Türkiye
Turkish Citizenship by Investment (Exceptional Acquisition under Art. 12(b), Law No. 5901)
Türkiye grants full citizenship — and a passport — to foreign nationals who make a qualifying investment, the entry point being the purchase of real estate with an SPK-certified value of at least USD 400,000, held for three years. It is the only true citizenship-by-investment route in our European/Mediterranean set and the fastest to a passport (typically 6–12 months) with no residence or language requirement. The legal basis is the exceptional-acquisition power in Article 12(b) of the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, operationalised by Article 20 of the implementing Regulation; the real-estate threshold was raised from USD 250,000 to USD 400,000 by a June 2022 amendment and is unchanged since. A Turkish passport gives visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to over 110 destinations but does not include the Schengen Area, the UK, the USA or Canada, so it is a passport play rather than a European-mobility play. Spouse, children under 18 and disabled children of any age are included on a single investment; parents and adult children are excluded.
How you qualify.
Real Estate
Purchase of one or more properties with a combined value of at least USD 400,000 (or TRY equivalent at the CBRT rate on the transaction date). Value must be confirmed by an SPK (Capital Markets Board)-licensed independent valuation report dated before the title transfer. A 3-year no-sale annotation (kısıtlama şerhi) is registered on the TAPU (title deed) and the deed must reflect the citizenship purpose. Funds must be converted via a Turkish bank and evidenced by a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (Döviz Alım Belgesi / DAB); the seller cannot be a foreign national, nor a company or person the buyer is connected to (the property must be bought from a Turkish citizen or Turkish entity). This is the most-used route.
Fixed Capital
Fixed-capital investment of at least USD 500,000 (or equivalent FX), certified by the Ministry of Industry and Technology. No fixed multi-year hold period is defined in the regulation for this route.
Deposit
Deposit of at least USD 500,000 (or equivalent FX) into a bank operating in Türkiye, with a commitment not to withdraw for 3 years. Certified by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK/BRSA). The standard USD 500,000 deposit applies.
Government Bonds
Purchase of at least USD 500,000 (or equivalent FX) in Turkish government debt instruments, held for 3 years. Certified by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
Investment Fund
Purchase of at least USD 500,000 (or equivalent FX) in shares or units of a real-estate investment fund or venture-capital investment fund, held for 3 years. Certified by the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (SPK/CMB).
Private Pension
Contribution of at least USD 500,000 (or equivalent FX) into a Turkish private pension system (Bireysel Emeklilik Sistemi / BES) fund, kept in the system for at least 3 years. Supervised by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (SEDDK).
Job Creation
Create employment for at least 50 people, certified by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Directorate General of International Labour Force / UIGM). The 50-job level must be reached for approximately 6 months before application and maintained for at least 2 years after the application. There is no monetary minimum — qualification is by headcount.
Global mobility.
— no visa-free access to the Schengen Area or EU. Türkiye is among the highest-ranked passports whose holders still need a Schengen visa.
(typically a B-1/B-2 visitor visa).
(eTA not available to Turkish passport holders without a visa).
Over 110 destinations are accessible visa-free or visa-on-arrival/eTA. Coverage centres on the Western Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, parts of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. A Turkish passport does not provide Schengen, UK, USA or Canada access.
Still want a European base? Pair it.
A Türkiye passport answers what most families come for first: stronger mobility and a considered fallback, secured for life and hereditary. Many families want a European base alongside it — somewhere to hold assets, spend time and give their children options. Those are two different jobs, and we build them as one plan rather than asking you to choose.
We pair the citizenship with an EU residence in a single structure — citizenship, passport and residence, built as one: the passport for mobility and standing, the residence for a euro-denominated base and, held over time, a lawful route to a European future.
Choose your structure
Structure selected: Türkiye citizenship only. Add a European base at any time — pick one above to see it quoted as a single structure.
This is not a programme we place clients on. It is recorded here because families ask about it and the record should be accurate either way. Where a second citizenship is the objective, the routes we do run are set out on the citizenship page.
What's involved in Türkiye citizenship.
- Family inclusion
- A single qualifying investment covers the main applicant, their spouse, dependent children under 18, and dependent or disabled children of any age (the spouse and the minor or dependent children of the applicant and/or spouse). Children who turn 18 during processing remain eligible if they were under 18 at filing. Parents, siblings and adult independent children are not eligible as dependants and must qualify separately. No additional investment is required for included family, though per-person government, ID and passport fees still apply. Since the 2024 procedural change the spouse must obtain a residence permit and provide a clean criminal-record certificate.
