Turkish work permit applications with UK documents

Who issues the permit and who applies

Work permits for foreigners are issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through its Directorate General of International Labour (Uluslararası İşgücü Genel Müdürlüğü) under the International Labour Force Law (No. 6735). The application is not yours to make: the Turkish employer files it on the e-İzin system at calismaizni.gov.tr with its e-Devlet credentials, uploads the documents and pays the fee. Your part is to supply the documents in a form the ministry's examiners can read, which means Turkish, and for foreign public documents, apostilled.

The ministry assesses the employer as much as the employee: a minimum paid-up capital, a ratio of Turkish employees to foreign ones and a minimum salary linked to the job all apply. The evaluation criteria contain exemptions, including for foreigners married to Turkish citizens, which an employer's adviser or a lawyer should confirm for your case. We translate; we do not assess eligibility.

From the UK or from inside Türkiye

The ministry's page on application types, quoted below, divides applicants into two. A domestic application (yurt içi başvuru) is available to a foreigner already in Türkiye who holds a residence permit valid for at least six months, with a foreigner identification number beginning 99. A family residence permit as the spouse of a Turkish citizen qualifies; a visa-free stay does not. An application from abroad (yurt dışı başvuru) starts at the Turkish Consulate General in London, Manchester or Edinburgh, where you apply for a work visa with your employment contract; the consulate issues a 16-digit reference number, and the employer then completes the e-İzin application within the short window the ministry's guides set. When the permit is approved, you collect the visa, enter Türkiye and register your address; the work permit serves as a residence permit while it lasts.

Translation and legalisation in the right order

1. Degree and professional certificates. UK degree certificates are private university documents; a UK notary or solicitor certifies a copy, the FCDO apostilles that certification (e-Apostille £35), and we translate the bundle with a notary-sworn translator in Ankara. For regulated professions the ministry may also want YÖK recognition (denklik), which is a separate application.
2. Employment contract. Bilingual contracts are common; a contract drafted in English is translated into Turkish for the upload and, if the examiner asks, notarised. The signatures and salary must match the e-İzin form.
3. Passport. Uploaded as a scan; a notarised translation of the identity page is asked for by some examiners and by SGK when the employer registers you.
4. Criminal record is not on the standard list, but employers in education, health and care are often asked for one; an ACRO certificate needs a paper apostille before translation.

Documents you will need

• UK degree certificate and, where asked, transcript
• Professional qualification certificates such as teaching, nursing, accountancy or trade certificates
• Employment contract or the Turkish employer's offer, translated in the direction the examiner needs
• British passport identity page
• ACRO police certificate where the sector requires it
• CV in Turkish, biometric photograph, and the employer's own registry and tax documents, which are Turkish already

Common pitfalls

• Translating the degree before it is certified and apostilled; the apostille has to be in the Turkish text or the upload is queried.
• An employment contract whose salary is below the ministry's threshold for the job title; translation cannot fix that.
• Applying from inside Türkiye on a tourist stay; the domestic route needs a residence permit of at least six months.
• Missing the employer's filing window after the consulate reference number is issued, which sends you back to the start.
• Regulated professions (teaching, health) where the permit also depends on a separate professional recognition; start that first.

How we help and what it costs

A typical file is a degree certificate with certification and apostille (2 pages of 1,000 characters), a transcript (2 to 4), a passport page (1) and a contract (3 to 6): £6.50 per page, so £50 to £85 for the translations, with the Ankara notary tariff of about £13.50 per page plus £5 handling per document at cost for the items the examiner wants notarised. No UK VAT is charged. Scans reach you and the employer's HR contact within 2 to 3 working days; originals go by courier for £30 to the employer in Türkiye, which is where they are usually needed. We have no UK office and no collection. We do not file e-İzin applications or advise on eligibility; the employer, its accountant or a Turkish lawyer does that. If your spouse's residence permit is the basis of a domestic application, see Turkish residence permit for a British spouse; for degree recognition, see YÖK denklik.