There is an administrative procedure that foreign nationals employed in Türkiye under a work permit, and the employers who employ them, must initiate before the permit expires: the extension of the work permit. Continuing to work under an expired permit without making this application gives rise to serious sanctions; the foreign national faces deportation, and the employer who employs them faces an administrative fine.
How the Extension Application Is Made
The application is created by the employer through the e-permit portal on the e-government system. In order to access the system, the employer must hold a registered electronic mail (KEP) address and an electronic signature. The employee in respect of whom the application is to be made is selected from the extension tab on the portal; the fields on the application form are then completed in full and the required documents are uploaded to the system in pdf format to conclude the procedure.
Once the application has been created, the amounts payable in respect of the fee and the official document charge, together with the bank account details, are sent to the employer’s e-mail address registered in the system. Payment must be made within 30 days of that notification; otherwise the application is struck out.
If, after payment of the fees, the assessment carried out by the competent authorities is favourable, the work permit document is sent by post to the address of the workplace.
NOTE: Under the arrangements introduced, an employer making a work permit or extension application is required to hold an electronic signature and a KEP address capable of receiving electronic service.
Timing of the Application
An extension request may be made in the 60 days preceding the expiry of the work permit and must in any event be created before the permit expires. Extension applications not made within that period are not accepted.
Is Extension Possible After the Permit Has Expired?
No extension may be made once the permit has expired; applications created at that stage are refused. If the foreign national does not also hold a valid residence permit, they face deportation unless they leave the country within 10 days.
A foreign national whose work permit has expired and who has not made an extension request, but who wishes to continue working in Türkiye, must make a fresh work permit application. Indeed, extension applications created after the permit has expired are themselves subject to the same provisions as a first-time work permit application.
Requirements for an Extension Application
The requirements fall under three headings: those to be met by the employer, those to be met by the foreign employee, and the remaining requirements.
Requirements on the Employer’s Side
Whether a foreign employee’s extension request is granted depends on a series of conditions being satisfied on the employer’s side:
- The proportion of foreign employees employed at the workplace must be no more than ⅙ of the workforce. For example, in a workplace employing six people, at most one may be a foreign national.
- The requirement relating to capital must continue to be met.
- All social security contributions in respect of the foreign employee must have been paid.
- All tax liabilities of the workplace must have been paid.
- The remuneration paid to the foreign employee must not fall below the minimum wage set for foreign nationals.
In addition, the conditions that the workplace had to satisfy at the time of the first application must still be met. The workplace is also required to have generated turnover in the department in which the foreign national works and to have contributed to the national economy.
Another decisive factor in obtaining a favourable outcome is that the employment contract signed between the parties has been drawn up in accordance with the prescribed criteria. In practice, applications refused because of errors in the wording of the contract are encountered frequently. It is therefore advisable to obtain the assistance of a lawyer practising in the law on foreign nationals when the contract is drafted.
Requirements on the Foreign Employee’s Side
For the request to be granted, the foreign employee must also satisfy certain conditions. The employee must not have spent more than six months abroad during the period of the permit, must not have been involved in any offence, and must not have posed a threat to public health or security during that period.
Alongside these conditions, the requirements specific to the existing work permit must also continue to be met.
Other Requirements
The conditions set out above are of a general nature so far as extension applications are concerned. Beyond them, each sector has its own particular requirements. Explanations concerning the types of work permit a foreign national may hold appear in the note entitled "how a work permit for foreign nationals is obtained".
Updating the Remuneration in Extension Applications
Updating the foreign employee’s remuneration is mandatory in extension applications. Because the minimum wage scale for foreign nationals is republished every six months, the remuneration to be paid to the employee for the new work permit period must be set above that minimum amount.
Documents Required for an Extension
Some of the documents required are provided by the foreign employee and some by the employer. The file must contain the following:
- The extension application form and the current work permit document,
- The employment contract signed between the employer and the foreign national,
- The diploma or graduation certificate translated into Turkish by a sworn translator,
- The diploma showing the last institution from which the foreign national graduated,
- A photocopy of the passport or of the document serving in place of a passport,
- Two biometric photographs of the foreign employee,
- The workplace activity certificate,
- The profit and loss balance sheet approved by the tax office or by a certified public accountant,
- The Trade Registry Gazette showing the current capital structure and the number of shareholders of the workplace,
- Where the work is to be carried out in the health sector, the prior authorisation document obtained from the Ministry of Health, and where it is to be carried out in the education sector, the same document obtained from the Ministry of National Education.
The documents are uploaded to the system electronically at the time of application. Documents that cannot be obtained electronically must be scanned in the accepted format (pdf) and uploaded.
Where the file is incomplete, assessment of the application is deferred until the deficiency has been made good. A maximum of 30 days is allowed for completion; if the deficiency is not remedied within that period, the application is refused.
How Long the Application Takes
Extension applications are concluded within approximately 20 to 25 days. That period may, however, vary according to the volume of applications. Where deficiencies are identified in the documents, the administration may allow up to 30 days for them to be made good; the application is suspended during that period.
For How Many Years a Permit May Be Extended
A work permit obtained for the first time may be extended by a maximum of two years. Where a further extension is requested at the end of that period, an extension of at most three years is granted.
For example, the first extension request of a foreign national working in Türkiye under a one-year work permit results in an extension of two years at most. On a second extension request made 60 days before the expiry of that period, at most three years are added. The permit is thus structured as 1+2+3 years in total.
