Work permit in Türkiye through the employer: Law 6735, e-İzin and the criteria

A foreigner cannot apply for an ordinary Turkish work permit alone: under Law 6735 on International Labour Force the employer files the application in the e-İzin system with its electronic signature, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security decides. The employer must meet workforce and financial criteria, the employee must meet document and salary criteria, and the sequence depends on whether the foreigner is already in Türkiye. This guide sets out the 2026 rules.

Who files, and from where

• Domestic application — the foreigner is in Türkiye with a residence permit valid for at least six more months (student and certain other permits also qualify). The employer files directly on e-İzin.
• Application from abroad — the foreigner applies at a Turkish consulate with the signed employment contract and receives a 16-digit reference number; the employer must then complete the e-İzin filing within 10 business days. On approval the foreigner enters with a work visa and the permit also serves as a residence permit.

Both routes require the employer to hold a KEP address and an e-signature, be registered in the SGK system and have an authorised person on e-Devlet.

Employer criteria in 2026

• Five Turkish employees per foreign employee in the same workplace, insured and shown in SGK declarations. For the first foreign employee of a newly formed company the requirement applies from the sixth month of the permit. Exemptions exist for foreign shareholders holding at least 20% with ₺40,000 of capital, for certain sectors (tourism, education, specific engineering posts) and for domestic workers.
• Paid-in capital of at least ₺100,000, or gross sales of at least ₺800,000, or exports of at least US$250,000 in the previous year.
• Foreign shareholder-director: must hold at least 20% of the shares and at least ₺40,000 of capital.
• No outstanding SGK or tax debts at the time of filing.

Employee criteria and documents

• Passport valid at least 60 days beyond the requested permit.
• Diploma or certificate relevant to the post, with notarised Turkish translation (≈ ₺884 per page at the 2026 notarial tariff, paid by you to the notary) and apostille where the Ministry asks for it; for some professions a YÖK equivalence decision — see our diploma recognition guide.
• Signed employment contract uploaded by the employer.
• Biometric photograph, residence permit or consular reference number.
• Minimum salary by position, expressed as a multiple of the gross minimum wage: 1.5× for ordinary posts, 3× for engineers, architects and specialists, 6.5× for senior managers and pilots, 4× for unit managers; the Ministry publishes the multiples and checks them against the SGK declaration.

Timelines and fees

The Ministry aims to decide within 30 days of a complete file; in practice four to eight weeks is normal, and a deficiency notice (eksiklik) pauses the clock until the employer cures it within the stated period, usually 15 days. Permits are granted for one year first, then two years with the same employer, then three; after eight years of legal work the employee may apply for an indefinite permit. The permit harç by duration and the card fee are paid by the employer against the Ministry's payment reference; an application is not examined until the fee is paid.

State fees and notarial tariffs are paid by you directly to the state or to the notary; they never pass through us and we receive nothing from any notary. The figures above are the official 2026 tariff, last checked 24.10.2026.

What goes wrong

• The 5:1 ratio is counted at filing with employees not yet insured for the full period.
• Salary in the contract below the multiple for the declared position.
• Diploma not related to the position, or translated but not apostilled where required.
• Consular reference number used after the 10-business-day window.
• Residence permit with less than six months left at the time of a domestic application.

Our work-permit data pack addresses each point before filing: an eligibility pre-check of the employer against the criteria, the employee document chain, every e-İzin field prepared in the order the system asks, assistance while the employer's authorised person enters it, deficiency monitoring and renewal entry in the employer's calendar.

Sources

• csgb.gov.tr — Ministry of Labour and Social Security: work permit criteria and e-İzin
• e-İzin (ecalismaizni.csgb.gov.tr) — Employer filing system
• mevzuat.gov.tr — Law 6735 on International Labour Force and its Regulation
• gib.gov.tr — Harçlar Kanunu: work permit harç table

Questions