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Low reported severity

Russian family turned away at Istanbul check-in for North Macedonia after ChatGPT told the father no visa was needed, he says in a video

In a video posted on Instagram and reported by Russian and Kazakh outlets on 14 June 2026, a Russian father said he had asked ChatGPT whether Russian citizens need a visa for North Macedonia and that it answered that they did not; he showed a screenshot of the answer. According to the reports, the family bought tickets and booked hotels and a car, and at check-in at an Istanbul airport staff asked for visas and showed them a government decision that Russians need one. The Telegram channel SHOT, as relayed by NEWS.ru and Life, reported that he was travelling with his wife and three daughters, that he lost about 50,000 roubles on the tickets, and that the family flew to Bosnia and Herzegovina instead. Business FM put the question to ChatGPT itself and was told that a visa is needed; it wrote that it could not rule out that the tourist, a blogger, had invented the story for views. Profile.ru recounted the case in October 2026 and wrote that North Macedonia ended visa-free entry for Russians in 2022. The account rests on the father's video and has not been independently confirmed.

AI system
ChatGPT (reported)
Occurred
Jun 2026
Reported
14 June 2026
Event location
Türkiye
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Financial LossOther Material Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 1 underlying account
5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
5 people

AI system as recorded: ChatGPT, which the father says answered his question about visa requirements for North Macedonia by saying Russian citizens need no visa

Reported harm

According to the father's video and SHOT's account as relayed, the family was refused at check-in for its flight to North Macedonia because it had no visas, he lost about 50,000 roubles on tickets, and the family changed its trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

How Harm Occurred

By the father's account, ChatGPT gave a wrong answer to a visa question; the family relied on it, bought tickets and bookings, and was refused at check-in.

Outcome

Unknown

No response from OpenAI and no refund are reported. Business FM's own test of ChatGPT returned the correct answer that a visa is required, and Business FM raised the possibility that the story was invented for views.

What remains unknown

  • The exact date of the refusal (the reports appeared on 14 June 2026 and the father said he bought the tickets the day before).
  • The full ChatGPT conversation and the model or version used.
  • Whether any of the ticket money was refunded.
  • Whether the account is accurate: Business FM raised the possibility that it was invented for views, and no independent confirmation was found.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The father says ChatGPT answered his question whether Russians need a visa for North Macedonia by saying they did not, and showed a screenshot of that answer in his video; the family bought tickets and bookings on that answer and was refused at check-in because a visa is required. The conversation is known only from his video; Business FM's own later test of ChatGPT gave the correct answer.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The father says that before the trip he asked ChatGPT whether Russian citizens need a visa for North Macedonia and that it answered that they did not; in his video he showed a screenshot of the answer.

Causal attribution. The father's own account, transcribed or relayed by every source; the conversation itself is known only from the screenshot shown in his video.

  • bfm.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'В своем видео мужчина показал скриншот ответа ChatGPT, где нейросеть уверенно пишет: нет.'; 'ChatGPT нам говорит, что виза для россиян не требуется.'
  • tengrinews.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'ChatGPT нам говорит, что виза для россиян не требуется.'
  • mel.fm(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'ИИ сообщил, что граждане РФ могут находиться в Северной Македонии без визы до 90 дней.'
  • news.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'Искусственный интеллект ответил, что такой документ не потребуется.'
Reported According to the father, the family bought tickets and booked accommodation and a car on that answer, and at check-in at an Istanbul airport staff asked for visas and showed a government decision that Russians need a visa.

Causal attribution. The father's account of what followed from the answer.

  • bfm.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'Туристы спокойно купили билеты, забронировали отель и машину и отправились в аэропорт в Стамбуле.'
  • tengrinews.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'Выезжающие пытались показать на стойке скриншот с ChatGPT. В ответ им предъявили государственное постановление о том, что для россиян обязательна виза, которая оформляется за пять дней.'
  • mel.fm(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'На основании этого ответа семья купила билеты, забронировала отели и трансфер'
Reported According to SHOT's account as relayed, the father was travelling with his wife and three daughters, all of whom were asked for visas, he lost about 50,000 roubles on the tickets, and the family flew to Bosnia and Herzegovina instead.

