The admission to citizenship of foreign nationals who acquire immovable property above a certain value in Türkiye is regulated among the exceptional routes of acquisition under the legislation. In practice this route is most often described by reducing it to a single figure; the USD 400,000 threshold, however, is no more than the entry condition of the process.
Meeting the investment amount does not, on its own, give rise to a right to citizenship. The nature of the immovable property, the undertaking to be annotated on the land registry, the certificate of conformity to be obtained from the competent authority and the residence permit to be established thereafter are successive links in a chain. An error in any one of these links may result in the refusal of the application, even where the investment threshold has been exceeded by a considerable margin.
In this briefing note we examine, from a practitioner’s perspective, which foreign nationals may acquire citizenship through investment in immovable property, the restriction introduced by the 2023 amendment to the regulation, the administrative course of the application, the documents required, the anticipated time frames and the legal remedies available against an adverse decision.
Foreign Nationals Who May Use This Route
Acquisition of citizenship based on the acquisition of immovable property is confined to the group of persons set out in Article 31(j) of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. Two principal groups stand out under that provision: foreign nationals granted a short-term residence permit because they have purchased immovable property of the required value, and holders of a Turquoise Card.
To these two groups their dependent family members are added. The foreign spouse and the minor children may be admitted to Turkish citizenship in consequence of the principal applicant’s acquisition.
The 2023 Amendment to the Regulation
An important amendment was made on 12 December 2023 to the regulation governing the acquisition of citizenship through investment in immovable property. Under the practice in force before that date, vacant land or property in the nature of a field could also be relied upon as the basis of an application, provided that the required amount was met.
That flexibility was removed by the amendment. The immovable property to be made the subject of the investment must now be residential in nature, be a plot of land on which a building stands, or be a plot of land over which condominium ownership or a construction servitude has been established. The details of the practice are addressed in the sections below.
Investment and Eligibility Conditions Required
Two fundamental conditions must be present together in order to acquire citizenship by this route: the applicant must be among the foreign nationals covered by the exceptional route of acquisition, and there must be no circumstance in respect of the applicant constituting an obstacle in terms of public order and national security.
In addition, as regards the investment limb, one of the following two options must have been carried out.
- Conclusion of a contract for the promise to sell immovable property drawn up before a notary: a construction servitude or condominium ownership must have been established over the immovable property forming the subject of the contract, a price of at least USD 400,000 must have been paid in advance, and an annotation of undertaking must be entered on the land registry to the effect that no transfer or cancellation will be carried out for three years. Compliance with these conditions is additionally determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.
- Proceeding by way of direct purchase: an immovable property with a price of USD 400,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency, must be acquired and a three-year annotation of non-sale must be placed on the title deed record.
The exceptional route of acquisition is, as its name indicates, situated outside the general regime of acquisition. A foreign national who satisfies the above conditions is therefore not expected to satisfy, in addition, the conditions prescribed for the acquisition of citizenship by the general route.
NOTE: It is not compulsory for the investment threshold to be met by a single immovable property. The joint acquisition of several immovable properties whose total price reaches USD 400,000 is also accepted; it is not stipulated that a single immovable property must reach that value.
How Does the Application Process Proceed?
The process consists of four successive stages: acquisition of the immovable property, obtaining a certificate of conformity from the competent administration, establishment of a short-term residence permit on the basis of that certificate, and finally application to the provincial civil registry directorate together with the documents required.
The fact that the application has been made in due form does not produce the result that citizenship has been acquired. The file is taken into assessment, and Turkish citizenship is acquired only by Presidential decision.
Acquisition of the Immovable Property
The first step is the purchase of an immovable property meeting the investment criteria explained above, or the conclusion of a contract for the promise to sell to that effect.
The documents required by the administration in order for the land registry transactions to be concluded may be summarised as follows. The title deed record of the immovable property is submitted, or, in its place, the village/neighbourhood, sheet, parcel, building and independent section details. A photographic identity document or passport issued by the state of which the foreign national is a citizen is required; where the document is drawn up in an alphabet other than the Latin alphabet, a notarised sworn translation is appended. An identity declaration form is completed and one photograph is taken from the foreign national for that form. A foreign identity number is required; where no such number exists, the Land Registry Directorate arranges for one to be allocated.
