Hallo,

My wife and I recently flew to Istanbul from London. As we were boarding the plane and showing our passports, the attendant, upon seeing my wife's US passport, asked her if she'd been to Turkey before (she hadn't). The attendant explained that there was recently a change to the visa regulations and that Americans can now only acquire a visa on arrival (at the airport/border) once, and that to come back a second time they have to acquire a visa in the US before they go.

Does anyone know whether or not this is true? I can find no evidence of this online. Have any other US citizens recently managed to or failed to acquire a visa on arrival, having previously visited?

Thanks.

Incorrect. There is no such new law that has recently been passed like that. I think she is mistaken. We are still allowed to obtain a visa at the border. I have not needed to leave and enter again recently, but a friend of mine has, and he had no problems getting back in and obtaining a new visa, even though he had tons of previous visas already in his passport. It is a simple $30 fee to get a visa for turkey I doubt the turkish govt wants to make it more complicated for us, and why would they single us out (Americans)... Turkey and the US have an agreement that we can get a visa at their borders, and up till now that agreement is still in place, I have also checked the website for the US Embassy in Ankara, and the consulate in Istanbul, and no information on this was evident. I also checked the turkish ministry of foreign affairs and the Turkish embassy in DC. none of their websites had any information pertaining what you posted above. They all still have information that visas can be obtained at the border, and nothing about returning visitors needing to get a visa from a consulate.

Only if you have an official or diplomatic passport, do you need to obtain a visa before you enter Turkey.

I have been to Turkey 6 times in the past two years and got a visa at the airport each time for 20 USD. I agree with the previous post. The woman at the airport is mistaken.