The ability of a foreign national studying at a higher education institution in Türkiye to take up paid employment is not something that student status confers automatically. Such persons must apply for a separate type of permit, namely a student work permit. The permit is granted provided that the criteria laid down by the Ministry are met and that the file is prepared in full.
An unsuccessful application does not mark the end of the process. A fresh request may be submitted once the ground for refusal has been remedied, and it is equally possible to lodge an administrative objection against the decision or to bring an action for annulment before the courts.
In this briefing note we examine the work permit process for foreign nationals holding student status under the following headings: the conditions required, the application channels, the documents requested, the qualities the employment contract must display, the minimum wage threshold, the extension procedure and the legal remedies available in the event of refusal.
Conditions for a Work Permit Under Student Status
This permit is founded on Article 19 of the International Labour Force Act and Article 43 of the Regulation Implementing the International Labour Force Act. Within the framework of those provisions, the following conditions must be satisfied cumulatively:
- The person concerned must be enrolled in a formal education programme at a higher education institution operating in Türkiye,
- For those studying in associate degree and undergraduate programmes, the first year of study must have been completed — postgraduate students in formal education fall outside this restriction,
- Associate degree and undergraduate students may apply for a permit only in respect of a part-time employment relationship,
- The application must be made not by the student but by the workplace where he or she will work.
The last condition is frequently overlooked in practice. The student has no capacity to apply for the permit individually; the sequence runs the other way round. An employment relationship is established first, and the company or institution concerned then opens the file on the student’s behalf.
Please note: Where a foreign student is found to be working without a permit, it is not only the employment that is stopped; the residence permit is also cancelled by the provincial directorate of migration management. For that reason, no work should in fact be carried out before the permit document has been obtained.
Alongside the conditions to be satisfied on the student’s side, there is a separate set of criteria that the employer must also meet. If any one of these criteria is not met, the employment of a foreign national is not possible. Details of the employer’s obligations as a whole and of the general work permit process are addressed in our study on work permits for foreign nationals.
How and Where the Application Is Made
There are two separate channels for obtaining the permit: a visa application made to the Turkish diplomatic mission in the country of which the foreign national is a citizen, or a file opened by the employer through the e-permit system. Which channel applies is determined by where the foreign national is at the time of application and by the residence document he or she holds.
If the foreign national is abroad, the process begins at the diplomatic mission. Where, by contrast, the person is in Türkiye and holds a valid residence permit with a remaining term of at least 6 months, the file is opened directly by the employer through the e-permit system.
Applications Conducted From Abroad
A student who is to be employed in Türkiye applies for a work visa at the Turkish diplomatic mission in the country of which he or she is a national or in which he or she is lawfully resident. Upon that application, a 16-digit reference number is assigned to the student. The student passes that number to the employer in Türkiye, and the employer opens the work permit file in the e-permit system using it.
Applications Conducted From Within Türkiye
Foreign nationals who are in Türkiye and hold a valid residence permit with a term of at least 6 months are issued a Turkish Foreigner Identification Number beginning with "99". For those persons, the employer submits the request through the e-permit automation system using that identification number.
Please note: Regardless of whether the application starts from abroad or from within the country, the authority to open the work permit file lies with the employer. The process is completed by uploading the required documents to the e-permit system. Which documents are requested is explained separately below.
Documents to Be Added to the File
The documents requested fall into two groups: those to be submitted by the employer and those to be obtained from the student.
The documents to be prepared by the employer are as follows:
- The employment contract bearing the signatures of the parties — in applications conducted from abroad, this contract must be signed in advance and submitted by the foreign national to the Turkish diplomatic mission at the time of the work visa application,
- The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette reflecting the current capital structure and shareholding position of the business,
- The balance sheet and profit and loss statement for the most recent year, bearing the approval of the tax office or of a certified public accountant.
The documents requested from the student consist of a copy of the passport, a biometric photograph and a student certificate.
All documents must be scanned and transferred to the e-permit automation system. The upload is carried out with an electronic signature by the employer in person or by an authorised person holding a power of attorney.
Where the passport has been issued in a script other than the Latin alphabet, a translation certified by a sworn translator or an official authority must also be placed in the file. For students whose applications are approved, the validity period of the passport is decisive for the permit to be issued: the permit is drawn up so as not to extend beyond a point 60 days before the expiry date of the passport.
Matters to Observe When Drafting the Employment Contract
In the employment relationship to be established with the student, the point requiring the greatest attention is that the contract be drafted in a manner consistent with the Labour Act No. 4857 and the other relevant legislation. Model employment contracts are also published on the website of the Directorate General of International Labour Force in order to guide practice.
Where an associate degree or undergraduate student is concerned, two restrictions must be reflected in the contract: the work may only be part-time, and it may only begin once the first year of education and training has been completed. In addition, whatever the line of business in which the student will work, the agreed wage must remain above the minimum wage scale determined by the Ministry.
Whether the request escapes refusal by the Ministry depends to a large extent on the quality with which the contract is drafted; the care shown at this stage affects every subsequent step. Obtaining the support of a lawyer practising in the field of immigration law so that the contract is drawn up completely and accurately contributes to a faster and more secure process.
