Employing foreign staff at a hotel in Türkiye: work permits and the Ministry's criteria

An employer in Türkiye applies for a foreign employee's work permit before the first shift, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's electronic system. The Ministry's published criteria require five Türkiye citizens per foreign employee in general. Specific exceptions apply for certain contracted roles and workplace types within certified tourism businesses, and for animation firms employing at least ten citizens; they do not exempt every role in every certified hotel.

A guest relations desk that handles Russian, German and Arabic is a hiring decision, and in Türkiye it is also a permit decision. The permit has to exist before the person's first shift, and the Ministry's published criteria decide whether the application fits the hotel at all. After reading this you will know who files what, which criteria the Ministry checks, how the tourism exceptions are worded, and how to sequence permits before the season opens.

Who applies for a work permit for hotel staff in Türkiye, and when?#

The employer applies, and the permit must exist before the person works. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security issues it, and every step runs through the Ministry's electronic system.

The duty comes from the International Labour Force Law (Law No. 6735) and its implementing regulation, published in the Resmî Gazete on 2 February 2022 (No. 31738) and amended once, on 15 October 2024 (opens in a new tab). A foreigner who will work in Türkiye must obtain a work permit before starting work (Article 12). All applications and procedures run electronically through the Ministry's system (Article 11), so before anything else the employer needs an electronic notification address (Article 16).

The practical consequence is simple: the permit is not paperwork that follows a hiring decision. It is a condition of the first shift, and the job and workplace named in it must match what the person will actually do. Before you even post the vacancy, it helps to have defined the role and who decides what before you hire.

Two routes: from abroad and from within Türkiye#

From abroad, the foreigner first applies for a work visa at the Turkish mission in the country of which they are a citizen or where they legally reside (Article 15). The employer then uploads the mission's reference number and the required documents, and must approve the application in the system within 30 days of the visa application (Article 17).

From within Türkiye, the application is complete once the documents are uploaded and the employer approves it (Article 17). Except for foreigners the Directorate General specifies, the foreigner needs a residence permit valid for at least six months, and an authorised intermediary may file on the employer's behalf (Article 15).

What does the Ministry check in a work permit application?#

Three tests decide most files: how many Türkiye citizens the workplace employs, whether the business is financially adequate, and what wage the foreigner will be paid. The workplace's physical capacity then caps how many foreigners it can hold.

The employment criterion applies at workplaces that keep balance-sheet-basis books: at least five Türkiye citizens must be employed at the workplace for each foreigner to be employed. The criterion does not apply to applications for up to five foreigners at a workplace whose net sales last year were TRY 50,000,000 or more.

Financial adequacy asks an operating workplace for at least TRY 500,000 paid-in capital, or at least TRY 8,000,000 net sales, or at least USD 150,000 in exports. On wages, a foreigner in a job that requires expertise and craftsmanship must be paid at least twice the gross minimum wage in force on the application date; other managers at least three times; senior managers at least five times. The maximum number of foreigners at a workplace is set by its financial adequacy and physical capacity, so a large room count does not by itself justify a larger foreign team.

Dates matter. The criteria (opens in a new tab) took effect on 1 October 2024, except the paid-in capital and net-sales thresholds, which have applied since 1 January 2025; some provisions have applied since 11 March 2026 or 3 August 2026. Check which version governs the month you file in, and read the current text with your adviser rather than a summary, including this one.

Does the five-to-one rule apply to a certified hotel or an animation team?#

Not always. The employment criterion does not apply if the applicant employs at least ten Türkiye citizens and is one of the workplace types the criteria list, and that list is written narrowly.

Two conditions sit in front of the list: at least ten Türkiye citizens employed, and the applicant must actually be one of those types. A hotel that hires an animator directly is not an animation firm, and the exception follows the contracting party, not the job title. The certificate is the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's, so confirm which document the business holds and that it is current before relying on the exception.