Where the transaction is conducted through a representative, the document evidencing the authority to represent (power of attorney, certificate of authority, court decision on guardianship and the like) is produced. A valuation report issued by the relevant municipality showing the current market value of the immovable property is placed on the file. Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) is required for immovable property in the nature of a building. Bank-approved transfer receipts showing the remittance of the price may be provided before or after the sale. As regards photographs, one is required from the seller and two from the buyer; these must have been taken within the last six months and measure 6×4 cm. Where one of the parties does not speak Turkish, a sworn translator takes part in the transaction.
For the matters to be observed by foreign nationals when purchasing immovable property and the critical points of the transactions before the notary and the land registry directorate, reference may be made to our study on the purchase of real estate in Türkiye by foreign nationals.
Obtaining the Certificate of Conformity
Once the acquisition has been completed, the competent administration must determine whether the immovable property has the qualities required for the application. The authority empowered to make that determination and to issue the certificate of conformity is the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre.
Where, upon the application made to the General Directorate, the immovable property is found to meet the conditions, a certificate of conformity is issued. Once the certificate has been obtained, it is the turn of the residence permit, and an application is made to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management.
Establishment of the Short-Term Residence Permit
After the certificate of conformity has been obtained, the foreign national must hold a residence permit. Requests for a short-term residence permit are submitted online to the provincial directorate of migration management through the e-permit system.
The documents to be submitted with this application, the procedure to be followed and the details of the matter are addressed in our study entitled residence permit through the purchase of real estate in Türkiye.
Citizenship Application to the Civil Registry Directorate
Once the short-term residence permit has been established, the documents required for the citizenship application are compiled into a file and submitted to the civil registry directorate within the governorship. The file submitted is taken into examination by the relevant authority.
If the initial assessment is favourable, a file is opened in the name of the foreign national. Where it is established that the applicant satisfies the required conditions and that there is no obstacle in respect of the applicant in terms of national security and public order, the decision on admission to citizenship is submitted for the approval of the President. Final acquisition occurs upon that approval.
NOTE: Requests sent to the provincial civil registry directorate by post are not processed; the application must be made in person.
Throughout the process it is decisive that each step be taken in the correct order and in full. Since every stage, from the selection of the immovable property to the certificate of conformity and from the residence permit to the citizenship file, calls for care, it is advisable to obtain support from a lawyer experienced in the field.
Documents Required for the Citizenship Application
Pursuant to Art. 20(3) of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Act, the documents that must be present in the file are as follows:
- The application form relating to the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by the exceptional route,
- A passport or equivalent document establishing of which state the applicant is a citizen; where the person is stateless, a document proving that situation,
- A document as to marital status together with, as the case may be, a marriage certificate, a divorce certificate or the death certificate of the spouse,
- A birth certificate or civil registry extract containing the applicant’s identity details,
- For married applicants, a civil registry extract or similar document showing the family tie with the spouse and children,
- Where the applicant has first- or second-degree relatives who are Turkish citizens, the civil registry extract of those persons obtained from the system by the receiving authority,
- Where the day and month of the date of birth are not known, a document obtained from the competent authority in the person’s country with a view to completing the date; where no such document can be obtained, a signed declaration that the person accepts that the matter be dealt with pursuant to Art. 39 of the Civil Registration Services Act No. 5490,
- The receipt proving that the service fee has been paid into the treasury cash office.
Documents to be brought from abroad, such as the passport and the civil registry extract, must be notarised and submitted together with a notarised Turkish translation. Where this procedure is not observed, the file is treated as incomplete.
Where the application is made through a representative, a power of attorney containing special authority on this matter must also be submitted to the administration.
How Long Does the Application Take?
Citizenship applications based on investment in immovable property are concluded within an average of 10-12 months.
That period is not, however, fixed. The scope of the security investigation to be carried out in respect of the foreign national, the closeness with which the file is followed up and the workload of the administrative units may shorten or lengthen it.
How Is the Outcome of the Application Checked?
The stage the file has reached can be followed online. The current status of the application can be accessed through the citizenship application enquiry system of the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.
Objection and Action for Annulment Against a Refusal Decision
Citizenship requests based on investment in immovable property may be concluded unfavourably on various grounds. The immovable property not having the required qualities, a deficiency of documents in the file, or the identification of an obstacle in respect of the applicant in terms of public order and national security may be counted among these grounds.