Minimum Wage Level That May Be Agreed
The floor for the wage to be set for the student must be above the minimum wage level shown in the Ministry’s assessment criteria for the line of business in which the foreign national is to be employed. The amount of the monthly wage must, moreover, be kept at a level commensurate with the duties the student will assume and with the competence he or she possesses.
By way of example, for foreign nationals to be employed under titles such as acrobat in firms carrying out tourism and entertainment organisation, payment at twice the minimum wage is required. The requirement of twice the minimum wage likewise applies to duties such as masseur, masseuse and spa therapist. These ratios, which the Ministry determines separately for each line of business, differ from one another.
Refusal Decision, Objection and Action for Annulment
The request is refused where one or more of the grounds for refusal of a work permit listed in the International Labour Force Act are present. Beyond that, a breach of the mandatory procedural rules during the application, or a failure to meet the Ministry’s assessment criteria, may on its own result in refusal.
An objection against a refusal decision must be raised within 30 days of notification of the decision. Objections are made online through the system; a reasoned petition and the supporting documents must be uploaded to the system.
A refusal decision is also open to judicial review. An action for annulment must be brought within 60 days beginning from the day following notification of the refusal decision.
Where an administrative objection has been lodged first and recourse to the courts follows, the calculation of time changes. In that case, the period elapsing between the moment notification is given that the restriction code has been entered and the moment the objection against that decision is lodged is deducted from the 60-day period for bringing an action; the remainder is the time available for the action for annulment. This is because an objection lodged before proceedings suspends the period for bringing administrative proceedings.
The general framework of the refusal decision has been outlined under this heading. The legal remedies that may be pursued where an application is refused, and the details of the process, are addressed in our study on the refusal of work permit applications.
Reapplying After a Refusal
An adverse decision does not prevent a fresh request from being submitted. However, before a new application can be made, the deficiency that led to the refusal of the first file must have been remedied.
Extension Applications and Refusal of an Extension
Extension requests may be submitted from the point at which 60 days remain before the expiry of the existing work permit and must in any event be made before the permit expires. Extension requests arriving after that period are not processed. Extension files are likewise submitted to the Ministry through the e-permit automation system, as with initial applications.
Foreign nationals who have applied for an extension may continue to work at the same workplace provided that they do not exceed 90 days from the date on which the permit expired and do not change the nature of the work they perform. Activity carried out within that 90-day window counts as lawful work; the obligations of both the employer and the student therefore continue without interruption.
Refusal of an extension request may also rest on various grounds: chief among them are the incorrect conduct of the procedural steps to be followed in the application or a failure to satisfy the Ministry’s assessment criteria.
Faced with an adverse decision, those concerned have two options: an administrative objection or an action for annulment. That legal process operates according to the principles explained above under the heading on refusal decisions.
More comprehensive explanations of how an extension application is made and of the remedies available against a refusal decision are set out in our study on the extension of work permits for foreign nationals.
Is a Work Permit Required for an Internship?
Foreign students who are to undertake an internship do not need to obtain a work permit. By contrast, for internships that are made compulsory as part of a university education, an application for exemption from the work permit requirement must be made.
Time Taken for the Application to Be Concluded
A student work permit is concluded within 30 days at the latest.
Fees and Other Costs
Various fees and cost items arise both on the initial application and on extension requests. As at 2023, the fees and costs relating to the student work permit are set out item by item in the relevant schedule.
Where the work permit document is lost, a fee equal to half the fee previously collected is charged for the document to be reissued. In addition, the 2023 Work Permit Document Valuable Paper Charge has been separately determined, effective from 01.01.2023.
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.
Conclusion
Obtaining a work permit for a foreign national holding student status cannot be reduced to meeting the criteria required by the Ministry and assembling the documents. The grant of the permit also depends on the procedural steps being carried out in the correct order and in good time. For that reason, in addition to the completeness of the documents and conditions, the procedural steps must be conducted flawlessly.
Independent Legal Assessment
A significant proportion of the adverse decisions encountered in student work permit files stems not from a substantive deficiency but from an incorrect design, at the outset, of who is to conduct the process and in what order. Clarifying basic rules before the file is opened — that the student cannot make the application in person, and that associate degree and undergraduate students may work only part-time — prevents losses that are difficult to make good at later stages.
In planning the process, we recommend that the following matters in particular be given priority:
- Drafting the employment contract in accordance with the restrictions that student status brings in terms of working time and wages
- Confirming, before the contract is signed, the minimum wage multiplier prescribed by the Ministry for the line of business concerned
- Taking into account, before the application, the shortening effect that the validity period of the passport has on the term of the permit
- Refraining from actually working before the permit document has been obtained, bearing in mind that the residence permit will otherwise also be cancelled
- Submitting the extension request within the window that opens once 60 days remain before the permit expires
- Calculating the 30-day objection period and the 60-day period for bringing an action following a refusal decision together, taking into account the suspensive effect of the objection
Independent Legal provides advisory services and conducts litigation at every stage of work permit applications by foreign nationals, from the structuring of the file to the pursuit of objections and actions for annulment against refusal decisions.