When you buy a phone from abroad Using more than 120 days in Turkey Passport registration is required. For this reason, there was no interest in foreign iPhones for a long time, but recently International iPhone sales exploded. As of yesterday, the IMEI extension crisis has emerged.
How are these phones used? Or rather, how could it be used? After the BTK Term Extension page was removed from e-Government, there was a great turmoil in the phone market.
IMEI unregistered iPhone formula: 120 + 120 + 120
From its owner and on sales platforms in our country, especially Letgo iPhones with dual SIM card slots somehow, we see that it is sold at a very affordable price compared to the official price in our country. This is where the temporary IMEI registration comes into play;
Since each SIM card slot has a separate IMEI number, you can use a phone for 120 days when you take it out of the box. When 120 days are over, you are faced with the “No Service” warning because the IMEI has expired and you have not registered.
To continue using it, all you have to do is take the SIM card out of its slot and insert it into the second slot right behind it. Thus, the second IMEI came into play.
In this way 120 days + 120 days = 240 days We used the phone without any problems. Both SIMs have expired, what do we do now? Three different options appear before us;
- To continue legally by registering a passport
- wait until the end of the year
- Registering a temporary IMEI
Popular formula: Registering temporary IMEI – IMEI extension
Let’s start with the temporary registration, which is the subject of our news. Since the tourists stayed in the country during the pandemic period and their 120-day period expired, the right to extend the IMEI period was granted in order to avoid victimization. In this context, someone who entered the country could extend the 120-day period by 2 months.
This process was commercialized in our country and thousands of people IMEI extension service started to give. Besides The cost of the 4-month registration extension is very low, such as 100 – 150 TL. at levels.
– I saw a 6 month / 1 year extension on social media or in the phone shop, how is it?
Such a thing is not directly possible. You are charged a 1-year fee and an IMEI extension application is made every 2 months. There was no IMEI limit for a passport, so the IMEI period of a large number of phones could be easily extended with the passport of a person who met the requirements.
“As of September 14, 2022, the application page for the ICTA Usage Period Extension used for this transaction has been removed from e-Government. Thus, the 120 + 120 + 120 formula that we mentioned at the beginning was disabled.”
So iPhone owners By giving only 100 – 150 TL per year It was possible to use the iPhones they bought at a very affordable price compared to Turkey. However, as we mentioned, this method has been unplugged.
Second formula: If you don’t have a passport, wait for the beginning of the year.!
You bought a phone by relying on the above method, and the imei extension was not done. If you fill in 120 + 120, you have to wait for the beginning of the year if you do not have the possibility to enter and leave abroad to gain the right to IMEI registration. So why?
BTK has defined 120 days usage right, valid for 1 calendar year. At the beginning of the year, your usage rights are reset and your phone is turned back on. So you can continue as 120 + 120.
Let’s explain this with an example to explain it better;
On September 1, 2022, you inserted a SIM card into an overseas iPhone for the first time. You can use this phone until August 2023.
- You activated it in September 2022, it’s the beginning of the year before the 120-day usage rights expire. After the beginning of the year, you have used the first SIM for 120 days and the second SIM for 120 days in total for almost 1 year without any problems.
Third formula: Officially registering a passport
The most correct method to use a phone / iPhone brought from abroad is to register a passport. If you have entered and left abroad in the last 1 year, as of 2022 By paying 2700 TL registration fee You can register your phone. So why don’t people show interest in this method? The only problem is the passport? NO!
- You can only register 1 phone for 3 years
- No one but you can use the phone for 3 years
How can no one else use the phone? It is explained on the BTK’s website as follows;
I just came from abroad, but I did not bring a device with me. Can I give my passport registration right to someone else for free or for a fee?
- According to the regulation of the Ministry of Commerce, a person can bring 1 device in 3 years from abroad. Within the framework of this regulation, only the registered passport holder’s TR. Since it can be used with GSM lines registered to the Identity Number, it is not possible to transfer the registration right to someone else.
In other words, the passport holder and the line holder must be the same. For example: An iPhone registered to Mehmet Ali Ertunç’s name does not work when Eyyüp Ertunç’s line is connected. It takes 3 years for this limit to be lifted.
In conclusion: Although some sources claim that the IMEI extension page is not working due to social housing applications, it is irrelevant. The page is giving a 404 warning, meaning it has been completely unpublished.
The only option to use iPhone abroad;
Since the IMEI extension period has ended, passport registration is now required to use overseas iPhones without any problems. It is the most logical option to officially register the phone by entering and exiting a country with easy access, especially Cyprus.
By the way, passport is not required, you can do this without any problem in countries where you can enter and exit with your identity card.
– What do you think about the end of the IMEI extension period? Will iPhones abroad remain in everyone’s hands? We are waiting your comments.