Changing Employer on a Turkey Work Permit in 2026: New Application Rule and Safe Transfer

1. A dependent work permit is issued for a defined employer and job

Turkey’s dependent work-permit system does not issue a general labour-market card that can be carried from one company to another at will. The permit is granted after the Ministry evaluates a specific foreigner together with the employer, workplace, occupation, salary and supporting corporate records. That administrative decision authorises work within the approved relationship.

For this reason, changing companies is not comparable to changing a desk, supervisor or internal project. If Company A holds the permit relationship and the foreigner begins working for Company B, the legal employer has changed even if both companies belong to the same multinational group. Company B must obtain the required authorisation.

The employee’s experience in Turkey remains relevant background, but it does not convert the old permit into a transferable document. The Ministry’s published application-types guidance expressly states that an application for work with a different employer is evaluated according to initial-application procedures and principles.

2. A different-employer application is legally an initial application

The distinction between extension and initial application affects both timing and substance. A same-employer extension is filed in the final 60 days of an existing permit and can, if approved, benefit from the extension-duration structure in Article 10 of Law No. 6735. A different-employer case is not placed in that renewal track merely because the foreigner already has a valid card.

The new employer’s workplace is examined against the criteria applicable on the date of the new application. Its Turkish-employee count, paid-in capital, net sales, export amount, sector, proposed salary and the foreigner’s occupation can all matter. An exemption attached to the old employer cannot be assumed to follow the foreigner unless the exemption is personal and legally continues.

The application therefore needs to be built as a fresh employer file rather than a copy of the previous permit renewal. Corporate documents, SGK information and the new job description should be internally consistent.

3. The employee should not begin work for the new employer before authorisation

The central compliance rule is simple: the existing permit authorises the existing employer relationship. It does not legalise work performed for the new company while the new application is pending. A foreigner who starts duties, receives instructions or is placed on the new company’s payroll before the required permit is effective can create an unauthorised-work issue.

Employers should align the employment contract’s effective work date with the permit process. A contract can be signed subject to obtaining the required work authorisation, but actual performance should not begin merely because the parties expect the application to succeed. The Ministry can request additional documents, apply a sector-specific criterion or refuse an application.

For senior executives, “work” is not limited to clocking into an office. Acting as an operational manager, performing executive duties or representing the company in a role that legally requires a permit can engage the work-authorisation rules.

4. Ending employment with the old company is a separate legal step

The immigration file does not replace Turkish employment-law termination procedures. The parties must separately address notice, accrued wages, unused annual leave, severance rights where applicable, restrictive covenants and the employee’s SGK exit. The work-permit record should be closed or updated in accordance with the statutory notification duties.

International employees sometimes resign immediately after receiving a job offer and then discover that the new application cannot be filed or approved as expected. A safer sequence is to audit the new employer’s eligibility first, prepare the work-permit application and coordinate termination dates with immigration counsel and payroll.

Where the existing employer agrees to a transition period, the foreigner must still work only within the authorised relationship until the new authorisation takes effect. Parallel operational work for the new company is not created by a commercial handover agreement between the two employers.

5. The new employer must satisfy the current 2026 evaluation criteria

Under the Ministry’s current general criteria, a balance-sheet-basis workplace generally needs at least five Turkish citizens employed for each foreign worker for whom a permit is requested. A newly established balance-sheet workplace generally needs at least TRY 500,000 paid-in capital. For an operating balance-sheet workplace, the financial criterion can be met by at least TRY 500,000 paid-in capital, at least TRY 8,000,000 net sales, or at least USD 150,000 in exports.

Those are general rules. The Ministry publishes sector, profession and job-specific criteria, and it also lists categories of foreigners who are exempt from certain employment, financial or salary criteria. The correct analysis therefore begins by identifying the new employer’s sector and the foreigner’s legal category.

A company that qualified under a special technology, tourism, education or direct-investment rule should use the current wording of that special rule. Historical criteria from a prior application are not a safe substitute for the 2026 rules.

6. The proposed salary is assessed against the foreigner’s position

The Ministry’s current general salary criteria are expressed as multiples of the gross minimum wage in force on the application date. Senior managers and pilots must generally be paid at least five times the gross minimum wage; engineers and architects four times; other managers three times; jobs requiring expertise or mastery two times; and domestic services and other occupations at least the minimum wage.

The job title should reflect actual duties. Calling an employee an “expert” while the corporate role and salary documents describe senior management can produce inconsistency. The Ministry can evaluate the substance of the position rather than accept a label chosen only to meet a lower salary multiple.

Payroll planning should include the salary promised in the permit file. Once the permit is granted, the employer should maintain compliant employment records rather than treating the application salary as a number used only for immigration approval.