Masseurs, spa therapists and similar workers may work only at the specified types of workplace, so a spa hire needs the workplace checked before the person is hired, not after. For accommodation businesses and jobs that do not require expertise and craftsmanship, applications are assessed under the general employment criterion, counting the business's Türkiye-citizen employees across Türkiye. Since 11 March 2026, a separate allowance sits on top of that criterion: for each five Türkiye citizens employed at the workplace concerned, counted per branch, one additional foreigner may be employed. The general employment criterion still governs the rest of the application; the allowance adds room, it does not remove the five-to-one ratio. This is where a group with several resorts gains room to move: the count is per branch for the additional allowance, so the branch, not the group payroll, is the unit to prepare. If the hires are driven by guest languages, planning a language mix for your guest profile comes first.

How far ahead should a resort plan work permits before the season?#

Work backwards from the opening date. The clocks that bind you are the 30-day employer approval, the residence permit for in-country files, and the window in which the person must actually start work.

For applications from abroad, the foreigner must start work within one month of entering Türkiye and in any case within six months of the permit's start date (Article 25). A permit granted early and a late arrival can therefore expire before the season begins. For in-country applications, the foreigner must start work within one month of the permit's start date (Article 25).

A first permit for work with an employer is valid for at most one year, is granted for a specific job at a specific workplace or at the employer's workplaces in the same line of business, and may not run longer than the employment contract (Article 24). A permit granted in spring covers one season, not three. Sequence the work in this order: fix the role and the workplace, start the visa step abroad, upload and approve within 30 days, then set the start date inside the permitted window. Changing the role after the permit is issued means a new file.

Build one permit calendar per department that hires from abroad, typically animation, spa and guest relations, and give each person a start date that falls inside their own window. Do not book travel before the permit's start date is known: the six-month outer limit is a ceiling, not a schedule. Once the person arrives, a first-week onboarding checklist by department picks up where the permit calendar ends.

What must be true on a foreign employee's first day?#

Three things: a valid permit that names this job and this workplace, a social security entry, and internal records that match both. Anything less turns a routine inspection into a serious problem.

Check the permit against the actual assignment. It is granted for a specific job at a specific workplace, or at the employer's workplaces in the same line of business (Article 24), so a move from guest relations to the spa is not covered by the same document. File the SGK employment entry notice: under Article 61, SGK employment entry notices count as notification to the Directorate General of the start of work, so the payroll step and the permit step are the same act.

Keep the permit copy, the employment contract and the start date together in the personnel file, and make sure the contract does not run beyond the permit. Ask your adviser whether identity reporting for the people who work at a hotel is a separate duty from guest notifications, and check it alongside the permit rather than assuming one covers the other.

Brief the department head. Most first-day failures are operational: the person is rostered into a role the permit does not name, or starts a week before the permit's start date because the roster was already published. If anything does not match, stop and fix it before the shift. The cost of a delayed start is smaller than the cost of an unpermitted one.

What changes during the year, and what must the employer report?#

A change of job, a change of workplace or an early end date each has a consequence, and the reporting clock is short: 15 days.

Employers notify the Ministry within 15 days of the start and end of work, and of situations that require the permit to be cancelled (Article 61). Exit notices given through SGK on the permit's end date count as notification to the Directorate General. A new role is a new file: because the permit names a specific job at a specific workplace, moving someone into a different job means a fresh application, not an internal memo.

A move to another hotel in the same group is covered only where the permit was granted for the employer's workplaces in the same line of business (Article 24). Check the wording of the permit before the transfer, not after. Plan the renewal before the one-year mark, because a permit that lapses mid-contract leaves the person working without one, which is the situation the law is designed to prevent. Keep a single register: name, permit number, job, workplace, start date, end date, notification date. It is the document you will reach for in an inspection and at renewal time.

This article describes the duty in general terms. Confirm deadlines, penalties and your own case with an accountant or legal adviser before you act. For the people already on the roster, the 45-hour week and how shifts are balanced is the next compliance question.

What to do next#

Build the permit calendar before the hiring decision, not after it: role and workplace first, then the criteria check, then the visa or in-country file, then a start date inside the window. The parts fit together as one sequence, because the permit names the job, the criteria decide whether the workplace can hold that job, and the 15-day reporting duty keeps the file true for as long as the person works. Take the current criteria text and your own headcount to an accountant or legal adviser before the season, and confirm dates, penalties and your case with them.