In the practice of granting Turkish citizenship to foreign nationals who want to acquire citizenship in exchange for the purchase of real estate, the lower limit, which was 1 million dollars in 2017, was adjusted to 250 thousand dollars in September 2018. In April 2022, it was increased to $ 400,000. In this case, the eyes of foreign investors turned to Turkey. In this context, the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (TKGM) has issued a certificate of conformity for Turkish citizenship to a total of 6,694 foreign citizens from 101 countries who acquiring immovable in specified conditions, 6 thousand 85 of which were last year.
Over the past year since the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, 2.611 foreign investors from many countries, from the USA to Russia, from Canada to the Dominican Republic, from Brazil to the Comoros Union became a Turkish citizen. With their families, the number of foreign investors who are Turkish citizens has reached 9 thousand 962. In the same period, the number of applications increased to 3 thousand 859. According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs, 2 thousand 611 foreign investors became Turkish citizens in a year since the regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law.
Iranians Took the First Place
Iranian citizens took first place among foreigners who fulfill the immovable purchase requirement for Turkish citizenship with 1475 people. Iraqis come second in foreign investors who are Turkish citizens. While Iraqis take second place with 842 people, Afghanistan with 812 people, this country is followed by Yemen with 658 people, Palestine with 390 people, Jordan with 360 people, Libya with 291 people, China with 268 people, Egypt with 229 people and Pakistan with 139 people. Last year, 1321 people from Iran, 756 people from Iraq, and 754 people from Afghanistan received a certificate of conformity.
Foreign investors from many countries, from the USA to Russia, from Canada to the Dominican Republic, from Brazil to the Union of Comoros, have also benefited from this right. Citizens of countries such as Germany, Venezuela, France, Syria, Belize, Belarus, Poland, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Grenada, South Africa, India, and Ukraine were among those benefiting from this right.
Investment Amounts to Become a Turkish Citizen
The Regulation on the Amendment to the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law was published in the Official Gazette on September 19, 2018, and the amount of investment required to become a Turkish citizen was amended. Accordingly, at least $ 2 million of the fixed capital investment requirement that had to be met to become citizenship had been reduced to $ 500,000. T̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶v̶i̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶u̶r̶c̶h̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶1̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶l̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶l̶l̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶i̶m̶m̶o̶v̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶p̶e̶r̶t̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶3̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶i̶s̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶d̶u̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶$̶ ̶2̶5̶0̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶s̶a̶n̶d̶. With the April 2022 update, the amount from $250,000 was increased to $400,000.
The employment figure that should be created for citizenship, which was 100 people before, was determined as 50 people. One of the conditions of acquiring citizenship, the total amount of deposits banks operating in Turkey should be admitted they must keep 3 years was reduced to 500 thousand dollars. The condition of purchasing at least $ 3 million of government debt instruments for 3 years was updated to $ 500,000. The final decision for the investors, who received the certificate of conformity from TKGM in return for their investment and applied for Turkish citizenship, is made by the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of the Ministry of Interior.
