Turkey Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants: Domestic Work Permit

Last updated: 8 October 2026. This article was rewritten on the basis of the current text of 6735 sayılı Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu (International Labour Force Law No. 6735) and 6458 sayılı Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu (Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection), the Çalışma İzni Değerlendirme Kriterleri (Work Permit Assessment Criteria) of the Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı (ÇSGB, Ministry of Labour and Social Security), and the domestic services e-İzin guide dated 18.11.2025; the amnesty check was carried out on the same day.

Is there an amnesty for illegal immigrants in Turkey? The answer today is this: on 8 October 2026, no amnesty regulation or announcement that collectively legalises foreigners who have overstayed their visa or residence permit was found in the Resmî Gazete (Official Gazette) or on the website of Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı (Presidency of Migration Management). What people call an "amnesty" is the ev hizmetleri çalışma izni (domestic services work permit), granted to foreign nationals who will work in child, disabled or elderly care or as companions to patients; the application is filed by the family acting as employer, and the Ministry assesses it according to international labour force policy (Law No. 6735, Art. 6/1, Art. 7/4). A person in irregular status faces two official obstacles: an in-country application requires a residence permit valid for at least 6 months, and the application of a foreign national reported as falling under Art. 54 of Law No. 6458 is rejected (Law No. 6735, Art. 9/1-f).

Is there an amnesty for illegal immigrants in Turkey? Official records as of 2026

There is no official text showing that a general amnesty has been introduced. For this article, on 8 October 2026 the announcements and news pages of goc.gov.tr were reviewed and a search was run on resmigazete.gov.tr: the announcements contain exam and staff recruitment notices, and the latest news item is dated 28 September 2026; there is no notice of an amnesty, a regularisation or an application period for undocumented foreigners. This is not proof of absence, but these are the first two places where any amnesty story should be tested.

The concept itself is easy to misunderstand. The Göç Terimleri Sözlüğü (Glossary of Migration Terms) published by the Presidency of Migration Management defines amnesty as a general measure, used together with regularisation, that applies to persons who can show that they live in the country. The domestic services route does not fit this definition: it is tied not to the person but to a care job and to the family offering that job; if the family does not meet the requirements, the foreign national's situation does not change.

The "instruction no. 300694": what is known and what is not

The document cited as the basis of the domestic services practice appears in the İl Göç İdaresi Müdürlüğü Teftiş Rehberi (Inspection Guide for Provincial Directorates of Migration Management, June 2026) of the İçişleri Bakanlığı Mülkiye Teftiş Kurulu (Ministry of Interior, Civil Service Inspection Board) as "the instruction dated 08.10.2024 and numbered 300694". The document is real, and it is called a talimat (instruction), not a genelge (circular); its text, however, has not been published.

For this reason, it cannot be verified from an official text to whom, under which conditions and until what date the instruction applies. The lists of conditions attributed to this instruction online (such as passport validity, entry date or a final application day) are not based on any official source either; those conditions are not included in this article. An administrative court decision on how the instruction is applied is discussed in the article on the decision on the entry-year distinction in domestic services.

How to verify an amnesty news story

The Presidency of Migration Management's "Yasal Kalış Hakkı İhlalinde Bulunan Yabancılara Uygulanacak Giriş Yasaklarına İlişkin Açıklama" (Statement on Entry Bans for Foreigners Who Have Violated Their Legal Stay) dated 09.06.2020 is also often passed around as if it were an amnesty. The statement does not erase the violation; it grades the length of the entry ban according to how long the violation lasted and how the person left the country, and it states that even after the ban period expires, a person with an unpaid fine is not allowed to enter. Voluntary departure and the ban tiers are explained in the road map for foreigners who have fallen into irregular status, and the fine calculation on the visa overstay fine calculation page. Waiting for an unverified amnesty story makes the violation longer and therefore pushes the ban into a higher tier.

Domestic work permit in Turkey: which jobs qualify and who can be the employer

In domestic services, a foreign national may be employed only for child, disabled or elderly care or as a companion to a patient (Assessment Criteria B.3.1). ÇSGB's documents page says the same thing the other way round: in domestic services, no work permit is granted to a foreign national for anything other than elderly, patient and child care. An application only for cleaning, cooking or gardening does not fall within this scope.

The place of work is also fixed. According to the model service contract ÇSGB has published for domestic services, the place of work is the residential address the employer declared in the application, and the foreign national cannot work, or be made to work, outside that address.

