The social security system forms the vital foundation of an individual’s long-term financial security, healthcare access, and retirement rights. However, navigating the Turkish Social Security Institution (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu or SGK) can be an overwhelmingly complex and frustrating experience for foreign nationals. Issues such as unregistered working periods, missing premium days, rejected retirement applications, or disputes over medical board reports frequently cause international residents to lose out on their hard-earned state benefits.
At Kotan & Gökce Law Firm, we actively protect the social security and pension rights of expatriates, international workers, and foreign residents in Türkiye. We manage complex administrative appeals directly with SGK bureaus and litigate specialized claims in the Turkish Labor and Social Security Courts to ensure your contributions are fully recognized and your future is legally protected.
Our Scope of Services for Expatriates and Foreign Workers:
Appealing Rejected Retirement Applications: Overturning wrongful denials of old-age pension or retirement applications filed by foreign residents.
Unification of International Service Periods: Managing the legal process of combining your foreign working years with your Turkish social security history (hizmet birleştirme) under international bilateral treaties.
Service Determination Lawsuits: Filing retroactive lawsuits (hizmet tespiti davası) to force the legal registration of unrecorded or “off-the-books” working periods.
Disability Retirement Claims: Challenging the rejection of invalidity or disability retirement (malulen emeklilik) applications through official medical board reviews.
Workplace Injury and SGK Recourse Audits: Representing individuals in liability assessments and compensation disputes following local workplace accidents or occupational illnesses.
Resolving Premium & Debt Discrepancies: Contesting unjust premium debt notifications, interest calculations, or administrative penalties erroneously levied against individuals.
Why Kotan & Gökce?
Bilateral Treaty and Cross-Border Pension Expertise:
We thoroughly understand the complex social security agreements signed between Türkiye and foreign nations, ensuring that your international work history is calculated correctly under local law.
Clear Management of Turkish State Bureaucracy:
Dealing with government agencies like the SGK can be extremely challenging due to language barriers and rigid bureaucratic systems. We act as your direct legal proxy, handling all filings and providing clear English updates.
Strategic Social Security Litigation:
When administrative objections fail, our trial lawyers build robust court cases utilizing digital footprints, employment records, and independent medical evaluations to recover your withheld state rights.
Critical Realities in Turkish Social Security Disputes
Retirement applications rejected by the SGK due to allegedly insufficient premium days.
Foreign workers who have split their careers between Türkiye and their home countries often face arbitrary rejections because local SGK branches fail to properly process international treaties. When a pension is denied based on missing data, we audit your entire employment history and launch a targeted court action to legally establish your total eligible service days.
Disability retirement claims denied based on local state hospital reports.
Securing disability retirement (malulen emeklilik) requires proving a minimum 60% loss of working capacity before an official SGK Medical Board. If your initial application is rejected or your health status is undervalued, the decision must be formally challenged within strict statutory windows using comprehensive independent medical dossiers and expert forensic reviews.
Discovering that a local employer failed to pay your monthly social security premiums.
It is a common and dangerous reality for foreign workers to discover that their employer kept them unregistered or underreported their actual salary to the SGK, even while holding a valid work permit. To reclaim these missing years and secure your future pension, a Service Determination Lawsuit must be launched. Crucially, these claims are bound by a strict 5-year statute of limitations starting from the end of the year you left that specific job.
If you are facing an administrative dispute with the SGK, struggling to unify your international working years, or need to correct your local social security records, prompt legal action is vital. Contact our social security law team today to arrange a consultation.
Your legal partner in Izmir-Turkiye
Please contact us for consultation. You can reach us via WhatsApp, phone or e-mail.
İşbu aydınlatma metni, 6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu (“KVKK”) uyarınca veri sorumlusu sıfatıyla hareket eden KOTAN & GÖKCE HUKUK BÜROSU (“Hukuk Bürosu”) tarafından, kişisel verilerinizin toplanması, işlenmesi ve korunması süreçlerine ilişkin sizleri bilgilendirmek amacıyla hazırlanmıştır.
2. Kişisel Verilerinizin Toplanma Yöntemleri ve Hukuki Sebepleri
Kişisel verileriniz, hukuk büromuzun web sitesi, e-posta iletişimi, telefon görüşmeleri, fiziki formlar, dava dosyaları, müvekkil görüşmeleri ve benzeri yollarla otomatik ya da otomatik olmayan yöntemlerle toplanmaktadır. Bu veriler, KVKK’nın 5. ve 6. maddelerinde öngörülen hukuki sebepler doğrultusunda işlenmektedir.
3. Kişisel Verilerin İşlenme Amaçları
Toplanan kişisel verileriniz;
Avukatlık hizmetlerinin sunulması,
Müvekkil ilişkilerinin yürütülmesi,
Dava ve icra dosyalarının hazırlanması ve takibi,
İlgili kişiyle iletişimin sağlanması,
Yasal yükümlülüklerin yerine getirilmesi,
4. Kişisel Verilerin Aktarımı
Kişisel verileriniz, yukarıdaki amaçlarla sınırlı olmak üzere ve KVKK’nın 8. ve 9. maddelerine uygun şekilde;
Yargı mercileri,
İcra müdürlükleri,
Kamu kurumları,
Hizmet alınan danışmanlar ve iş ortakları
ile paylaşılabilir.
5. İlgili Kişinin KVKK Kapsamındaki Hakları
KVKK’nın 11. maddesi uyarınca, kişisel verilerinizle ilgili olarak veri sorumlusuna başvurarak;
Kişisel verilerinizin işlenip işlenmediğini öğrenme,
İşlenmişse buna ilişkin bilgi talep etme,
İşlenme amacını ve bu amaca uygun kullanılıp kullanılmadığını öğrenme,
Yurt içinde veya yurt dışında aktarıldığı üçüncü kişileri bilme,
Eksik ya da yanlış işlenmişse düzeltilmesini isteme,
KVKK’ya aykırı olarak işlenmişse silinmesini veya yok edilmesini isteme,
İşlemenin yalnızca otomatik sistemler ile analiz edilmesi suretiyle aleyhinize bir sonucun ortaya çıkmasına itiraz etme,
Zarara uğramanız hâlinde tazminat talep etme
Bu haklarınıza ilişkin başvurularınızı info@kotangokce.com adresine iletebilir ya da bizzat başvuru yapabilirsiniz.
TR
