The Regulation on the Implementation of the International Labor Force Law (“Regulation”) had entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated February 2, 2022 and numbered 31738. Pursuant to the provisional article of the Regulation, the “Work Permit Evaluation Criteria” applied by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (“Ministry”) in evaluating work permit applications have been updated in accordance with Article 22 of the Regulation. The new work permit evaluation criteria entered into force as of October 1, 2024.
What Is Regulated Under The New Evaluation Criteria?
The employment, financial capability and salary criteria in the work permit evaluation criteria have been revised and new arrangements have been made based on various sectors, professions or jobs. In addition, the exceptions to these criteria have been revised. In the revised criteria and exceptions, it may be important whether the workplace is subject to the balance sheet method, whether it is a newly established or already operating workplace, whether there is an ordinary partnership, and whether the foreigner has previously stayed legally in Türkiye.
In addition, the scope of foreigners exempted from the evaluation criteria has been expanded to include (i) foreigners who have been in Türkiye for at least eight years based on a work permit, short-term residence permit, family residence permit, long-term residence permit, humanitarian residence permit or residence permit for victims of human trafficking, (ii) foreigners who will work in professions and jobs other than those reserved for Turkish citizens and who are declared to be of Turkish descent by the Ministry of Interior Affairs or Ministry of Foreign Affairs or deemed appropriate by the Directorate General of International Labor Force within the scope of international labor policy, and (iii) foreigners who have been granted a long-term residence permit.
The new Regulation also introduces special evaluation criteria based on sector, profession or job. Accordingly, the criteria to be applied will differ in terms of the sectors, in which the workplaces where the foreigner will work, operate and the jobs, in which the foreigner will work. In this context, different regulations have been made based on sectors and occupations such as IT, education, domestic services (child care, care for the disabled people or elderly people), aviation, sectors requiring advanced technology (qualified investments, R&D and design centers), public projects, health and tourism. In addition, special evaluation criteria have been introduced for foreign students’ work permit applications.
The thresholds for paid-in capital and net sales in the financial capability criteria and the capital amount threshold in the financial capability criteria for foreigners who are shareholders of companies will enter into force on January 1, 2025. In addition, the former financial capability criteria will continue to be applied for work permit applications until January 1, 2025. In this context, it will be considered sufficient in terms of the financial capability criteria if the workplace’s paid-in capital is at least TRY 100,000 or its gross sales are at least TRY 800,000 or its exports from the last year amount to at least USD 150,000, and the foreign shareholder’s capital amount is at least TRY 40,000.
In addition, extension applications for work permits will be evaluated based on the financial capability criteria applicable on the date of the first application. For example, if an extension application is made for a work permit whose application was made before October 1, 2024, the criteria and exceptions that were in effect before October 1, 2024 will be taken into consideration.
Conclusion
The evaluation criteria applied by the Ministry in work permit applications are of great importance and non-compliance with these criteria may lead the application to be rejected. Therefore, before applying for a work permit, the newly announced criteria and exceptions should be examined in detail, and it should be evaluated whether they will apply to the relevant foreigner’s employment.
