V-70 Restriction Code Turkey: Sham Marriage Suspicion

V-70 restriction code shows that there is an administrative finding or suspicion that the marriage on which a foreigner's family residence permit is based is a marriage of convenience (sham marriage). The code records not the reality of the marriage but only the administration's assessment in that direction; the lawfulness of that assessment can be reviewed through the courts.

🔎 What Does the V-70 Restriction Code Mean?

V-70 is a code seen in cases of marriage to a foreigner and family reunificationTR. A family residence permitTR is granted to a person married to a Turkish citizen or to a foreigner holding a residence permit in Türkiye. If the governorate concludes that the marriage was not entered into with the aim of living together and was made only to obtain a right of residence, V-70 is entered in the record.

📜 Legal Basis: Article 37 of Law No. 6458

Article 37 of the Law has three paragraphs:

• Article 37/1: Where there is reasonable suspicion before a family residence permit is granted or extended, the governorates investigate whether the marriage was entered into solely to be able to obtain a residence permit. If this is established, the permit is not granted, or, if already granted, it is cancelled.
• Article 37/2: After the permit has been granted too, the governorates may check whether the marriage is a marriage of convenience.
• Article 37/3: Residence permits obtained through a marriage of convenience and later cancelled are not counted when adding up the residence periods required by the Law.

The third paragraph has a heavy effect in practice: for a foreigner who has stayed for years on a family residence permit, those periods are not counted in an application for a long-term residence permit or for citizenship by residence.

🕵️ How Is the Investigation Carried Out?

The Law uses the "reasonable suspicion" criterion; this requires reliance on concrete indications, not an arbitrary assessment. In practice, the main factors the administration takes into account are the following: whether the spouses live at the same address, whether they know basic information about each other, whether there are contradictions in statements taken separately, the length of the marriage and the conditions in which it was formed, and tip-offs and law enforcement findings.

The investigation often takes the form of an address check and taking statements from the spouses separately. Documents showing a shared life, such as a lease, bills, a joint bank account, photographs, and testimony from family and the social circle, become decisive both in the administrative process and at the court stage.

⚠️ Consequences of the Code

• The family residence permit is not granted or is cancelled (Article 37/1); in that case V-69 is also usually added to the record.
• Because the permit is cancelled, a deportation decision comes into question under Article 54/1-f.
• The period of the cancelled permit is deducted from the calculation of long-term residence and citizenship periods (Article 37/3).
• In later family residence permit applications based on the same marriage, the administration's suspicion continues; a new application needs to be supported by strong documents.

⚖️ Objection and Court Action

Refusal or cancellation of a family residence permit is an administrative act; an annulment action can be brought before the administrative court within sixty days of notification (Article 7 of the Administrative Procedure Law, İYUK). In this action the court reviews whether the administration based the elements of "reasonable suspicion" and "finding" on concrete evidence. Documenting the shared life is at the centre of the case.

If a deportation decision has also been taken as a result of the cancellation, the time limit against it is only seven days (Article 53/3); the two actions are subject to separate time limits and procedures. For the general framework, see the articles on refusal of a residence permit and objectionTR and deportation and objectionTR.

Related codes: V-69 restriction code, V-71 restriction code, Ç-116 (C-116) restriction code.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions