Since September 2018, we can say a serious advantage is provided for foreigners who want to benefit from Turkish citizenship by investment. The minimum investment amount, which was 1 million dollars for citizenship by investment, has been reduced to 250.000 dollars with this regulation. Moreover, the amount of capital investment in state financial instruments and state banks was reduced to 500.000 dollars. In addition, foreign investors who have employed at least 50 Turkish citizens as of September 2018 will be granted the right to Turkish citizenship together with their families. Accordingly, foreigners cannot sell the real estate they have purchased for 3 years or withdraw their money from the state banks they invested for 3 years.
General Conditions
According to the Presidential Decree published in 2018, foreigners can purchase real estate at the project stage if they meet some specific conditions. Before this decision, foreigners could only purchase real estates that were given flat ownership and completed. Foreigners who will apply for Turkish citizenship by purchasing real estate at the project stage must meet the following conditions:
- Construction servitude or flat ownership should be provided on real estate
- A minimum of 250,000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency or Turkish Lira (TL) must be deposited in advance.
- A notarized promise to sell contract must be signed for the real estate. This contract must be annotated to the land registry with a commitment that the title deed cannot be erasured or transferred to a third person for 3 (three) years.
The foreigners who complete all of the conditions above, can apply for Turkish citizenship by investment at the project stage.
How is 3-Year Condition Applied?
The main purpose of citizenship by investment implementations is holding the invested capital inside the borders of country for at least 3 years. This implementation is one of the basic conditions of the citizenship advantage with investment, and the real estate or capital subject to investment cannot be transferred or erasured for 3 years. To the registry of the real estate subject to the sale or promise to sell transaction; “There is a commitment that it will not be sold for 3 years from the date of annotation or the promise to sell contract will not be transferred and erasered for 3 years from the date of annotation” within the scope of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law.
On the other hand, foreigners who obtained Turkish citizenship by capital investement, they cannot transfer their shares and investments to another person for minimum 3 years.
Application Procedures for Turkish Citizenship by Investment
Completing the documents and meeting all legal conditions will be most important points while applying for Turkish citizenship by investment. If the first citizenship application is to be made through real estate purchase, the real estate must be selected and the valuation report must be obtained. After the title deed procedures to be completed later, with the certificate of conformity to be obtained, first the residence permit and then the necessary application processes for the acquisition of citizenship through investment must be completed. Generally, the citizenship application process ends within 6 months. If your application was approved, you, your spouse and your children under the age of 18 would acquire Turkish citizenship, while your children over the age of 18 would have a permanent residence permit.
