How Turkey's Family Residence Permit Compares to Other Countries

If you're weighing Turkey against another country as a place to reunite with a spouse or children, the eligibility rules matter less than how the whole system is shaped. Some countries make you clear a steep income bar before you can even apply. Others make you pass a language exam first. Some hand you permanent status on day one; others make you renew a temporary permit for years before you're secure. Turkey's Family Residence Permit sits in a distinct spot on all three of these axes — this piece lays out where.

Key Facts at a Glance

• Turkey: up to 3 years per grant, no language test, income bar set at roughly the national minimum wage
• Germany: family reunification visa, generally requires A1-level German for spouses, income must be sufficient to avoid reliance on public funds
• United Kingdom: family visa route, minimum sponsor income of £29,000/year (as of the 2024 rule change), typically 2.5-year renewable periods en route to settlement
• Australia: no fixed minimum income threshold (sponsor's overall financial capacity is assessed case by case instead), fully open to de facto and same-sex couples, but runs on a two-stage temporary-then-permanent process

Turkey's Approach in Brief

Turkey's Family Residence Permit links a spouse's and dependent children's status to a sponsor who is either a Turkish citizen or a foreign national holding a residence/work permit, refugee status, or secondary protection status for at least a year. The sponsor must show income at least equal to the national minimum wage (plus roughly one-third of the minimum wage for each additional dependent), suitable housing, and health insurance for the family. There is no language or integration test. The permit runs up to three years per grant and time spent on it counts toward long-term residence eligibility.

Germany: The Language-Test Model

Germany's family reunification visa is built around the EU Family Reunification Directive, but Germany layers a national requirement on top of it: spouses applying to join a partner in Germany generally need to demonstrate at least A1-level German — basic conversational ability — through a recognized test such as the Goethe-Institut exam, before the visa is issued. There are exceptions (nationals of a handful of visa-exempt countries, EU Blue Card holders, spouses of German citizens in some cases, and documented hardship or health cases), but for most applicants the language requirement is a real, upfront hurdle that Turkey's process simply doesn't have.

Beyond language, the sponsoring partner in Germany needs to show sufficient, stable income — not tied to a fixed number the way the UK's system is, but assessed against whether the household would need public assistance — along with adequate housing. Family reunification for children generally requires the sponsoring parent to hold a residence permit and the child to be under 18, similar in spirit to Turkey's rule but assessed under different documentation standards.

United Kingdom: The Income-Threshold Model

The UK takes the opposite approach to language: it doesn't require a language test at the same entry stage for every applicant category, but it sets a hard minimum income requirement for the UK-based sponsor. Since a 2024 rule change, the sponsor generally needs to show a gross annual income of at least £29,000 (or an equivalent combination of savings and income), a threshold well above Turkey's minimum-wage-based bar and one that a UK government advisory review has since suggested may be higher than comparable countries typically set. Applicants who applied under the previous system before the rule changed may still rely on the older, lower threshold under transitional protections.

One place the UK is notably more flexible than Turkey: recognition of the relationship itself. The UK's unmarried partner route is fully open to same-sex couples on identical terms to opposite-sex couples, and as of a 2025 rule change, couples no longer need to prove two years of living together — evidence of a genuine, subsisting relationship of at least two years is enough, even without cohabitation. Turkey's route, by contrast, requires a legally recognized marriage under Turkish law, which does not extend to same-sex marriages or, generally, to unmarried partners.

Structurally, the UK route usually runs in stages: an initial permission period followed by further renewal, with eligibility for permanent settlement typically reached after five years total — longer than Turkey's process of building toward long-term residence, though the two aren't directly comparable given the different renewal cadences.

Australia: No Fixed Income Bar, But a Two-Stage Wait

Australia's Partner visa (subclass 820, the temporary stage, moving to subclass 801, permanent) takes a similarly flexible line on income to what you might expect from a country with no fixed threshold, but it isn't a blank check. The Department of Home Affairs does not set a fixed minimum income figure the way the UK does; instead, it assesses whether the sponsor has the overall financial capacity to support the applicant without the couple needing public assistance. In practice, a lower-income sponsor with a stable job and modest household costs can pass where a UK-style fixed threshold might exclude them outright.

What Australia doesn't offer is a single-track renewal path like Turkey's, Germany's, or the UK's. Applicants are granted the temporary 820 visa first, then move to the permanent 801 visa after a standard two-year wait from the date they lodged, unless the couple has already been together for three years (or two years with a shared child), in which case the permanent visa can be granted straight away without a second evidence round. Initial processing for the temporary stage alone commonly runs 17 to 24 months, so between lodging and permanent status, total timelines can stretch well past what Turkey's up-to-three-year permit cycle requires.

On relationship recognition, Australia sits with the UK rather than Turkey: same-sex marriage has been legally recognized since 2017, and de facto relationships — same-sex or opposite-sex — qualify on identical terms to marriage, provided the couple can show at least 12 months of cohabitation (waived in some circumstances). The sponsor also signs a legally binding undertaking to support the applicant for their first two years in Australia, covering accommodation and financial assistance — a lighter, more time-limited commitment than some other countries' schemes, though a real one nonetheless.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Which Approach Fits You?

If a language exam is the biggest obstacle in your situation, Turkey and Australia both skip that step entirely, while Germany makes it a gating requirement. If a steep income threshold is the concern, Turkey's minimum-wage-based bar and Australia's discretionary, no-fixed-floor assessment are both far more accessible than the UK's current threshold. If what you want is speed to a settled status without a multi-stage wait, Turkey's single up-to-three-year permit track beats Australia's two-year staged process toward permanent residence, even though Australia's income rules are looser. And if your relationship doesn't fit Turkey's requirement of a legally recognized opposite-sex marriage, the UK, Germany, and Australia all currently offer routes Turkey does not — Australia's, like the UK's, extends fully to de facto and same-sex couples.

For most applicants comparing straightforward, opposite-sex marriages with a modest but stable income, Turkey's combination of no language test, a comparatively low income bar, and a fast typical decision time makes it one of the more accessible family reunification routes on this list — provided the sponsor's own status is stable enough to support it.

Weighing Turkey against another country for family reunification? We'll walk you through how your specific situation fits Turkey's requirements. Get in Touch →

Legal basis: Law No. 6458, Arts. 34–37