- Due diligence
- Vetting is government-administered. Applicants submit a clean criminal-record certificate from their home country, and the spouse must also obtain a residence permit and provide a criminal-record certificate. Source-of-funds is evidenced through the mandatory Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB) showing funds entered Türkiye and were converted via a Turkish bank. Real-estate value is independently verified by an SPK-licensed valuer; authorities audit transactions and can revoke citizenship obtained through real-estate fraud or undervaluation. There is no public investor-name register and no interview, residence or language test. Valuation discipline is enforced in practice: Turkish authorities have annulled thousands of investment citizenships in 2025–2026 over inflated valuations and sham transactions, so the independent valuation and genuine-price evidence are treated as first-order file risks, not paperwork.
- Timeline
- Approximately 6–12 months from a complete file to passport. The sequence is: investment (e.g. property purchase plus DAB and SPK valuation) → certificate of eligibility/conformity from the certifying authority (TKGM for real estate) → short-term residence permit (Law 6458 Art. 31(j), approximately 30–60 days) → citizenship application to NVİ → Presidential decision and passport issuance. Deficiency-free files are finalised within seven working days at the UIGM evaluation stage; the end-to-end calendar timeline is driven by the residence-permit and Presidential-decision stages.
- Physical presence
- None. There is no minimum stay, no residence-day requirement, and no language test to obtain or keep citizenship. Biometrics and passport collection typically require one in-person visit, and a short-term residence permit is held during processing, but there is no day-count obligation before or after the grant.
- Tax
- Citizenship does not, by itself, create Turkish tax residency — that is triggered separately by residing 183+ days in a calendar year or having a Turkish domicile. Turkish tax residents are taxed on worldwide income (progressive personal income tax to 40%); non-residents on Turkish-source income only. There is a worldwide gift and inheritance tax on Turkish citizens and residents (rates up to approximately 10% inheritance and 30% gift, with allowances). New foreign property buyers who have not resided in Türkiye more than 6 months in the prior year may claim a one-off VAT exemption (VAT Law Art. 13(i)) on a first-sale property if at least 50% of the price is transferred in FX from abroad. No automatic tax benefit accrues from holding the passport; tax planning depends on actual residency and exit from the home tax net. A 20-year exemption from Turkish income tax on foreign-source income is now in force for new tax residents (Law No. 7582, Official Gazette No. 33270, 4 June 2026): it applies to individuals who become Turkish tax resident on or after 1 January 2026 after at least three years of non-residence, with no expense deductions or foreign tax credits against the exempt income — conditions are confirmed with Turkish counsel before it enters any plan.
- Real-estate entry threshold USD 400,000 (raised from USD 250,000 by the June 2022 amendment; unchanged since).
- All routes carry a 3-year hold (real estate, deposit, bonds, fund); the job-creation route requires 50 jobs maintained for 2 years; the fixed-capital route is USD 500,000.
- An SPK-licensed independent valuation report is mandatory for the real-estate route and must support the USD 400,000 floor in TRY at the transaction-day CBRT rate.
- Funds must be brought into Türkiye and exchanged via a Turkish bank, evidenced by a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (Döviz Alım Belgesi / DAB); payment to the seller is made in TRY.
- No residence, physical-presence or language requirement to obtain or retain citizenship; dual citizenship is permitted.
- Family on one investment covers spouse plus under-18 children plus disabled children of any age; parents and adult children are excluded.
- Authorities can revoke citizenship obtained through real-estate fraud or undervaluation; transactions are audited.
- Investor-applicants hold a short-term residence permit during processing under Law 6458 Art. 31(j).
- Valid passport(s) for the main applicant and all included family members (with certified translations/notarisation as required).
- Birth certificates and marriage certificate (apostilled/legalised and sworn-translated) to prove family relationships.
- Clean criminal-record certificate for the main applicant and spouse (home country, apostilled).
- Four biometric photographs per applicant (per NVİ specification).
- Turkish tax identification number.
- Title deed (TAPU) showing the 3-year no-sale annotation, or the relevant route certificate (deposit/bond/fund/fixed-capital/jobs).
- SPK-licensed real-estate valuation report dated before the title transfer (real-estate route).
- Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (Döviz Alım Belgesi / DAB) and bank receipts evidencing the inward FX transfer and TRY conversion.
