General

Turkish Citizenship Process By Real Estate Investment: 2025 Guide

As it is known, Turkish citizenship can be acquired at birth or later. Among the ways to acquire Turkish citizenship later on, the way of gaining Turkish citizenship through investment, which is very popular today, has created some question marks in everyone’s mind.

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Acquiring Turkish citizenship by real estate investment is an opportunity that entitles the person to apply for Turkish citizenship, provided that other conditions are met as a result of compliance with various types of investment.

In our article below, we will explain important parts such as the conditions required for acquiring Turkish citizenship by investment, the legal procedure to be followed, the documents to be prepared, the requested action, the authority to apply, and the deadlines.

The law of foreigners is more flexible than other areas of law and the administration has great discretion.

For this reason, the process of becoming a Turkish citizen through investment should be pursued with great sensitivity and devotion.

For this reason, as U&T Law and Consultation, we have written this article as a guide that can help our dear readers.

Conditions of Turkish Citizenship by Investment

Acquiring Turkish citizenship by investment is regulated in the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law. Foreigners who want to acquire Turkish citizenship by investment must meet at least one of the conditions listed below.

To make a fixed capital investment of at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or Turkish lira,
To purchase real estate worth at least 400.000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or equivalent Turkish Lira, provided that an annotation is put in the land registry that it will not be sold for 3 years,
To create employment for at least 50 people,
To deposit at least 500,000 USD or equivalent foreign currency or Turkish lira deposits in banks operating in Turkey, provided that they are kept for 3 years,
To purchase government debt instruments of at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or equivalent Turkish Lira, provided that they are kept for 3 years,
To purchase real estate investment fund participation shares or venture capital investment fund participation shares in the amount of at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or equivalent Turkish lira, on the condition that they hold for at least 3 years.

NOTE: Pass-through is possible to complete the specified period between the investment types mentioned above.

Steps for Turkish Citizenship By Investment

1. Obtaining a Certificate of Conformity

a. Application procedure steps for foreign investors who have made a fixed capital investment of at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or equivalent in Turkish Lira:
Application is made to the Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of Incentive Practice and Foreign Capital for a certificate of conformity.

b. Application procedure steps for foreign investors who purchase real estate worth at least 400.000 USD in foreign currency or Turkish Lira in exchange for furniture, provided that an annotation is not sold for 3 years in the land registry:
Application is made to the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change for a certificate of conformity.

c. Application steps for foreign investors who create employment for at least 50 people:
Application is made to the Ministry of Family, Labor, and Social Services, General Directorate of International Labor for the certificate of eligibility.

d. Application procedure steps for foreign investors who deposit at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or equivalent Turkish Lira in banks operating in Turkey on the condition of keeping them for 3 years:
An application is made to the Financial Consumer Relations Department of the Banking Regulatory Authority for a certificate of conformity.

e. Application procedure steps for foreign investors who purchase government debt instruments worth at least 500,000 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or Turkish lira for 3 years:
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is applied for a certificate of conformity.

f. Application steps for foreign investors who purchase real estate investment fund participation shares or venture capital investment fund participation shares in the amount of at least 500.00 USD or equivalent in foreign currency or Turkish lira, on the condition that they hold at least 3 years:
For the certificate of conformity, an application is made to the Capital Markets Board, Department of Intermediary Activities.

2. Obtaining a Residence Permit

After obtaining the Certificate of Conformity suitable for the investment path you prefer in the application, the documents required for the residence permit within the scope of subparagraph j of Article 31 of the Law No. 6458 must be obtained.

To obtain the residence permit, an application is made to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management of the Settlement. Here, the necessary documents for citizenship are obtained.

3. Citizenship Application

After obtaining the certificate of eligibility and residence permit, an application must be made to the Provincial Directorate of Population and Citizenship of the Settlement.

The citizenship file is prepared and sent to NVIGM (General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs).

Transaction Steps for Turquoise Cardholders

Pursuant to Article 11 of Law No. 6735, T.C. Turquoise Card application is made to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services.

It is proposed by the Ministry of Family and Labor and Social Services, pursuant to the 3rd paragraph of Article 19 of the Turquoise Card Regulation.

Ministry of Interior General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs Provincial Directorate of Population and Citizenship is instructed to prepare a citizenship file. The citizenship file is prepared and sent to NVIGM.

