Citizeo
Pathway

Türkiye Skilled Worker Residence Card

Turkey Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Türkiye's Turquoise Card is for highly qualified workers, investors, scientists, artists, athletes, and others whose profile is considered valuable to Türkiye. It generally requires strong professional evidence, official evaluation, and standard immigration checks.

Type
Selective indefinite work-and-residence status
Profile fit
Exceptional workers, investors, researchers, artists, athletes, or promoters
Core requirements
Strong evidence of value to Türkiye and Ministry approval
What to know
Meeting the listed requirements does not guarantee approval; the authority retains discretion
Job offer required?
Not a single universal requirement; evidence depends on profile
Eligible profiles
Highly qualified worker, investor, researcher, international talent, or promoter

Summary

The Turquoise Card, or Turkuaz Kart, is Türkiye's highly selective work-and-residence status for foreigners whose skills, investment, research, international achievements, or promotional work are considered especially valuable to the country. It is administered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security under the International Labour Force Law and the Turquoise Card Regulation.

The card is not permanent on day one. It begins with a three-year transition period during which the Ministry may monitor the holder's work, investment, research, or other commitments. Near the end, the holder must apply to remove the transition condition. If the request is accepted, the card becomes indefinite.

The holder receives the rights provided by an indefinite work permit. A spouse and dependent children can receive a Turquoise Card dependent document that serves as a residence permit while the main card remains valid.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The Ministry lists five broad profiles:

There is no single published minimum salary, degree, investment, export, job number, or award that guarantees a Turquoise Card across all profiles. The Ministry evaluates the full evidence under international labor-force policy. A normal professional qualification, ordinary small investment, or local job offer is not necessarily enough.

People under temporary protection in Türkiye are expressly excluded from the Turquoise Card program. “Temporary protection” is a specific legal protection status; it is not the same as holding an ordinary fixed-term residence permit.

During the three-year transition period, the Ministry can request information and documents from the holder or employer about the activity. The card can be canceled under the Regulation if the basis, commitments, compliance, or other legal requirements fail.

To obtain the indefinite card, the holder must request removal of the transition condition during the 180 days before the transition period ends and, in every case, before it expires. The Ministry says a late request is rejected and the Turquoise Card becomes invalid.

What This Route Allows

The main holder can work for an employer or independently under the rights associated with an indefinite work permit and can reside in Türkiye while the card is valid. The card is not tied to the ordinary one-year, one-employer structure of a standard fixed-term permit, although the holder must continue to comply with the activity and reporting conditions.

The spouse and dependent children may receive dependent documents that replace residence permits. Those documents establish residence, not an automatic right for each dependent to work. A dependent who wants to work should check the Ministry of Labour rules for a separate permit or exemption.

The main holder can travel in and out under the card and conduct ordinary residence, commercial, investment, inheritance, and property dealings subject to the laws that apply. The holder does not become a Turkish citizen merely by receiving the card.

Article 12 of the Citizenship Law places Turquoise Card holders and specified family members within an exceptional-citizenship category. That means a later citizenship grant may be possible by Presidential decision if the legal conditions are met; it does not promise citizenship or a timetable.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a general “skilled worker visa,” a points score that everyone with a degree can reach, or a substitute for the standard work permit. Applicants whose evidence is solid but not exceptional should compare the ordinary fixed-term, independent, or employer-sponsored permit rules.

It is not a citizenship-by-investment product. An investor may fit the Turquoise Card based on the investment's scale, exports, jobs, or innovation, but Türkiye also has a separate exceptional-citizenship program with fixed USD $400,000 or USD $500,000 thresholds and a 50-job route.

It is not indefinite unless the transition condition is removed on time. Passing three years without applying does not silently convert the card; the Ministry says the card becomes invalid after the missed deadline.

The dependent card does not give the spouse or child the holder's independent work rights. It also ends if the main Turquoise Card becomes invalid or is canceled.

Next Steps

  1. Identify the exact Ministry profile and write a fact-based explanation of why the evidence is exceptional at a national or international level.
  2. Gather primary evidence: diplomas and recognition records, wage and employment records, patents or technical work, publications and citations, institutional support, investment and export records, payroll and job creation, awards, rankings, performances, or international promotional work as relevant.
  3. Confirm whether an employer, university, research body, sports federation, cultural institution, or investment authority should support or verify the file. A sponsor is not a universal statutory requirement, but independent corroboration may be important.
  4. Obtain the current application instructions from the Directorate General of International Labour Force and verify which electronic or foreign-mission process applies to your location.
  5. Prepare identity, passport, civil-status, photograph, and authenticated Turkish-translation documents for the applicant and any dependents.
  6. If approved, keep a complete record of the work or commitments performed throughout the transition period and promptly answer Ministry monitoring requests.
  7. Calendar the final 180-day window. Apply to remove the transition condition before it expires; do not assume the change is automatic.
  8. Treat any later exceptional-citizenship application as a separate discretionary process with its own security and family review.
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