Frequently Asked Questions

In order to complete your application, you need to fill out the International Student Application Form through this ink and submit your documents.

NOTE: During the registration period, please submit the original copies of your documents to Student Affairs Office.

In order to check the minimum grades required for national diplomas of different countries, please click. 

The detailed information can be found on the website of Turkish Council of Higher Education.

1. Original High School Diploma (in English or Turkish) - (Apostilled)
2. Original High School Transcript (in English or Turkish) - (Apostilled)
3. Original Passport (If you live in Turkey, a valid visa or residency permit is required)
4. Bank receipt of tuition fee
5. A certified copy of an English proficiency test (such as TOEFL and BİLGİ-BİLET), if available.
6. Equivalency Certificate
7. *Some programs such as Textile and Fashion Design / Music / Management of Performing Arts require portfolio/interview

Conditional Pre-Acceptance Letter states that you are conditionally accepted by the university. After completing your advanced payment, you receive the Official Acceptance Letter.

PLEASE NOTE: There is a quota for every department, therefore we kindly ask you to make an advanced payment. If you miss the specified due date for this payment, the letter will lose its validity. This payment is only refundable if applicant’s visa application is rejected. Otherwise the advanced payment is non-refundable.

Official Acceptance Letter helps you apply for visa. Once you receive this letter, you can come to the registration during the specified dates with all your original documents.

There are two methods to make your payment:

1.      Make a cash payment from any bank to Yapı Kredi Bank USD account in person.

2.      Make a wire transfer to Yapı Kredi Bank USD account the details of which are provided below.

            USD Bank Account Information

·       Bank Name: Yapı Kredi

·       Branch: Haliç Ticari

·       Account Name: İstanbul Bilgi Universitesi

·       Account Number: 77509673

·       IBAN: TR82 0006 7010 0000 0077 5096 73

·       SWIFT Code: YAPITRISXXX

In case our international students meet the required criteria, they can benefit from merit and need based scholarships.

Citizens of countries who are allowed to enter Turkey for a duration up to 90 days are not required to apply for a visa in order to be registered as a student in our university. However, they have to apply for the residence permit within 30 days of entry.

Visa is required for the citizens of some countries. Any type of visa is accepted to register as a student. Please note that the visa application process might last up to 4 months.

International Students should contact the closest Turkish Embassy/Consulate in their home country for additional details regarding ‘Education Visa’ and the required documents in addition to the ‘Acceptance Letter’ provided by İstanbul Bilgi University.

If you need us to send an e-mail to the Embassy, please get in contact with our office by e-mail 3-4 days prior to your appointment.

If you have time, you can try to make another application. Otherwise, we will give you a full refund in case your application has been rejected by the Embassy. 

When you are ready for the registration process, International Admissions Office will inform you regarding where you should send your documents by e-mail or where you should submit them on the Campus.

If you are sending all your documents by e-mail, they must be scanned properly.

Photos of the documents are not accepted. The scanned documents should be printable. 

This is an easy procedure where the Provincial Department of Education in İstanbul (and in some cases Turkish Embassy/Consulate) will provide an ‘Equivalency Letter’ (in Turkish ‘Denklik Belgesi’) certifying that a foreign high school diploma is equivalent to its counterpart, a Turkish high school diploma.

This document can be obtained by making an application in person, providing the original copy of foreign high school diploma, its notary certified Turkish translation, and passport. 
You can check the Ministry of National Education’s website for further information: https://edenklik.meb.gov.tr/

The duration of an undergraduate program is 4 academic years, excluding English Preparatory Program  classes (if required).

 The duration of a graduate program varies between 3 and 6 academic semesters, excluding the English PreparatoryProgram classes (if required).

The medium of instruction at İstanbul Bilgi University is English, except for the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Registered students are required to take BİLET 1 (Placement Exam) and BİLET 2 (Prep Exemption Exam) written exams. These exams will be administered online or face-to-face at santralistanbul Campus.  

For detailed information about the exams, please click.

You can contact English Preparatory Program by sending an e-mail to burcu.karatas@bilgi.edu.tr

For detailed information, you can visit the website of English Preparatory Program. 

According to the decision of the Turkish Council of Higher Education dated November 16, 2015, Turkish universities can only admit international students once a year. Therefore, there is only one intake during the fall semester of each academic year. Applications for changing one’s department or re-entry can only be accepted during the next fall semester.

Transfer student applications are only accepted once a year and the application dates are announced by the Higher Education Council.

External transfer applications are available only for students who have completed their first year of studies successfully at their home university.

We cannot inform any applicant about the result of his/her transfer application or credits transfers before an application is completed. The relevant Faculty will evaluate any credit transfer applications.

The results of applications are announced in the beginning of September.

You must apply directly to the Student Affairs Office to make your application. For your questions, you can write to ogrenciisleri@bilgi.edu.tr

*Internal / External Transfer applications are not accepted from international students.

Once the registration is complete, the international student is required to apply for residence permit within 30 days after arriving in Turkey. An appointment can be obtained online through the website of the Foreign Bureau at the local police stations. You can contact International Student Advising Office for detailed information and write an e-mail to advising@bilgi.edu.tr for your questions.

There are different types of private dormitories around İstanbul Bilgi University. You can contact yurtlar@bilgi.edu.tr and receive help for finding a suitable place to stay. For further information about dormitories, please click. 

Regarding what you need to do after arriving in İstanbul, please click. 

International students are not eligible to work on/off campus.

You can reach detailed information on İstanbul Bilgi University’s student clubs on this page. 

İstanbul Bilgi University has three centrally located campuses on the European side of İstanbul: santralistanbul, Dolapdere, and Kuştepe Campuses. For detailed information about our campuses, please click.