Own a property in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and get its citizenship for 250,000 USD:
The Turkish Government has reduced the minimum amount to be invested in real-estate required to obtain the Turkish citizenship to be 250,000 USD instead of a million, provided not to be resold for at least 3 years. In addition, the Turkish government amendment included under construction real-estate to be eligible for citizenship application.
Required documents for applying to the Turkish Citizenship by owning a real-estate:
- A valid passport.
- Tax number.
- Evaluation report from the title deed department.
- The Title Deed.
- A bank receipt clarifying the full payment of the amount of 250,000 USD or more.
- There is other official paperwork that will be prepared by your lawyer and will attached with the application file.
The stages of obtaining the Turkish Citizenship by owning a real-estate:
- Stage one: buying the real-estate and getting the evaluation report and a letter of applicability (Uygun Belgisi).
- Stage two: obtaining the investor residency.
- Stage three: application for Citizenship.
We strongly advice the presence of a real-estate expert along with an experienced attorney to avoid unexpected obstacles.
Key terms to obtain the Turkish Citizenship by investing in real-estate:
- The value of the real-estate must not be less than 250,000 USD.
- It’s possible to apply for the Citizenship with a real-estate that was purchased in an installments plan that started after 12/01/2017 and the Title deed was acquired after 19/09/2018.
- The seller can be a foreigner or a Turkish citizen who is not a relative of the buyer.
- The seller cannot be a Turkish company registered completely or partially to the buyer or any of his relatives.
- Obtaining an official evaluation report of the real-estate from the administration of the title deed with the actual and full price of the real-estate, noting that its validaty duration is for three months only.
- The price stated on the evaluation report should not be higher than the actual selling price, taking into consideration that the selling price should be equal to the expertise report price without the Added Value Tax (KDV).
- The investor should have obtained the title deed or a promise of selling document registered at the notary and the real-estate registry office provided that the price has been paid in full.
- The transfer notice should be made with the amount of 250,000 USD or more and from the buyer personal account directly to the seller personal account avoiding any delegations or mediation. Taking into consideration that the bank account holder name is identical to the property owner name, If not, you must make sure to request a document clarifying the relation between the two names (such the case of having a land owner different from the construction company which the sale is made through).
- The transfer notice should include a description of the cause of transfer (purchase of real-estate for example).
- The transfer notice should be certified by the issuing authority (the bank for example).
- Real-estates that were purchased from a governmental construction companies such as TOKI or EMLAK KONUT are exempted from displaying the bank receipt when applying for the Turkish citizenship.
- Investors who have bought real-estate worth a million dollars and higher are also exempted from displaying the bank receipt when applying for the Turkish citizenship regardless of who the selling party is.
- The citizenship application can be submitted during the ownership transfer or after, stating that the real-estate has been purchased in the purpose of obtaining the citizenship and undertaking that it will not bee resold for at least three years.
- In case there was a mortgage on the real-estate, it should be cleared within five days of the purchase date to make it eligible for the citizenship application (it is recommended to be cleared before the transfer of ownership).
- There is no specified time frame for the purchase of multiple real-estates for the purpose of obtaining the citizenship, meaning that you can buy a number of properties on spaced intervals, taking into consideration the need to re-obtain the evaluation report on all the properties prior to submitting the citizenship application.
- In case of buying a real-estate by installments or under construction:
- All installments must be made and finalized prior to submitting the citizenship application.
- Obtaining a temporary floor title deed (Kat Irtifaki) which is a title deed that proves the ownership of its holder to a part of the building under construction, registered at the administration of the title deeds records, and it mentions the location and section number of the property with the name of the owner. it will be transformed into a final title deed after the construction has been finished.
- There has to be no mortgage on the real-estate (in case there is one, make sure it can be cleared).
After fulfilling the terms, the administration of title deeds will submit your application to the general administration of title deeds to be processed and afterwards an email will be sent to you with the attachment of the letter of applicability (Uygun Belgisi) which states that the real-estate you have purchased with the paid amount is coherent with the terms stated by law and therefore eligible for the citizenship application.
