Working in Turkmenistan as a French National: Visa, Salaries, Tax and Social Protection

France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) describes a tightly regulated entry regime: the visa requires an invitation letter from the State Migration Service, requested by the inviting party (travel agency, individual or company), with a lead time of three to four weeks; registration within three days of arrival is carried out by that same party, and deregistration is required on departure. For an employee, it is therefore the host company that carries the formalities, as well as the access authorisations for the Dashoguz region and the border zones (3 to 10 days).

The Labour Code of Turkmenistan of 18 April 2009, in force since 1 July 2009 and amended in 2011, 2013 and 2015, is the legal basis of employment (ILO, NATLEX database). The text consulted does not allow the work permit rules for foreign workers to be described here: they should be confirmed with the State Migration Service, which also issues residence permits, and with the employer. Procedures change, hence the value of having them confirmed before each trip.

Presidential decrees regularly raise the salaries of budget-funded institutions, autonomous enterprises and public associations, pensions, state benefits and scholarships, and set a minimum wage used to regulate monthly salaries, of the order of 1,400 manat. The amount in force should be confirmed on the official government portal. The World Bank also mentions an announced policy of annual 10% increases in public-sector salaries and pensions.

The pay of foreign managers and technicians depends on the employer and the sector, and no official average salary statistics were used for this page. A contract is compared on the whole package: base salary, currency (dollars in cash are indispensable on the spot), housing, health insurance with evacuation, and who covers the visas, registration and zone authorisations.

No Turkmen income tax rate or employee contribution rate was read from an official source for this page: they should be confirmed with the employer and the Turkmen tax administration. The list of tax treaties concluded by France, published in the BOFiP (the French tax administration’s official doctrine), does however mention Turkmenistan: the Franco-Soviet treaty signed in Paris on 4 October 1985, in force since 28 March 1987, continues to have effect, confirmed by an exchange of letters in 1994 (BOFiP).

For private remuneration, the treaty makes it taxable in the state where the activity is carried out; temporary assignments remain taxable in the state of residence if they do not exceed 183 days per calendar year, if the employer is not a resident of the state of the assignment and if the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment of that employer in that state. Residence is determined by the permanent home, then the centre of vital interests, then the habitual place of stay, then nationality. Residents of France who receive income of Turkmen source declare it in France at its gross amount, and double taxation is eliminated under the rules of the treaty (tax credit for dividends and interest, exemption with effective rate for other income). The beneficiary proves their tax residence by any means, for example a certificate from the tax authorities.

France has no social security agreement with Turkmenistan (CLEISS list; CLEISS is the French Centre for European and International Social Security Liaison): no posting certificate provided for by an agreement, no totalisation of periods. A seconded employee retains, in principle, the French scheme under a secondment outside an agreement; the Urssaf (the French social security contributions collection body) and CLEISS confirm the duration, the conditions and any local contributions due. As France Diplomatie warns that many international insurances do not cover Turkmenistan, the employer checks health cover and repatriation in writing before departure. See the glossary entries on the posted worker and the local contract, as well as the page healthcare reimbursement in Turkmenistan.

France Diplomatie stresses that independent travel and homestays are not common and that a visa cannot be obtained for this type of stay: self-employed work or long-term remote work therefore depends on a local sponsor able to carry the invitation letter and the registration. The pages consulted describe no status dedicated to digital nomads. Remote work for a French employer also raises the question of tax residence and social protection, to be dealt with the employer before any stay. The page digital nomad insurance presents suitable health contracts, to be checked country by country.

The currency is the new manat (TMT), pegged to the dollar at a fixed official rate. The Central Bank shows this rate in its official list, and the World Bank notes that the rate has changed only once, from 2.85 to 3.50 in January 2015, while describing a parallel market with a persistent gap. France Diplomatie states that euros are very difficult to change and that hotel rooms and plane tickets are paid for in dollars. The main indicators (growth, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate) appear in the “Economic indicators” block of this page.

For a professional project, the outlook is read employer by employer and sector by sector; the page living in Turkmenistan describes settling in, and Expavy compares the health solutions suited to each status.