work permits

i am a british citizen moving to Turkey soon, can i apply for a work permit after i arrive in Turkey, i know i can apply for my residency when i arrive but i wasnt too sure about work permit,and do i have to have a job offer or can i set up my own business. thankyou.

You can apply for working permit when you arrive here.
Please find relevant information below due to getting working permit in Turkey.
There is a lot of paperwork to be done before you start working in Turkey.
Work Permits are either obtained from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı) or from the Consulates of Turkish Republic abroad.

Essential documents needed are:
- Permission from the Turkish Consulate,
- Passport
- Population information duly certified by notary public
- Passport photos

To receive the permission from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, additional documents are requested. The applicant is given a two-paged document that includes the requested information. The information may be given on a separate page either typed or printed by a computer.

The declaration form requests the following information :
Name of employing company; title; head office address; whether capital is foreign or not; the address the foreigner is going to work at, the type of business the company is involved in; capital information; previous year exportation in dollars; date of establishment; recorded and paid share capital; the total number of Turkish personnel working in the Company and the name, nationality and the position the foreigner has taken part in previous companies.

In addition, the following personal information is required of the person requesting the work permit:
Passport number; name and surname; name of father and mother; date and place of birth; marital status and nationality of the wife/husband, if married.
If a previous work permit had been issued, then the following information is also required: details of the issuing authority and the date and number of previous permit documents; name of previous company; the term of employment that the foreigner worked in that company, the position he/she held and the reason of severance (non-employment, leaving, separating etc.).


With regard to education, the following information is required:
The applicants' educational status
The names and locations of recent schools the applicant graduated from; and the area of specialization.


If the foreigner has been in Turkey before, the following information is required:
Dates in Turkey, places of residence and an explanation for your presence in Turkey.
Names, addresses and phone numbers of the persons and the companies the applicant is using as reference,
Entity of the position of the applying foreigner in the company,
Proposed term of employment,
Monthly gross salary to be paid to the foreigner .
The reason for employing a foreigner instead of a Turkish citizen.

At the end of the declaration form, there is a date, which should be filled in. The employer and the foreign employee should put signatures at the bottom and the employer a cache in addition certifying that the information given by them is true.

The following additional documents must also be attached to the declaration form:
Passport copies that are either certified by a notary public or the applicant's Consulate.
Copies of investment incentive certificates and exportation incentive certificates certified by the Foreign Capital Directorate; the activity report of the last(previous) year and the income/outcome table and balance sheet certified by the related tax directorate;
Bank letter supporting the last year exportation if the company is an exporting company,
Other documents such as a photocopy of the permit document if a previous permit exists, letters of recommendation, diploma, etc.

Online follow-up “work permit” application:
Please note that it is now available to follow your “work permit” application online. You can see the scanned original application, establish interactive communication with the personnel and view the detailed stages of your documents at Turkish Labor and Social Security website . However the page is in Turkish therefore you may need some help.

The declaration form can be provided from the offical website of Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which is given below.

Moreover the latest amendments to the "Law on the Work Permit for Foreigners" can be followed from the same link.

thankyou for your reply, but can work on a self employed basis or do i have to have a job offer,i am qualified to teach english as a foreign language and i am a qualified nail technician so i wanted to work for my friend but on a self employed basis so i can pay my own tax etc.

Is it possible for a person from Thailand to obtain a work permit to work in a salon in Turkey for Thai massage and train Turkish persons in this art, she has the correct training certificate to work in Thailand in Thai massage.