Turkey Work Permit: Rules, Steps and Costs for Foreign Staff
A Turkey work permit is the paper you need before you earn money in Türkiye. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security grants it. While it is valid, it also acts as your residence permit.
Many people think a residence permit is enough to take a job. It is not. Working without a permit puts both the worker and the firm at risk of fines, removal from the country, and an entry ban.
This guide covers who needs a permit, what the firm must prove, how to apply, and what usually goes wrong.
What Is a Turkey Work Permit?
A Turkey work permit lets a foreign national work for one named firm, in one named job, at one named site. The rules come from the International Labour Force Law No. 6735, in force since 2016.
Two points catch most people out.
First, the permit is tied to one firm. If you change jobs, you need a new permit. You cannot move it across.
Second, the permit works as a residence permit too. So you do not need a second paper while it is valid.
There is one carve-out to the Turkey work permit rule. For people under temporary or global protection, the permit does not replace a residence permit.
Who Needs a Turkey Work Permit?
You need one if you are not a Turkish citizen and you do paid work on Turkish soil. There is no small-firm carve-out. There is no short-stay carve-out. There is no remote-work loophole.
This covers:
- Staff of Turkish firms and branch offices
- Foreign owners and board members who run a Turkish firm
- Freelance and self-employed workers
- Home staff, such as nannies and carers
- Citizens of states with visa-free entry for tourists
Visa-free entry is for travel and short meetings. It never covers paid work.
Who Is Exempt
A short list of groups may work with an exempt letter from the Ministry rather than a full permit. In broad terms:
- Embassy and consulate staff, plus their close family
- Firms that send staff to Türkiye for short service jobs
- Staff hired under a treaty between two or more states
- Athletes, artists and stage crew at events
- Scholars and lab staff on short visits
The Ministry reads this list in a narrow way. Do not assume you fit it without a written check.
Types of Turkey Work Permit
A Turkey work permit comes in four main types. Picking the wrong one costs you weeks.
Fixed-Term Permit
This is the normal route. The first permit runs for up to one year. It can never be longer than the job contract.
The permit names one job at one work site. It can also cover other sites of the same employer, as long as they sit in the same line of business. Your employer can be a person, a company, or a public body.
Renewals come in longer blocks. The first renewal runs for up to two years with the same firm. Later renewals run for up to three years.
Move to a new firm and the clock resets. That filing is judged as a first application again.
Open-Ended Permit
You can apply for an open-ended permit if you hold a long-term residence permit, or if you have held a legal work permit for at least eight years. Meeting the bar does not give you an absolute right to it. The Ministry still weighs the file.
An open-ended permit gives you all the rights of a long-term residence permit. Beyond that, you gain most of the rights held by Turkish citizens, subject to special laws. Your earned social security rights stay intact, and you use them under the rules that govern them.
Three things stay out of reach. You cannot vote. You cannot run for office or hold a public post. You also owe no military service. It is not the same as Turkish citizenship.
Foreign company officers need a permit too. This covers the shareholder-manager of a limited firm, the shareholder board member of a joint stock firm, and the managing partner of a partnership limited by shares.
Self-Employed Permit
This one is for members of a recognised profession who work for their own account. You must also meet any special conditions set for your profession in other laws. Being self-employed on its own is not enough.
The Ministry weighs five things:
- Your level of schooling
- Your track record in the field
- What you add to science and technology
- What your work or money adds to the economy and to jobs
- Your share of the capital, if you are a foreign partner in a firm
The Advisory Board on International Labour Force can add further points.
One rule makes this permit stand apart. It is issued for a fixed term, but the one, two and three year caps above do not apply to it.
Turquoise Card
The Turquoise Card is aimed at top talent, backers, and scholars. The Ministry weighs your schooling, your track record, your input to science and tech, and what your work or money adds to jobs and the economy.
The first three years are a trial phase. During that time the Ministry can ask you and your firm for proof of what you are doing.
Timing is strict here. You must ask for the trial note to be lifted in the last 180 days of that phase. Do it before the phase ends. File late and the request is refused, and the card stops being valid.
