Turkey Work Permit 2026: Requirements, 5-Employee Rule and Law No. 6735

1. International Labour Force Law No. 6735 governs foreign work authorisation

Law No. 6735 applies to foreigners who apply to work or work in Türkiye, foreigners receiving or seeking vocational training with an employer, interns, cross-border service providers temporarily supplying services in Türkiye, and the natural or legal persons employing or seeking to employ foreigners. International agreements to which Türkiye is a party remain reserved.

The law therefore reaches beyond a conventional employee hired by a Turkish limited company. Depending on the facts, a foreign manager, specialist, trainee, company partner or temporary service provider can fall within the international-labour framework. The legal question is not simply whether the individual receives a monthly salary. The nature of the activity and applicable exemption must be identified before work begins.

Possessing a tax number, company share, residence card or property does not itself create work authorisation. These documents can be relevant to other legal relationships, but they do not replace the permit requirement where Law No. 6735 applies.

2. Work-permit applications can follow domestic or overseas procedures

A foreigner lawfully residing in Türkiye in a status that permits a domestic application may use the domestic work-permit procedure when the statutory and administrative requirements are satisfied. In other cases the process begins through a Turkish foreign mission abroad, followed by the employer-side electronic application in Türkiye within the official procedure.

The correct route depends on the foreigner’s current immigration status and the type of employment. An applicant should not use an expired residence status as if it automatically supports a domestic application. Likewise, entering Türkiye as a tourist does not by itself turn every future employment application into an in-country process.

The employer and foreign worker should coordinate the application because the employment contract, workplace registration, position, salary and employer financial records must tell the same story. A contract prepared only after the Ministry requests clarification can reveal inconsistencies that were avoidable at the outset.

3. The five-Turkish-employee rule is a general criterion, not an absolute rule for every application

The Ministry of Labour’s current evaluation criteria state that, for workplaces subject to balance-sheet accounting, employment of at least five Turkish citizens is generally required for each foreigner for whom a work permit is sought. This is the origin of the widely repeated “5-to-1” rule.

However, treating it as universal is legally inaccurate. The Ministry publishes sector-specific exceptions and categories exempt from the general employment and financial-capacity tests. In addition, a current rule effective from 3 August 2026 provides that, for domestic applications concerning up to three foreigners who have legally stayed in Türkiye for at least one year during the previous three years under a work permit, residence permit or international-protection framework, the employment and financial-capacity criteria are generally not applied, subject to the published conditions.

Where more than the exempt number of foreign workers will be employed, the criteria can begin to apply to the additional workers. The employer should therefore count both Turkish and foreign personnel at the relevant workplace rather than rely on a statement that the company once had five Turkish employees.

A further exception applies to enterprises with net sales of TRY 50,000,000 or more in the previous year: the employment criterion is not applied for up to five foreign workers under the Ministry’s current general criteria.

4. Current financial-capacity thresholds must be checked against the employer’s accounting status

For a newly established workplace subject to balance-sheet accounting that has not yet prepared year-end financial statements, the Ministry’s current criteria require paid capital of at least TRY 500,000 for an ordinary foreign-worker application subject to this test.

For an operating balance-sheet-basis workplace with at least one year-end balance sheet and income statement, the published criterion is satisfied where the employer has at least TRY 500,000 paid capital, or at least TRY 8,000,000 net sales, or exports of at least USD 150,000. These are alternative financial-capacity routes within the general criterion, not three cumulative requirements.

An employer should use current official financial statements rather than an informal turnover estimate. The figures in the work-permit application should reconcile with tax/accounting records and trade-register information. A capital increase that has not been legally completed and registered should not be presented as if it were already paid capital.

Sector-specific criteria may modify or disapply these thresholds. A company should therefore classify the role and sector before deciding that one general figure controls the application.

5. The offered salary must meet the current position-based minimum multiple

The Ministry compares the foreign worker’s salary with the gross minimum wage in force on the application date. Under the current criteria, senior executives and pilots must receive at least five times the gross minimum wage; engineers and architects at least four times; other managers at least three times; jobs requiring expertise or mastery at least twice; and home-services workers and other occupations at least the gross minimum-wage level.

