Looking for English language teaching (ELT or TEFL) jobs in Turkey? Get the information you need to find a great teaching job in Turkey.
If you decide you want an ELT or TEFL job in Turkey your best chance is to try getting a job teaching English in one of the big cities like Ankara,Istanbul or Izmir. There are many private language schools that offer ELT jobs to native English speakers already in Turkey. Depending on how long you want to keep your TEFL job in Turkey there are several ways of dealing with residency issues. Your initial 90 day tourist visa doesn’t allow you to take a job but many travellers do as many employers in Turkey don’t mind. If you want to keep your ELT job in Turkey for more than 3 months without getting a work permit, you have to leave Turkey on a visa run (either to Cyprus, Greece or Bulgaria) and re-enter Turkey on another 90 visit visa. This will allow you to keep your TEFL job in Turkey for another three months however the passport officer in Turkey may get suspicious if you do this too many times.
Long & short term ELT and TEFL jobs in Turkey
If you are already in Turkey when you find your ELT job and want to be legal then go to the foreigner police station and ask them for the pink book. The pink book replaces your visa and work permit and allows you to keep your job in Turkey for up to a year before renewal. If your TEFL job in Turkey is likely to last less than a year its worth trying to renew your three month residency which can be done if you prove you have at least $200 deposited in a bank in Turkey. This may work a few times before the officials get suspicious although remember that your job in Turkey will still be illegal.
If you already have a TEFL job arranged in Turkey before you leave it is best to get a work permit from the Turkish embassy in your country. You will need to submit your passport, 2 passport photos and a letter proving you a have an ELT job in Turkey. The processing of the permit that allows you to have a job in Turkey takes a few weeks.
If you find your teaching job when your already in Turkey but want to be legal then you can try applying for the work permit from the Turkish embassy in Greece. You can take a plane or an overnight bus from Istanbul to Athens. From there the process for getting the permit that makes your job in Turkey legal is the same although the Turkish embassy should be able to process within a few hours. Check with people in Turkey before you try this.