Causal attribution. SHOT's account, from the same father, relayed by two outlets.

  • news.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'вместе с женой и тремя дочками'; 'По словам мужчины, он потратил на билеты в общей сложности 50 тыс. руб.'; 'В итоге семья отправилась в Боснию и Герцеговину, где виза не требуется.'
  • life.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'пограничники потребовали у всех членов семьи визы'; 'Потеря на билетах составила 50 тысяч рублей'
Reported Profile.ru wrote that North Macedonia ended visa-free entry for Russians in 2022, and that the travellers were turned away at check-in at an airport in Turkey and lost the money paid for the tickets.

Causal attribution. Profile.ru's own statement of the rule and its retelling of the father's complaint.

  • profile.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'Северная Македония долгое время действительно пускала россиян без виз, но отменила эту практику еще в 2022-м.'; 'путешественников развернули на регистрации в аэропорту Турции и деньги за билеты, понятное дело, сгорели'
Reported Business FM put the father's question to ChatGPT itself and was told that Russians need a visa for North Macedonia because visa-free entry ended in March 2022, and wrote that it could not rule out that the tourist, a blogger, invented the story for views.

Causal attribution. Business FM's own test and doubt; a later test does not show what ChatGPT answered the father.

  • bfm.ru(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    'ChatGPT ответил, что россиянам для поездки в Северную Македонию виза нужна, безвизовый режим был отменен в марте 2022 года.'; 'Не исключено, что турист, он же блогер, сочинил эту яркую историю ради просмотров.'

Sources

6 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. Business FM transcribes the father's video, describes the screenshot he showed, and reports its own test of ChatGPT. Applies to s1.

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. Tengrinews quotes the father's Instagram video. Applies to s2.

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. Mel summarises the father's Instagram video and the ChatGPT answer shown in it. Applies to s3.

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. NEWS.ru relays the Telegram channel SHOT, whose account comes from the same father. Applies to s4.

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. Life.ru relays the Telegram channel SHOT, whose account comes from the same father. Applies to s5.

Read in Russian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-26 (HTTP 200); quotations were translated by the research agent, and no human translator or reviewer was involved. Profile.ru recounts the case from the father's social-media complaint and states when North Macedonia ended visa-free entry for Russians. Applies to s6.

Event countries: Türkiye. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.

Business FM, Tengrinews and Mel place the refusal at an airport in Istanbul, and Profile.ru at an airport in Turkey. The family's country of residence is not recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-26: Published as a concrete first-person account reported by several outlets: a father says ChatGPT told him Russians need no visa for North Macedonia, and that the family was refused at check-in and lost the ticket money. All sources relay his one account; Business FM's doubt and its own correct test answer are recorded.

People described

A Russian father travelling with his wife and three daughters, who made the account public in his own video

People reported harmed in this case

5 people

1 AI participant · 4 other people harmed

The father, who asked ChatGPT, and his wife and three daughters, who were refused with him at check-in according to SHOT's account relayed by NEWS.ru and Life; each counted once. Viewers of the video are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#travel#visa#wrong-answer#denied-boarding

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Russian family turned away at Istanbul check-in for North Macedonia after ChatGPT told the father no visa was needed, he says in a video. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-russian-family-turned-away-at-istanbul-check-in-for-north-macedonia-after-chatgpt-said-no-visa-was-needed

BibTeX

@misc{2026_russian_family_turned_away_at_istanbul_check_in_for_north_macedonia_after_chatgpt_said_no_visa_was_needed,
  title = {Russian family turned away at Istanbul check-in for North Macedonia after ChatGPT told the father no visa was needed, he says in a video},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-russian-family-turned-away-at-istanbul-check-in-for-north-macedonia-after-chatgpt-said-no-visa-was-needed}
}

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