The application is filed by the employer, not by the foreign national; the persons who can act as employer are listed one by one in the criteria (B.3.2). The relationship between the applicant and the person to be cared for is verified from the records of the Nüfus ve Vatandaşlık İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü (General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs).

Where a foreign national has obtained a domestic services permit through an application from abroad, an in-country application for another employer made within six months of the permit start date is assessed negatively unless there is force majeure (B.3.5). This criterion closes off the option of arriving on a domestic services permit and switching to another employer shortly afterwards.

Domestic work permit requirements: income, wage and assessment

The decisive requirement is that the person to be cared for, or the relatives who will support the care, show sufficient, continuous and regular income with official documents (B.3.4). The criteria do not set a fixed amount for this. If there is no blood relative or relative by marriage up to the second degree, the income document of another family member who will support the care, together with that person's notarised undertaking to support the employer, is required.

Even when these are met, the decision is not automatic. The Ministry looks at the following together: the health and age of the person to be cared for; the foreign national's education, professional experience, knowledge of Turkish, history of residence or work in Turkey, marital status and age; the special nature of the job; and the employer's socio-economic situation, assets and regular monthly income (B.3.3). An application where the justification for employing a foreign national is not found sufficient, or which does not meet the criteria, is rejected (Law No. 6735, Art. 9/1-c and e).

Documents required for a domestic work permit

The documents are uploaded to the e-İzin system as scanned PDFs; no paper file is submitted. The ÇSGB guide and documents page list the following:

• The employment contract signed by the employer and the foreign national (ÇSGB's "Belirli Süreli Hizmet Sözleşmesi (Ev Hizmetleri)" (Fixed-Term Service Contract, Domestic Services) template may be used)
• A document showing the income situation
• The personal details page of the passport; if it is not in Latin script, a translation certified by a sworn translator or an official authority
• A biometric photograph taken within the last 6 months (maximum 2 MB)
• If the person to be cared for is under guardianship, the guardianship document; if a relative files the application instead of the guardian, a document showing the guardian's consent
• Any additional documents the system requests depending on the specifics of the application

A diploma is not mandatory in domestic services; it is enough for the foreign national to declare the last school they completed. The guide's list does not name a health report; however, since the criteria count the health and age of the person to be cared for as an assessment factor (B.3.3-a), this factor is left empty in a file where the need for care is not documented.

How to apply step by step through e-İzin

1. Get an e-signature (e-İmza). The application is completed with the employer's electronic signature; the guide points to an online pre-application through PTT.
2. Log in to e-İzin. Log-in is through e-Devlet or calismaizni.gov.tr; the e-mail address and mobile phone number are verified in the profile.
3. Open an "Ev Hizmetleri" (Domestic Services) record. In the "İşyeri Kayıt" (Workplace Registration) menu, the record is created in the name of a natural person.
4. Choose the application type. If the foreign national is in Turkey, choose "Yurt içinde" (in Turkey): the foreigner identification number and date of birth are entered, and a residence permit valid for at least 6 months is required. If the foreign national is abroad, choose "Yurt dışında" (abroad): enter the 16-digit reference number the foreign national obtained from the Turkish mission in the country where they are legally present; the number is valid for 30 days.
5. Fill in the details. Personal details, passport, language and education; in the job section, the work address, the person to be cared for, the wage, the working arrangement and the justification for employment.
6. Upload the documents and complete with e-signature. An application left as a draft for more than one month is deleted.
7. Follow up. If the Ministry asks for missing documents, they must be uploaded within 30 days at the latest; an application that is not completed is rejected (Law No. 6735, Art. 7/7). If the documents are complete, the assessment is concluded within 30 days (Art. 7/8).
8. Pay the fee and the valuable paper charge. The amounts notified by e-mail after approval are paid within 30 days through the Dijital Vergi Dairesi (Digital Tax Office) or contracted banks; if they are not paid, the application ends with a negative result.
9. Receive the card and start work. The work permit document is delivered by PTT Kargo to the employer's address. In an in-country application, the foreign national must start work within one month of the permit start date (or of notification, if the document is notified later). A foreign national coming from abroad must start work within one month of entry and in any case within six months of the permit start date (Law No. 6735, Art. 12/2), and must register their address with the provincial migration directorate within 20 days of entry.

A work permit that has been granted counts as a residence permit; no separate residence permit is obtained (Law No. 6458, Art. 27/1; Law No. 6735, Art. 12/1). The timetable for an extension, which must be filed before the permit expires, is in the article on work permit extension.

Can you apply for a domestic work permit while overstaying in Turkey?

