As of October 2026, anyone from mainland China or Hong Kong who works in Türkiye needs a work permit or a work permit exemption under the International Labour Force Law (No. 6735); owning shares from abroad is not work and needs neither. For an employee, the Ministry of Labour’s criteria generally ask for five Turkish employees per foreigner, paid-in capital of at least TRY 500,000 (an operating company can instead meet a sales or export test) and a salary floor that reaches TRY 165,150 a month for a senior executive in 2026 (five times the gross minimum wage). Türkiye has no social security agreement with China or Hong Kong, so staff employed in Türkiye are insured with SGK from their first day.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
At a glance
| Person | What the rules require | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Shareholder living abroad, not working in Türkiye | No permit | Law 6735 arts. 2 and 6 |
| Non-resident A.Ş. board member; shareholder who is not a manager | Exemption, up to 3 months | Law 6735 art. 13(7); Regulation art. 48 |
| Ltd. Şti. shareholder-manager or A.Ş. shareholder director working in Türkiye | Work permit, partner criteria | Law 6735 art. 10(5); criteria part C |
| Employee | Work permit, employment, capital and salary criteria | Criteria part A |
| Technician for imported machinery | Exemption, up to 3 months in total | Regulation art. 48(1)(b) |
| Social security | SGK from day one | Law 5510 art. 4 |
Do I need a work permit to manage my own company?
Owning a Turkish company and working in it are different questions. Law 6735 prohibits working in Türkiye without a permit (article 6). The Ministry of Labour’s guidance for foreigners opening a business sets the order: the company is formed first (trade registry announcement and tax number), then the foreigner applies for a work permit, which must be in place before starting work.
What applies depends on the role:
- Non-resident A.Ş. board members, shareholders who are not managers, and non-shareholders with top-level signing authority fall under the exemption scheme (Law 6735 art. 13(7); Regulation art. 48(1)(ç)). They must still obtain the exemption before working, and it covers up to three months. It cannot be extended, a new one under the same heading can only be applied for twelve months after the previous one was issued, and longer work requires a work permit (Regulation arts. 51 and 53).
- A shareholder who manages an Ltd. Şti., or a shareholder board member of an A.Ş., working in Türkiye works with a work permit (Law 6735 art. 10(5)). This is one reason the company type matters; see Ltd. Şti. or A.Ş.?
- Technicians who install, maintain or repair imported machinery, or train its users, can use an exemption of up to three months in total (Regulation art. 48(1)(b)).
Visa-free entry for PRC ordinary-passport holders covers tourist travel and transit only and changes none of this; see our note on visa-free entry.
Turkey work permit requirements for foreign employees in 2026
As of 24 October 2026, the Ministry’s general criteria for companies are:
- Employment: at least five Turkish citizens at the workplace for each foreigner; not applied for up to five foreigners where last year’s net sales were TRY 50 million or more.
- Financial: a company formed this year needs paid-in capital of at least TRY 500,000; an operating company needs that capital, or net sales of at least TRY 8 million, or exports of at least USD 150,000.
- Salary: a multiple of the gross minimum wage in force on the application date.
Older guides quote TRY 100,000 capital: that threshold applied only until 1 January 2025.
| Role | Salary floor | 2026 equivalent (gross per month) |
|---|---|---|
| Senior executives and pilots | 5 × minimum wage | TRY 165,150 |
| Engineers and architects | 4 × | TRY 132,120 |
| Other managers | 3 × | TRY 99,090 |
| Specialist or skilled work | 2 × | TRY 66,060 |
| Household and other work | 1 × | TRY 33,030 |
The 2026 minimum wage is TRY 1,101 gross a day (TRY 33,030 for a 30-day month), set for 1 January to 31 December 2026; the right-hand column is our multiplication. After the permit is issued, the contract cannot be changed to pay less than the declared wage or to switch to part-time (Regulation art. 60).
Exceptions worth checking
- IT specialists: software, database, network security and similar roles are assessed without the employment and financial criteria in IT companies, and for up to two such foreigners elsewhere.
- People already in Türkiye: since 3 August 2026, in-country applications for foreigners who stayed legally in Türkiye for at least one of the last three years are assessed without the employment and financial criteria, for up to three such foreigners, provided permit holders do not outnumber Turkish citizens at the workplace.
- Manufacturing: headcount is counted across the company in Türkiye; until 31 December 2027, one additional foreigner for every five Turkish citizens at the manufacturing workplace is assessed without the employment criterion (in force since 3 August 2026). See our incentives guide.
- Key personnel: a 2003 regulation, which the Ministry says aims to make permits easier, covers qualifying foreign-invested companies and their key personnel; one alternative test is that the parent has a direct investment in a country besides its home country.
Meeting the criteria does not settle the matter: the Ministry can still refuse an application that does not fit its international labour force policy or whose reason for hiring a foreigner it finds insufficient (Law 6735 arts. 7 and 9).
Criteria for a foreign shareholder
A foreigner who forms or joins a company and applies for a work permit is assessed under part C of the criteria:
- the company’s paid-in capital is at least TRY 500,000, the foreigner’s own capital is at least TRY 500,000 and the shareholding is at least 20%;
- the company employs at least five Turkish citizens; the first permit carries an annotation, and from its seventh month five Turkish citizens must be employed every month.
Neither condition applies to a foreign shareholder whose capital share is USD 100,000 or more.
