Immigration Law in Turkey (updated on July 3, 2015)

Immigration Law:

Residence and Work Permits for Foreigners in Turkey

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INTRODUCTION

This publication has been prepared for informational purposes only. None of information contained in this publication shall constitute legal advice. For further information, please contact:

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• The Law regarding Foreigners and International Protection(Law No:6458) has been published on the Official Gazettedated April 11, 2013 and numbered 28615. The purpose of thelaw is to regulate the principles and procedures regarding theresidence permits to be granted to the foreigners, visarequirements and the scope and implementation of theprotection to be provided to foreigners who seek protectionfrom Turkey.

• As per Article 11 of the Law regarding Foreigners andInternational Protection, foreigners intending to stay inTurkey up to 90 days shall obtain a visa stating the purpose ofthe stay. Such visa shall be issued by the consulates of theRepublic of Turkey in their country or legal residence. Theperiod of stay in Turkey provided by the visa or visaexemption shall not exceed ninety days within each period ofone hundred and eighty days.

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• Moreover, further to Article 19 of the Law regardingForeigners and International Protection, foreigners whointend to stay in Turkey beyond the visa or visa exemptionperiod or more than ninety days are obliged to obtain aresidence permit to stay in Turkey. The residence permitshall become invalid if it is not used for the period of sixmonths.

• Therefore, in case a foreigner intends to stay in Turkeymore than 90 days within a period of 180 days, suchforeigner is required to obtain a residence permit from thecompetent authority in Turkey. Otherwise, administrativefines and other sanctions stipulated under the Lawregarding Foreigners and International Protection will be inquestion depending on the conditions of each violation.


• Residence permit applications shall be made to theconsulates of the Republic of Turkey in the country ofnationality or legal residence of the foreigner. Theevaluation of the relevant residence permit application shallbe concluded no later than 90 days.

• On the other hand, certain types of residence permitapplications listed under the Law regarding Foreigners andInternational Protection may be filed within Turkey such aslong term residence permits and student residence permits.


• With respect to the residence permit applications to bemade in Turkey, an online appointment shall be taken by theforeigner in order to apply to the Directorate General forMigration Management. Accordingly, once the requireddocuments are fully submitted to the Directorate Generalfor Migration Management, the application shall beevaluated in this respect. Moreover, as a recent change,residence permits are extended through the website of theDirectorate General for Migration Management.

• Kindly note that further to the Law regarding Foreignersand International Protection, governorates are authorized torefuse the residence permit applications filed in Turkey.However, currently in practice the General Directorate ofImmigration Management evaluates the applications.Refusal, non-renewal or cancellation of the application shallbe notified to the foreigner or his/her legal representative.


• As per Article 27 of the Law regarding Foreigners andInternational Protection, a valid work permit as well asWork Permit Exemption Confirmation Document shall beconsidered as a legal residence permit.

• The principles and procedures regarding the work permitsof the foreigners are regulated under the Law RegardingWork Permits of the Foreigners (Law no: 4817) (the“Law”) which is published on the Official Gazette datedMarch 6, 2003 and numbered 25040 and also with theRegulation on the Implementation of the Law regarding theWork Permits of the Foreigners.


• Further to the Law, unless otherwise provided in thebilateral or multilateral agreements to which Turkey is aparty, foreigners are obliged to obtain work permit from theMinistry of Labour and Social Security (the “Ministry“)before they start to work in Turkey.

• There are certain types of work permits are regulated underthe Law: (i) definite term work permits, (ii) indefinite termwork permits and (iii) independent type of work permits.

• Work permit for a definite period shall be valid for one yearat the most. During the evaluation the Ministry shallconsider the duration of residence permit and theemployment contract in addition to the situation of themarket, developments in the labour sector, sectorial andeconomic conjuncture changes.


• Following the period of one year, duration of the workpermit may be extended up to three years, on the conditionthat the relevant foreigner works in the same workplace orenterprise and in the same job.

• With respect to work permits with indefinite term, thesetype of work permits may be granted to the foreigners whohave obtained long term residence permit or who havelegally and uninterruptedly resided in Turkey for at leasteight years or who have legally worked for eight years intotal.

• On the other hand, independent type of work permits maybe granted to the foreigners who have legally anduninterruptedly resided in Turkey for at least five years.

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• Work permit applications can be made either abroad or in

Turkey. A foreigner who intends to work in Turkey may

apply to the Turkish diplomatic representatives of Turkey in

the country that the foreigner stays. The Turkish diplomatic

representatives shall directly submit these applications to

the Ministry for its evaluation.

• On the other hand, if a foreigner or his/her employer intends

to apply for a work permit in Turkey, the foreigner in

question shall obtain a valid residence permit with the

period of at least 6 months. Accordingly, the foreigner in

question or his/her employer shall apply to the Ministry

before the expiration of such period.


• Work permit applications in Turkey shall be made

electronically and the required documents such as the

application form shall be uploaded to the network of the

Ministry. Once the electronic application is completed, the

hard copies of the required documents shall be submitted to

the Ministry within 6 business days following the electronic

application date.

• As per the Law, the Ministry shall conclude the work permit

applications within 30 (thirty) days as of the date of the

application, provided that all the required documents are

complete.


• Please be advised that the Ministry has published ‘work

permit evaluation criteria’ on August 2, 2010. Accordingly,

in the case that such requirements are not fulfilled by the

employers or foreigners, the Ministry will not proceed to

the evaluation of the application and the work permit

application will be rejected accordingly. Further to such

evaluation criteria the most significant requirements are as

follows:I. the employment of minimum 5 Turkish personnel at the relevant

workplace of the employer is required for each foreign applicant.

II. the paid-up capital of the company shall be minimum 100,000 Turkish

Lira or the amount of gross sales shall be minimum 800,000 Turkish

Lira or the amount of exports of the previous year shall be minimum

USD 250,000.

• There are also some exceptional situations foreseen for the

abovementioned criteria.Dirik Akoglu Buhan Law Firm 12

• Kindly be informed that Article 21 of the Law specifically

regulates the administrative fines that will be applied in the

case that foreigners and/or employers violate the Law and

the relevant regulations.

• In case of repetition of the relevant violations,administrative fines shall be doubled for each specific case.

• In certain cases, even the closure of a workplace might bein question.


KEY CONTACTS

Irmak Dirik

Founding Partner

E-mail:

[email protected]

Sezin Akoğlu Düzenli

Founding Partner

E-mail:

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Melis Buhan

Founding Partner

E-mail:

[email protected]


Immigration Law in Turkey (updated on July 3, 2015)

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