According to the official texts, not directly. ÇSGB states, both on its application types page and in the domestic services guide, that an in-country application can be made for a foreign national who holds a residence permit valid for at least 6 months. The route for a foreign national without a residence permit is a work visa application to the Turkish mission in the country of which they are a citizen or in which they are legally present (Law No. 6735, Art. 7/1).

The second obstacle is in the law. A foreign national who exceeds their visa or residence period by more than ten days falls within Art. 54/1-e and g of Law No. 6458; a work permit application concerning a foreign national whom the İçişleri Bakanlığı (Ministry of Interior) has reported as falling under Art. 54 is rejected (Law No. 6735, Art. 9/1-f). This provision contains no exception for domestic services; nor is domestic services mentioned in Art. 16, which lists the foreign nationals to whom the law may grant an exceptional work permit. In addition, a work permit can be granted only if the foreign national does not fall within Art. 7 of Law No. 6458 (Law No. 6458, Art. 27/2).

How these obstacles are overcome in practice in domestic services depends on the instruction whose text has not been published; we cannot state its conditions from an official text. Two things can be said with certainty:

• A work permit application does not give the foreign national a right to stay until a decision is made; Art. 7 of Law No. 6735 does not provide for a stay document similar to the ikamet izni müracaat belgesi (residence permit application certificate).
• Working before the permit is issued is prohibited even while the application is pending (Law No. 6735, Art. 6/2) and is a separate ground for deportation (Law No. 6458, Art. 54/1-ğ).

The residence options of a person who has overstayed, including humanitarian residence, are explained in the article on residence permits in irregular status.

Domestic work permit rejected: appeal within 30 days

The rejection decision is notified not to the foreign national but to the employer who will employ them (Law No. 6735, Art. 21/1). An objection can be filed with the Ministry within 30 days of notification; if the objection is also rejected, the route to the administrative courts opens (Art. 21/2). In e-İzin, the objection is made with the "Redde İtiraz Et" (Object to Rejection) button on the "Reddedilen Başvurular" (Rejected Applications) screen, by uploading a supporting document and signing with e-signature.

If a new application with another employer is planned for the same foreign national, the guide shows the "Redde İtirazdan Feragat Et" (Waive Objection to Rejection) option. After the objection is rejected, an annulment action is filed with the administrative court within 60 days of notification (İYUK, Law No. 2577 on Administrative Procedure, Art. 7). How to read the reasons for rejection and which of them can be remedied is covered in the article on domestic work permit rejection, and the general objection procedure on the work permit application and objection page.

Employer obligations after the permit is granted

The domestic services permit makes the family the employer and places the obligations on the family. According to ÇSGB's model contract, the employer is responsible for the social security obligations concerning the foreign national.

• Start of work: The "İşe Başlama Bildirimi" (Notice of Start of Work) screen in e-İzin is used; where the employment start notice has been made to SGK (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu, Social Security Institution), no separate notice to the Ministry is required.
• End of employment: Situations that require the permit to end or be cancelled are reported to the Ministry within 15 days; the permit cannot be terminated from a future date.
• Address: The foreign national works only at the residence declared in the application.

A finding that the foreign national worked contrary to the law, or a report that they fall under Art. 54, is a ground for cancelling the permit (Law No. 6735, Art. 15/2-c and f). Cancellation rests on an investigation, and the investigation must be complete: in its decision E. 2016/14318, K. 2021/1360, T. 24.03.2021, Danıştay 10. Daire (Council of State, 10th Chamber) upheld a first-instance decision that had annulled the cancellation of a domestic services permit based on a finding that the employer lived at another address, on the ground that the cancellation had been made after an incomplete examination without hearing the employer, the neighbours and the relative with whom the foreign national was staying. The situation of a foreign national whose job ends is covered in the article on a foreign national dismissed while holding a work permit.

Working without a work permit in Turkey: the consequences

Working, and employing someone, without a work permit is prohibited (Law No. 6735, Art. 6/2). A separate administrative fine is imposed for each foreign national on the foreign national working without a permit and on the employer employing them, and the fine is increased by one fold (that is, doubled) on repetition (Art. 23/5-b, Art. 23/6); in domestic services, the family member acting as employer is also liable to this fine. The current amounts are on the page on the fine for employing illegal foreign workers.

A foreign national found to be working without a permit is reported to the Ministry of Interior for deportation (Art. 23/8). The employer must also cover the foreign national's accommodation, return to their country and, where necessary, medical costs (Art. 23/9).

