Does a foreign national need a new work permit when changing employer in Türkiye?

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When a foreign national receives a new job offer while the work-permit card remains valid, it may seem that the same card can be used at the new workplace. That assumption is unsafe for a fixed-term permit tied to an employer. Compare the authorised employer, workplace and work with the new offer, and separately address termination of the existing job, the new application and the basis for remaining in Türkiye. Signing an employment contract or creating an insurance record does not itself authorise work for the new employer.

First identify the type of work permit

Article 10(1) of Law No. 6735 links an initial fixed-term permit to particular work at a specified workplace or workplaces in the same business sector. This article focuses on that employer-linked permit. Read the decision, employer information and annotations as well as the expiry date printed on the card. Do not apply the same procedure automatically to indefinite or independent permits, Turquoise Cards, exemptions or protection status.

Regulation Article 28(2) provides a separate arrangement for an indefinite permit: compliance with applicable rules and notification to the Ministry no later than ten days before starting at the new workplace. The explanation that a fixed-term permit requires a new permit for a new employer must therefore not be applied identically to an indefinite permit. An indefinite card also does not mean that all notification duties disappear.

Another employer differs from a branch of the same employer

Article 10(2) treats an application to work for another employer as an initial application. Regulation Article 27(3) likewise subjects an extension request involving a different employer to initial-application procedures. The remaining months on the old permit do not automatically authorise work for the new company. Examine the actual change of employer before relying on the label selected in the application system.

Two companies using the same brand may be separate legal entities. Group-company, subcontracting or franchise arrangements do not alone establish an unchanged employer. Compare registry information, the contracting party and workplace records. Work at another branch or in another role for the same employer also requires a check of permit coverage and applicable conditions; not every branch move is unrestricted.

Which records should be matched for the application?

Examine the existing decision and card, passport, old agreement, new offer or agreement and employer records together. Identify the actual duties, workplace address and proposed start. A payslip or social-security record at the old company does not replace a permit for the new one. Separately check current official employer-assessment criteria, sector-specific conditions and any required preliminary authorisation.

Determine whether to apply from within or outside Türkiye against the person’s current lawful stay or permit record and applicable application conditions. Do not assume one channel or automatic transfer for every foreign national. A system draft, completed application and favourable decision are different stages. Keep the application number, attachments, deficiency requests and responses in the same file.

May work start while the new permit is pending?

An application by the new employer is not itself permission to work there. Do not rely on the old card to start without checking the favourable decision, effective date and authorised duties. Calling activity a “trial”, “training” or “short support” does not automatically alter its substantive character. Pay, work authorisation and social-security duties are not substitutes for each other.

The maximum ninety-day possibility of continuing work while an extension is processed under Regulation Article 27(5) requires the work and workplace to remain unchanged. It is not a general waiting authorisation transferable to another employer. Verify a valid extension application, processing status and unchanged work and workplace together; ninety days are not automatically added to every application.

End of the old job, notification and residence basis

Article 22 imposes a fifteen-day Ministry-notification duty on employers employing foreign nationals for commencement, termination and circumstances requiring cancellation. Social-security processes have their own rules and time limits. Filing with one institution does not establish that the other required notification was completed. Preserve the actual termination date, notification content and acceptance evidence.

Article 15 includes termination of work among cancellation grounds. Do not rely solely on the printed expiry date to assume all rights continue after the old job ends. A valid work permit counting as residence permission differs from the residence position after termination or cancellation. No new visa or fixed transition period should be presumed for everyone; inspect the actual records and notifications.

Which time limit belongs to which procedure?

Under Article 7(3) and Regulation Article 27, an extension with the same employer is filed in the sixty-day window before expiry and before the permit expires. That window does not mean sixty days of unauthorised work for a different employer. Record old-permit expiry, termination and completion of the new application separately. Check deficiency-response periods against the actual notification as well.

For a refusal or cancellation, Article 21 provides for objection to the Ministry within thirty days of service, with administrative judicial review following rejection of the objection. For an ordinary annulment action, assess Article 7’s sixty days where no special period applies and the application’s effect on time in the individual file. Do not automatically add thirty to sixty days or assume a fresh application restarts litigation time.

Separate administrative applications from employment disputes

Judicial review of the permit decision belongs to the administrative jurisdiction; under the general venue rule in Article 32, the location of the issuing authority matters. Filing suit does not automatically suspend the measure under Article 27. Claims against the old employer for pay, compensation or service records may involve different forums and procedural requirements. The permit application should not be presented as automatically resolving those claims.

Preparation for an employer change means matching the old permit’s scope with the actual new job. Start with permit type and employer identity, then examine application, termination and notification records and the residence basis. The full guide below turns those distinctions into document-preparation steps without collecting personal data, retaining selections or calculating an outcome or individual final date.

Sources

General information; individual documents, facts and procedures need separate review.

Changing employer: work-permit preparation guide

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