Notes about the Added Value Tax (KDV):
The added value tax is usually about %1 or 8% of the value of sale according to the property type and charged from the seller which by turn collects it from the buyer.
There is an exemption from the KDV for foreigners based on the following conditions:
- He/she must not have official residence permit in turkey.
- He/she must be the primary owner of the real-estate (i.e. purchased directly from the construction company).
- He/she must not have stayed in turkey for more than 180 days.
- The real-estate must not be resold for the period of at least one year.
The Identification papers get prepared and the application in submitted to obtain the KDV exemption.
In case you have the intention of obtaining the Turkish citizenship, you will have to completely finalize the tax exemption process before applying for the investor residence permit that is required for the citizenship application.
Some exemption to ownership in Turkey
The holders of the following citizenships can not own any kind of real-estate in turkey:
- Syria.
- North Korea.
- Armenia.
The cause of this exemption is old laws made by the Turkish and Syrian governments, so many Syrian citizens tend to go to other means to own real-estates in Turkey such as establishing companies which makes them the owner of the company owning the real-estate.
The holders of the previously listed citizenships must go to other options to obtain the Turkish citizenship.
As for the Russian and Ukrainian citizens, they can own any property in Turkey except the ones on the coast of the Black Sea. As per the case for the Greek citizens in addition to some areas in the Aegean Sea of Turkey.
Some citizenships can only own residential and commercial real-estates which are Morocco, Latvia, Afghanistan and Albania with the exception of agricultural real-estates.
It is allowed for the Palestinian nationals holding ID papers from Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq to own real-estates in Turkey, with the condition of having an effective and valid residence permit from the immigration Department. It is also declared that this will enable the Palestinian nationals to apply for the Turkish citizenship by investing in real-estates.
The advantages of obtaining the Turkish citizenship:
- The Turkish economy is one of the top 20 economies worldwide, which allows for a variety of investment opportunities.
- The Turkish passport holds the 38th rank worldwide for the year 2019. Its holder can enter 71 countries visa free, 44 countries with visa upon arrival, and two countries grant direct online visa.
- The ability to receive medical care and education at fairly lower prices compared to the neighboring countries.
- The growing and expanding investment choices in Turkey with special opportunities for the Turkish citizens.
- The investor family members under the age of 18 years are entitled to obtain the citizenship directly from the investor.
Advantages of real-estate investment in Turkey:
- The presence of many feasible opportunities with good return on investment due to the temporary drop of the Turkish lira value against the US dollar.
- The benefits of the Turkish Citizenship obtained by the investment.
- There are no specifications on the type of the invested real-estate in order to obtain the Citizenship, leaving the investor with the freedom of choice between residential, commercial or agricultural real-estate.
- The ability to buy the real-estate by flexible installments to be paid in full before applying for the citizenship.
- The geographic location of Turkey between the western and the eastern regions in addition to its economic power and touristic appeal make it a remarkable destination for lots of foreign investors who are willing to establish new projects and corporates.
- Enjoying the aspects of living in one the most beautiful cities in the world.
- Ease of renting, investing or reselling of the real-estate due to the high demand.
Other options for obtaining the Turkish Citizenship:
- Investments made by establishing a company: with the minimum value of 500,000 USD transferred from outside of turkey.
- Investments made through bank deposits: which has been recently reduced from 3 million USD to the minimum of 500,000 USD noting that it cannot be withdrawn or modified for at least three years.
- Investments made through buying governmental bonds: which has been recently reduced from 3 million USD to the minimum of 500,000 USD noting that it cannot be sold or modified for at least three years.
- Investments made through the employment of Turkish employees: the minimum number of Turkish employees required to obtain the Turkish citizenship has been reduced to be 50 employees instead of a 100, for the duration of at least six months.
- A spouse with a citizenship other than the ones exempted of ownership in turkey can invest in real-estate with the amount of 250,000 USD and above accordingly passing the citizenship to her husband and children under 18 years of age.