Turkey: Updated Criteria for Work Permit Evaluation & Amendment made to the ‘The Implementing Regulation on International Labour Force Law’

As of October 2024, important arrangements have been made in the Work Permit Evaluation Criteria, and we have compiled the important criteria to be examined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security together with the revisions and innovations as an information note below. In addition, the amendments made in the Regulation Amending the Implementing Regulation on International Labour Force Law are summarised below.

Updated Criteria for Work Permit Evaluation

The general evaluation criteria for work permit applications consist of employment criteria, financial adequacy criteria and wage criteria.

The employment criterion is based on the employment of at least five Turkish citizens for each foreigner to be employed in workplaces subject to the balance sheet basis procedure.

However, for the establishments with a net sales amount of 50.000.000 TRY or more in the last year, the employment criterion shall not be applied up to five foreigners to be employed.

Persons who have been in Turkey for 3 years in the last five years as of the application date with a residence permit, work permit or international protection, except for students, will be exempted from the employment and financial qualification criteria. However, the exemption also has conditions in terms of the number of foreign employees.

In the financial adequacy criterion:

- For newly established workplaces subject to the balance sheet method, the paid-in capital must be at least 500.000 TL.

- For the establishments that are subject to the balance sheet method and are in operation, and the ordinary partnerships established by the workplaces subject to the balance sheet method, the minimum paid-in capital requirement is 500.000 TRY in order to apply for a work permit on behalf of the foreigner to be employed. As an alternative to this requirement, other options are a net sales amount of 8.000.000 TRY or an export amount of 150.000 USD.

The effective date of the application regarding the thresholds for the paid-in capital and net sales in the financial adequacy criterion has been set as 01.01.2025.

Regarding the wage criterion; the current gross minimum wage amount (as of the date of the work permit application) is taken into consideration in determining the wage to be paid to the foreigner. Accordingly, the wage to be paid to the foreigner shall not be less than:

a) 5 times the minimum wage for senior executives and pilots,

b) 4 times the minimum wage for engineers and architects,

c) 3 times the minimum wage for other managers,

ç) 2 times the minimum wage for those who will work in jobs requiring expertise and mastery,

d) the minimum wage level for foreigners who will work in domestic services and other occupations/jobs.

Specific evaluation criteria on the basis of sector, occupation or job

1.Informatics Sector: Employment and financial adequacy criteria will not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications for jobs, professions or tasks requiring expertise such as software development expert, database expert, mobile software expert. Exception is limited to a maximum of 2 foreigners.

2. Education Sector: Without prejudice to the provisions of international regulations to which Türkiye is a party, employment and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications for foreigners who will work in educational institutions and international schools in jobs or occupations that require prior authorisation in accordance with Article 29 of the Regulation on Private Education Institutions of the Ministry of National Education.

3. Domestic Services Sector: Within the scope of the new regulation; for foreigners working in the domestic services sector under an employer with a work permit issued based on an overseas application, work permit applications made within the country to work under another employer within six months from the start date of the permit shall be evaluated negatively, except for force majeure.

4. Aviation Sector:  Employment and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications made on behalf of foreigners who will work as senior managers or in jobs requiring expertise in the Turkish representative offices of flag-carrier airline companies of foreign countries.

5. Sectors Requiring Advanced Technology: The general evaluation criteria may not be applied partially or completely in qualified investments that are committed to make a high contribution to the country's economy or create a high number of jobs, or in jobs requiring advanced technology, or in cases where there is no Turkish citizen expert with the same qualifications due to the nature of the work.

Within the scope of Law No. 5746 on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities and related legislation, the positive opinion of the Ministry of Industry and Technology shall be sought in the evaluation of work permit applications made on behalf of foreigners who will work as R&D, innovation and design personnel in companies with R&D Centre certificate or design centre certificate and foreigners who will work within the technology development zone within the scope of Technology Development Zones Law No. 4691. Employment and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications made under this paragraph.

6. Public Projects: In cases where there is a provision in bilateral or multilateral agreements to which Türkiye is a party, or in the work permit applications of foreigners who will work in projects implemented in Türkiye within this scope, employment and financial adequacy criteria are not applied.

