Work Permit Evaluation Criteria for Foreigners to Work in Turkey

There are evaluation criteria that the applicant workplaces and foreigners must meet regarding the work permit requests of foreigners. These criteria are determined in the Article 13 of the Implementation Regulation of the Law on Work Permits of Foreigners issued in accordance with the Fourth Paragraph of the Provisional Article 1 of the International Labor Code No. 6735.

These criteria are stated below:

• It is mandatory to employ at least five citizens of the Republic of Turkey in the workplace where a work permit is requested. If the foreigner requesting the permit is a company partner, the five-person employment requirement is required for the last six months of the one-year work permit to be issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. In case a work permit is requested for more than one foreigner in the same workplace, employment of five Republic of Turkey citizens is required separately for each foreigner after the first foreigner granted a work permit.
• The paid-in capital of the workplace must be at least 100,000 Turkish Liras or its gross sales must be at least 800,000 Turkish Liras or the last year’s export amount must be at least 250,000 USD.
• The criterion of the above Article 2 is not applied in the permit requests of foreigners who will work in associations and foundations, and the criteria in the Articles 1 and 2 are not applied in the evaluation of work permit applications of foreigners who will work in the Turkish representative offices of foreign state airlines, in the education sector and in domestic services.
• The foreign company partner requesting permission must have a capital share of at least 20 percent, not less than 40,000 Turkish Liras.
• The monthly wage amount declared by the employer to be paid to the foreigner must be at a level compatible with the foreigner’s duties and competence. Accordingly, taking into account the national gross minimum wage amount in force as of the application date, the wage to be paid to the foreigner must be at least as follows:
  6. Senior managers and pilots should be paid 6.5 times the minimum wage.
  7. Unit or branch managers, engineers and architects must be paid 4 times the minimum wage.
  8. Those who will work in jobs requiring expertise and mastery and teachers should be paid 3 times the minimum wage.
  9. Foreigners who will work as acrobats and similar titles in tourism-animation organization companies and foreigners who will work as masseurs, masseuses and SPA therapists must be paid twice the minimum wage.
  10. Foreigners who will be employed in domestic services must be paid at least the minimum wage.
  11. Foreigners who will work in other professions must be paid 1.5 times the minimum wage.
• Work permit applications of businesses and workplaces that provide the following services within their scope of business are evaluated positively, and the requests of businesses and workplaces that are not within this scope are not deemed appropriate:
  • Work permit applications of at least three-star tourism establishments certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, certified holiday villages, and thermal hotels with an operating permit obtained from official authorities, which prove that they have a licensed massage parlour, are accepted.
  • Work permit applications of enterprises that have an agreement (contract) with certified tourism businesses hosting facilities as Turkish bath-sauna-SPA etc., are accepted.
  • Work permit applications of sports centres licensed by official authorities that employ at least twenty (20) Turkish citizens are welcomed.
  • Foreign employment permit applications for jobs that require expertise and mastery, such as masseurs, masseuses and SPA therapists, are welcomed.
• For foreigners who will be employed in jobs requiring expertise and mastery in the entertainment industry and tourism-animation organization companies, if at least ten citizens of the Republic of Turkey are employed, the quota for the employment of five citizens of the Republic of Turkey will not be applied separately for each foreigner.
• In cases stipulated in bilateral or multilateral agreements to which Turkey is a party, and in the evaluation of work permit requests for foreigners to be employed by public institutions and organizations in the procurement of goods and services through contract or tender procedures, the criteria specified in the 1st and 2nd articles above are not applied.
• In jobs requiring advanced technology or in cases where there is no Turkish expert with the same qualifications, the criteria determined in Articles 1 and 2 are not applied upon the approval given by the General Directorate of International Labour Force of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
• For foreigners other than key personnel to be employed in enterprises that meet the conditions for Special Foreign Direct Investment, the criterion determined in the Article 1 is applied based on the number of citizens of the Republic of Turkey working in all workplaces of the enterprise throughout the country.