C-118 Restriction Code in Türkiye: Public Health Entry Ban

The Ç-118 (C-118) restriction code is applied to foreigners found to carry a contagious disease that threatens public health. In practice it is known as a five-year entry ban. What sets it apart from other codes is that it rests on a health condition, not on a fault or a violation; for this reason medical documents play a decisive role in the lifting process.

🔎 What Does the Ç-118 (C-118) Restriction Code Mean?

Ç-118 rests on an assessment that a foreigner's stay in, or entry into, the country poses a risk to public health. The code is most often entered after the health documents requested in a residence permit application, hospital records, or a finding made through the notification system for contagious diseases. What matters is not the existence of an illness but whether it qualifies as a threat to public health.

📜 Legal Basis

• Art. 15/1-ç: A visa is not issued to people carrying one of the diseases classed as a threat to public health.
• Art. 7/1-c: Foreigners listed in Art. 15/1 are treated as inadmissible passengers and turned back at the border gate, even if they are covered by a visa exemption.
• Art. 9/1: The Directorate General may ban the entry of foreigners whose entry is considered undesirable on public health grounds.
• Art. 54/1-d: A deportation decision is taken against people who pose a threat to public health; under Art. 56/1 no period to leave voluntarily is granted to them.

The law also keeps an exception open: under Art. 15/2, a visa may be issued with the Minister's approval to people in this group where it is considered beneficial. Treatment, family unity or humanitarian reasons stand out in this assessment.

🏥 Those Who Come for Treatment

Article 28/11 of the Regulation on Foreigners governs the admission to public or private hospitals of foreigners who do not carry one of the diseases classed as a threat to public health and come solely for treatment; health insurance is not required of those who document that they pay all the costs, and the residence permit is issued according to the length of treatment. This rule should not be confused with Ç-118: a stay for treatment and a threat to public health are assessed separately. The subject is covered in the article on health tourism and stays for treatmentTR.

📄 Lifting the Code and the Health Report

The most distinctive feature of Ç-118 is that its basis can disappear over time. If an official health institution report documents that the illness has been treated or that it is no longer contagious, the Directorate General may be asked to lift the ban (Art. 9/6). The report has to come from an authorised health institution, contain the date and diagnosis details, and, where necessary, be submitted with an apostille or a translation certified by the consulate.

• If the code is not lifted despite the administrative application, an annulment action can be filed within sixty days under Art. 7 of the Administrative Procedure Law (İYUK).
• If the foreigner is still in Türkiye and a deportation decision has been notified, the time limit for an action is seven days (Art. 53/3).
• During the proceedings the court may order an expert examination of the foreigner's health condition.

🔒 Private Life and Protection of Personal Data

Health data is special-category personal data under Law No. 6698. The administration's processing of this data depends on a legal basis; the foreigner keeps the right of access to the health information in their record and the right to ask for incorrect entries to be corrected. A code based on a wrong diagnosis or an outdated, superseded report is one of the strongest grounds for an annulment action. The general system of codes is covered in the article on entry bans and restriction codesTR.

Related codes and articles: Ç-149 (C-149) restriction code, Ç-141 (C-141) restriction code, Ç-113 (C-113) restriction code.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions