Levent Law Firm assesses Turquoise Card eligibility in Izmir, builds the evidence for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and represents applicants when a card is refused or canceled. As your Izmir Turquoise Card lawyer, we connect your professional, investment, or research record to the legal category the Ministry will evaluate. We also handle the card's transition period and the residence position of your spouse and dependent children, so the long-term plan has a legal file behind it.
Turkey's Turquoise Card is a work and residence route for people whose qualifications or contribution meet the international labor force criteria. It begins with a three-year transition period; an approved request to remove that period makes the card indefinite.
We file and run your Turquoise Card application under a power of attorney
Turquoise Card decisions are made by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security through its Directorate General of International Labour Force. Under Article 6 of the Turquoise Card Regulation, the application is entered in the Ministry's system from within Türkiye or made through a Turkish mission abroad. With a power of attorney, Levent Law Firm prepares the complete application package, files it for you and handles every exchange with the Ministry that follows. You provide the records; we follow the file with the Ministry, answer requests for clarification or further evidence, and track every deadline through the decision and the transition period.
We determine the route from your lawful position and location, then align the submission with the evidence for your selected category. If an employer, university, or investment entity holds records needed to explain your contribution, we review those records as part of the same file and address inconsistencies before the Ministry decides. If the Ministry refuses or cancels a card, we file the objection and represent you in the administrative court under the same power of attorney.
We identify the Turquoise Card category that fits your work
The law directs the Ministry to consider education, experience, contributions to science and technology, and the economic or employment effect of activities and investment in Türkiye. The Ministry's Turquoise Card guidance describes highly qualified workers and investors, scientists and researchers, people with international success in culture, art, or sport, and people who advance the international recognition of Türkiye or Turkish culture. We determine which category gives your actual work the clearest legal basis and build the application around that basis.
A senior engineer recruited to lead a technical team has a different record from an investor opening an Izmir operation. We examine the engineer's education, appointments, specialized work, and proposed role; for the investor, we examine the business activity, capital and operational records, planned employment, and evidence of economic contribution. The purpose is a coherent account of what you have done and what you will do in Türkiye, supported by records the Ministry can assess.
We turn your qualifications into a Ministry-ready file
A Turquoise Card application is decided on evidence of the applicant's qualifications and proposed contribution, assessed against international labor force policy. Under Article 11 of Law No. 6735, the Ministry considers the person's background and the effect of their activity or investment in Türkiye. We review the underlying records, identify gaps between the claimed category and the documents, and prepare a reasoned application that makes the legal case visible.
For a professional, we examine degrees, contracts, appointment letters, career history, and records of specialized or senior work. For an investor, we examine company and investment documents, the proposed activity, financing evidence, employment plans, and records showing how the project will operate in Izmir. For a researcher, we examine academic work, institutional roles, patents or other documented results, and the proposed Turkish project. We select the evidence that proves the relevant category and explain how its parts fit together.
The Turquoise Card Regulation, Articles 8 to 11 provides for category-specific documents and evaluation criteria. It also permits the Ministry to request or change the documents required for each group. We compare the current official requirements with your record before filing and organize a response to any additional request, so the Ministry receives the evidence tied to the precise issue it is reviewing.
The right work status for a long-term plan in Izmir
The Turquoise Card is a distinct work authorization route for qualified people whose contribution fits the law's criteria. A fixed-term work permit is ordinarily tied to a specified job and employer for its stated period, while an indefinite work permit follows its own eligibility rules. The Ministry's work-permit comparison sets out these routes. We compare them with your intended role, career history, and plans in Izmir, then pursue the status supported by the strongest evidence.
A residence permit addresses a person's right to stay; by itself, it does not authorize employment. A Turquoise Card brings work rights and a residence basis together for its holder, with separate residence documents available to qualifying family members. We focus the Turquoise Card file on your professional or economic contribution, while our immigration practice covers general residence and work permit matters where those are the relevant route.
Under Article 19 of the Turquoise Card Regulation, a holder enjoys the rights of an indefinite work permit, and official matters such as residence, travel, work, investment, inheritance and the purchase or sale of property are handled under the rules applied to Turkish citizens, unless a specific law reserves a right to citizens. Article 14 exempts the holder from work and residence permit fees and family members from residence permit fees. We use these rights in the Izmir matters that follow the card, from a property purchase to a company investment.
The card can also lead to Turkish citizenship. Article 19 provides that, once the transition notation is removed and no national security or public order obstacle exists, the holder and qualifying family members may acquire citizenship on the Ministry's proposal under Article 12(1)(b) of Law No. 5901. We build the transition record with that next step in view and handle the citizenship file when the time comes.
