Foreign nationals who wish to practise the professions of engineering and architecture in Türkiye encounter a work permit regime of their own. Under that regime, establishing professional competence alone is not enough; the other criteria laid down by the legislation must be met at the same time. A refusal of the request is not the end of the road: a fresh application remains possible, and the right to object to the decision and to bring an action for annulment is likewise preserved.
The most distinctive feature setting this field apart from other professional groups is the involvement of the professional body in the process. The opinion of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects is built into the procedure as a stage that directly affects the outcome of the application. Below we address each link in the process in turn, from the employment criteria to the fee items.
Criteria for Employing Foreign Engineers and Architects
The relevant provisions are found in Art. 20 of the International Labour Force Act (UİK), Art. 42 of its Implementing Regulation (UİKUY) and Art. 34 of the TMMOB Act. Two principal frameworks emerge from these provisions.
First, an application may be made by those who have acquired the title of engineer or architect by completing their studies at a faculty of engineering or architecture of a higher education institution in Türkiye, and by those who have acquired that title abroad at an institution recognised both by the authorities of the country concerned and by the Council of Higher Education. However, these persons may practise their profession only within the framework of a project-based work permit of limited duration.
Secondly, a special facility is afforded to foreign contractors and foreign entities. Such entities may employ foreign members of the profession by obtaining a work permit, limited solely to the work in question, for engineering and architectural works they have undertaken in Türkiye — directly or together with domestic entities — for State departments, official and private entities or natural persons. Requests within this scope are decided after the opinion of TMMOB has been obtained. When that opinion is given, foreign members of the profession who obtained their diploma from a higher education institution abroad are not required to establish equivalence of the diploma.
Requests concerning foreign engineers and architects to be employed on works falling outside these two frameworks are likewise concluded after obtaining the opinion of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects. In other words, employment on works outside that scope is subject to a work permit to be granted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in line with the opinion of the Union of Chambers.
PLEASE NOTE: foreign engineers and architects coming to Türkiye must, if they remain in the country for longer than one month, apply to the chamber closest to their field of specialisation and register as temporary members.
How Is a Work Permit Obtained?
The permit may be requested through two different channels: by applying to the Turkish foreign mission in the country of which the foreign national is a citizen, or by an application made by the employer through the e-permit system.
What is decisive is where the foreign national is located at the time of the application. If the foreign national is abroad, the Turkish foreign mission in the country of citizenship comes into play. If, by contrast, the foreign national is in Türkiye and holds a residence document valid for at least 6 months and still in force, the application is made by the employer through the e-permit system.
Applications Made from Abroad
The foreign engineer or architect who is to work in Türkiye applies for a work visa at the Turkish foreign mission in the country of which he or she is a citizen or in which he or she lawfully resides. The 16-digit reference number allocated by the mission is then forwarded to the employer in Türkiye. Using that number, the employer completes the work permit application through the e-permit automation system.
Applications Made from Within Türkiye
Foreign engineers and architects holding a residence permit in Türkiye valid for at least 6 months and still in force have a Turkish foreign identification number beginning with “99”. Using that number, the employer makes the application from within the country through the e-permit system.
Requests are decided once the stages explained above have been completed. Foreign nationals who obtain a permit must notify their address to the provincial directorate of migration management within 20 working days at the latest of the date on which they enter Türkiye.
Documents to Be Submitted with the Application
The documentary burden is shared between the employer and the foreign member of staff.
The employer must provide the following:
- The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette showing the entity’s current capital and shareholding structure
- The balance sheet and profit and loss statement for the most recent year, approved by the tax office or by a sworn certified public accountant
- The employment contract signed between the foreign national and the employer (in applications made from abroad, this text must be signed in advance by the parties and submitted by the foreign member of staff to the Turkish foreign mission when the work visa is requested)
- For legal persons that will employ a foreign national in the capacity of engineer or architect, a payroll record establishing that a Turkish national is employed in the same profession
On the side of the foreign member of staff, the following documents are required:
- A copy of the passport
- The diploma; its Turkish translation must be certified by a sworn translator or by the official authorities
- Where the foreign national for whom a permit is sought within the scope of professional services completed his or her higher education abroad, the “Diploma or Provisional Graduation Certificate of Equivalence” to be obtained under the relevant regulation
Where the passport is not issued in Latin characters, a translation certified by a sworn translator or an official authority must also be added to the file. Furthermore, requests made with a passport, or a document in lieu of a passport, having less than 60 days of validity remaining as at the date of application are not taken into processing.
Documents Required for the TMMOB Assessment
Application files are transmitted by the UİGM to TMMOB. In order for foreign engineers and architects to practise their profession in Türkiye with a permit from the UİGM, the following documents are required with their applications:
- The certificate of equivalence
- Any other professional certificates and documents held
- A document obtained from the professional body in the applicant’s own country establishing that he or she practises the profession
- A document issued within the last six months showing that the applicant is a member of an accredited national or international professional organisation in his or her own country and is not subject to any disbarment from the profession
- For legal persons that will employ a foreign specialist within the scope of engineering, architecture, contracting and consultancy services, the payroll record for the most recent month of one of these professionals, in order to prove that Turkish engineers and architects are employed in the same profession (TMMOB Regulation on the Assessment of Foreign Engineers, Architects and City Planners for Work Permit Purposes and on Applications for Temporary Membership)
When preparing the application, care must be taken to meet the Ministry’s criteria and to compile the documents in full; where the file is incomplete, the application cannot be made. The procedural rules must also be observed when the documents are submitted. In order to manage the process efficiently and obtain a swift outcome, it is advisable to seek legal support in the field of immigration law.
