Acquiring a work permit in Turkey
Work permit applications may be made inside or outside Turkey:
• Foreign citizens who reşide outside Turkey are required to apply to the relevant Turkish Consulate of his/her country of residence/citizenship.
• Foreigners who have a valid residence permit (valid for a minimum of 6 months, except for the residence permits for educational purposes) may apply directly to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Foreigners applying for a Work Permit from his/her country of residence
• Passport
• Work visa application
• 1 photo
• 1 copy of the work contract
• Online application shall be filed in 6 days
• Direct application to the Ministry shall be filed in 10 days.
If all documents are completely and accurately submitted, the issuing process will take up to 30 days.
When approved, the applicant is to be informed by phone or e-mail.
Due to the fact that the process requeires a Turkish national identification number, the foreigners need to give a Turkish citizen Power of Attorney to handle their electronic application.
Once the Work Permit has been issued and the work visa application has been approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security:
• Work visa processing fee (non-refundable)
• Work permit processing fee (non-refundable)
• To obtain a residence permit, work visa and work permit holders have to apply to the District Police Department Foreigners Offices (Emniyet Mudurlugu Yabancilar Subesi) within 30 days following his/her arrival in Turkey.
Foreigners, who apply for a work permit in Turkey
Foreigners who have a residence permit valid for a minimum of 6 months, except for residence permits for educational purposes, may directly apply to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Documents to be submitted by the employer for the first application
• A work permit Application Form addressed to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application; printed when directly applying to the Ministry)
• A balance sheet and a profit & loss statement (income statement) for the past year certified by tax authorities (scanned and sent online during the electronic application)
• Turkish Trade Registry Gazette indicating the most recent shareholding and capital structure of the organization (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
• When applying online, the employee’s work contract with the applicant company and a notarized power of attorney for the authorized person (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
• As for corporate bodies that have intention to employ foreign experts in the fields of construction,engineering, contractorship and consultancy services, payslips of Turkish citizens working in the same positions and the contract between the foreign expert and the employer (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
Other documents to be submitted for specific sectors
• In education sector, the Private Education Institution Certificate taken from the Ministry of National Education or Establishing a Business and Operating License taken from the related municipality (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
• For the enterprises in the healthcare sector, charity organizations and similar associations, the certificate of conformity, granted permits or licenses taken from the related governmental authority (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
• For certified tourism enterprises, copies of the Operating License and Tourism Investment Certificate taken from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
Documents to be submitted by foreign individuals applying for the first time
• Application Form for Foreigners (one copy of the printed online application form signed by the employer and employee or one copy of the printed online application form with work contract). For the applications within Turkey, a valid residence permit (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
• With the exception of residence permits for educational purposes, the residence permit has to be valid for a minimum period of 6 months; if not, the applicant must apply from his/her country of residence via Turkish Consulates/Embassies
• A notarized copy of the passport translated into Turkish language (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
In addition to the documents above, foreigners applying for a work permit as experts in specific fields must present the following documents:
• Foreign Degree Equivalency for all applicants that received their higher education outside Turkey, in accordance with the Regulations for Equivalency of Degrees Obtained Abroad, pursuant to the articles 3 and 7/p of the Law No. 2547 (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
• If deemed necessary for the Ministry, a translated and notarized copy of the degree or provisional certificate of graduation; for pilots, pilot’s license taken from their country of origin (scanned and sent online during electronic application; also printed for the application file)
• For Certified Tourism Enterprises, copies of the work contract in Turkish language and applicant’s native language along with the Letter of Recommendation translated into Turkish language (scanned and sent online during electronic application; printed for the direct application)
• For foreigners to be employed in the educational services subject to the authority of the Ministry of National Education, the Certificate of Proficiency obtained from the same Ministry (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
Documents to be submitted by the employer for extending a work permit
A work permit application form addressed to Ministry of Labor and Social Security (scanned and then sent online during electronic application; printed when directly applying to the Ministry)
• Documents showing that the employer company doesn’t have unpaid tax debt (available online from the Ministry of Finance)
• Documents showing that the employer company doesn’t have unfulfilled social security obligations (available online from the Social Security Institution)
• A certified copy of The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette,indicating the most recent capital and shareholding structure of organization in case of a change in shareholding or capital structure of the employer company (scanned and then sent online during electronic application)
• When applying on-line, a notarized power of attorney for the authorized person and employee’s work contract with the applicant company (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
Documents to be submitted by foreign individuals for extending a work permit
Application form for foreigners (one copy of the printed on-line application form signed by the employer and employee or one copy of the printed online application form with work contract)
• Residence permit (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
• Existing work permit and cover letter (scanned and then sent online during electronic application)
• A notarized copy of the passport translated into Turkish language (scanned and sent online during electronic application)
• The renewed Certificate of Proficiency obtained from the Ministry of Education, should the foreign employee switch jobs between educational institutions subject to the authority of the same Ministry (scanned and after that sent online during electronic application)
• For foreigners, who work as engineers, architects, urban planners, an interim membership certificate from the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects according to the article 36 of the Law No. 6235 (scanned and then sent online during electronic application)
Work Permit evaluation criteria for foreigners
The evaluation criteria, that was designated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security for the purpose of fulfilling transactions related to foreigners’ work permit requests quickly and objectively, is defined in detail below:
1) At the workplace for which the work permit is requested, at least five persons who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey have to be employed. If the foreigner requesting work permit is a co-partner of the company, aforementioned condition related to the employment of five persons who are Turkish citizens will be required for the last six months of one-year work permit to be granted by the Ministry. In case of requesting work permit for more than one foreigner at the same workplace, for each foreigner following the first foreigner who is granted a work permit, the condition regarding the employment of five persons who are Turkish citizens will be obligatory on individual basis.
2) Paid-in capital of the workplace must be at least TRY 100,000 or the lowest figure for its gross sales amount must be equal to TRY 800,000 or its export amount in the last year must be at least USD 250,000.
3) For the work permit requests concerning the foreigners to be employed by associations and foundations, Article 2, and for evaluations regarding work permit applications related to foreigners to be employed in representative agencies of foreign countries’ airlines in Turkey, as well as those to work in education sector and home services sector, Article 1 and Article 2 will not be applied.
4) Foreigner requesting work permit who is a co-partner of the company must own at least 20% of shares in the company, and this percentage should correspond to at least TRY 40,000, as an obligation.
5) Salary amount which is declared by the employer to be paid to the foreigner must be stated at a level, which complies with the position and competence of the foreign employee. Accordingly, considering the minimum wage amount effective as of the application date, salary to be paid to a foreigner must be equal at least to the following: • 6.5 times the minimum salary amount, for senior executives, pilots, engineers and architects requesting preliminary permit • 4 times the minimum wage amount, for a unit or branch manager as well as engineers and architects • 3 times the minimum wage amount, for persons to be employed for jobs that require expertise and proficiency as well as teachers • 1.5 times the minimum wage amount, for persons to be employed for the home services and other occupations.
6) Requests for persons to be employed as masseuses, masseurs and SPA therapists, occupations requiring expertise and proficiency, by tourism establishments with at least four stars licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism proving that there is a licensed massage parlor within their facilities, as well as licensed holiday resorts will be evaluated, while requests by establishments and workplaces that are not meeting these criteria won’t be considered appropriate.
7) For foreigners to be employed by firms operating in entertainment sector as well as tourism-animation organization companies for occupations requiring expertise and proficiency there won’t be a separate quota application provided that at least 5 persons who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey are employed in these firms.