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ak_tesl · Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 50

I finally got a one-year work permit!!! Overall, 15 photos and as many copies of my passport were needed (where do they keep so much paperwork?). The overall process must have cost close to 1000 euros.

The work permit is a certificate that allows one to work for a specific company, at a specific location. Because it is not open-ended, obtaining a work permit should be done directly with your prospective employer and not through a lawyer.

For newcomers to Turkey, the steps for getting a work permit in Turkey are as follows:
(1) Obtain a 3-month Visitor�s Visa at the airport (10 euros). It states in *large-bold letters* that employment is prohibited.
(2) Obtain a tax number �vergi kimlik numarasi karti�.
(3) With this number, open a bank account with �enough funds to live for one year� (4,000 YTL was sufficient).
(4) Two weeks before the Visitor�s Visa expires, apply for a one-year residence permit. It costs 500 euros plus 70 YTL for processing. My employer paid for this. It is a black booklet and takes about one week to process.
(5) Your employer should then apply for a work permit. It requires notarized copies of university degrees plus a TEFL certificate. As 31 (sadly defunct) used to cry aloud, any certificate will be valid (CELTA and Trinity are the most widely recognized). It takes about four months to be processed and requires many papers to be signed. Once you obtain the work permit, it should be taken to the police who will then change the �reason for issue� the resident permit (black booklet) from �tourist� to �professional� through an addendum.

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:27 am Post subject:

I didn't know the process could be done in this order. I am confused. I thought the permit had to be applied for in your home country. Are you sure you don't just have a residents permit? That's what your first four or so stages sounded like. My work permit was a big sticker in my passport that the Turkish embassy in Ottawa glued in before I left. But that was 4 yrs ago so maybe it has changed.

yaramaz · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:36 am Post subject:

Second thing: Is it possible for an employer to renew an ikamet (and the work permit aspect) when it is almost expired? Or after it expires? Mine has about 2 weeks left on it, and since I am leaving the day after it expires and haven't actually lined up a new employer (cos I don't know what my plans are), I was wondering if I will able to get hired legally in the future without having to start from scratch.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

If you pray to the work permit god before you make a sacrifice to the residency permit god then you will be rewarded, as I was, in 1 month. If the residence permit god thinks that you are only paying him lip service and you move on too quickly and offer too tempting a sacrifice to the god of the work permits then you must go to the mountain beyond the great walled city of the land of the rising sun and fast for six nights while giving pentenance to the sufi who lives in the hollow below.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

actually.... every story i've heard on the subject is different and i don't believe anyone who says there is one "right" way to do it.
I think it depends most on the specific office you go to and the individuals you talk to.

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

i also find it a little funny that your employer paid 500 euros while mine paid 250

Freddie Miles · Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 91

As wretched as it might seem now, back when I first came some.. well a long time ago, the foreigners' department was a heck of a lot worse. One time, I went there, there was only a policeman and his secretary and she was looking AT ME for pity! He hands me this document and tells me to fill it out. So, happily filling in all the blanks, I return the next day. The guy proceeds to shout at me because I hadn't typed it!

Another time, they told me I needed my passport translated. Ermm what??? Not surprisingly perhaps, there just happened to be a young woman upstairs ready to assist. That she did, and everything went uber-smooth after that. However, as I am marching out triumphant, she chases after and asks me to pay her for her translation.

I think I just laughed. I said, "Excuse me, they called you! I didnt. They have to pay you. I didnt even know you five minutes ago!" I just figured it was a species of scam. I still feel bad about it.. not much though.

Caterinamh · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 140 Location: Istanbul

Yabanci · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 30 Location: China

Yabanci · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 30 Location: China

tvik · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 371 Location: here

I didn't have to go back to my home country for the work permit

Freddie Miles · Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 91

Catrina, these are just a few of the downsides of living in Turkey but there is so much to regal about life in Turkey. Believe me! And as I think I said about my nightmare story, this was quite a long time ago. The last time I had to be "processed" it was not too bad. Somewhere between having your eyes checked and your teeth cleaned.
And you really get exercise going from one office to another for signatures and stamps. There is always a bald man reading a newspaper with his tea who looks up sourly and signs your paper and the woman on another floor ( in a different building) sitting behind an ancient typewriter with a tortured expression on her face who has to rubber stamp the third page.
If you bear with the paperwork hassles, you might find Turkey is a really nice place to live. Many people do. I have.

Caterinamh · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 140 Location: Istanbul

ak_tesl · Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 50