How does a company sponsor a work permit in Turkey?
Work permits in Turkey are employer-sponsored under Law 6735 (International Labour Force Law). Your Turkish entity applies to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security — directly if the hire already holds a Turkish residence permit, or through a consular application the employer completes online. The initial permit runs up to one year, then renews for longer periods.
How sponsorship works
A Turkish work permit (çalışma izni) is employer-sponsored: your company in Turkey files the application with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security under Law 6735, and the permit is tied to that employer and workplace. There are two routes. If the candidate is already in Turkey on a residence permit with at least six months' validity, the employer applies directly online. Otherwise the candidate applies at a Turkish embassy or consulate in their country of citizenship or legal residence, receives a reference number, and the employer completes the online filing within 30 days.
An approved permit also counts as a residence permit (Law 6735, art. 12), so the hire enters on a work visa and needs no separate residence application. One prerequisite to state plainly: sponsoring requires a Turkish legal entity. If you don't have one, an EOR employs and sponsors the person on its own entity — the honest answer for a first hire — or you incorporate and sponsor yourself, which is the path Otto HR is built for.
The criteria your company must meet
The Ministry publishes evaluation criteria. The current framework took effect on 1 October 2024 and has since been updated in 2026 with sector-specific relaxations (manufacturing, poultry, recycling, and foreigners with prior lawful residence in Türkiye). The sponsoring workplace must employ at least five Turkish citizens per foreign worker, and must show financial standing: at least 500,000 TL of paid-in capital for newly established companies, or — for operating companies — 500,000 TL capital, 8,000,000 TL of net sales, or USD 150,000 of exports. Companies with net sales of 50 million TL or more may sponsor up to five foreign workers without the five-employee ratio.
The declared salary must match the role, set as a multiple of the gross minimum wage (33,030 TL in 2026): at least 5× for senior executives and pilots — 165,150 TL per month — 4× for engineers and architects, 3× for other managers, 2× for jobs requiring expertise, and at least the minimum wage for domestic and other work. A foreign shareholder applying for their own permit needs at least a 20% stake worth 500,000 TL or more.
These criteria are Ministry policy, not statute, and practice moves: some roles and sectors get relaxed treatment (IT specialists, certain tourism establishments), health and education professions need pre-approval from their own ministries (Law 6735, art. 8), and exemptions are decided file by file. Running the application through an immigration advisor or counsel is the norm, not a warning sign.
Timelines, duration, renewal
The Ministry evaluates a complete file within 30 days (implementing regulation, art. 21). Missing documents pause the clock, and assembling them — apostilled diploma, sworn translations, the employment contract — usually takes longer than the review itself. Budget one to two months from filing, more on the consular route with its visa step.
The first permit is issued for at most one year, tied to the employer. Renewals — filed in the 60 days before expiry, always before it lapses — run up to two years the first time and up to three years after that with the same employer (Law 6735, arts. 7 and 10). After eight years of legal work, or with a long-term residence permit, the employee can apply for an indefinite permit.
Exemptions and the Turquoise Card
Some work is possible without a permit: the law defines exemption categories for short, specific engagements (Law 6735, art. 13), worth checking before you file. For senior talent there is also the Turquoise Card (Law 6735, art. 11) — a permit for highly qualified professionals and significant investors, transitional for its first three years and indefinite on application after that.
The cost of skipping the process is real: employing a foreigner without a permit draws an administrative fine per worker, revalued each year, and the employer also bears the worker's — and their family's — accommodation and return-travel costs (Law 6735, art. 23).
After approval: a normal Turkish payroll
From the first workday, a sponsored hire is a regular employee on your Turkish payroll: SGK registration, 15–40% income tax withholding, stamp tax, annual leave and severance accrual like any local employment. Because sponsored salaries start at 2–5× minimum wage by rule, the SGK contribution ceiling (297,270 TL per month in 2026) and the upper tax brackets do real work in the net-to-gross math — model the employer cost before you commit an offer.
Otto HR runs that side: Turkish payroll with the statutory rules built in, where Otto prepares each pay run and a person approves it. For the permit itself, pair with immigration counsel — Otto HR is HR software, not an immigration agency.
| Governing law | Law No. 6735 (International Labour Force Law, 2016) |
| Initial permit | Up to 1 year |
| Renewals | Up to 2 years, then up to 3 years |
| Statutory review | 30 days with a complete file |
| Staff ratio | 5 Turkish employees per foreign worker |
| Capital criterion | 500,000 TL paid-in (sales/export alternatives) |
| Wage floor | Minimum wage to 5×, by role |
| Renewal window | The 60 days before expiry |
Frequently asked
The Ministry must evaluate a complete work-permit file within 30 days (implementing regulation, art. 21). In practice, plan four to eight weeks from filing to approval, plus the document-gathering phase before it — apostilled diplomas and sworn translations usually take longer than the review. The consular route adds a visa appointment and entry on top.
No — Turkish work permits govern work performed in Turkey. A person working from another country for your company needs no Turkish permit. Their employment or contractor arrangement is governed by the rules of the country they work from, and the real risks to check are misclassification and local-employment rules there.
No. The application is filed by the employing entity in Turkey, so sponsorship requires a Turkish company. Without one, an EOR employs and sponsors the hire on its own entity, or you incorporate first and sponsor yourself. Otto HR is built for the own-entity path — and for teams graduating from an EOR.
Renewal is filed online by the employer within the 60 days before the permit expires — always before expiry (Law 6735, art. 7). The first renewal can be granted for up to two years and later renewals for up to three, with the same employer. After eight years of legal work, the employee can apply for an indefinite permit.
No. A valid work permit counts as a residence permit (Law 6735, art. 12), so the hire enters Turkey on a work visa and lives there on the strength of the permit itself — no separate residence-permit application is needed while it remains valid.
The employer files online with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. If the candidate is already in Turkey on a residence permit valid for at least six more months, the whole process runs domestically. Otherwise the candidate applies with the signed employment contract at a Turkish consulate abroad, receives a reference number, and the employer completes the electronic application within ten working days (Law No. 6735).
The set varies by application type, but the core is: the employee's valid passport, biometric photo and signed employment contract, plus a diploma or equivalence certificate where the role requires one, and from the employer, the activity certificate, current tax and SGK records and a salary declaration. Domestic applications add the employee's residence permit, valid for at least six more months.
From the employee: a valid passport, a biometric photo, the diploma or graduation certificate (with a notarized Turkish translation, plus an equivalence certificate for some professions) and the signed employment contract. From the sponsoring company: corporate documents such as the trade registry gazette, tax plate and the latest balance sheet or income statement showing financial standing. Everything is filed online through the Ministry of Labour's e-İzin system — and a missing document pauses the 30-day review clock.
Work permit exemptions rest on Law 6735, art. 13, with the categories listed one by one in art. 48 of the implementing regulation: short-term visitors for scientific, cultural or artistic activity, federation-approved athletes and coaches coming for competitions or camps, officials of international organizations and accredited foreign press, among others. The exemption is not automatic — the foreigner applies through e-İzin for a work permit exemption certificate from the Ministry, and each category carries its own maximum duration.