Kayıt Dondurma: How to Freeze Your Registration at YTÜ

🧊 What Is Kayıt Dondurma?

Freezing your registration (kayıt dondurma, officially izinli sayılma) means taking an approved break from your studies.

You can freeze for one semester at a time.
While your registration is frozen you cannot attend classes, and you cannot take the final exams of the exam period that follows that semester.
You do not pay tuition or the contribution fee (öğrenim ücreti / katkı payı) for a frozen semester.
The freeze has to be approved by your faculty’s board. Applying is not enough on its own.

🔀 Which Case Are You?

The rules depend on why you are freezing. Find your case first:

	Unforeseen reasons	Economic or other reasons
Examples	Illness, childbirth, natural disaster, detention, conviction, military service	Financial difficulty, or another reason the board accepts
When to apply	Any time during the semester	Only in the first 3 weeks of the semester
Proof needed	Yes, official documents	Yes, documents explaining the reason
Your courses	Deleted, and the freeze counts from the start of the semester	The whole semester is frozen, since it can only be granted at the start
Counts toward your study period?	No	Yes

Your study period matters because a bachelor’s degree has a maximum of 7 years (not counting the preparatory year). If a freeze counts toward it, you have less time left to graduate.

📝 How to Apply

Download the petition: Use the official undergraduate general petition form, FR-0609 Fakülte-Yüksekokul Öğrenci Genel Dilekçe Formu (Word file).
Fill it in: Write that you are requesting to freeze your registration (kayıt dondurma / izinli sayılma talebi), which semester it is for, and your reason.
Attach your documents: Add the proof for your reason (see below).
Submit it to your department: Hand it to your department head’s office (Bölüm Başkanlığı), usually through the department secretary. Students in the English preparatory year apply to the School of Foreign Languages (Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu) instead.
Follow up: Your faculty board decides. Check with your department secretary, and don’t assume the freeze is approved until you see it on your record.

Important: If your reason is economic, the 3-week deadline from the start of the semester is strict. Apply as early as you can.

📎 Documents

The regulation only says you must prove your reason with the necessary documents. In practice, students have been asked for the following:

Illness: a medical board report (Heyet Raporu), not a regular doctor’s note.
Childbirth, natural disaster or detention: official documents from the responsible authority.
Economic reasons: a certificate of financial need (Fakirlik Belgesi) from your neighbourhood’s muhtar.

Good to know: These requirements come from students’ experience, not the regulation, so confirm the exact documents with your department secretary before you apply.
Students who submitted a financial guarantee document (Maddi Güvence) during admission have been told they cannot freeze for economic reasons.
You do not have to hand in the papers yourself. Someone else can submit them for you.

✅ When Your Reason Ends

If you froze for an unforeseen reason (illness, childbirth, etc.), you must submit a petition to your department within one month of the reason ending.

If you are late, the time that passes after the reason ended counts toward your 7-year maximum.

🗓️ Freezing During the Final Exam Period

If your freeze is granted at the start of, or during, the final exam period:

The freeze is valid from the date it is granted.
Your exam rights for that exam period are kept. You use them in the first exam period in which that course’s exam is held after your freeze ends.
Summer school and courses opened outside their normal semester don’t count. If you want to use your right there, submit a petition to your department.

⏳ Limits

One semester at a time.
Four semesters in total during your whole degree.
Two more semesters are possible if your reason continues, with the faculty board’s decision and the approval of the University Board (Üniversite Yönetim Kurulu).

🌍 Before You Freeze (International Students)

Your student status is linked to your residence permit (ikamet) and your student documents. Before you apply, ask the International Office how a frozen semester affects your residence permit, so there are no surprises.