VisaForeign undergraduates in Türkiye can work part-time only after their first year
Students still need work authorisation. Current official guidance distinguishes degree levels, employer applications, document requirements and the 2026 permit charges.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
The student’s degree level and proposed job both matter
Türkiye’s Labour and Social Security Ministry says foreign students in associate and undergraduate programmes can work part-time after completing their first year. Its evaluation criteria exempt students in formal graduate programmes from those particular first-year and part-time limitations. This current explanation was checked on 2 November and does not announce a new permission to work without authorisation.
The ministry verifies student status through the Higher Education Council’s records. It says applications for unrelated work in entertainment or domestic services will be evaluated negatively, and considers factors including the student’s city. Türkiye Scholarships and YÖK scholarship recipients are subject to the stated consultation arrangements with the relevant authorities. Use the student section of the official evaluation criteria before accepting a role: completing the first year does not establish that every proposed job or employer will qualify.
Choose the correct employer application route and renewal timing
The ministry’s application-types page describes domestic filing for foreigners in Türkiye who hold a valid residence permit issued for at least six months. It distinguishes an overseas route based on an application at the Turkish representation and the resulting 16-digit reference number. The general rule should be checked against the student’s actual permit and circumstances with the prospective employer before selecting the route in the electronic system.
The same page says work-permit extensions can be submitted from 60 days before expiry and must be filed before the existing permission expires. A request to work for a different employer is assessed under the first-application procedure, so it should not simply be submitted as a continuation with the previous employer. Where a same-employer extension is approved, the listed maximum periods differ between a first extension and subsequent extensions. Use the application-types page and its linked guides to prepare the correct transaction. Keep the work-permit expiry separate from the academic year: a university timetable does not itself renew employment permission.
Check the 2026 fee and document charge
The ministry’s 2026 payment schedule lists TRY 12,574.90 for a fixed-term work permit of up to one year. It separately lists TRY 964 for the work-permit document’s valuable-paper charge. Together those two published amounts total TRY 13,538.90 for that duration, before any other applicable consular or service transaction. The precise assessment depends on the category and duration actually approved; a student should not assume that every case receives a one-year permission.
The payment guidance says the permit fee and valuable-paper fee must be paid separately after notification, and that failure to pay within 30 days leads to rejection. It identifies reference-number payment through the Digital Tax Office, using the foreign identity and transaction-reference numbers sent by email. Contracted-bank payments must match the notified amounts and the correct separate payment codes. Use the official payment page and the actual assessment email to make the transaction. An agent’s combined quotation should be checked against the government charges, and a payment receipt should be retained with the application record.
Prepare the supporting file and wait for the relevant decision
The ministry’s documents page calls for the employment contract signed by employer and foreign worker and a passport copy. A passport not written in Latin letters requires the specified certified translation. A diploma or temporary graduation certificate with certified Turkish translation is required for the listed professional or otherwise designated occupations. Employer documents include the current trade-registry information and the previous year’s approved financial statements. Use this page and its contract models to identify the general and occupation-specific evidence; a university admission letter alone is not the complete work-permit file.
The ministry’s FAQ says complete work-permit applications are assessed within 30 days, with the period beginning only after requested additional information has been supplied where necessary. Results are notified by email and can be checked in e-İzin. The FAQ also states that a residence permit generally does not itself provide employment rights, and that work permits are limited to a period ending at least 60 days before passport expiry. Check passport validity before asking for a particular term. Applicants should confirm approval and the authorised employment conditions before starting work, while keeping their university and immigration records consistent with the activity proposed.
