Work permits in Turkey are not just plastic cards or bureaucratic hurdles. They are the fragile bridge between a foreigner’s dream and the State’s demand for order. On one side, there is a person with a profession, a family, a story; on the other, a legal system that says: “You are welcome, but you must enter through the door, not the wall.”
This article is for the foreigner who wants to work legally, and for the employer who does not want to build a future on sand. It walks through Turkey’s work permit regime with one eye on the black-letter law, and the other on the human reality behind every application.
1. The legal backbone: Law No. 6735 and the idea of “permission”
Turkey’s rules on foreign workers rest mainly on Law No. 6735 on International Labour Force, together with the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and secondary regulations.
The core idea is simple and strict:
A foreigner who falls under Law No. 6735 must have either a work permit or a work permit exemption before legally working in Turkey.
A work permit is not merely a right to work. Under the foreigners legislation, a valid work permit (or exemption certificate) also counts as a residence permit for its duration.
So, one document does two things:
- lets you work,
- lets you live here lawfully for that period.
To cross this line without a permit is to step into a field of administrative fines, possible deportation and future entry bans.
The law, in its dry language, is saying: “If you bring your labour to this land, bring your status with it.”
2. Who needs a work permit – and who doesn’t?
As a rule:
- Any foreigner employed by a Turkish or foreign employer in Turkey,
- Any foreigner working on their own account (entrepreneur, partner actively managing a company),
must have a work permit or a formal exemption before starting work.
Some limited categories may work under work permit exemptions (short-term cross-border service providers, certain academics, specific project-based experts, etc.), but these are exceptional, technical paths, not loopholes for ordinary employment.
At the same time, the law draws a hard red line: certain professions are reserved to Turkish citizens only – such as law practice, pharmacy, dentistry, some health professions, notary, and others specified in sectoral laws.
The message is clear:
- In many sectors, foreigners are welcome – with a permit.
- In some sectors, foreigners are simply not allowed, permit or not.
Wisdom, here, is knowing the difference before you uproot your life.
3. Types of work permits: temporary, permanent, independent and the Turquoise Card
Turkey does not use a single uniform work permit. It has a family of permits, each reflecting a different relationship with the country.
3.1. Limited-term (temporary) work permit – the “first door”
This is the standard permit for most foreigners starting to work in Turkey.
- First grant: usually up to one year, tied to a specific employer, workplace and job and cannot exceed the employment contract’s term.
- First extension: up to two years, usually under the same employer.
- Subsequent extensions: up to three years each, again typically with the same employer.
Change of employer is treated almost like a new application, not just a renewal.
This permit says: “You may stay, but let us first get to know each other year by year.”
3.2. Permanent (indefinite) work permit – when time has spoken
For foreigners who have legally lived and worked in Turkey for many years, the law opens the door to a permanent work permit.
Typically, this status is available to foreigners who meet conditions similar to those of long-term residence, such as about eight years of continuous, lawful stay and a stable record.
A permanent work permit:
- removes the need for periodic renewals,
- brings rights close to those of Turkish citizens in many areas of working life (but not political rights),
- symbolises that the foreign worker has become, in practice, a long-term part of Turkey’s labour fabric.
The law here whispers: “You did not just pass through; you stayed, contributed, and we recognise that.”
3.3. Independent work permit – when you are your own employer
Some foreigners do not want to be pure employees; they want to build and steer their own business.
The independent work permit is designed for such cases, taking into account:
- education,
- professional experience,
- contribution to science and technology,
- the economic and employment impact of the foreigner’s activity or investment,
- and their capital share in a Turkish company.
It is not granted lightly. It asks: “If you step on this soil as an entrepreneur, what do you bring beyond your own survival?”
3.4. Turquoise Card – Turkey’s invitation to the highly qualified
Above these classic permits stands a special status: the Turquoise Card.
This card is granted to foreigners who are considered:
- highly qualified labour or investors,
- scientists or researchers in strategic fields,
- internationally successful in culture, art or sports,
- or persons who significantly promote Turkey and its culture abroad.
Key features:
- It begins with a three-year transition period,
- then, if the evaluation is positive, turns into an indefinite Turquoise Card,
- it confers rights similar to an unlimited work permit and also serves as a basis for residence for the spouse and dependent children.
This is the law’s way of saying to the world:
“If you bring science, art, investment, talent and reputation to this country, we will not ask you to knock on the door every year.”