- Certificate of Eligibility / Conformity (Uygunluk Belgesi) from TKGM (real estate) or the route's certifying authority.
- Short-term residence permit (Law 6458 Art. 31(j)) for the applicant and included family.
- Valid health insurance for the residence-permit stage.
- Completed citizenship application form (with the VAT-4 form additionally if claiming the foreign-buyer VAT exemption).
The governing law — in our library.
Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 12(b) (exceptional acquisition of citizenship) — adopted 29 May 2009; implemented by Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law. The investment categories were introduced by the amendment published in the Official Gazette dated 19 September 2018 (Presidential/Council decision no. 106), which reduced the original 2017 thresholds — real estate from USD 1,000,000 to USD 250,000 and fixed capital from USD 2,000,000 to USD 500,000. The real-estate threshold was then raised from USD 250,000 to USD 400,000 by the amendment published in the Official Gazette on 13 June 2022. The residence-permit basis for investor-applicants is Law No. 6458 (Foreigners and International Protection), Art. 31(j). These figures and instruments are the current law. · Administered by General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs (Nüfus ve Vatandaşlık İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü, NVİ), Ministry of Interior — citizenship grant by Presidential decision. Real-estate eligibility is certified by the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (TKGM), Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. Other routes are certified by their sector regulators: Capital Markets Board (CMB/SPK) for investment funds; Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA/BDDK) for deposits; Ministry of Treasury and Finance for government bonds; Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority (SEDDK) for the private-pension route; Ministry of Industry and Technology for fixed-capital investment; Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Directorate General of International Labour Force, UIGM) for the 50-job route..
Documents marked “held by Kestrel” are mirrored on our own servers from the official source, so the reference is always available.
Türkiye, answered.
- How much does Türkiye citizenship by investment cost?
- The lowest qualifying investment is USD 400,000 via the Real Estate route, held for 36 months. Government, due-diligence and professional fees are additional. Every figure is confirmed in writing before you commit to anything.
- How long does the Türkiye citizenship process take?
- Approximately 6–12 months from a complete file to passport. The sequence is: investment (e.g. property purchase plus DAB and SPK valuation) → certificate of eligibility/conformity from the certifying authority (TKGM for real estate) → short-term residence permit (Law 6458 Art. 31(j), approximately 30–60 days) → citizenship application to NVİ → Presidential decision and passport issuance. Deficiency-free files are finalised within seven working days at the UIGM evaluation stage; the end-to-end calendar timeline is driven by the residence-permit and Presidential-decision stages.
- Does the Türkiye passport allow visa-free travel to the Schengen Area?
- Visa required — no visa-free access to the Schengen Area or EU. Türkiye is among the highest-ranked passports whose holders still need a Schengen visa.
- Can I include my family in the Türkiye application?
- A single qualifying investment covers the main applicant, their spouse, dependent children under 18, and dependent or disabled children of any age (the spouse and the minor or dependent children of the applicant and/or spouse). Children who turn 18 during processing remain eligible if they were under 18 at filing. Parents, siblings and adult independent children are not eligible as dependants and must qualify separately. No additional investment is required for included family, though per-person government, ID and passport fees still apply. Since the 2024 procedural change the spouse must obtain a residence permit and provide a clean criminal-record certificate.
- What due diligence does Türkiye require?
- Vetting is government-administered. Applicants submit a clean criminal-record certificate from their home country, and the spouse must also obtain a residence permit and provide a criminal-record certificate. Source-of-funds is evidenced through the mandatory Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB) showing funds entered Türkiye and were converted via a Turkish bank. Real-estate value is independently verified by an SPK-licensed valuer; authorities audit transactions and can revoke citizenship obtained through real-estate fraud or undervaluation. There is no public investor-name register and no interview, residence or language test. Valuation discipline is enforced in practice: Turkish authorities have annulled thousands of investment citizenships in 2025–2026 over inflated valuations and sham transactions, so the independent valuation and genuine-price evidence are treated as first-order file risks, not paperwork.
- Does Türkiye citizenship grant the right to live in the European Union?
- No. Türkiye citizenship can confer a second passport and visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel, but it grants no right to live, work or settle in the EU and no path to an EU passport. For a European foothold, residence by investment is the direct route.
General guidance, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Figures are verified to 2026 against official primary sources, and eligibility, thresholds and timelines are confirmed in writing before you commit to anything.