Where the employer changes, the extension application made is subject to the provisions governing a first work permit application, and the permit is therefore granted for a period of one year at most.
Change of Workplace and Transfer of the Permit
A foreign national employed in Türkiye under a work permit may move to another position at the same workplace or to another branch of the same employer in the same line of business. That move is, however, subject to certain conditions:
- The request for a change of branch or position must be submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through the e-permit portal on the e-government system.
- On a change of position, the position moved into must not require prior authorisation and must bear a similarity to the foreign national’s previous role.
- On a change of branch, the branch moved into must be recorded in the employer’s trade registry entry.
- The application must be approved by the Directorate General of International Labour Force.
Where work is to continue with a different employer, transfer of the permit is not possible. Nor can there be any question of a transfer where the move is to an entirely separate and independent workplace. In those cases a fresh work permit application must be created by the new employer.
Explanations concerning transfer applications are dealt with in detail in the note entitled "work permit transfer (change of workplace)".
Social Security Obligations During the Extension Process
The employer’s social security obligations towards the employee continue during the period in which the application is under assessment. If the foreign national continues to work during that process, their insurance contributions must be paid and the employee may claim them from the employer.
Special Requirements by Sector
The conditions described above form the general framework for an extension; in certain sectors, special requirements are sought in addition to them. Sectoral requirements apply alongside the general requirements, not in place of them. In other words, the general conditions apply to extension applications in every sector.
Domestic services: Work permits are not granted to foreign nationals for domestic services other than the care of the elderly, the sick and children. In elderly care, extension of the permit depends on the elderly person being cared for being alive at the time the extension request is made. The requirement of being alive also applies in the care of the sick; in addition, the illness of the person cared for must be ongoing. In childcare, the child cared for must not have reached the age of 15.
Related note: "work permit for a foreign carer"
Education sector: For the permit of a foreign national working in this sector to be extended, an increase in the number of students at the educational institution employing them is required in addition to the general conditions. Extension applications in the education sector are, moreover, subject to the prior authorisation of the Ministry of National Education; that authorisation is obtained from the provincial directorate of national education.
Related note: "work permit for a foreign teacher"
Health sector: Extension of the permit of a foreign national working in the health field is subject to the prior authorisation of the Ministry of Health. That authorisation may be obtained from the provincial directorate of health.
Related note: "work permit for a foreign doctor"
No special requirement is prescribed for sectors other than domestic services, education and health, which are subject to the general conditions alone.
Costs of an Extension
Although the amounts payable differ according to the type of permit and the period of the extension, they are applied at TRY 4,635.30 for each year of extension. Accordingly, TRY 4,635.30 is payable for a one-year extension, TRY 9,270.60 for an extension of up to two years, and TRY 13,905.90 for an extension of between two and three years. In addition, an official document charge of TRY 356 must be paid irrespective of the length of the extension.
Refusal of the Extension Application
Applications that do not meet the extension requirements, that are not created within the time limit, that are made with incomplete documents, or whose deficiencies are not made good within the period allowed, are refused.
Once the application has been completed, the administration carries out its assessment and gives its decision. A failure by the administration to decide within that period is likewise treated as an implied refusal. Where the application is refused, the avenues of objection to the administration and of an action for annulment are open.
NOTE: A foreign national whose work permit is refused must leave the country within ten days; otherwise they are deported. However, if the foreign national has lodged an objection against the refusal or brought an action for annulment, no obligation to leave Türkiye arises until those proceedings have been concluded.
Objection and Action for Annulment against a Refusal
Where an extension request is refused, an objection may be lodged with the competent authority and an action for annulment may equally be brought. The objection is lodged with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security within 30 days, running from service of the decision on the applicant in the case of an express refusal and from the expiry of the 30-day period in the case of an implied refusal.
Where the objection lodged with the competent authority is rejected, or where no reply at all is given to it, an action for annulment may be brought before the administrative court. The objection is not a mandatory stage; it is also possible to bring an action for annulment directly.
The legal procedure applicable to a refusal of an extension request is the same as that applicable to a refusal of a first application. Detailed explanations on the subject appear in the note entitled "refusal of a work permit extension application".
Independent Legal Assessment
Although the extension of a work permit is on its face a routine administrative step, it is a process whose consequences can be severe, because a missed time limit cannot be remedied. Since the possibility of extension closes entirely once the permit has expired, setting out the timetable at the outset and beginning preparations from the first day of the sixty-day window is decisive. A significant proportion of the refusals seen in practice stem not from any substantive obstacle but from a missed time limit or a missing document.
In a concrete file it is advisable to give priority to the following points:
- Scheduling the sixty-day application window by reference to the expiry date of the permit and completing the application before that date
- Verifying, before the application, the position on the employer’s side as to the ratio of foreign employees, the capital requirement, and any tax and social security debts
- Resetting the remuneration by reference to the minimum scale, which is updated every six months
- Where sectoral prior authorisation is required, adding the relevant ministry’s authorisation to the file in advance
- Paying the fee and the official document charge within the thirty-day period following the notification
- Where the application is refused, calculating the relationship between the thirty-day objection period and the period for bringing administrative proceedings so that no time is lost
Independent Legal provides advisory and litigation services in relation to the employment of foreign personnel, from the preparation of work permit and extension applications through to administrative court proceedings brought against refusals.