Finding a job and working in Turkey

Work Permits are either obtained from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (ÃalıÅma ve Sosyal Güvenlik BakanlıÄı) or from the Consulates of Turkish Republic abroad.

Essential documents needed are:

- Permission from the Turkish Consulate,

- Passport

- Population information duly certified by notary public

- Passport photos

To receive the permission from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, additional documents are requested. The applicant is given a two-paged document that includes the requested information. The information may be given on a separate page either typed or printed by a computer.

The declaration form requests the following information :

Name of employing company; title; head office address; whether capital is foreign or not; the address the foreigner is going to work at, the type of business the company is involved in; capital information; previous year exportation in dollars; date of establishment; recorded and paid share capital; the total number of Turkish personnel working in the Company and the name, nationality and the position the foreigner has taken part in previous companies.

In addition, the following personal information is required of the person requesting the work permit:

Passport number; name and surname; name of father and mother; date and place of birth; marital status and nationality of the wife/husband, if married. If a previous work permit had been issued, then the following information is also required: details of the issuing authority and the date and number of previous permit documents; name of previous company; the term of employment that the foreigner worked in that company, the position he/she held and the reason of severance (non-employment, leaving, separating etc.).

With regard to education, the following information is required:

1. The applicants' educational status;

2. The names and locations of recent schools the applicant graduated from; and the area of specialization.

If the foreigner has been in Turkey before, the following information is required:

1. Dates in Turkey, places of residence and an explanation for your presence in Turkey.

2. Names, addresses and phone numbers of the persons and the companies the applicant is using as reference.

3. Entity of the position of the applying foreigner in the company.

4. Proposed term of employment.

5. Monthly gross salary to be paid to the foreigner.

6. The reason for employing a foreigner instead of a Turkish citizen.

At the end of the declaration form, there is a date, which should be filled in. The employer and the foreign employee should put signatures at the bottom and the employer a cache in addition certifying that the information given by them is true.

The following additional documents must also be attached to the declaration form:

1. Passport copies that are either certified by a notary public or the applicant's Consulate.

2. Copies of investment incentive certificates and exportation incentive certificates certified by the Foreign Capital Directorate; the activity report of the last(previous) year and the income/outcome table and balance sheet certified by the related tax directorate.

3. Bank letter supporting the last year exportation if the company is an exporting company.

4. Other documents such as a photocopy of the permit document if a previous permit exists, letters of recommendation, diploma, etc.

Online follow-up 'work permit' application:

Please note that it is now available to follow your 'work permit' application online. You can see the scanned original application, establish interactive communication with the personnel and view the detailed stages of your documents at Turkish Labor and Social Security website . However the page is in Turkish therefore you may need some help.