Cellphone certificate of ownership
 

I had read on toptenturkey.com that cellular phones entering the country of Turkey must be accompanied by a certification form showing ownership. Ownership must be documented in the passport of the owner and will be checked on entry and exit. Is this the case and if so where do you acquire certification and or stamp for passport? Has anyone encountered this entering or leaving Turkey? Thanks for any help you can give me.

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to this as well. I will be in Turkey in September and had not come across this in my travel planning so far.

This is news to me. My son has been to Turkey and never had to show any such document. And I am sure the thousands of other European tourists haven't done either. I will try and contact a friend who travels regularly to Turkey and ask her for you.

We just got back today from Turkey. I used my Cingular phone. A bit expensive but I didn't use it that much. Anyway, signed up for international roaming, got to Istanbul, turned my phone on and had Avea service. No registration or proof of ownership. Just make sure your phone is capable of getting service before you go.

It may be different if you are using an unlocked phone and want to get a Turkish sim card. I've heard you have to register the phone in that case. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle if I just used my cell phone sparingly.

Hope that helps.

Can it be red123 is promoting his/her site. I believe this is utter nosense! Don't answer to this add...

I know, from trying to do business there, that Turkish customs regulations can be very different from that of the rest of the world.

That said - I can see where it says that on the Toptenturkey site, but it sounds a little strange, too many people travel with phones these days.

The Turkish Embassy in London says that Turkish SIM cards may be sold only to registered phones. If a Turkish SIM card is used on an unregistered phone, it will not work.

Apparently, roaming on a non-Turkish SIM requires no paperwork: just ample credit.

There is no checking of phones on entry or exit. I mean really: can you imagine the chaos at Dalaman or Antalya every time a charter from London or Dusseldorf arrived (every 3 seconds in midsummer) if there were?

Details of how to register a phone so you can buy a local SIM are at http://www.turkishconsulate.org.uk/e...tio.htm#mobile

Hi red123,

This is new for tourists. If you want to use your cellular phone in Turkey more then a month you should DECLARE your phone while you enter Turkey. Custom just stamp on your passport and write "PHN" on it. Then you will go to your Turkish phone operator to register your phone. Phone operator request you phone and passport, that's it.

Have a nice trip Turkey

Sinan Akdeniz

Glad to see there are some replies - my friend has taken herself off to Gambia for a couple of weeks it seems. Lucky her.

I used my Cingular phone in Istanbul on the international roaming plan, and also purchased and used a local SIM with no problem. In fact, the nice gentleman who sold me the SIM even walked me through the initial setup.

I appreciate those of you who responded to my question and for your help, especially Sinan Akdeniz. I'm grateful for your response. It's too bad that logos999 wasn't as gracious in his/her words. I'm not trying to promote anything, I'm just an excited traveler preparing for my trip to Turkey in October. I came across this information in regards to cellphones on that particular site and wanted to be sure and cover all my bases for my trip. I will definitely post any other questions I have or that come up before I leave. Thanks again everyone and again to you Sinan.