u/Rahaa2233

Has anyone recently had Turkish Airlines deny boarding because they claimed a visa was “invalid”?

My mom was traveling from Istanbul to Canada with a Canadian immigrant visa. The immigration application originally started with her old passport, but before the immigrant visa was issued, we renewed her passport. She traveled with the new valid passport and did not have the old passport with her during check-in.

She was traveling with family members who all went through the exact same process and were all allowed to board. She was the only one denied boarding at Istanbul airport because Turkish Airlines said her visa was “invalid.”

I’ve now heard from a few people that Turkish Airlines can sometimes have issues with visa verification or be much stricter than other airlines, and that other airlines might have allowed boarding in the same situation.

Has anyone experienced something similar recently, especially involving renewed passports? Did switching airlines help? How can I have them give more information? My mom is stuck in Istanbul now.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

My mother was denied boarding by Turkish Airlines today on a flight from Istanbul to Vancouver. She has a valid Canadian immigrant visa (IM-1), valid COPR, and valid passport planning to land for the 1st time. The airline only said the visa was “invalid” but provided no explanation. The visa is valid for another month!

The immigration process originally started with an older passport, but the immigrant visa was issued later in a renewed passport. We are wondering if this could be related.

Does anyone know:

• who on the Canadian side we can contact to clarify this,
• whether there is a way to check her immigration status,
• or what system airlines use for this?

We have not been able to reach IRCC yet and Turkish Airlines has not provided useful information.