How to get Turkish citizenship

How to get Turkish Citizenship by Investment?

Turkish citizenship by investment. Some significant changes were made in the legislation of acquiring Turkish citizenship through investment in 2018. The applications and principles for foreign investors to acquire Turkish citizenship have been determined with The Regulation on the Amendment to the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, published in the Official Gazette on 12 January 2017. Accordingly, the US dollar limit, which is required for foreign investors to acquire Turkish citizenship, has been reduced. For instance, there was an obligation to purchase a house for 1 million dollars for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship beforehand. It is now possible by purchasing a house which will cost 250 thousand USD. Determining these stated monetary values will be based on the effective exchange rate or cross-exchange rate of the Central Bank of Turkish Republic on determination date.

Types of Turkish Citizenship by Investment

What are the criteria sought for Turkish citizenship by investment, what are the types of getting Turkish citizenship in Turkey through investment? In accordance with the mentioned Regulation, a foreign investor must realize one of these six conditions in order to become a Turkish citizen by investing:

1) Making a fixed capital investment of at least 500.000 USD

2) Purchasing a property with an amount of at least 250,000 USD and annotating on the land registry not to be sold for 3 years

3) Creating employment for at least 50 people

4) Depositing at least 500,000 USD to the banks operating in Turkey and keeping the account for three years

5) Purchasing, at least 500.000 US dollars, debt instruments of government on the condition of keeping them for 3 years

6)  Purchasing, at least 500.000 USD, participation share of real estate investment’s fund or participation share of venture capital investment’s fund for at least three years. However, the foreign investors will be able to realize their investments in terms of foreign exchange or TL against the USD specified in the conditions.

The process to be followed by foreigners to become a Turkish citizen with investment

The process to be followed for Turkish citizenship by investment consists of 3 stages. These stages are the receipt of a certificate of conformity, obtaining a residence permit and applying for citizenship. Application for the receipt of conformity certification shall be made to:

1) The Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment in case of fixed capital investment

2) The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadaster in the case of purchasing immovable property

3) The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, General Directorate of International Labor in the case of employment

4) The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, the Financial Consumer Relations Department in case of depositing to the banks operating in Turkey

5) The Ministry of Treasury and Finance in case of purchasing debt instruments of government

6) The Intermediary Activities Department of Capital Markets Board in case of purchasing participation share of real estate investment’s fund or participation share of venture capital investment’s fund.

The second step is to obtain a residence permit. The last step for the foreigner who has obtained the residence permit is to apply for citizenship. For this, the application should be made to the Provincial Population and Citizenship Directorate. Thus, the citizenship application file will be issued and sent to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs. In the meantime, it is investigated whether there is any issue that will prevent acquisition of citizenship in terms of national security and public safety. If archive research of General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs is successful, it submits the file to the Ministry. It is sent to the Presidency by the Ministry Office for the purpose of taking the Presidential Decree. If the president decides positively in the acquisition of citizenship, the foreign investor will now be granted with Turkish citizenship.

You can have information by reading our residence permit article which is about conditions required for foreigners in order to get residence permit.

Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by Purchasing Homes and Houses for 250.000 Dollars

Acquisition of Turkish citizenship. Citizenship to the person that bought a house was facilitated by the relevant Regulation published on 12 January 2017. Accordingly, citizenship to the person that bought a house will no longer be a price of 1 million USD. It will be 250,000 USD. For Turkish citizenship of 250 thousand dollars, foreign investors are required annotate the house to the title deed records as not to be sold for 3 years. So, the foreigner can acquire Turkish citizenship if the situation that foreigner had purchased a house with an amount of 250.000 USD or equivalent foreign currency or TL has been determined by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.

Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by investing a capital of 500.000 Dollars

Acquistion of turkish citizenship. The condition of investing at least $ 2 million dollars in order to acquire Turkish citizenship has been changed. The condition of at least 500,000 USD for getting Turkish citizenship through investment has been required by regulation. 

The foreign investor shall be entitled to getting Turkish citizenship by carrying out free capital investment at this amount, in foreign currency or TL. An application must be made for the certificate of conformity which is for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by investment. The investor will apply to the Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Capital, for the certificate of conformity.

Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship through Employment Investment

Acquistion of turkish citizenship. The minimum amount of employment for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by employment provision was at least 100 people. However, this limit has been reduced to 50 people with the published Regulation. The situation that the foreigner had provided an employment of at least 50 people must be determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Services. So, the foreigner will be able to acquire Turkish citizenship through employment investment.  The investor should apply to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services in order to get conformity certification for acquiring citizenship.

Advantages of Being a Turkish Citizen by Investment

What are the advantages of investing in Turkey for citizenship? What advantages does being Turkish citizenship by investment provide for foreign investors? First, there is a time requirement being determined for the investment. After the expiry of this period, the investor has the right to withdraw his / her investment. In other words, the investor will be able to get his money back with the legal interest and will be able to get dispose of the house or home he/she bought at the end of three years. This withdrawal process will result in nothing for citizenship. In other words, the person who had acquired Turkish citizenship by investment will continue to be a Turkish citizen even if he/she withdraw his/her investment after three years. This citizenship Turkish is valid not only for the investor but also for his wife and children under 18 years. Although there is a requirement like investing in Turkey for citizenship, the condition that the investor, his wife or children must live in Turkey has not been predicted.  Finally, the foreign investor does not have to be out of the nationality of his/her country for the acquisition of citizenship Turkey.

Which Investment Makes More Sense For Turkish Citizenship?

We have stated that the monetary values ​​determined for Turkish citizenship by investment have been reduced by the relevant Regulation. According to this regulation, the condition of $ 500 thousand instead of $ 2 million for the required fixed capital investment and the condition of $ 250 thousand instead of $1 million for the investment through purchasing a property are required. In addition, the condition of creating an employment of at least 100 people has been limited to at least 50 people. In this sense, foreign investors are wondering which type of investment is more logical for Turkish citizenship.

We can say that it is more advantageous acquiring citizenship by purchasing house or residence considering that Turkey is quite lively and constantly active in real estate, housing and construction sectors. In this sense, there are some advantages such as the determined monetary value is lower in case of investment through purchasing real estate since building and construction sectors are quite lively and the foreigner doesn’t have to live in Turkey for citizenship. However, the idea of which investments are more logical will vary from person to person considering the issues like the assets of the investor and the future plans.

How Long Does the Application of Turkish Citizenship through Investment Result in

Firstly, the period for the application of Turkish citizenship by investment is 3 years. This period is valid period for every investment. In this sense, citizenship applications can be made 3 years after the determination of fixed capital investment. However, it will not be possible to give a definite time for the conclusion of Turkish citizenship application. At this point, it is necessary to prepare the required documents for the rapid progress of the process and following the process in a rigorous way. But it should not be disregarded that the process will be longer. Because, the workload of the directorates working in the metropolitan cities is higher.  At the same time, working with a specialist citizenship lawyer for the proper follow-up of the procedure will contribute to the acceleration of the process.        Thus, the applications to be made without consulting a Turkish citizenship lawyer can last for 2 years. But this period can be between 6 months and 1 year with a specialist Turkish citizenship attorney.

Lawyer Support in the Follow-up of Turkish Citizenship through Investment

Attorney support is important from the time of investment until the point of citizenship. The first thing that the foreign investor should do for the application of Turkish citizenship through investment is deciding types of investments he/she will apply. The lawyer shall provide legal advice to the client in which it is more logical to apply to which investment. For example, land registry transactions can be transformed into a complex process for foreigners in the acquisition of Turkish citizenship through purchasing house. The foreigner can easily realize necessary transactions with a citizenship lawyer and the services to be given such as the type of investment that the foreigner should be directed to, the residence permit, the steps to be followed for citizenship application, the necessary procedures, the complete and accurate preparation of the documents. Topo Law Office provides professional legal services to its clients at every stage of the application for Turkish citizenship by investment.

Attorney Serdarhan Topo

Serdarhan TOPO the founding lawyer of Topo Law Office has completed his bachelor’s degree in law at Istanbul University. Attorney Serdarhan TOPO, who has several academic articles on internet and informatics law, real estate law, family law and criminal law, provides legal services even in the most complicated cases. For detailed information: You can visit the biography page of Lawyer Serdarhan TOPO.