The situation
Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum gross monthly salary for Work / Residence Permit applicants in Turkey has increased to TRY 2,558.40 in general. Since salary requirements for Work / Residence Permit applicants are differentiated by job title, current salary requirements changed as follows:
A closer look
- Existing employees. Employers of foreign workers with a valid Work / Residence Permit need not increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule.
- Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew a Work / Residence Permit on or after January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary requirements detailed above will be refused.
- Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending Work / Residence Permit applications as of January 1, 2019 need not increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule.
- Unaffected applicants. As before, Visa for Assembly and Maintenance Service (AMS Visa) applications are not subject to a minimum salary requirement.
Reminders on other requirements
- Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances cannot be included in the minimum salary calculation.
- Margin. Fragomen recommends slightly rounding the salary up to prevent scrutiny during application processing.
- Salary guarantee. As before, employers are required to guarantee the salary as stated on the permit application throughout the validity of the work permit.
Background
Turkey increased salary thresholds by 7.9 percent for 2017 and by 14.2 percent for 2018. The current steep increase reflects a high local currency inflation rate over 2018.
Looking ahead
Croatia, Latvia and Slovenia are expected to announce new salary thresholds in the coming weeks.
Fragomen worked closely with the Bener Law Office in Istanbul to prepare this alert. This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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