What the Firm Must Prove
Most Turkey work permit refusals have nothing to do with the foreign worker. They come from the firm.
The 5-to-1 rule. The work site must employ at least five Turkish citizens for each foreign worker in the file. For a second foreign hire, the count starts again.
There is one way out. If the firm’s net sales for the last year reach TRY 50 million or more, this rule is waived for the first five foreign hires.
Money tests. A firm set up this year, with no year-end balance sheet yet, needs paid-in capital of at least TRY 500,000.
A firm that has been trading longer must meet one of three bars:
- Paid-in capital of at least TRY 500,000, or
- Net sales of at least TRY 8 million, or
- Exports of at least USD 150,000
Pay tests. The wage must fit the job. The Ministry checks it against the gross base wage in force on the day you file. The floor is:
- 5 times the base wage for top managers and pilots
- 4 times for engineers and architects
- 3 times for other managers
- 2 times for skilled and expert trades
- 1 times for home staff and all other jobs
You can read the full list on the Ministry’s criteria page.
A real need. The job must plausibly call for a foreign hire. Vague job titles that any local could fill invite a refusal.
How to Apply for a Turkey Work Permit
A Turkey work permit filing is always joint. The firm and the foreign worker each hold part of the file.
From Outside Türkiye
- The worker asks for a work visa at the Turkish mission in the country where they lawfully are. You can look up the list of Turkish missions online.
- The consulate gives them a 16-digit reference number.
- The firm then files online in Türkiye with that number and uploads the papers. The number is only good for 30 days, and it can only be used once.
- The Ministry reviews the file and sends the result.
- Once it is granted, the worker picks up the visa and flies in.
From Inside Türkiye
A Turkey work permit filed from inside the country skips a step. If you already hold a valid residence permit with 6 months of time left on it, you can skip the consulate step. The firm files straight through the Ministry portal. You do not need to leave the country.
Renewals
An existing Turkey work permit is renewed, not re-issued. Your employer files through the same e-İzin portal and picks the option for a current member of staff. The system then lists the foreign workers who hold a live permit at that work site, and your employer starts the filing from your row.
File too late and you start over, with the consulate step back in play.
Papers You Will Need for a Turkey Work Permit
The list shifts by permit type, field and profile. A normal file holds:
From the firm
- Signed form and job contract
- Trade registry gazette and signature list
- Latest balance sheet and profit figures
- Proof of the Turkish head count
From the worker
- Valid passport, sworn-translated and notarised
- Degree or trade paper, plus proof it is recognised
- Photos that meet the set format
- A copy of the residence permit, for in-country files
Degrees from abroad often need an apostille and a sworn translation. That step is slow. Start it early.
Turkey Work Permit Costs and Timing
The Ministry often decides a Turkey work permit file within about 30 days once it is complete. A gap in the file stops the clock. The Ministry gives you extra days. Miss that window and the file is refused.
Costs are made up of the permit fee and the stamped-paper fee. Both are re-set each January.
For 2026, the permit fee tracks the length granted:
- Up to one year: TRY 12,574.90
- One to two years: TRY 25,149.80
- Two to three years: TRY 37,724.70
- Three to four years: TRY 50,299.60
- Four to five years: TRY 62,874.50
- Open-ended or self-employed: TRY 125,802.20
A one-year permit under temporary protection is cheaper, at TRY 4,677.90.
On top of the permit fee sits the 2026 stamped-paper fee of TRY 964. So a one-year permit costs TRY 13,538.90 in state fees.
Lose the card and you pay again to have it re-printed. That charge is half of the fee you paid the first time, plus the full stamped-paper fee.
Fines for Working Without a Turkey Work Permit
The state has tightened its grip here. The current fines are:
- Firm hiring a worker with no permit: TRY 102,503 for each worker
- Foreign worker working for a firm with no permit: TRY 40,977
- Foreign worker trading for their own account with no permit: TRY 82,010
Late or missing filings draw their own penalties. Repeat cases draw more.
