A number of international businesses operate in Türkiye, and as these foreign businesses expand, so does the need for more foreign employees.

There are certain permissions that need to be obtained for foreign employees employed by foreign investors in our country. As a generic note, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security is the competent authority for regulating the working conditions of the foreign employees.

The Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875 was enacted in 2003 to encourage foreign investments to operate in Türkiye, to protect foreign investors' rights, to comply with international standards, and to increase foreign investments.

To facilitate the employment of foreign nationals within the scope of this law, the provisions of the Regulation on Employment of Foreign Personnel in Foreign Direct Investments (“Regulation”) serve as a guide. However, for the provisions of the Regulation to be implemented, (i) the investment must be a special foreign direct investment and (ii) the foreign worker whose work permit is requested must be in the position of “key personnel”. On the other hand, the work permits of the non-key personnel who work in foreign direct investments are handled under the provisions of the International Labor Law and the Regulation on the Implementation of the said Law.

Special Foreign Direct Investments

Under the Regulation, a company or branch that falls within the scope of Law No. 4875 and meets at least one of the following conditions is considered a Special Foreign Direct Investments.

Special Foreign Direct Investment Values (Year 2022)

• The company's or branch last year's turnover is at least 258.4 million Turkish Liras, provided that the total share capital of the foreign partners is at least 3,439,592 Turkish Liras.

• The company's or branch's exports should have been at least one million US Dollars in the previous year, provided that the total share capital of the foreign partners is at least 3.439,592 Turkish Liras.

• Employment of at least 250 Social Security Institution-registered personnel in the company or branch in the previous year, provided that the total share capital of foreign partners is at least 3,439,592 Turkish Liras.

• If the company or branch plans to invest, the minimum fixed investment amount should be 85.8 million Turkish Liras.

• Having foreign direct investment in at least one country other than the parent company's home country.

Article 4 of the Regulation defines key personnel as follows:

"Key Personnel" is defined as employees of a Turkish-based corporation with legal personality who meet at least one of the following requirements:

• Working in the senior management or executive position of the company,

• Managing the whole or a part of the company,

• Supervising or controlling the work of the company's auditors, administrative or technical personnel,

• Recruiting new personnel to the company or dismissing the existing personnel or making offers on these matters, taking part in at least one of their fields or having authority in these matters; company partner, chairman of the board of directors, member of the board of directors, general manager, assistant general manager, company manager, deputy company manager and similar positions,

• Person with knowledge deemed necessary for the company's services, research equipment, techniques, or management,

• In liaison offices, a maximum of one person is specified for whom an authorization certificate is issued by the parent company abroad.

Differences in work permits obtained by key personnel and non-key personnel:

• For the non-key personnel, information and documents, as well as opinions and evaluations, regarding applications for work permits to be obtained under the International Labor Force Law Regulation to the Ministry are being conveyed to the Ministry by Turkish foreign representative offices. As for the key personnel, however, the relevant authorities are not consulted regarding key personnel's professional competence in foreign direct investments.

• Key personnel are exempt from the International Labor Law Regulation's professional qualification request and qualification procedure, as well as the license request and procedure.

• Investing under the Foreign Direct Investors Law does not obligate foreign personnel, including company partners, to be granted a work permit, but the reasons for rejection are more limited.

• Key personnel who have obtained a residence permit for at least six months for any reason and have been given a work permit during this residence permit term are exempt from the requirement of obtaining a work from the foreign representative offices of Türkiye. However, residence permits provided for academic purposes are not included.

• The Ministry of Labor and Social Security finalizes the work permit or time extension applications made for the key personnel to be employed in the liaison offices and special foreign investments, within fifteen days at the latest, provided that the documents are complete. Nonetheless, applications for foreign workers, excluding key personnel, will be processed within thirty days, according to the International Labor Law Implementation Regulation.

• While key personnel can apply for an extension within fifteen days after the expiry of the work permit, the non-key personnel must apply for a work permit extension through the system sixty days before the expiry of the work permit.

• Before applying for a work permit for non-key personnel, the relevant foreigner must have a valid residence permit for at least six months. On the other hand, key personnel do not require residence permits.

As a result, obtaining work permits for key personnel employed per the provisions of the Regulation is faster and less risky in terms of rejection rather than non-key personnel’s work permit.  For this reason, the implementation of the Regulation will be more practical for those who fall under the definition of key personnel.