Packing list in Istanbul

For Istanbul

Season you arrive

Documents

Passport, with at least six months left on it
Visa or residence paperwork, printed and saved offline
Health or travel insurance documents
Certified copies of birth or marriage certificates, if family is coming
Apostilled documents with sworn Turkish translations (translations are notarised in Türkiye; birth and marriage certificates for family files)
Biometric photos on a white background (the e-ikamet appointment lists how many)
Health insurance valid in Türkiye for the whole permit period (a condition of the residence permit)

An unlocked or dual-SIM phone
Power bank
Laptop and charger
Type F plug adapters (two round pins, 230V)
A phone you are happy to register, or a Turkish handset (foreign phones on a Turkish SIM are blocked after 120 days unless registered, for a substantial fee)

Light layers
Shoes you can walk a city in
One set of interview or office clothes
A scarf and clothes that cover knees and shoulders (for visiting mosques)
Shoes with grip for steep, wet streets (Beyoğlu and the Bosphorus villages are all hills and stairs)
A windproof layer for the ferry deck

A card with no foreign transaction fees
Enough local cash for the first day
A card that works abroad, and some lira for small change (cards are taken almost everywhere; markets and minibuses want cash)

Packing for Istanbul · Autumn0/250% packed.