There are various ways to acquire Turkish citizenship, and one of these ways is to acquire Turkish citizenship by investment, which is one of the exceptional ways to acquire it. In order for a foreign investor to acquire Turkish citizenship through investment, his investment must meet certain conditions. However, citizenship cannot be obtained automatically by fulfilling the conditions. For this, the application must be submitted with the necessary documents and this application must be positive..
Below, first of all, the current conditions sought by laws and regulations will be explained, and then the details regarding the application form will be listed.
1. Citizenship Requirements for Foreign Investors
Regulations regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by foreign investors are included in the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 (TVK), the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Regulation on Amending the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law.
As of 13 May 2022, significant changes have been made in the conditions regarding the acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by investment. The article you will read has been edited according to these changes and reflects the current conditions. For example; 1 month after this change (from 13.06.2022), the sale price of the real estate to be purchased must be at least 400,000 USD in order to become a Turkish citizen.
After the changes, foreign nationals who can acquire Turkish citizenship through investment are determined as follows:
- Those determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology to have made a fixed capital investment of at least 500 thousand USD or equivalent foreign currency,
- Purchased real estate worth at least 400 thousand USD or equivalent in foreign currency, provided that an annotation is put in the land registry that it is not sold for 3 years, or a condominium or floor servitude has been established,
- Those whose minimum 400 thousand US Dollars or equivalent amount of foreign currency has been deposited in advance and it has been determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change that the sale of the immovable has been promised by a contract drawn up in a notary public, provided that a commitment not to be transferred or canceled for a period of 3 years is annotated in the land registry,
- Those determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to employ at least 50 people,
- Those determined by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency to have deposited at least 500 thousand US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency in banks operating in Turkey, on the condition that they keep their deposits for 3 years,
- Those determined by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance to have purchased government debt instruments of at least 500 thousand US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency, on the condition of keeping them for 3 years,
- Persons determined by the Capital Markets Board to have purchased real estate investment fund participation shares and venture capital investment fund participation shares of at least 500 thousand USD or equivalent foreign currency, on the condition that they hold at least 3 years,
- Those determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency to have invested at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency into the private pension system, provided that they are kept in the funds determined by the Insurance and Private Pensions Regulation and Supervision Agency and remain in the system for three years.
The foreign currency amounts determined above will be sold to a bank operating in Turkey and by this bank to the Central Bank before the transaction, and the amounts converted into TL as a result of the sale will be kept in TL deposits and government debt instruments for 3 years.
2. The Procedure to Follow For Turkish Citizenship by Investment
As mentioned above, citizenship is not automatically acquired by fulfilling the conditions listed above. In order to acquire citizenship, it is necessary to apply to the necessary authorities with some documents and then the application must be accepted. In this regard, the required documents are as follows:
- Application form
- 2 biometric photos
- Passport and notarized Turkish translation
- Birth certificate
- Marital status certificate
- Documents showing the title deed or investment
- Real estate valuation report
- Fully documented birth certificate
- Fee payment receipt
Apart from/before these documents, there are also documents required for foreign persons to purchase real estate. We can list them as follows:
- Deed of the real estate or information of village/neighborhood, island, parcel, building, independent section,
- Identity document or passport with translation if necessary,
- Obtaining the Real Estate Market Value Certificate from the relevant Municipality,
- Compulsory earthquake insurance policy for buildings such as residences and workplaces,
- 2 photos of the buyer and 1 photo of the seller taken within the last 6 months,
- Having a sworn translator, if there is a party who does not speak Turkish,
- In case of transactions with a power of attorney issued abroad, the original or certified copy of the power of attorney together with its translation,
- Residence permits issued by the relevant police directorates of foreign nationals whose real estate purchases are subject to residence permits.
In applications made by purchasing real estate, a short-term residence permit must be obtained after the title deed registration of the real estate. The documents required for a short-term residence permit application are as follows:
- Residence permit application form,
- The original passport and a photocopy of the relevant pages,
- At least 4 biometric photographs taken within the last 6 months,
- Health insurance policy,
- Receipt of payment of application fee and necessary valuable papers,
- Official, e-signed/signed and sealed/stamped title deed showing that the residence belongs to the person.
The file completed with the documents listed above will be sent to the Ministry of Interior for a decision. However, the principles to be applied in determining whether the investment conditions in the scope and amounts mentioned in the first section are met will be determined by the institutions that make the determination. Upon issuance of the certificate of conformity by the competent authority, the file finally goes to the President for a decision. So the final decision rests with the President.
The acquisition of citizenship through investment, which we have described in our article, is an exceptionally recognized and very convenient opportunity for foreigners. However, granting citizenship is one of the most important sovereign rights of a state. For this reason, the evaluation process is very sensitive and attention is paid to every detail.
Consequently, mistakes or omissions made during the application process will cause serious material and moral damages for the applicants. If you are considering applying for citizenship, getting services from a consultancy firm with an experienced and expert legal team in this field will prevent you from experiencing such a loss of time and money. As Edel-Property, we provide consultancy services on the acquisition of Turkish citizenship through investment with our legal department experienced in the field of foreigners law.
Best regards,
Edel-Propoerty Team