We manage the three-year transition and indefinite card request
The Turquoise Card is issued with an initial three-year transition period. During that period the Ministry may seek information about the work or activity carried out, and the Regulation provides for monitoring reports every twelve months. Article 15 gives the holder fifteen days to supply information requested for a report and three months to cure any deficiency the expert identifies. We track the Ministry's requests, review the activity records behind each response, and present the evidence that the holder continues to meet the basis on which the card was granted.
This work is especially concrete when a project develops after the original filing. An investor may move from a proposed Izmir operation to active contracts and employment; a researcher may move from a planned study to documented results. We organize the records of that progression and answer any finding that the Ministry considers incomplete. The transition file should show the same contribution in operation that the original application established on paper.
Under Article 11 of Law No. 6735, the request to remove the transition notation is made during the final 180 days of the period and before it ends; a request filed after the period ends is refused and the card becomes invalid. The Regulation provides for a final assessment and, when the request is approved, removal of the notation so the card becomes indefinite. We calculate the filing window from the card record, prepare the request and supporting activity evidence, and follow the Ministry's assessment to a decision.
We secure the linked residence position of your family
The law provides a residence document for the spouse and dependent children of a Turquoise Card holder. The Regulation defines qualifying relatives to include the foreign spouse and the holder's or spouse's minor or dependent foreign children; their relative cards replace residence permits while the Turquoise Card remains valid. We examine marriage, parentage, custody, and dependency records and prepare the family application alongside the holder's file.
Family documents often come from several jurisdictions, while the Ministry must be able to identify each relationship and the people covered by it. We reconcile names, dates, and legal relationships across the records and answer any request about a child's dependency or custody. If a relative plans to work, we assess the separate work authorization needed for that activity.
A refusal receives a focused legal challenge
A Turquoise Card refusal is a Ministry decision with reasons that can be tested against the submitted evidence and the Regulation's criteria. Article 12 of the Regulation includes failure to meet the assessment criteria, conflict with international labor force policy, misleading documents, an insufficient employment rationale, and an application with outstanding deficiencies among the grounds for refusal. We obtain the decision and notification, compare each reason with the application record, and identify the point the Ministry must reconsider.
An investment file may contain strong company records but an unclear account of the applicant's own contribution. A professional file may show extensive experience without connecting it to the proposed Turkish role. We address the specific finding with documentary evidence and a legal argument; where the decision rests on a mistaken reading of the record, we challenge that reading directly.
Article 21 of Law No. 6735 provides an objection to the Ministry within 30 days of notification and an administrative court route if the objection is rejected. We calculate the deadline from the actual notification, prepare and file the reasoned objection, and represent the client in the annulment case where court review is required. That response is built around the Turquoise Card criteria and the evidence already before the Ministry.
We contest cancellation and protect the transition record
Cancellation calls for a review of what changed after the card was issued and what the Ministry relied on. Article 22 of the Regulation addresses circumstances including unauthorized or unregistered work, a prolonged interruption in work, misleading application documents, failure to provide requested transition information, and a monitoring finding that the holder has lost the qualifying attributes. We examine the decision, the monitoring reports, the activity record, and the notification before choosing the response.
Where the Ministry questions continuing professional work, we assemble contracts, employment or project records and explain the activity over the relevant period. Where it questions an investor's or researcher's continuing contribution, we connect the current operations or research results to the original qualification. If the issue is a missing response or an adverse monitoring report, we reconstruct the correspondence and address the exact finding in an objection or court case.
The Regulation also ties a relative card's validity to the Turquoise Card. We assess the effect of a cancellation decision on the spouse's and children's documents at the same time as the holder's challenge. Our aim is to put the complete record of work, contribution, and family status before the authority or court that will decide the dispute.
Put your Turquoise Card case in our hands
If you are planning a career, investment, or research project in Izmir, send us the records that show your qualifications and the work you intend to carry out in Türkiye. If the Ministry has already issued a refusal, transition finding, or cancellation decision, send that decision and its notification as well. We will identify the legal issue, assemble the evidence, and take the application or challenge forward.
Levent Law Firm prepares Turquoise Card files, follows Ministry requests, manages the transition to an indefinite card, and brings objections and court challenges against adverse decisions. Read about our Izmir practice areas or Attorney Alparslan LEVENT's background, then contact us about your Turquoise Card. Give us the professional record or Ministry decision at the center of your case, and we will take responsibility for the legal work it requires.