK has no record of goes here too, and is cut off when its use period ends (regulation art. 10).
BTK list
Paired white list
BTK’s definition: IMEI numbers paired with a phone number (MSISDN). A paired phone works only with that number.
For you: the tourist route. An operator contract for your stay pairs your phone with the contract’s number. Paired numbers also sit on the black list; the pairing is what opens the phone for that one number (regulation art. 12).
Register in four steps
These four steps are for a phone carried in with you and used with a Turkish SIM. The next chapter says who applies where.
Where to find the number
Dial *#06#
The phone shows its IMEI: 15 digits. Photograph the screen before you start. The receipt and the application must carry the same digits.
- 8 digits: the model code (type allocation code)
- 6 digits: the serial number
- 1 digit: the check digit
Structure of the IMEI: ETSI TS 123 003, annex B.
- Find the numberDial *#06#. The screen shows the 15-digit IMEI (BTK registration page).
- Check your rightOn e-Devlet, Kayıtlı Cihazlarım ve Kayıt Hakkı Sorgulama shows whether your passport can register a phone. The rule is 1 phone per 3 calendar years (decision 1111, 14 May 2019).
- Pay the feeThe 2026 fee is 54,258 TL (communiqué no. 98). Pay by credit card on the Interactive Tax Office, or by EFT if your bank supports it. The receipt must show the 15-digit IMEI, your first and last name and your ID number.
- Apply, then checkApply under IMEI Kaydet on e-Devlet, or at an operator centre. The result shows on e-Devlet; BTK’s line 120 answers around the clock.IMEI kaydı yaptırmak istiyorum.I want to register my IMEI.
Fee receiptSample
- 1IMEI
- 2First and last name
- 3ID number
Sample, not a real receipt. BTK asks for these three fields on the fee receipt.
The receipt carries three fields
BTK lists the IMEI, your first and last name and your ID number. BTK asks you to make sure the IMEI is right, so compare the receipt with the screen of *#06# before you apply.
Payment alone does not register the phone. The application is the next step.
Who applies where
An adult who can use e-Devlet applies there. A foreign resident with a YKN who is 18 or older can: the e-Devlet password comes from a PTT branch. Anyone else applies at an operator subscriber registration centre of Türk Telekom Mobil, Turkcell or Vodafone. An applicant under 18 is registered by a parent or legal guardian through their own e-Devlet, using the child’s details.
Operator counter
Who is at the window?
Tap a person. The tray shows what to put on the counter.
Operator subscriber registration centre
Short stay: a contract pairs the phone
A tourist or expatriate citizen who signs a subscription contract with an operator has the phone paired with the contract’s number. Take your passport and the contract.
Student: the school’s certificate
Bring the original passport, a certificate from your school that you are a student, and the application. Staff check the passport, stamp the application and send the papers to BTK.
Resident: the residence document
Bring the original passport, your residence document and the application. Staff check the passport, stamp the application and send the papers to BTK.
Diplomat or military personnel
Bring your passport or your ID document, and the application. Staff check the document, stamp the application and send the papers to BTK.
What it costs and when
The fee is set by a communiqué on the Fees Law and is reset every January. It is paid before the application.
- 2026 fee
- 54,258 TL
- Source
- Fees Law communiqué no. 98, published 31 December 2025, tariff (8) VIII
- Paid
- Before the application, by credit card on the internet tax office or by EFT
- If unpaid
- Collected later with a 50% surcharge and late-payment interest (Law 6183); a phone registered without payment is closed to use
- The right
- 1 phone per passport in 3 calendar years (decision 1111, 14 May 2019)
- Checked
- 20.10.2026
Three things BTK does not accept
Each card turns over from the claim to what BTK writes.
“I paid the fee, so I am registered.”
Registration is complete when the application is made and the result shows on e-Devlet or at the operator centre. The fee comes first; the application follows.
“I will use a friend’s passport right.”
BTK says the right can’t be passed on, paid or free. A phone registered on a passport carries the passport holder’s legal responsibility, including if the phone is involved in a crime.
“I will register the phone that came by post.”
BTK does not register phones that arrive by post or that were bought on the internet.
Bought in Turkey?
A new phone from a Turkish shop should already be on the white list: the importing company notifies BTK of every phone it brings in legally. Check before you pay: IMEI Sorgulama on e-Devlet shows whether a phone was imported legally and whether it is reported lost or stolen.
The query says the phone is unregistered.
Go back to the place you bought it. BTK treats an unregistered phone sold in Turkey as a defective good, so the consumer rights of Law 6502 apply. Phones sold without the importer’s notice are found in inspections and closed to communication.
The logic board was replaced.
The first applicant registers again on e-Devlet with the repair shop’s replacement document. It needs the shop’s letterhead or stamp, its name or title and address or phone, the old and new IMEI numbers, and both boards must be the same brand.
The phone is lost or stolen.
Report it on e-Devlet or by phone to BTK’s line 120. After the operator checks the report, BTK puts the IMEI on the black list and the phone stops working on Turkish networks. If you find the phone, reopen it the same way you reported it.
The phone is a child’s.
A parent or legal guardian applies on their own e-Devlet using the child’s details. A child under 18 can bring a phone from abroad and register it in their own name.
Planning to buy the phone first? The iPhone guide has the buy-or-bring maths. Choosing a local SIM or an eSIM? The SIM and roaming guide compares the prices. Carrying a TV in as well? The TV guide shows how the passenger allowance and the TRT fee apply to one.
Sources
Fee, limits and steps: checked 20.10.2026.
Read the sources
- BTK Mobile Device Registration System (MCKS): registration and pairing — BTK, checked 20.10.2026
- MCKS frequently asked questions — BTK, checked 20.10.2026
- MCKS legislation and list definitions — BTK, checked 20.10.2026
- Regulation on registering devices that carry an electronic identity (12 July 2014, no. 29058; amended 17 October 2015, no. 29505) — Resmî Gazete, checked 20.10.2026
- Fees Law general communiqué, series no. 98 (31 December 2025) — Resmî Gazete, checked 20.10.2026
- Presidential decision no. 1111 (14 May 2019), article 4 — Resmî Gazete, checked 20.10.2026
- e-Devlet: IMEI Kaydet — e-Devlet Kapısı, checked 20.10.2026
- e-Devlet: Kayıtlı Cihazlarım ve Kayıt Hakkı Sorgulama — e-Devlet Kapısı, checked 20.10.2026
- e-Devlet: IMEI Sorgulama — e-Devlet Kapısı, checked 20.10.2026
- Interactive Tax Office (İnternet Vergi Dairesi) — Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı, checked 20.10.2026
- Consumer Protection Law no. 6502 — mevzuat.gov.tr, checked 20.10.2026
- ETSI TS 123 003 V17.7.0, annex B: IMEI check digit — ETSI, checked 20.10.2026
