Turkish citizenship

21.08.2023

Basis for acquisition

• Citizenship for property investment.

What does a Turkish passport give you?

1. Schengen visa for up to 5 years.
   Visa-free regime: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan.
    
2. opening of accounts in Turkey as for Turkish citizens, without additional checks.
    
3. opening accounts in foreign banks with minimal difficulties in bank inspections.
    
4. Staying on the territory of Turkey without time limit.
    
5. Free medical care in Turkey.
    
6.  Availability of double taxation agreements with most of the European Union countries, Switzerland, Belarus, Russia, Georgia and Northern Cyprus. 
    
7. Obtaining a tourist visa to the United States for 10 years. 
   To move with family to the USA - business visa for 5 years, having invested in the U.S. economy from approximately $100,000.
    
8. Opportunity to open a company in Turkey and set up a business according to the requirements for citizens of Turkey.
    
9. As a general rule, Turkey does not allow extradition of its citizens from the territory of Turkey to other states. However, it is worth noting that a person having another (non-Turkish) nationality may be grounds for extradition to the country of nationality.

Timeline of the procedure

• The whole procedure for obtaining a Turkish passport takes about 9 months.

Costs of acquiring citizenship

1. The minimum cost of obtaining Turkish citizenship for one applicant is 46,000 USD.The cost of real estate: 400,000 USD.
2. Realtor services for property selection: approximately 10% of the property value.
3. Support of the process of real estate registration and citizenship: 15 000 USD.
4. State fees and additional costs up to 1000 USD.  

What does it take?

Stage 1: Buy a property worth at least 400,000 USD.

Real estate can be residential or non-residential (commercial properties, land plots). To apply for citizenship, it is also possible to purchase an object at the construction stage, but it will be necessary to conclude a notarised sale and purchase agreement and pay the full price before the object is completed. 

• If the marriage is officially registered, the purchase amount of 400,000 USD is enough to obtain citizenship for the whole family. Minor children acquire citizenship after their parents. In Turkey, the age of majority is 18 years. If a child applies for citizenship together with his/her parent before the age of 18, he/she will be granted citizenship. If the child is 18 years old at the time of applying for citizenship, he/she cannot obtain citizenship jointly with the parent, he/she needs a separate reason. 
   
• If the marriage is not officially registered, then it is necessary to buy different properties for each person for the amount of at least 400,000 USD (the rule was introduced from January 2023). Until 2023, shared ownership was allowed, many people, even if they were not related, bought property in shared ownership, and this was the basis for applying for citizenship. For example, applicants who knew each other bought a flat worth 900,000 USD as an asset and applied for citizenship.

Step 2: Pay the full price of the property and obtain a title deed (tapu) - attached is an example of such a deed.

The period for registration of ownership is 14 days.

Step 3. Obtain a certificate of conformity.

This document shows that you have grounds to apply for citizenship, the purchased property meets the criteria. A sample document is attached in the appendix to this article.

The term of this stage is 2 months.

Stage 4: Obtain a residence permit in Turkey.

At this stage, all adult applicants are required to appear in person in Turkey to be fingerprinted. We recommend travelling to Istanbul for this purpose.

Now the real waiting period for a residence permit is 1-2 months.

Step 5: Obtain Turkish citizenship.

Applying for citizenship does not require applicants to appear in person in Turkey. After receiving the decision to admit you to Turkish citizenship, applicants need to visit Turkey or the Turkish Embassy abroad in person to be fingerprinted and receive a passport.

The timeframe for this phase is 3-4 months.

Obtaining Turkish citizenship by applicants depends solely on the decision of state authorities, so it is impossible to predict the outcome of the procedure. The support of competent specialists will allow you to avoid formal mistakes.

Almost all the procedure described above can be carried out on the basis of a power of attorney. But it is completely impossible to exclude the personal appearance of the applicants.

Power of Attorney Requirements.

Turkish powers of attorney have a set template and contain photographs of the persons in whose name the power of attorney is issued. There may be difficulties in accepting powers of attorney issued outside Turkey, even if they are officially legalised. Therefore, our recommendation is to visit Turkey and execute the necessary powers of attorney before starting the citizenship procedure through the purchase of a property. You can see a sample Turkish power of attorney in the appendix to this article.

What can we do for you?

1. Recommendation of realtors for property selection.
2. Supporting the conclusion of a real estate sale and purchase agreement and registration of the agreement.
3. Preparing and organising the collection of necessary documents in the territory of the applicant's current citizenship.
4. Obtaining a certificate of conformity.
5. Obtaining a residence permit.
6. Filing for citizenship.
7. Accompanying power of attorney, fingerprinting and other formal procedures in Turkey.
8. Supporting the letting of acquired properties.

You can contact REVERA's Private clients specialists at y.zadesenskaya@revera.legal to receive Turkish citizenship registration services.

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