How Can Foreign Spouses Get Benefit Health Insurance in Turkey?

The number of foreigners living in Turkey has increased significantly in recent years, thanks to the investment incentives. Commonly, people from the Gulf countries, Central Asia and some African countries preferred Turkey for investing or working, and the increase in foreign investments in the country and the number of foreigners living in the country followed the increasing trend. In addition, there are many questions about the health insurance of people who are married to a Turkish citizen but do not have citizenship. Therefore, in this article, we will share some details about how foreign spouses can benefit from health insurance in Turkey.

Which Conditions Should Foreign Spouses Meet?

Firstly, if the Turkish citizen spouse meets the conditions to benefit from health services, his/her foreign spouse can also benefit from health rights in Turkey. However, as a basic condition, the foreign spouse must make a commitment stating that he does not benefit from the health services of the foreign country and prove this with an official letter from his country. It is useful to take into account that a notarized sworn translation of this letter may also be requested by the Turkish authorities. As a general rule, if the Turkish citizen spouse has social security such as SSK, (4/a) Bağkur, (4/b) Retirement Fund, (4/c) or is retired, their foreign spouse can benefit from health services in Turkey. The only condition of this situation is not to benefit from foreign country health services and to have a valid residence permit.

Application Process

In order to benefit from health insurance by foreign spouses in Turkey, they can apply to the Provincial Directorates of Social Security or Social Security Centers and submit their current residence permit documents, an official letter stating that they do not benefit from foreign health services (and its notarized translation) and the Turkish identity numbers provided for foreign nationals, can benefit from health services. Foreign spouses can request an official document stating that they do not benefit from health services abroad from the consulates of their own countries in Turkey or from the authorized institutions in their own countries. We strongly recommend that you call the Provincial Directorate of Social Security in your city before your application and confirm whether there is a need for a notarized translation for this document. After completing your application, you can check your current health services utilization status via E-Devlet or E-Nabız systems.

If you have any question about benefit from health services by foreign spouses, you can ask us in the comments section below.