Foreigners to understand
This week I have taken the liberty of writing about my own complaints regarding a new procedure that makes life more difficult for nothing. The heading above is inspired by expats’ complaints regarding local regulations, which are already difficult for foreigners to understand. I want to let you know that you are not alone in your frustration over long visa lines or ridiculous procedures that make your life difficult for no reason.
You may or may not know that Turkish citizens going abroad must pay a fee of TL 15 when leaving the country. To pay, Turkish citizens must first buy a small sticker at the airport and show it to the police officer who stamps their passport.
According to a new regulation, the only way to buy the sticker now is to show your check-in document to a tax officer and ask him or her to place the sticker on the back side of your check-in document. Yes, the officer actually applies the sticker to each passenger’s documents. When he did so to mine, he did not look very happy at all. This causes Turkish passengers to line up twice — once to check in and once for this sticker.
Earlier it was free to acquire this sticker and it was not necessary to show one’s passport, so people were able to buy more than one at a time, either to be used later or to give to friends. It was simple. It was a waste of time but at least it was manageable. Now we have more lines. Imagine you are about to miss your plane and you have to get in line to buy a sticker.
It is impossible to understand the attitude that creates more lines. One can check in online, but you have to wait in line to buy a sticker at the airport. You can even order your meal according to your dietary requirements online.
Why does the Ministry of Finance not offer one of these solutions:
a) lifting this fee (which would be a great solution),
b) arranging for customers to allow the Ministry of Finance to withdraw this fee automatically from your bank account once your departure is registered in the system,
c) let you pay online,
d) allow you to pay this fee within a given amount of time following departure, or
e) allow customers to buy extra stickers and keep them for future use.
I cannot understand why the Ministry of Finance is not interested in selling five stickers in advance, instead of one at each departure. If you have more/better ideas, please let me know because I will be writing a petition to the ministry.
In my humble opinion, this fee also limits the freedom to travel, enshrined in the Constitution, which prevents the government from applying fees that limit this very important freedom. This new requirement can be contested before the courts. I plan to challenge this decree as soon as I have the time.
Berk Cektir http://www.berkcektir.av.tr/ The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner. http://www.todayszaman.com/ info@berkcektirlaw.com
