According to latest announcement by Istanbul Airport, from 1 October, ship agents will no longer be allowed to enter the transit area for crew greet and visa formalities.
Instead, arriving crew members subject to ‘transit seamans visa’ will be met by IGA Port staff.
The new procedures are to be followed as below:
- Ship agent to make online reservation in IGA port system for arriving crew members.
- Ship agent and IGA Port staff to meet at the meeting lounge for the paperwork and visa payment. Visa payment will be made by agent to the authorised bank.
- Upon completion of visa payment by agent, IGA port staff to process immigration clearance for the arriving crew.
- Crew member will be assisted by IGA Port staff during baggage collection.
– (a) Crew member will be transferred by IGA Port staff to domestic flight (if any).
– (b) Crew member will be brought to the agent in meeting lounge for transfer to hotel/vessel.
IGA Port management has published tariff for this service as 15€+VAT per crew. As only one immigration office will be assigned for seamans’ visa desk, visa formalities may take longer than usual.
Concluding, ariving crew members who are exempt from the visa or arriving with consulate visa will be met by agent after exit gate No.9, as usual.
Addition according to most recent developments,
As for COVID-19 restrictions in Turkey’s main ports, there are restrictions on vessels from COVID-19 high-risk countries, but crew changes are allowed with some conditions. Any off-signing crew members and passengers are subject to health checks and control at the seaport. There are also additional precautions that need to be taken for pilotage services. Cargo, container, and trailer transportation by sea will continue.
Heisenberg Shipping Denizcilik Gemi Acenteligi Ltd.
https://heisenbergshipping.com/