Processing Steps of Foreign Investors for Private/Common Offices in Ankara and Istanbul

a. Investors with Certificate of Conformity:

A Certificate of Conformity is obtained from the identification institutions, indicating that the investment has been made.

By customer representatives, it is directed to the General Directorate of Migration Management and NVIGM authorized personnel for residence/citizenship applications.

Every stage of the application process is followed through customer representatives who provide consultancy and support services to foreign investors.

The file to be created by taking the residence/citizenship application with the common documents determined by the Immigration and Population personnel is sent to NVIGM.

The citizenship application file is prepared and sent to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

b. Investors without a Certificate of Conformity:

It is directed to the technical office personnel determined by the Identification institutions to obtain investment consultancy services and conformity certificates through customer representatives.

It is ensured that the certificate of conformity is provided by the technical office personnel to the investors through consultancy services on the subject and coordination with their institution.

After obtaining the certificate of conformity, it is directed to DGMM and NVIGM authorized personnel for residence/citizenship application. Every stage of the application process is followed through customer representatives who provide consultancy and support services to foreign investors.

The file to be created by taking the residence/citizenship application with the common documents determined by the Immigration and Population personnel is sent to NVIGM.

The citizenship application file is prepared and sent to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

Provincial Population, Citizenship & Migration Directorates Steps

A residence permit is applied for with the certificate of conformity and necessary documents. A residence permit application is received and sent to the General Directorate of Migration Management.

The foreigner who obtains a residence permit applies to the Provincial Directorate of Population and Citizenship to apply for citizenship.

The Turkish citizenship application file is prepared and sent to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

NVIGM Citizenship Process Steps

The citizenship file is prepared by the Provincial Directorate of Population and Citizenship and sent to NVIGM.

Research is conducted to determine whether there is a situation that will constitute an obstacle in terms of national security and public order.

In case of a positive result of the archive research, it is submitted to the Ministry to be sent to the Presidency.

It is sent to the Presidency for the President’s decision. Upon the decision of the President to acquire Turkish citizenship, Turkish citizenship is acquired.

It should be emphasized that if the investor acquires citizenship, the investor’s spouse and their minor or dependent foreign children can also acquire Turkish citizenship.

To for family members to acquire citizenship, it is sufficient that the investment is made by only one person, but an application must be made on their behalf.

Case of Objection and Announcement Against the Decision of Rejection of Citizenship Application

Turkish citizenship applications of foreigners who meet the above-mentioned conditions are examined by the administration and a decision is made.

In some cases, the administration may decide to reject these applications for various reasons.

The reason for the rejection of the application may be reasons such as failure to meet the conditions in the legislation, application with missing or incorrect documents, and a decision of rejection can be made within the discretion of the administration.

In any case, foreigners whose Turkish citizenship application is rejected can file a lawsuit for the annulment of this decision if they think that the said refusal decision is unlawful.

Because the decision to reject the citizenship application is an administrative action, it is subject to judicial review.

Accordingly, the foreign person whose request is rejected; Can file an action for annulment directly in the administrative jurisdiction within 60 days from the notification of the rejection decision.

Before filing an action for annulment, an administrative application can be made within 60 days for the annulment of the refusal decision.

This application stops the administrative litigation period that has started to process.

If this application is not answered within 30 days, the request is deemed to be rejected.

If the application is rejected, it is possible to file an action for annulment.

The court in charge of the annulment lawsuit to be filed against the rejection decisions of the citizenship application is the administrative court according to Article 1 of the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577. The competent court in the annulment action to be filed against the rejection of the citizenship application is the administrative court in the place where the administration that rejected the application is located.

As explained above, the lawsuit in question must be filed within 60 days from the date of notification of the decision regarding the rejection of the citizenship application.

Cases not filed within this period will be rejected ex officio by the judge.

What are the Advantages of Being a Citizen?

Dual citizenship is allowed.
The spouse and children under the age of 18 of Foreign Investor can also benefit from the right of citizenship.
Lifetime citizenship applies to future generations.
The right to reside in Turkey indefinitely.
It gains the right to benefit from high standards in the education and health system.
Visa-free travel permits to more than 105 countries.
No physical residency requirement.
There is no language requirement.