The worker may also be removed from the country and barred from return. Under 2025 rules, the firm can also be billed for the state’s removal costs when they cannot be taken from the worker.
Why Turkey Work Permit Files Get Refused
From day-to-day work, the same causes come up:
- The site misses the 5-to-1 Turkish staff ratio
- Capital, sales or export figures sit below the bar
- The stated wage is too low for the job title
- Degrees lack an apostille, a sworn translation, or proof of recognition
- The job text does not justify a foreign hire
- Missing papers do not arrive in the extra time given
You can fix nearly all of these before you file. You can fix almost none of them after.
Get It Right the First Time
The Ministry judges your Turkey work permit file as you send it. There is no hearing and no haggling. A refusal costs you months.
The best Turkey work permit files share three traits. The firm’s standing is checked before a single page is uploaded. The wage and job title match what the Ministry expects. Foreign degrees are legalised well ahead of time.
Are you hiring a foreign expert in Türkiye? Or has your file been refused and you want it reviewed? Our team runs the whole process for you. Talk to us about your case.
Turkey Work Permit: Common Questions
How do I get a work permit in Turkey?
You need a job offer first. You cannot file alone as an individual. Your employer files the case with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. If you are abroad, you start at a Turkish mission and pass the reference number to your employer. If you already live here on a valid residence permit, your employer files straight online.
The Ministry often decides within about 30 days, counted from the day your file is complete. A gap in the papers stops that clock.
Yes, but the job must clear the Ministry’s tests, not just your interview. The site must meet the 5-to-1 staff rule, the firm must meet the money bar, and the pay must match the multiple set for your job type.
From you: passport, biometric photo, signed job contract, and your degree with an apostille and a sworn Turkish translation. From your employer: trade registry gazette, signature list, tax and activity records, and the latest balance sheet.
No. A residence permit lets you stay. It never lets you work. It only means your employer can file from inside the country instead of sending you to a mission abroad.
A one-year permit costs TRY 12,574.90 in fees, plus the TRY 964 stamped-paper fee, so TRY 13,538.90 in total. Longer permits cost more, and an open-ended or self-employed permit costs TRY 125,802.20.
It is set as a multiple of the gross base wage on the day you file. Top managers and pilots need 5 times it. Engineers and architects need 4 times. Other managers need 3 times. Skilled trades need 2 times. Home staff and all other jobs need 1 times.
Your employer files online through the e-İzin portal. You cannot do the whole thing online yourself from abroad, because the reference number must come from a Turkish mission in person.
If you do the work on Turkish soil, you will normally need a permit. It does not matter where your employer sits or where you are paid.
Most cases stall on papers, not on merit. Missing files, degrees without an apostille, a wage below the multiple, or a firm that misses the staff or money bar. The Ministry gives extra days to fix gaps, but miss that window and the file is refused.
Not at first. After eight years of legal work permits, or with a long-term residence permit, you can apply for an open-ended permit. Meeting the bar is not the same as having a right to it.
Not as such. A valid residence permit lets the firm file from inside the country. The work permit is still judged on its own.
A normal permit covers you alone. Your family apply for residence permits on family grounds. The Turquoise Card works the same way in substance: your spouse and dependent children are granted a residence permit on the strength of your card.
Not on the same permit. The new firm must file afresh, and that filing counts as a first application. If you start work before the grant, you are working illegally.
In the last 60 days of your current permit. Your employer files through the same e-İzin portal and picks the option for a current member of staff. Miss the window and the renewal route closes.
Yes, if the owner also works in or runs the firm. That covers the shareholder-manager of a limited firm, the shareholder board member of a joint stock firm, and the managing partner of a partnership limited by shares. A purely passive shareholder, who neither works in the firm nor runs it, does not need one.
Use the Ministry’s permit lookup system. It covers work permits, permit exemptions and Turquoise Cards. You enter two things: your foreigner ID number or reference number, and your file or document number. There is a tick box if you are checking a seasonal farm work exemption, plus a short human check before the system runs your query.