Penalty for Employing Foreign Workers in Turkey 2025
Fines for Employing Foreign Nationals Without a Work Permit
Under Article 4 of the Law on Work Permits for Foreigners (Law No. 4817 — “Yabancılara Çalışma İzni Hakkında Kanun”), titled “Authority to obtain and grant permits”, employers in Turkey must obtain a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı) before hiring any foreign national.
The law sets out penalties for both foreign nationals working illegally in Turkey and employers who hire them without the required permit. Specifically, Article 21 of the Law, titled “Penal Provisions”, provides that for each undocumented foreign national employed without a work permit, the employer faces a fine of 81,683 TL (approx. £1,250 / €1,460 — depending on current exchange rates) for 2025, while the foreign national themselves faces a fine of 32,654 TL.
If the same unlawful practice is repeated, both parties will be required to pay double the administrative fine. The same article also requires employers who hire foreign nationals without a valid work permit to cover the accommodation costs of the foreign national and, where applicable, their spouse and children, the costs of their return to their home country, and any necessary medical expenses.
| Type of Violation | Fine for 2025 (TL) |
| Employer hiring an undocumented foreign worker — per foreign national | 81,663 TL |
| Undocumented foreign worker | 32,654 TL |
| Foreign national working self-employed without a work permit | 45,406 TL |
| Self-employed or indefinite-permit foreign national, and employer of a foreign national, who fails to fulfil obligations within the required timeframe — per foreign national | 5,423 TL |
Employers who hire foreign nationals without a valid work permit may also face penalties under Social Security legislation. Under Article 4(2)(c) of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act (Law No. 5510 — “Sosyal Sigortalar ve Genel Sağlık Sigortaları Kanunu”), the provisions applicable to insured employees under Article 4(1)(a) also apply to foreign nationals working under a service contract — unless they are citizens of a country with which Turkey has a bilateral social security agreement based on reciprocity. This means you are legally required to register any foreign national you employ with the Social Security Institution (SGK — Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu). All SGK transactions relating to an insured person can only be carried out using that person’s social security registration number (Law No. 5510, Art. 92/IV). The final sentence of Article 92 of Law No. 5510 confirms that the social security number of a foreign national is the ID number issued by the Ministry of Interior (İçişleri Bakanlığı). In practice, this means that until the Ministry of Interior has issued the foreign national with an ID number, you as an employer cannot register them with SGK or carry out any SGK-related transactions on their behalf.
How is a foreign national’s ID number assigned?
Under the Population Services Act (Law No. 5490 — “Nüfus Hizmetleri Kanunu”), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Council of Higher Education, and the Ministry of Economy are required to submit registration data for foreign nationals to whom they have issued a Work Permit Certificate, in a format specified by the Directorate General of Civil Registration and Citizenship (Nüfus ve Vatandaşlık İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü). These records are then entered into the electronically maintained foreigners’ register, and the foreign national is assigned a foreign national ID number.
As the Ministry of Interior’s circular makes clear, a foreign national ID number can only be issued to someone who already holds a work permit — and SGK transactions can only proceed once that number exists. This makes it virtually impossible for you to complete the necessary social security registrations for a foreign national employee who does not have a valid work permit.
Law No. 5510 requires employers to ensure that all documentation and procedures — including the insured employment declaration, general health insurance enrolment, and monthly premium and service records — are completed correctly and on time for all employees, regardless of whether they are Turkish citizens or foreign nationals.
Under Article 102 of Law No. 5510, you will face an administrative fine for each foreign national employed without a work permit who could not be registered with SGK. In addition, under Article 86 of the same law, employers must submit premium and service records to SGK every month. Since you will be unable to submit those records for an employee without a work permit, you will also incur a further fine for each month the records are missing, under the transitional Article 28 of the law.
When you factor in the default interest accruing from the date the fines are assessed, together with retrospective premium contributions, it is estimated that an employer who has been hiring foreign nationals without work permits for two years could face total penalties exceeding 100,000 TL (approx. £1,530 / €1,790 — depending on current exchange rates) under the applicable legislation.
To avoid these administrative fines altogether, employers who intend to hire foreign nationals should seek help from qualified, experienced professionals. Working with the right adviser means the work permit process can be handled quickly and cost-effectively — and the risks outlined above simply do not arise.
Objection Petition Against a Fine for Employing Foreign Workers
Click the link below. Objection Petition Against a Fine for Employing Foreign Workers
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