4. How work permits are obtained: the choreography between foreigner, employer and State
One of the most important truths about work permits in Turkey is this:
In ordinary employment, the foreigner cannot simply apply alone. The employer must reach out with them.
4.1. Application from abroad
The general sequence is:
- The foreigner finds a job offer from a Turkish employer.
- The foreigner applies at a Turkish consulate in their home country (or lawful residence country) for a work visa and receives a reference number.
- The employer in Turkey uses this reference number to file an online work permit application through the Ministry’s electronic system (via e-Devlet / e-permit interface), uploading the required documents.
- If the permit is granted, the foreigner receives a work visa from the consulate, enters Turkey and starts working under the issued permit.
Here, employer and employee move together like two hands bound by one legal rope; if one does not pull, the other cannot cross.
4.2. Application from within Turkey
Some foreigners already hold a valid residence permit in Turkey (for example, short-term or family residence). In many of these cases:
- the employer can apply directly online for a work permit on their behalf,
- without a separate consular visa stage,
- provided the foreigner’s residence status is compatible with work-permit application rules.
However, a residence permit never automatically gives a right to work. It is a place to live, not a right to be employed. Work requires its own key.
5. Criteria and constraints: why some applications fail
The Ministry does not evaluate work permit applications in a vacuum. It looks at employment and financial criteria, sectoral needs and compliance with policy.
Common elements include:
- Minimum paid-in capital, turnover or export figures for the employer,
- Minimum number of Turkish employees per foreign employee,
- The relevance of the foreigner’s role and salary to their qualifications.
Recent regulatory changes have introduced flexibility for certain high-scale employers and specific categories, sometimes relaxing strict “five Turkish employees per foreigner” rules up to certain limits.
But the underlying philosophy remains:
“You may employ foreign labour, but you must also create space and value for the domestic workforce.”
Applications often fail because:
- the employer’s documents are incomplete or inconsistent,
- the economic criteria are not clearly met,
- the job description does not convincingly show why a foreign worker is needed,
- or the foreigner’s qualifications and salary level do not match the declared position.
The law does not only ask, “Who are you?” It also asks, “Why you, here, now?”
6. Working without a permit: the quiet cliff
Behind every work permit regime stands a warning:
- A foreigner working without a permit may face administrative fines, removal decisions and entry bans.
- Employers who hire without a permit may face heavier fines, social security liabilities and inspections, and in some cases, closure of workplaces or other administrative sanctions.
Sometimes the story is simple: a small shop, a foreign friend “helping out”, cash in hand. Sometimes it is a large company that delays or neglects formalities, trusting in habit and luck.
Law is patient, but not forgetful. When it wakes, it asks for back pay, social security, fines, and sometimes the foreign worker’s very right to stay in the country.
7. Practical wisdom for foreigners and employers
For foreigners
- Do not confuse residence with permission to work.
A residence card lets you stay; a work permit lets you earn. They often travel together, but they are not twins. - Do not start work until the permit is granted.
“It is in progress” is not a legal status. Until the Ministry approves, you are sitting on air. - Keep copies of everything.
Employment contract, application forms, correspondence, Ministry decisions. One day you may have to prove not only who you are, but who you were in the system. - Ask hard questions before you move your life.
Is your profession open to foreigners? Does your employer truly meet the criteria? Can your role realistically be defended as needing a foreign expert?
For employers
- Treat work permits as part of compliance, not as a favour to the foreigner.
It is your legal responsibility to apply; the file carries your name as much as theirs. - Plan early.
Do not hire first and “fix the permit later”. Align recruitment, permit applications and starting dates like gears in a machine. - Document your need.
Show why this foreign employee is necessary: language skills, technical expertise, regional responsibility, group structure. - Review your long-term strategy.
For truly key people, consider long-term pathways: extensions, permanent work permit, or for the highly qualified, even a Turquoise Card strategy.
8. Closing: law as a bridge, not a wall
In the end, work permits in Turkey are about balance.
The State says: “I will protect my labour market, my public order, my social system.”
The foreigner replies: “I will bring my skill, my energy, my taxes, my life.”
Between these two voices stands the law—sometimes rigid, sometimes humane, always negotiating that quiet, invisible contract:
- that a person can cross borders not as a shadow,
- but as a recognised worker,
- carrying a card that says, in the language of administration:
“You belong here, for now, and under these conditions.”
To work legally in Turkey is to accept that dreams must learn the language of regulations. But it is also to insist that regulations never forget that they serve human dreams.
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