These are application evaluation floors. The employment contract, social-security declaration and actual payroll should be consistent with the approved position and salary. A company should not state a high salary solely to obtain the permit and then systematically pay a lower amount after approval.

Job titles should also reflect real duties. Calling an ordinary administrative employee a “senior executive” can increase the salary criterion and create factual inconsistency. Conversely, understating an engineering or specialist role to use a lower salary multiple can conflict with professional and work-permit rules.

6. Several foreigners are exempt from the general employment, financial and salary criteria

The Ministry’s current criteria list categories for which employment, financial-capacity and salary criteria are not applied, provided the foreigner proves the relevant status with official documentation. These include foreigners whose mother, father or child is a Turkish citizen; holders of humanitarian residence; qualifying victims of human trafficking; stateless-person identity-document holders; long-term residence-permit holders; foreigners who have lived in marital unity with a Turkish citizen for at least three years; and other categories specified in the Ministry’s published criteria.

As of 3 August 2026, the published list also includes foreigners who have been in Türkiye for at least eight years under the specified work/residence statuses, as well as certain foreigners of Turkish origin recognised through the official procedure, and citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Exemption from evaluation criteria does not mean an automatic work permit. The Ministry expressly states that qualifying for an exemption category does not create an absolute right to a permit. The person must prove the status and the application remains subject to the governing law and other requirements.

This distinction is important for married foreign spouses. Three years of genuine marriage to a Turkish citizen can remove the listed employment/financial/salary criteria under the current published policy, but it does not itself transform the foreign spouse into a Turkish citizen or eliminate all work-permit procedures.

7. Technology, education, home services and other sectors have special rules

The Ministry publishes special evaluation criteria for particular sectors and roles. In information technology, specified specialist positions such as software development, databases, mobile software, system/network security and enterprise architecture can benefit from exemptions from employment and financial-capacity criteria in the circumstances stated in the current rules.

Education is different. Foreigners working in positions requiring professional competence at educational institutions can require prior permission from the Ministry of National Education or the Council of Higher Education. Where the statutory prior approval exists for qualifying higher-education academic staff, the general criteria are not applied in the manner specified under Law No. 6735.

In home services, the current policy generally focuses foreign employment on childcare, care of disabled or elderly persons, and patient accompaniment. An application described merely as “household help” should be checked against the current accepted scope rather than assumed valid.

Other sectors—including tourism, health, aviation and specialised professional services—can have separate rules, pre-authorisations or thresholds. A sector-specific review should therefore precede the filing.

8. The first dependent work permit is generally issued for up to one year

The Ministry’s official FAQ states that, where an initial dependent work-permit application is approved, the permit is issued for no more than one year, provided it does not exceed the duration of the work or service contract. The permit links the foreigner to a specified employer/workplace and job within the approved framework.

Extension periods and conditions are governed by Law No. 6735 and current implementation. An extension should not be treated as automatic. The employer, job, salary and other conditions must remain lawful, and the application must be filed in accordance with the official extension procedure.

A change of employer is not simply an address update to an existing card. It can require a new work-permit application because the original authorisation was based on a particular employer and employment relationship.

9. A valid work permit generally serves as a residence permit—but the reverse is not true

Article 27 of Law No. 6458 provides the key immigration connection: a valid work permit and qualifying work-permit exemption generally count as a residence permit. The Ministry’s FAQ confirms this rule while identifying special treatment for international-protection applicants, conditional refugees and persons under temporary protection.

The reverse proposition is false. A short-term, family or student residence permit does not generally give the holder a right to work. The Ministry expressly states that residence permission alone is insufficient for lawful employment unless a specific legal rule or treaty provides otherwise.

Our Turkey Residence Permit 2026 guide explains the immigration side separately. Keeping residence and work authorisation distinct prevents a common compliance error.

