Employing Foreign Staff for Domestic Services:
Employer's Guide

What Does the Domestic Services Work Permit Cover?

The short answer: the domestic services work permit is issued under Law No. 4817 on Work Permits for Foreigners only for three tasks — childcare, elderly care and patient care. “Employing a foreigner at home” and “domestic services work permit” are not the same thing; the latter is an official category covering only a narrow slice of the former.

Each of these three tasks broadly depends on a specific circumstance: childcare generally requires a child under a certain age in the home, elderly care requires caring for a family member above a certain age, and patient care requires the situation to be documented by a physician’s report. In addition, the family taking on the care — or its relatives — is expected to document that it has a sufficient and regular income. The exact boundaries of these criteria (such as the age threshold or income level) are updated from time to time — this article deliberately avoids giving an exact figure, because it is a matter that needs to be confirmed against the current official criterion before applying.

The most commonly confused aspect of this scope is this: a family may want to employ a foreigner at home, but under the “domestic services” heading, only the care function is recognised — not general household management. This distinction becomes more concrete in the next section. (For households focused solely on hiring a caregiver, see the process flow in: Domestic Caregiver Work Permit: Employer’s Guide.)

It is also worth underlining the difference between these three tasks — even though they are all grouped under “care,” each has its own document and relationship logic. In childcare the relationship is usually parent-child; in elderly and patient care, a first-degree kinship or similar closeness between the person cared for and the person taking on the care may be required. How these distinctions apply in a given file depends on the family’s specific circumstances — which is why clarifying “which category does our situation fall into” before applying is the most critical first step.

One more important point: even if the domestic services category applies, this does not automatically mean approval. Falling within scope only means “an application can be made”; a positive outcome depends on the consistency of the documents submitted and how the Ministry evaluates the file. Scope and approval are two separate stages, and the two should not be confused.

Which Domestic Services Fall Outside the Scope?

The domestic services work permit category is much narrower than its name suggests. The following tasks are outside the category:

• Cleaner / daily help: general house cleaning does not fall within this scope.
• Cook: meal preparation is a job description separate from the care function.
• Driver: transport services are not included in the domestic services category.
• Gardener / housekeeper: garden maintenance or general household management tasks are likewise outside the scope.

The practical consequence of this distinction is this: when a family says “I want to bring in a foreign cook or driver for my home,” they need to know from the start that this cannot be done through the domestic services work permit route. If this kind of employment need arises, the situation needs to be assessed separately and on a case-by-case basis within the general work permit legislation — giving a single general prescription here would mislead the reader.

As for why the scope is kept this narrow, the short answer is that the purpose of the regulation is not “general household help for the family” but “sustaining the care of an individual in need of care.” The care function (child/elderly/patient) meets a concrete, documentable need, while general domestic service tasks fall outside this definition. For the current, official framework: Ministry of Labour and Social Security — General Directorate of International Labour Force.

A frequently asked question at this point is: “My caregiver also does some light cleaning — is that a problem?” The short answer is that what matters is whether the care task remains at the centre of the job description — everyday tasks that naturally accompany the care work are not the same thing as the application’s actual purpose being cleaning or general household help. How this distinction is assessed can vary from file to file, which is why it matters to state the job description accurately and consistently before applying.

Who Is the Employer? The Family or a Company?

In work permits for other sectors, the employer is usually a company; in domestic services, however, the applying and responsible party is not a company but your household — meaning you. This difference shapes several points of the process:

• You initiate the application: the family member taking on the care carries out the application in the capacity of employer.
• No corporate requirements apply: some criteria that apply to company employers (such as employing a certain number of Turkish nationals) do not apply to household employers — because you are a family, not a business.
• Income/relationship documents take centre stage: instead of a company balance sheet, documents showing the income situation of the family taking on the care (or its relatives) and its relationship with the person cared for come into play.

This “household, not company” difference is the most visible distinction between the domestic services process and other types of work permit, and clarifying it before applying speeds up the process. (For a comparison of general work permit types, see: Work Permit Types.)

Another practical consequence of this is that responsibility also rests entirely with you. In company employment, the work permit file is usually tracked by an HR or legal department; in domestic services, this tracking falls directly to one of the family members. Not missing the notification and fee obligations that arise after the application is the responsibility of you or your family, not a corporate structure — which is why many households choose consultancy support for this process.

The General Flow of the Application

For a care need (childcare, elderly care or patient care) that falls within scope, the application broadly follows these steps:

• Eligibility assessment: clarifying which category (childcare/elderly care/patient care) the care need falls into and which documents are required (age, physician’s report, income document).
• Application: the official application being made by the household employer through the e-Permit system with an electronic signature.
• Review: the Ministry examining the file.
• Result and fee: payment of the official fee within the given period after a positive result, and collection of the card.
• SGK notification: registering the employment with the social security system — this step has its own timing and obligations.

This flow overlaps with the general work permit application logic (see: Foreign Work Permit Application: Process and What to Know); the difference specific to domestic services is that the employer side is a household, and the job description is limited to only three categories. How long it takes varies from file to file; rather than giving a fixed figure, it is more accurate to say it depends on the workload at the time of application and how complete the file is.

The application channel depends on the foreign national’s legal status at the time of application (whether abroad or in Türkiye with a valid residence permit); which route to follow becomes clear based on this — and this is a detail that needs to be assessed separately before applying. Once the process is approved, the permit period is generally limited, and a renewal application is required at the end of the period; the same scope and document logic remains valid during renewal too.

The Risk of Unregistered Employment Outside the Scope

The narrow scope of the domestic services work permit can lead some families to slide into thinking “there is no official route anyway, so let’s continue unregistered.” This carries risk under both labour legislation and foreigners’ legislation:

• Administrative sanction risk: when employment of a foreigner without a work permit is detected, an administrative fine may apply to the employer; since current amounts are updated each year by the revaluation rate, the exact figure should be checked against the official source.
• Unprotected working relationship: in unregistered employment, the worker is also left without social security and other legal protections.
• Risk to residence status: the residence/visa status of a foreigner found to be working unregistered can also be adversely affected.

The aim here is not to alarm, but to make clear that there is no official “domestic services” route for work outside the scope, and that this gap does not legitimise unregistered employment. For care work that does fall within scope, the risks of unregistered employment can similarly be summarised as the uncertainty that stepping outside the official framework carries for both employer and employee.

One more point: the absence of an official route for a task outside the scope does not mean that need can never be met — only that it cannot be met under the “domestic services” heading. In such a case, what the family needs to do is define the need accurately and assess with professional support how (if at all) it corresponds within the general work permit legislation; here too there is no single standard answer — each case requires a file-specific assessment.

Why Starting With the Right Framework Matters

The point that most often costs families time and effort in domestic services is starting the process by fitting their need into the wrong category — for example, trying to present a general household-help need under the “caregiver” heading, which can later make the file look inconsistent and cause unnecessary delay. Since the legislation is updated frequently, confirming the scope and criteria against the current situation is more reliable than relying on a single past experience.

As the employer, your real job is managing your family and your home; tracking which need falls into which official category, and the documents and process required, is a separate area of expertise. If you have a care need that falls within scope, we take this burden off you by handling the paperwork and coordination process on the employer’s side. For details: Domestic Caregiver Work Permit.