A draft bill changing regulations to foreign employment was accepted by parliament’s Health, Family, Labor and Social Affairs Commission on June 28, as part of a bid to improve the investment climate in Turkey, the Hurriyet Daily news has reported.

The draft stipulates which methods, policies, responsibilities, rights and obligations will be operative in terms of offering work permits to foreign employees, Reuters reported.

In line with the draft law, the Labor and Social Security Ministry will launch a system to receive, assess and monitor foreign employment demands across the country.

After the draft is passed by parliament, the Labor Ministry will take on sole responsibility for dealing with work permits for foreigners. Up to now it has been dealt with by two different ministries.

Foreigners who do not have a work permit offered in line with the law cannot work or be hired in Turkey.

According to the draft bill, foreigners who have long-term residence permits or legal work permits of at least eight years will be able to apply for permanent work permits. Work permits or exemptions for work permits will also be effective as a residence permit.

In the framework of the new system, Turkey will bring about a scoring system for foreign workers. Their educational background, language skills, professional experience and other qualifications will be assessed through this scoring system.

Foreigners who can pass a predefined threshold will be able to qualify for a turquoise card in accordance with their potential contributions to the Turkish economy, the recommendations by the International Labor Policy Advisory Board, and the basis which are defined by the ministry.

The card holders will be able to have all rights that the permanent work permit offers, with the condition of the first three years being transitional.

According to the draft bill, the Council of Ministers will be able to define, limit and stop temporarily or permanently the issuance of work permits or work permit exemptions by country, person, geographical region, time span, number, rate, qualification, sector, occupation and profession, according to what the national interests require.