Points to Observe in the Employment Contract
A number of points require attention in the contract to be concluded with a foreign engineer or architect. Foremost among them is that the text must be drawn up in conformity with the Labour Act and the other applicable legislation.
Model texts that may be used are published on the website of the Directorate General of International Labour Force. These models fall under four headings: the fixed-term employment contract, the fixed-term service contract for domestic services, the fixed-term employment contract for persons granted temporary protection and the fixed-term employment contract for persons granted international protection.
For the request to be capable of acceptance, correct determination of the salary stipulated in the contract is of critical importance. Where a salary below the mandatory minimum amount set out in the Ministry’s assessment criteria is agreed, the application is refused.
The Minimum Salary That May Be Agreed
The lowest salary that may be stipulated for a foreign engineer or architect is 4 times the minimum wage, amounting to TRY 40,032.00 gross.
That figure has been calculated, in accordance with the Ministry’s assessment criteria, on the basis of the 2023 minimum wage in force at the date of the application. It should not be overlooked that the amount may change from year to year.
Refusal Decision, Objection and Action for Annulment
The request may be refused where one or more of the grounds for refusing a work permit generally listed in the UİK materialise. A refusal may also arise from a breach of the procedural rules that must be observed during the application. In addition, failure to meet the Ministry’s assessment criteria likewise results in refusal.
Against the Ministry’s refusal decision, the parties concerned may object to the Ministry within 30 days of the date on which the decision was notified to them. Objections are submitted through the e-permit automation system.
At the objection stage, a petition on the matter must be uploaded to the system; care must also be taken to upload, bearing an electronic signature, the documents substantiating the points raised in the petition. Where the objection to the Ministry is also refused, it becomes possible to bring an action for annulment before the administrative court.
This heading addresses the matter in general terms. For detailed explanations of the legal routes available where the request is refused, the note entitled “refusal of a work permit application” may be consulted.
Reapplying After a Refusal
Refusal of the request does not preclude a fresh work permit application. However, before the second application, the deficiency that led to the refusal must have been remedied. To that end, it is essential to determine accurately the ground on which the refusal decision was based.
Extension Application and Refusal of the Extension
Extension requests must be submitted once 60 days remain until the expiry of the work permit and, in any event, before the permit period ends. Extension applications made after that period has passed are refused. The extension request is likewise submitted to the Ministry through the e-permit system.
Foreign nationals who have made an extension application may continue working at the same workplace, provided that no more than 90 days have elapsed since the date the permit expired and that the nature of the work performed has not changed. Work during that 90-day period also counts as lawful work; the obligations of the employer and of the foreign member of the profession continue in the same way.
Refusal of an extension request may stem from failure to observe the procedural rules applicable to the application or from failure to meet the Ministry’s assessment criteria. In the event of refusal, the parties concerned may object to the decision and may also bring an action for annulment. The objection and litigation process is the same as the procedure explained under the heading on the refusal of a work permit application.
More comprehensive information on the subject is set out in the note entitled “extension of a foreign work permit”, which addresses how the extension application is made and how the process operates.
How Long Does the Application Take?
A work permit request for a foreign engineer or architect is decided within 30 days at the latest.
Fees and Other Costs
Various fee and cost items arise both on the initial application and on the extension application. These amounts as at 2023 are examined in the table below.
The fees and costs indicated are collected on work permit applications. In addition, a valuable paper charge of TRY 356 is paid for 2023; a service charge is also paid to YÖK when obtaining the certificate of equivalence, which is one of the application documents. The YÖK service charge for the certificate of equivalence is TRY 150 as at 2023.
PLEASE NOTE: if the fee requested and the valuable paper charge are not paid within 30 days of the date of notification, the work permit application is removed from processing. For that reason, once the payment notification has been received, care must be taken to ensure that the fee and the valuable paper charge have each been paid separately within that 30-day period.
Independent Legal Assessment
Engineering and architecture are among the limited number of fields in which, in work permit practice, the opinion of the professional body is built into the decision-making process. That structure requires the file to be prepared simultaneously not only against the Ministry’s criteria but also against the set of documents sought by TMMOB. In practice, a significant proportion of delays arise from the late procurement of the certificate of equivalence, or from the payroll record showing the employment of Turkish staff in the same profession never being placed in the file at all.
The following points should be given priority in any specific recruitment plan:
- Determining at the outset whether the work will be carried out on a project basis or within the scope of a contracting undertaking, since the applicable regime differs accordingly
- Clarifying in advance whether equivalence of the diploma is required, according to the framework on which the application is based
- Keeping current the document required by the professional body, issued within the last six months, evidencing membership and the absence of any disbarment from the profession
- Comparing the salary in the contract against four times the minimum wage in force at the date of the application
- Confirming before the application that the remaining validity of the passport exceeds 60 days
- Not neglecting temporary membership registration with the relevant chamber for stays longer than one month
Independent Legal provides advisory services and conducts litigation in the preparation of work permit files concerning the employment of foreign engineers and architects, in the conduct of TMMOB procedures, and at the stages of objection and action for annulment against refusal decisions.