How long does a work permit take?
- Where: from abroad, through a Turkish embassy or consulate, where an employee first applies for a work visa and the employer then completes the application online. In Türkiye, the applicant generally needs a valid residence permit issued for at least six months (Regulation arts. 15 and 17).
- Decision: within 30 days if the file is complete; missing documents postpone it for up to 30 days, then it is refused (Law 6735 art. 7).
- Duration: a first permit for up to one year; extensions with the same employer for up to two, then three years, filed from 60 days before expiry and before the permit ends (Law 6735 arts. 7 and 10).
- Arrival: someone approved from abroad enters Türkiye within six months of the permit’s start date and starts work within one month of entry (Law 6735 art. 12; Regulation art. 25).
- Residence: a work permit or exemption also counts as a residence permit (Law 6735 art. 12).
- Fees: a government fee that rises with the permit’s length, plus a card fee, as published by the Ministry; if they are not paid within 30 days of notification, the application is refused.
Is there a Türkiye–China social security agreement?
No. The Ministry of Labour lists social security agreements with 35 countries, plus a cooperation agreement with Bulgaria; as at 24 October 2026, neither mainland China nor Hong Kong is on the list. The cooperation memorandum the Turkish and Chinese ministers signed on 30 April 2026 is not a social security agreement.
Under the Social Security Law (No. 5510, art. 4), foreign nationals employed under a service contract are insured as employees, except nationals of agreement countries. Your Turkish company and its staff from mainland China or Hong Kong therefore pay employer and employee premiums from the first day, on the salary declared in the permit application (Regulation art. 60).
The law’s exclusion for staff posted from abroad is narrow: a person sent by a foreign organisation, on its behalf and for its account, for a job of no more than three months, who documents social insurance abroad, is not insured in Türkiye (art. 6(1)(e)).
Shareholders differ. Ltd. Şti. shareholders and A.Ş. shareholder board members fall into the self-employed category (art. 4(1)(b)(3)), but a self-employed person living abroad and covered by that country’s system is outside the Turkish scheme (art. 6(1)(e)). Check a foreign partner’s position under these rules before they start working in Türkiye.
Registering a foreign employee with SGK
- For a foreigner with a work permit, the Ministry states that the SGK start notification is on time if made within 30 days of the permit’s start date or, if the two dates differ, of the date the permit was notified to the employer.
- That notification also counts as notice to the Ministry; otherwise the employer tells the Ministry within 15 days when a permit holder starts or stops work (Law 6735 art. 22; Regulation art. 61).
- Salary, income tax and premiums then go into the monthly withholding and social security return; see our payroll service for 2026 employer costs.
Income tax: when does a Chinese manager pay Turkish tax?
- Wages for work performed in Türkiye are Turkish-source income (Income Tax Law art. 7), so a salary from your Turkish company is taxed in Türkiye from the first day.
- Staying in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in a calendar year makes a person resident (art. 4), but foreigners on a specific, temporary assignment remain non-resident (art. 5).
- Under the China–Türkiye treaty (art. 15), a mainland China resident’s salary for work in Türkiye is taxable only in China if all three apply: at most 183 days in Türkiye in the calendar year; paid by an employer not resident in Türkiye; and not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base in Türkiye. Board fees from a Turkish company may be taxed in Türkiye (art. 16).
- The Hong Kong treaty applies in Türkiye only from 1 January 2027; see the Hong Kong treaty article. For new residents, see the 20-year foreign-income exemption in Law 7582, which does not cover a Turkish salary.
Fines in 2026
The Ministry lists these administrative fines for 2026, doubled for repeat offences (Law 6735 art. 23):
| Breach | 2026 fine |
|---|---|
| Employer, per foreigner working without a permit | TRY 102,503 |
| Foreigner employed without a permit | TRY 40,977 |
| Foreigner self-employed without a permit | TRY 82,010 |
| Missed notification, per foreigner | TRY 6,805 |
A foreigner found working without a permit is reported for deportation, and the employer must cover the costs of accommodation, the journey home and, if needed, health care for that person and any spouse and children (Law 6735 art. 23; regulation of July 2025).
What this means for you
- Decide roles before structure. A director who lives abroad and visits can use the exemption of up to three months as an A.Ş. board member; a shareholder-manager based in Türkiye needs a work permit.
- Budget for the criteria. Five Turkish employees per foreigner, TRY 500,000 capital and the salary floors shape the cost; see running costs in 2026 and hiring rules.
- Payroll from day one. Our payroll service costs USD 300 a month for 1–3 employees, USD 550 for 4–50 and USD 1,250 for more than 50.
- Books that show the figures. Capital, sales and headcount come from your records; bookkeeping and tax filing is in our Basic (USD 3,750 per year) and Professional (USD 4,950 per year plus government fees) packages; Professional also includes company formation without a power of attorney.
- Financial seal: the financial seal (USD 550) requires a manager who is a Turkish citizen or a foreign national with a Turkish foreigner identity number (starting with 9, for example issued with a residence permit).
Prices exclude VAT. No VAT is charged to clients invoiced outside Türkiye; 20% VAT is added for companies in Türkiye.
ETITAX is a firm of licensed Turkish CPAs (SMMM). We do not file work permit, visa or residence applications. You can write to us in Chinese or English: WeChat ID etitax or e-mail info@etitax.com.