7. A transfer between sister companies is still a change of employer

Multinational groups often move staff between subsidiaries that share branding, office space and management. Under Turkish law, however, separate companies are separate legal persons. Company A’s work permit is not a group-wide permit for Company B, even if a parent company owns both.

The new entity’s tax number, trade-registry record, SGK workplace registration and financial figures become relevant to the new application. Group consolidated financial statements do not automatically replace the Turkish applicant company’s documents unless a specific rule allows it.

A merger or demerger requires a more specific analysis because legal succession can affect the identity of the employer. The corporate transaction documents and work-permit records should be reviewed together rather than assuming that every restructuring is either a new employer or the same employer.

8. A workplace or job change within the same company can also require action

Not every personnel change is a new-employer case, but changes affecting the approved work-permit information must be handled under the relevant notification and application rules. A move to another branch, a materially different occupation or a change from employee to shareholder-manager can alter the legal basis on which the permit was issued.

Before changing the SGK workplace code or duty description, the employer should check whether the e-İzin record can be updated through a post-permit procedure or whether a new application is required. The correct route depends on the type of change and the applicable Ministry rule.

Keeping immigration and HR systems aligned is essential. A permit showing one workplace while payroll and daily work occur at another can generate questions during an inspection or later extension.

9. Domestic applications normally require a qualifying residence basis

The Ministry’s current application page states that a domestic work-permit application can generally be made for a foreigner who is in Turkey and holds a residence permit issued for at least six months that remains valid on the application date. The Ministry also identifies categories of foreigners legally present in Turkey who can apply domestically without such a residence permit under special rules.

An existing work permit can itself carry residence-law consequences under Law No. 6458, but a change-of-employer application should not be planned by assuming that every permit holder automatically fits every domestic-filing route. The current e-İzin category and the foreigner’s lawful status must be verified.

If domestic filing is unavailable, the employer may need to use the overseas application route. That affects timing and the employee’s travel planning.

10. The overseas route begins at a Turkish mission

For the ordinary overseas route, the foreigner applies through the competent Turkish diplomatic or consular mission and receives the reference information used in the employer’s electronic application. The Turkish employer then completes the employer side of the work-permit filing through the Ministry’s system within the applicable procedural period.

The overseas route should be coordinated with the foreigner’s passport, visa and travel schedule. Starting remote duties for the Turkish company while waiting abroad can also raise employment, tax and social-security questions that are distinct from the immigration filing.

For executives who frequently travel, the company should identify where the person will actually perform work during the transition. Immigration planning should reflect the factual work arrangement rather than only the intended future payroll date.

11. Permit changes and employment termination trigger notification duties

Law No. 6735 Article 22 imposes notification duties relating to the start and end of work and changes affecting the work permit or work-permit exemption. The Ministry’s implementation rules require relevant notifications within the statutory period, generally 15 days for the situations covered by Article 22.

The old employer should not leave an obsolete permit relationship open indefinitely after the employee departs. The new employer should likewise ensure that its records show the actual authorised start date. These notifications matter because the Ministry, SGK and other public records can be compared.

A corporate transfer checklist should therefore include immigration notifications alongside SGK exit/entry records and employment-contract documentation.

12. Starting early can expose both employer and foreigner to administrative fines

Article 23 of Law No. 6735 provides administrative fines for work without a permit and for breaches of notification duties. For 2026, the Ministry publishes adjusted fine amounts. The employer employing a foreigner without a work permit faces a separate fine for each foreigner, and the foreign employee also faces a personal administrative fine. Repeated violations are subject to increased consequences under the statute.

The financial sanction is only one risk. Unauthorised work can also affect later immigration assessments and create payroll or social-security inconsistencies. A company should not treat the fine as a predictable “cost of starting early.”

The safer commercial solution is to make the job offer and start date conditional on the legal work authorisation and to coordinate the departure from the old employer with the new application.

13. A safe employer-change plan has four legal checkpoints

First, confirm that the proposed Turkish employer and role satisfy the 2026 criteria. Second, identify whether the application can be filed domestically or must begin abroad. Third, prepare the new employer’s e-İzin file before the old employment relationship ends. Fourth, start actual work for the new company only after the required authorisation is effective.

During this process, keep the employee’s passport, residence position, SGK record, employment contract and corporate registration consistent. For group transfers, document which legal entity will direct the work and bear the salary cost.

For the broader permit framework, see our Turkey Work Permit 2026 guide. For renewal timing with the same employer, see Turkey Work Permit Extension 2026.

Conclusion

Changing employer on a Turkey work permit requires a new employer-specific work-permit application. The existing permit cannot simply be transferred, and a different-employer filing is assessed under initial-application rules. The new company must meet the criteria applicable to its workplace, sector and proposed salary. The foreigner should not perform work for the new company before authorisation. Coordinating immigration, employment termination, SGK and corporate records before the transfer date is the most reliable way to avoid an unlawful-work gap.