Employment and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications made on behalf of foreigners to be employed in the procurement of goods and services by public institutions and organisations through contract or tender procedures and/or in the companies contracted as all subcontractors of the companies that will operate within this scope.

7. Health Sector: Employment, wage and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications of foreigners who will work in professions and positions requiring professional qualification in public institutions.

8. Tourism sector: In the evaluation of work permit applications made on behalf of foreigners who will work in enterprises (small enterprises such as hairdressers, jewellers, leather, carpet, textile sales, etc.) operating under contract within the tourism enterprises holding a tourism enterprise certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, employment and financial adequacy criteria are not applied for up to two foreigners within this scope.

In the evaluation of work permit applications made on behalf of foreigners who will work in travel agencies certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and intermediary organisations operating in the field of health tourism and authorised by the Ministry of Health, employment and financial adequacy criteria shall not be applied for a maximum of five foreigners within this scope.

It is regulated that the employment criterion will not be applied in the evaluation of work permit applications made by the enterprises specified by the Ministry on behalf of foreigners who will be employed in jobs that require expertise and mastery in workplaces operating in the tourism sector, if at least 10 Turkish citizens are employed.

It should be noted that, for foreigners for whom a work permit is issued within the scope of the exemptions from the evaluation criteria determined on the basis of sector, occupation or job, work permit applications made from within the country to work for a different employer and outside the above-mentioned sectors, occupations or jobs within six months from the start date of the permit shall be evaluated negatively, except for force majeure.

Evaluation of the work permit application of a foreigner who opens a new workplace or becomes a partner in a workplace

The financial criterion for the evaluation of the work permit application of a foreigner who opens a new workplace or becomes a partner in a workplace is that the capital amount of the foreigner is at least 500.000 TRY, and the share of partnership is at least 20%, provided that the paid-in capital is at least 500.000 TRY. Until 01.01.2025, it is considered sufficient that the foreigner's capital amount is at least 40.000 TRY.

In the evaluation of the work permit application, there is a criterion of employment of at least five Turkish citizens in the workplace. In this respect, the first work permit to be issued to the foreigner, who is a company partner or a workplace owner, is issued with an annotation. From the beginning of the seventh month of the first work permit period, it is essential that at least five Turkish citizens are employed in the workplace every month.

If the capital share of the foreign partner is 100.000 USD or above, the financial and employment criteria will not apply.

The criteria in this regulation enter into force on 1st October 2024. Considering that the work permit application might be evaluated negatively by the Ministry if the application is made by misinterpreting these criteria, we recommend that you seek legal assistance.

Amendment made to the ‘the Implementing Regulation on International Labour Force Law’

With the amendment made to the ‘Regulation Amending the Implementing Regulation on International Labour Force Law’, the duration of work permit exemption for foreigners who are notified by the relevant public institutions and organisations that they can provide significant services and contributions to Türkiye in economic, socio-cultural and technological fields and education has been increased from six months to three years. Since only a work permit exemption information form will be issued for those in this scope, the procedure has been simplified.

Provided that the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye has the favourable opinion, foreign press members who come to Türkiye within the scope of a permanent press-card will be considered within the scope of work permit exemption for the duration of their assignment.

The sports annotated visa requirement for athletes has been abolished. Professional foreign athletes and coaches, sports physicians, sports physiotherapists, sports mechanician, sports masseuses or masseurs and similar sports personnel coming to Türkiye will now be considered within the scope of work permit exemption only for the duration of their contracts with sports federations and sports clubs, provided that they have the approval of the Ministry of Youth and Sports or the Turkish Football Federation.

The duration of the work permit exemption applications to be made from within the country has been extended and it is envisaged that they can be made within the periods when the foreigner is legally present in Turkey.

Flexibility has been introduced for foreign seamen, who work on ships in compliance with the legislation and who have been granted work permit exemption, to apply for a new exemption due to these duties, by stipulating that the calendar year will be taken as the basis.

The amendments entered into force on 15th October 2024.



Autor: Sedanur Zengin