According to article 4 of the Law numbered 4817 regarding the work permit of the foreigners which came into effect on 06.03.2003 (the “Law”), unless otherwise is provided in the bilateral or multilateral agreements to which Turkey is a party, the foreigners are required to obtain work permits before their employment in Turkey.

A part from the requirements determined under the Law and respective regulations; below, some of the important criteria that were put into force by the Ministry of Labor (and published its’ official website) concerning work permit applications are listed. We would like to emphasize that some of the cases certain criteria may not be applicable considering the nature of the employment:

1-      At least five Turkish citizens should be employed in the company in which the work permit is requested.

2-      If a Turkish company (the employer) intends to employ more than one foreign personnel under its payroll, the company should employ 5 Turkish national for each foreign personnel. In other words, for the work permit application of the second foreign personnel, another five (5) Turkish employees should be employed by the company.

3-      The paid up capital of the Company should be minimum TL-100.000 or its gross sales shall be minimum TL-800.000 or its exportation amount of the last year shall be minimum USD 250.000.

4-      The amount of monthly wage which is declared to be paid to the foreigner by the employer shall be appropriate and in line with the work and ability of the foreigner. Accordingly, as of the application date, provided that the amount of minimum wage is considered, the amount to be paid to the foreigner shall be minimum as follows;

a)      6,5 times of the minimum wage for the senior managers, pilots and engineers applying for the prior authorization and architectures,

b)      4 times of the minimum wage for the unit and branch managers and for engineers and architectures,

c)       3 times of the minimum wage for the persons who will work at the jobs requiring specialty and mastery and for teachers,

d)      1,5 times of the minimum wage for the foreigners who will work as domestic works and at other jobs.

The minimum wages of salaries of the employees working under an employment contract in Turkey are determined latest every two years by the Ministry of Labor through the Minimum Wage Fixing Board.

According to the letter prepared by the Directorate of Labor Affairs and announced in the official website of the Authority, for the term of 01.07.2014 – 31.12.2014; the minimum salary to be paid to the employees is TL 1.134 (total cost to be born on the employer will be TL 1.332,45).