South Korea or Türkiye
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| South Korea | Türkiye | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | $ 61 452 | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | 5 years |
| Partner can work | no | — |
| Parents | difficult | difficult |
| Pets | difficult | difficult |
| Pet limit | 5 | 2 |
| Quarantine | 10 days | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 999 · estimate | $ 1 191 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 40,9 | $ 22,8 |
| Life expectancy | 83.63 | 77.42 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.49 | 2.41 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 6 | 5.4 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: South Korea — 91, Türkiye — 15. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment, talent and job seeking. South Korea adds: startup, repatriation and working holiday.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
South Korea: fees range from 60 to 90 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 1,500,000,000 KRW a month. Türkiye: fees range from 4,677.9 to 125,802.2 TRY. Routes with a published decision deadline: 15; the shortest is 30 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: South Korea after 5 years, Türkiye after 8 years. Citizenship: both after 5 years. Türkiye allows a second citizenship, South Korea does not. Bringing your own parents: South Korea — yes, Türkiye — no.
South Korea in brief
South Korea combines a developed technology economy and low violent crime with a formal points system for long-term residence (E-7 → F-2-7 → F-5) and substantial restrictions on dual citizenship and on a spouse working. Parents, your own or a partner's, can only get the temporary renewable F-1-15 visa with no right to work. Natural hazards are moderate — seasonal typhoons and monsoon floods, earthquakes rare; the notable problem is air quality, the worst among OECD countries.
Türkiye in brief
Turkey is a transcontinental country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with access to four seas. The work-permit system is built around a tie to the employer (for fixed-term permits), with the possibility of moving to indefinite status after 8 years of lawful employment or through the “turquoise card” for highly qualified specialists. Permanent residence is granted after 8 years of continuous residence, citizenship no earlier than 5 years, but by law the naturalisation decision is discretionary: meeting the formal conditions alone does not confer the right. Multiple citizenship is allowed. The family residence permit covers the sponsor's spouse and minor children, but not parents — neither one's own nor one's spouse's: only the general short-term residence permit on other grounds (for example, owning real estate) is available to them. Bringing in cats and dogs is possible subject to a mandatory laboratory rabies antibody titre test (no later than 30 days after vaccination and at least 3 months before entry) and a limit of 2 animals per passenger; official quarantine on arrival is not mentioned in the sources found. Six dog breeds, including the American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier, are banned from import and ownership. The country's largest cities differ markedly in character: Istanbul is the business and financial centre with the country's highest seismic hazard, Ankara is the administrative capital away from the sea, Izmir and Antalya are coastal cities with resort and tourism economies, and Bursa is an industrial automotive centre with the most affordable rent among the five largest cities.
Other comparisons
South Korea or… Taiwan · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia · Azerbaijan
Türkiye or… Philippines · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · People's Republic of China · Sri Lanka
More on each: South Korea · Türkiye. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.