Your address, job offer or planned investment may each point to a different legal basis for staying in Türkiye. As an Izmir immigration lawyer, Attorney Alparslan LEVENT matches those facts to the right permit before an application fixes your position in an official file. Levent Law Firm prepares and files residence and work permit applications in Izmir, handles renewals and changes of status, and challenges refusals, removal decisions and entry bans before the authorities and the courts.
The reason stated in your application has to match your documents and what you plan to do after arrival. A tenant who will start work at a new company and a student beginning a degree need different files. We identify the legal route, build the evidence the authority will examine and clear any earlier decision that stands in the way.
Before the application: we test the plan against the file
We start with your passport and entry history, current status, address in Izmir and the documents that show the purpose of your stay. If an earlier application was refused, we read that decision and its notification before we file again. A title deed, employment contract, marriage certificate or university admission letter each supports a specific route, and we select the one that fits your file.
Consider a buyer arranging an apartment in Izmir while planning to run a local business. The deed supports where the person will live; the business plan raises a separate work authorization question. We review the property, company and immigration records together, so the residence and work files tell the same story before money is committed or a filing is made. When the move also brings a property, family or commercial dispute, our practice areas in Izmir cover that work as well.
Law No. 6458, Articles 19 to 22 and 30 to 32 set out when a residence permit is required, how the application is made and the conditions for a short-term permit. We use those rules to decide what your application claims and which evidence proves it.
First residence permit in Izmir
Your first residence application tells the authorities why you are entitled to stay. We confirm that this basis fits your circumstances, then assemble the identity, entry, accommodation and purpose records behind it. We also check how earlier time in Türkiye affects the new application, and we close any gap in the file before it is submitted.
A buyer with a deed may intend to live in the Izmir property, rent it out or use it as a base for a business. Each plan supports a different account of the stay. We align the stated address and purpose with the records behind them and file the application on that basis. When the provincial migration office asks for clarification, we answer with evidence that addresses the exact point raised.
Law No. 6458, Articles 21 and 24 treat an initial residence application and an extension as separate procedures. We prepare each one against its own status and supporting file, and we follow the application through to the decision rather than stopping at the online submission or appointment.
Renewal and a change in the reason for staying
A student's graduation, a spouse's separation or a property owner's new business can change the basis of an existing permit. We compare the current permit, the change in your life and the evidence for the next status, then file the renewal on the basis that fits today's facts. Repeating an outdated reason is a common cause of refusal, even for someone who has lived at the same Izmir address for years.
Article 24 of Law No. 6458 requires the extension application to be filed before the current permit expires, starting sixty days before its end date. Anyone who applies for an extension receives a document that allows them to stay in Türkiye until a decision is made, even if the permit expires in the meantime. We track the end date, file on time, resolve inconsistencies in the supporting file and answer any request from the provincial migration office. When your purpose has changed, we move the file to the correct legal basis.
Each family member's status gets its own review. The sponsor's right to stay, the relationship and the shared address determine a family residence permit under Articles 34 to 37 of Law No. 6458. A young adult starting university in Izmir may need a student residence permit under Articles 38 to 41. We prepare each family member's file against the actual household, and when a marriage or custody arrangement changes, we take on the family-law side of the matter as well.
Work permits for employees and foreign founders
Living in Türkiye and working here are separate legal questions: a residence permit does not, by itself, authorize a foreign national to take a job. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security's work permit guidance explains how a fixed-term permit is issued for authorized work. We review the intended role, the employer and the workplace records alongside your current immigration status, and we prepare the work permit application so authorization is in place before your first working day.
Investors setting up a company in Izmir face the same rule. Incorporation and a tax number do not authorize the foreign founder to work in the business; the Ministry's guidance for foreigners opening a company or workplace requires a work permit before the founder starts work. We define the founder's role, organize the company records, file the permit application and handle any objection. When a shareholder dispute arises, we take on the corporate-law work too.
Changing employers needs its own review, because a permit tied to one job does not cover another. We read the existing authorization, the new contract and the new employer's records, then file the permit that the new position requires.
A refused permit: we read the decision and choose the response
Every refusal has stated reasons and a notification date. We obtain the decision, the application file and earlier correspondence, and identify whether the authority found a missing condition, questioned the declared purpose, relied on an entry restriction or found the evidence insufficient. That finding tells us whether a corrected application, an administrative objection or a lawsuit will protect your right to stay, and we pursue that route.
Article 25 of Law No. 6458 requires the governorate to notify a refusal, non-renewal or cancellation to the foreigner, their legal representative or their lawyer, together with information on how to appeal. It also requires the authority to weigh family ties in Türkiye, length of residence, the situation in the country of origin and the best interests of the child. We put those factors in front of the authority with evidence: a child's school enrollment and the family's home in Izmir become concrete grounds against the stated reason for refusal.
Work permit refusals follow a different route. The Labour Ministry provides for an objection to its decision and, if the objection is rejected, review by an administrative court. We examine the employer's application, the refusal ground, the notification and the supporting employment or company records, then draft and file a reasoned objection. For migration decisions, we file objections and represent clients before the administrative courts.
Time limits run from the notification date. At the first meeting, we calculate the deadline from the actual decision and the governing rule and act within it, so contacting us as soon as a decision arrives keeps every remedy open.
Removal, detention and entry bans
A removal decision, administrative detention and an entry ban are separate acts, each with its own grounds and its own route of challenge. We obtain the decisions and notification records, confirm whether the person is held in a removal center and set out the effect of each act. For someone with a home or business in Izmir, an entry ban affects property, family and work long after departure.
Law No. 6458, Article 53 provides for judicial review of a removal decision by the administrative court; Article 57 allows administrative detention to be challenged before the criminal judgeship of peace. We assess the grounds and dates of both decisions and file the appropriate application with each court, because a challenge to removal and a challenge to detention are decided separately.
An entry ban is governed by Article 9 of Law No. 6458. A restriction code may stem from an administrative assessment, an overstay or an earlier removal, and the code alone does not reveal the full reason. We obtain the underlying decision, examine the entry and exit records and challenge the legal basis of the ban. A new visa application does not lift a ban by itself, so we address the ban directly.
Citizenship and foreign judgments connected to a move
Some clients plan Turkish citizenship while settling in Izmir. Citizenship is a separate legal status; it does not follow automatically from years spent in the city or from buying property. Law No. 5901, Articles 10 to 12 distinguish acquisition by decision of the competent authority from exceptional acquisition. We review your residence history, family records and planned investment so that your current immigration file supports a later citizenship application.
Investment-based citizenship requires its own assessment of the investment and its documentary basis. KL Law Firm, our related corporate practice, handles Turkish citizenship by investment representation on that route. Levent Law Firm handles the residence position and the connected Izmir matters that arise while an investor sets up a home or business here, from the property purchase to the company records.
A foreign divorce, custody or commercial judgment often matters after a move. We review the judgment and how you need to use it in Izmir, then file the recognition or enforcement case before the Turkish court where one is required. That case can update a civil status record, support a property claim or allow a commercial judgment to be collected, and it runs separately from your residence permit file.
Send us the decision and your documents
If you are planning a move to Izmir or have received a decision affecting your stay, send us your current permit or application record, any written decision with its notification, and the documents behind your home, family, employment or investment plans. We identify the legal issue and file within the time limit. You can read about Attorney Alparslan LEVENT's background before you get in touch.
Levent Law Firm prepares your permit file, answers the authority's requests and represents you in objections and court challenges. Tell us what you plan to build in Izmir and what the authority has already decided, and contact us about your residence or work permit before your next step.