A foreign national whose request is refused has two courses open: to lodge an objection with the competent administrative authority and to bring an action for annulment before the administrative courts. The period prescribed in respect of both courses, running from the notification of the refusal decision to the person concerned, is 60 days.
The details as to how the periods run, how the objection and litigation stages proceed and the particular aspects of each of the two options are examined in our study on objection to the refusal of a Turkish citizenship application and the action for annulment.
The Position of the Spouse and Children
The effect on family members of citizenship acquired by this route is regulated in Article 12 of the Turkish Citizenship Act No. 5901. Pursuant to that provision, the foreign spouse of a person who has become a Turkish citizen through the acquisition of immovable property, and the minor foreign children of both that person and the spouse, may acquire citizenship.
The Position of Syrian Nationals
It is not possible for Syrian nationals to acquire Turkish citizenship by this route. Within the framework of the provisions of the Reciprocity Act No. 1062, the immovable property of Syrian nationals in Türkiye has been seized by the treasury; the possibility for these persons to acquire immovable property in the country has been removed. Since there is no possibility of acquisition, the acquisition of citizenship attached to it cannot arise either.
Residence and Citizenship Through Home Purchases of USD 50,000 and USD 75,000
It is also possible to obtain a residence permit and ultimately citizenship through lower-value home purchases; that route, however, differs structurally from the exceptional acquisition procedure based on USD 400,000.
Foreign nationals who acquire a home worth USD 75,000 in metropolitan provinces and USD 50,000 in other provinces may apply for a short-term residence permit. Persons who have resided in Türkiye for 5 years are afforded the opportunity to apply for citizenship.
Under this procedure the immovable property to be acquired must necessarily be residential in nature. The foreign national is also required first to obtain a short-term residence permit by satisfying the necessary conditions and to complete the five-year period of residence under that permit. The details of the matter are addressed in our study entitled acquiring citizenship through five years of residence.
Act No. 5901 provides for a great many different grounds and procedures as regards the acquisition of citizenship. The other cases of acquisition and their details can be found in our study entitled how Turkish citizenship is obtained.
Points to Be Observed by Foreign Nationals Wishing to Purchase Immovable Property
Foreign nationals planning to acquire immovable property in Türkiye must exercise the utmost care in the legal relationships they establish during the purchase process. The primary issue at this point is the requirement that contracts for the sale of immovable property be made in official form.
For that reason it is essential that sale transactions be conducted through the land registry directorate or a notary. It must also be checked that the immovable property to be acquired does not fall within the boundaries of a military security zone.
Beyond these two matters there are numerous further details that foreign purchasers must take into account. The statutory restrictions on the acquisition of immovable property by foreign nationals, the transactions to be carried out and comprehensive information on the subject are set out in our study entitled the purchase of real estate in Türkiye by foreign nationals.
Conclusion
Acquisition of citizenship based on investment in immovable property is one of the routes provided for by the legislation as exceptional. The possibility that the application will be refused is always present, for various reasons such as the immovable property failing to meet the required qualities, the absence of a valid residence permit or a deficiency of documents in the file. It is therefore important that the process be conducted with the assistance of a lawyer experienced in the field of immigration law.
The Independent Legal Assessment
Although citizenship through investment in immovable property appears in practice to be a real estate transaction, it is in essence a chain of administrative steps. A choice made at the stage of selecting the immovable property may return, months later, as a refusal of the certificate of conformity. The tightening of the qualification requirement following the 2023 amendment in particular has made the legal review carried out before the purchase the most decisive step in the process.
In setting out a road map in a concrete file, we recommend that the following headings be prioritised:
- Verifying, before the purchase, that the immovable property is residential, a plot of land on which a building stands, or a plot of land over which condominium ownership or a construction servitude has been established
- Preparing the valuation report and the bank records relating to the transfer of the price in such a way as to demonstrate the USD 400,000 threshold beyond doubt
- Checking that the three-year prohibition on transfer has been fully annotated on the land registry
- Investigating in advance whether the immovable property falls within a military security zone or an area subject to restriction
- Planning from the outset for the requirement of notarisation and Turkish translation in respect of documents to be obtained from abroad
- Calendaring the 60-day objection and litigation period against the possibility of an adverse decision
Independent Legal provides advisory services throughout the entire process in matters of the acquisition of immovable property by foreign nationals and citizenship applications, from the stage of pre-purchase legal review to the follow-up of administrative applications and, where necessary, of the action for annulment.