Turkish citizenship 400.000 USD Conditions.
Before changes made with the Presidential Decision announced in the Official Gazette dated December 7, 2018, foreigners could only purchase real estates that were given and completed flat ownership. With the changes made, foreign peoplemay apply for Turkish citizenship by purchasing from ongoing projects, provided that they meet the following conditions:
- Construction servitude or flat ownership must have been established on the real estate.
- A minimum of 400,000 USD (USD) or its equivalent in foreign currency or Turkish Lira (TL) must be deposited in cash.
- A notarized promise of sale contract must be signed for the real estate and this contract must be annotated to the land registry with a commitment that the title deed cannot be cancellation or transferred to a third party for 3 (three) years.
For a better understanding of the above-mentioned change, it would be appropriate to explain the concepts of “flat ownership” and “construction servitude” in Turkish Law: Flat ownership is the right of possession established for the buildings whose construction has been completed and whose residence certificate has been obtained.
Construction servitude can be defined as the right of possession of the building whose construction has not been completed yet. The construction servitude depends on the land share and is converted into a flat ownership in accordance with the conditions based on the occupancy permit to be issued for the entire building.
Inhabiting and Flat Ownership…
Aftercompletion of the building with construction servitude, a project compliance inspection application is made to the relevant municipality by the contractor. Relevant units in the municipality examine the construction and inspect its conformity with the approved project. If the construction is completed in accordance with the project as a result of the inspection, the municipality issues a “Building Occupancy Permit” or “occupation” as it is known.
Within this scope, there are some disadvantages of buying a property with construction servitude. After obtaining the title deeds with construction servitude, the building can be completed by the contractor in violation of the project approved by the relevant municipality. In such a case, the building constructed with violation of the approved project may be demolished by the municipality or the governorship with the decision of the municipality or the provincial administrative board, or it may result in results such as the demolition decision of the other right holders for different reasons. However, banks are looking for the condition of having a building permit for the flats with construction servitude while giving a residential loan to their customers. For these reasons, even if the flat is built in accordance with the project, purchasing house without certificate of occupancy always carries some risk. In the light of all these explanations, flat ownership title deed is a more solid basis from a legal point of view, therefore it is necessary to consider all potential risks before purchasing a real estate.
Real estate purchased between January 2017 and September 2019 must have a minimum value of USD 1,000,000 (US Dollars). The value of immovables purchased after September 2019 must be at least USD 400,000.
Legal Limitations
Turkey has given permission to purchase real estate for the citizens of 183 countries, provided that they comply with the legal limits stated below:
Foreign persons can acquire real estate up to a maximum of ten percent of the district’s area. If deemed necessary, the Council of Ministers is authorized to double this limit.
A foreign person can purchase a maximum of 30 hectares (300,000 square meters) of real estate throughout the country. If deemed necessary, the Council of Ministers is authorized to double this limit.
Characteristics Real Estate
Foreign peoplemay purchase all kinds of real estates such as residences, land, workplaces and fields within the Republic of Turkey, provided that they comply with the legal limits above. However, in case of purchasing a land or field, they have to submit their projects to the relevant ministry for approval within 2 years. (Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and municipality).
Promising sales contracts to be signed at the notary public are only possible for real estates with construction servitude and flat ownership.
The real estate to be purchased must not be registered in the land registry in the name of the foreign person or the company legal entity of which the foreign real person is a partner.
Number of Real Estate
There is no limitation on the number of real estate to be purchased. If the foreigner purchases more than one real estate at the same time or at different times, the total value must be at leastUSD 400,000. In addition, all real estate must have an annotation that they cannot be sold for a minimum of three years.
Valuation of Real Estate
While determining the value of the purchased real estate, the following three types of value are calculated separately. Must provide the regulation value of USD1,000,000 or USD 400,000.
The sum of the values in the valuation report
The sum of the sales price declared in the official promissory note and / or the values determined in the sales promise.
The sum of the payments on the bank receipt showing the transfers.
Before purchasing the real estate, a real estate valuation report showing the market value of the real estate should be prepared by the authorized real estate appraisal institutions by the SPK (Capital Markets Board) and the BDDK (Banking Regulation and Supervision Board). The preparation date of the report submitted during the application can be up to 3 months before the application date. The said report will be considered valid until the transaction is completed. If the valuation report is not received before the purchase, the valuation report to be prepared based on the purchase date of the immovable is requested. The promissory note and report value do not have to be fully compatible. It is sufficient that both have provided a value ofUSD 400,000 (US Dollars) separately. In the case of purchasing a real estate that has just been completed, the finished value of the building should be calculated and found in the report.
Payment Process
With the regulation dated 2018, it became obligatory to submit the receipt for the transactions made. For this reason, the sale must be carried out through banks. The bank-approved receipt showing that the relevant amount has been deposited by the buyer to the seller’s account is submitted during the application. The date of the receipt may also be after the sale date in the sale transaction. However, in the promise of sale, the date of the receipt must be before the notary issuance of the contract or the contract day at the latest. The receipt of the payment made after the notary arrangement is invalid as it cannot be considered as a cash payment.
Determination of Exchange Rates
Bank Receipt Rate: If the price of the real estate is paid in Turkish Lira, the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) effective selling rate of the last business day before each payment day is taken as the basis for calculating the value of the bank receipt in USD.
Official Bill Rate: In calculating the official promissory note value or the Turkish Lira value specified in the sales contract in USD (US Dollar), the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) based on the effective selling rate. If more than one receipt of different dates is presented, a currency difference problem may occur. In this case, the US Dollar (USD) equivalent of the Turkish Lira (TL) value determined in the sales contract is calculated based on the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) effective selling rate of the last business day before the payment. The sum of these values should not be less than the price sought in the regulation (USD1,000,000 or 400,000).
Valuation Report Rate: In this report, the Turkish Lira value of the real estate is calculated in US Dollars (USD), the effective selling rate of the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) of the business day before the report date (last business day). If the real estate valuation report is prepared after the sale, the effective selling rate of the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) of the previous business day (last business day) of the day the application for the sale is made is taken as basis.
Hypothec and Foreclosure
It is possible to sell on the promise of sale or in the sale transaction, with a foreclosure or with the existing hypothec. In case the immovable is acquired through a hypothec /selling, the amount remaining after deducting the loan amounts from the sales price is required to be at least as much as the amount required in the regulation.
Installment Sale
With the new regulations introduced, if the real estate was purchased after 2018 and the installments will be paid after this date, it has become possible to purchase in installments. Installment payments before 2018 will not be considered. The value of the installments in USD (US Dollar) is calculated based on the effective selling rate of the TCMB (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) on the date of the transaction.
3-Year Annotation Process for Not Selling
The registry of the real estate subject to the sale and/or promise to sell; It is stated that, within the scope of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, it has a commitment that it will not be sold for a period of 3 years from the date of annotation and/or that the promise of sale contract will not be transferred or canceled for a period of 3 years from the date of annotation.
Required documents
- Valid passport and notarized Turkish translation of the passport
- 4 (four) colored biometric photographs suitable for passport
- An official promissory note regarding the sale transaction or a notarized contract for the promise of the sale
- Valuation report of the real estate
- Document showing that the price has been deposited by the buyer or persons related to the buyer to the account of the seller or the persons related to the seller. Bank-approved bank receipt (with EFT, Money Order or blocked check).
- An annotation from the relevant land registry office stating that the immovable cannot be sold for 3 (three) years
All applications are evaluated by the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. Applications without any deficiencies are finalized within 7 (seven) business days.
