Your family's status, on the same plan as yours.
Family residence permits for the spouses and children of foreign nationals working in Türkiye: the conditions, the documents, what the permit unlocks in education and healthcare, and how extensions work.
The permit is a family matter
Posting an executive to Türkiye means, in practice, moving a family. For the work-permit holder's spouse and children under 18, a family residence permit is granted on the strength of the sponsor's own status, and the file has to document both the family relationship and the means to support it. Put the file together properly and the family obtains its status on the same timeline as the employee.
Conditions and documents
Five things sit at the core of the file: the sponsor's valid permit, sufficient income, suitable accommodation, health insurance, and apostilled and translated proof of the family relationship — marriage and birth records. Formal document requirements differ from one country to the next and are the single most common cause of delay, so we work from a checklist built for the country the family is leaving.
Education, healthcare and everyday life
The family residence permit is what opens school enrolment for the children, access to health services and ordinary banking. When a child turns 18 the status has to change — usually to a student residence permit — and that transition should be planned well before it arrives. If the spouse wants to work, that calls for a separate work-permit application.
The file is built around the family's calendar
We work in four steps. First, a preliminary analysis: the sponsor's status, the income test and the family's target moving date fix the timeline, which we then build backwards. Second, document collection against a checklist for the country of departure — which document, from which authority, with apostille and sworn translation. Third, application management: e-residence filings, appointments and timely answers to deficiency notices, run under the family residence permit provisions of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458 and current Directorate of Migration practice. Fourth, delivery and continuity: card collection, address registrations and the extension calendar. Deliverables: the country-specific checklist, the application file and a status calendar for the family. The strategy for the main permit itself is set in our work permits service and the family file runs alongside it, both within our Residence, Work Permit & Citizenship focus.
The same discipline in both directions
The service is used most by HR teams acting for the families of foreign managers posted to Türkiye, and by entrepreneurial families planning a move of their own. The mirror scenario is on our desk just as often: for the families of Turkish employees assigned to Germany the process is planned under German law, and concessions such as the rule that no language requirement is asked of the spouse of an EU Blue Card holder are built in alongside the Blue Card file itself. In both directions the aim is the same: the family’s status never comes adrift from the employee’s assignment calendar.
We are by your side for Family Reunification & Family Residence Permits
We handle the family file as an extension of the main permit, in one package: appointments, forms, translations and the extension schedule. On corporate relocations we work alongside HR teams under a corporate immigration programme, and we keep citizenship options in view within the same long-term strategy.
Other Applications of This Service
Work Permits & Foreign Personnel — our other specialised solutions in this area.
Matter Connections
The focus areas, practice areas, desks and legislation connected with this sub-service.
Our Matters in This Service
The anonymised examples of our work that relate to this service.
Assignment of an engineering team to Germany
Relocation of the project team to Germany through an EU Blue Card and assignment structure; including family reunification.
Review the matter →Advisory · Permit AppealResolving a work-permit refusal through appeal
The favourable resolution of a work permit refused for a key position, through grounds analysis, restructuring of the file, and an appeal process.
Review the matter →The Team Delivering This Service
With our multilingual team of lawyers, well-versed in Turkish and German law, we are by your side.
Related Publications
Fresh perspectives and guides from the Knowledge Centre.
No — a separate work permit is required in order to work; however, the family permit provides a legitimate basis of stay that eases the application process.
Marriage and birth certificates must be obtained with an apostille from the country of origin and submitted with a sworn translation. A missing formal requirement is the number one reason an appointment goes to waste.
Before the permit expires, within the application window set by the legislation. If family members’ permit periods have diverged, aligning them on a single calendar means one extension round per year.
Family Reunification & Family Residence Permits — get the right legal support.
Let us identify the right solution together, drawing on our experience in Türkiye and the DACH region.