Amnesty scams: intermediaries asking for money

No service such as "putting you on the amnesty list" or "getting you covered by the instruction" exists in the official texts. The law accepts that a work permit application may also be filed by an authorised intermediary institution (Law No. 6735, Art. 7/2); but the outcome depends on the Ministry's assessment, and nobody can guarantee approval.

• The Presidency of Migration Management announces that it does not work with third parties or companies in procedures concerning foreigners; e-İkamet appointments are free of charge.
• The work permit fee and the valuable paper charge are paid into a public account through the Digital Tax Office or contracted banks after the application has been approved.
• Every stage of the application (missing documents, fees, result) appears in the "Başvuru Takip İşlemleri" (Application Tracking) section of the employer's own e-İzin screen.

How these promises are built is explained in the article on visa and immigration consultancy fraud.

Common misconceptions

"There is an amnesty for shepherds too"

Livestock farming has its own criteria (B.10): a certain number of animals on a holding registered in the Hayvan Bilgi Sistemi (Animal Information System) (for example, at least 200 small ruminants), the employment criterion not being applied for up to three foreign nationals on the same holding, and the opinion of the Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry). This section contains no specific provision for foreign nationals in irregular status; the residence requirement for in-country applications and Art. 9/1-f of Law No. 6735 apply there as well.

"A work permit deletes the deportation code"

It does not. The application of a foreign national with an entry ban or a deportation order is already rejected under Art. 9/1-f; a work permit is not a procedure that lifts a ban. Lifting the ban falls within the authority of the Presidency of Migration Management (Law No. 6458, Art. 9/6) and is the subject of a separate application or court case; the routes are on the page on lifting an entry ban to Turkey.

Legal basis and sources

• 6735 sayılı Uluslararası İşgücü Kanunu (International Labour Force Law No. 6735) Art. 6/1-2, Art. 7/1-2-4-7-8, Art. 9/1-c, e, f, Art. 10/1-2, Art. 12/1-2, Art. 15/2-c, ç, f, Art. 16/1, Art. 21/1-2, Art. 23/5-b, 6, 8, 9 — mevzuat.gov.tr
• 6458 sayılı Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu (Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection) Art. 9/6, Art. 27/1-2, Art. 54/1-e, g, ğ, h — mevzuat.gov.tr
• 2577 sayılı İdari Yargılama Usulü Kanunu (Law No. 2577 on Administrative Procedure) Art. 7 — mevzuat.gov.tr
• ÇSGB, Çalışma İzni Değerlendirme Kriterleri (Work Permit Assessment Criteria): A.3.1-d, B.3.1–B.3.5, B.9.4, B.10 — csgb.gov.tr
• ÇSGB, Ev Hizmetlerinde Adım Adım Çalışma İzni Başvuru Süreçleri (Step-by-Step Work Permit Application Processes in Domestic Services) (18.11.2025) — csgb.gov.tr
• ÇSGB, Çalışma İzni Belgeler (Work Permit Documents) page and the Belirli Süreli Hizmet Sözleşmesi (Ev Hizmetleri) template — csgb.gov.tr
• ÇSGB, Başvuru Türleri (Application Types; 6-month residence requirement for in-country applications) and Adım Adım Çalışma İzni Başvurusu (Yurt İçi / Yurt Dışı) (Step-by-Step Work Permit Application, In Turkey / Abroad) — csgb.gov.tr
• Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı, Yasal Kalış Hakkı İhlalinde Bulunan Yabancılara Uygulanacak Giriş Yasaklarına İlişkin Açıklama (Statement on Entry Bans for Foreigners Who Have Violated Their Legal Stay) (09.06.2020) — goc.gov.tr
• Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı, Duyurular (Announcements) page (checked on 8 October 2026) — goc.gov.tr
• Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı, Göç Terimleri Sözlüğü (Glossary of Migration Terms), entry "Af" (amnesty) — goc.gov.tr
• İstanbul İl Göç İdaresi Müdürlüğü, İkamet İzni Hakkında Sıkça Sorulan 34 Soru-34 Cevap (Residence Permits: 34 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers; states that it does not work with third parties) — istanbul.goc.gov.tr
• e-İkamet, documents required for short-term residence permit applications (states that appointments are free of charge) — e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr
• İçişleri Bakanlığı Mülkiye Teftiş Kurulu, İl Göç İdaresi Müdürlüğü Teftiş Rehberi (June 2026): the instruction dated 08.10.2024 and numbered 300694 is cited; the text of the instruction has not been published.
• Danıştay 10. Daire, E. 2016/14318, K. 2021/1360, T. 24.03.2021