10. A foreign shareholder or company manager should not assume corporate ownership equals work permission

Foreigners can hold shares in Turkish companies subject to company-law rules, but active management or work can trigger work-permit requirements. The Ministry also has specific evaluation criteria for foreign company partners, including capital-share and employment conditions, with particular exemptions for larger qualifying capital participation.

The legal assessment should distinguish passive investment from actual managerial or employment activity. A person who owns shares but does not work has a different position from a managing partner who signs contracts, directs staff and performs day-to-day services in Türkiye.

Company documents should identify the foreigner’s shareholding, appointment, representation authority and actual duties consistently. Trade-register status, work-permit position and payroll should not describe three different roles.

11. Some professions and jobs are reserved to Turkish citizens

The Ministry notes that various statutes reserve certain professions and duties to Turkish citizens. Where a profession is legally reserved, the Ministry cannot issue a work permit merely because the employer satisfies the financial and employment criteria.

This issue must be checked by profession. Professional licensing and work permission are separate layers: even where foreigners can perform a profession, a diploma equivalence, professional-body registration or prior authorisation can still be required.

Employers should therefore verify legal eligibility for the occupation before negotiating a start date. A work-permit filing cannot cure a statutory citizenship restriction on the profession.

12. The strongest application is internally consistent across contract, payroll, corporate and immigration records

A professional file should reconcile the foreigner’s passport, education/professional documents where relevant, employment contract, employer trade-register records, tax/accounting information, social-security data, salary and job description. Foreign documents may require legalisation and Turkish translation depending on their type and issuing country.

The contract should state a lawful job, salary and term that correspond to the application. If a professional pre-authorisation is required, obtain it before relying on a generic employment agreement. If the employer is newly incorporated, use the financial criterion applicable to a new enterprise instead of providing nonexistent historical financial statements.

Where foreign documents require apostille or other authentication, see our official-document authentication guide. Unnecessary notarisation should not replace the specific formalities actually required.

13. Work-permit refusal is a separate search intent and should be analysed from the decision

A general requirements guide cannot predict every refusal. The Ministry can reject an application based on statutory grounds, failure to meet applicable criteria, inconsistencies, restricted professions, labour-market considerations or other lawful reasons within the international-labour framework.

If an application is refused, the written decision and notification must be reviewed. The legal strategy can involve an administrative objection, correction of the underlying defect, a new application or judicial review depending on the legal basis and timing. Refiling the same application without understanding the refusal can reproduce the same result.

The website already treats refusal as a distinct issue rather than duplicating it inside this article. This guide therefore remains focused on lawful initial eligibility and preparation.

14. Starting work before authorisation can expose both worker and employer to sanctions

The Ministry states that foreigners working without a valid work permit or exemption are subject to penal and administrative action, and employers also face legal consequences. An employment contract’s planned start date should therefore reflect the authorisation process.

Payment “off the books,” use of a tourist residence card, or describing an employee as a consultant does not determine the legal character of actual work. Authorities can examine what the person really does, for whom, where and under whose direction.

Foreigners should also distinguish unpaid observation or training from work. If the activity falls within vocational training, internship or service provision covered by Law No. 6735, the appropriate permit or exemption analysis should be completed before participation.

15. Work-permit files throughout Türkiye can be coordinated from Mersin

The firm welcomes clients for in-person appointments at its Mersin location. Work-permit and related administrative/employment matters involving employers or authorities elsewhere in Türkiye can be coordinated from Mersin subject to the competent ministry, authority, court and procedural rules. This does not mean that every administrative filing is physically made in Mersin.

For international employers and foreign employees, legal work can include eligibility analysis, employer-criterion review, contract and corporate-document audit, foreign-document preparation, immigration-status review and assessment of an adverse administrative decision.

Conclusion: check the employer, job and exemption before filing

A successful Turkey work permit strategy cannot be reduced to one numerical rule. Law No. 6735 governs the authorisation, while the Ministry’s current 2026 criteria test employment, financial capacity and salary subject to important exemptions and sector rules. The five-Turkish-employee rule remains a general starting point for many employers, but new 2026 exemptions and existing special categories can change the analysis. The job, salary, employer records and immigration route should be aligned before employment begins.