Who qualifies for citizenship by investment
Turkey offers citizenship by investment under Article 12(1)(b) of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 to a foreigner who holds a residence permit as an investor. Meeting the conditions makes an investor eligible; the President decides (Art. 12(1)). The same route covers the foreign spouse and the minor or dependent children of the investor and of the spouse. It is an exceptional route, so the residence, language and income conditions of ordinary naturalisation do not apply. One condition remains: the Ministry of the Interior refuses an applicant who poses a risk to national security or public order (Art. 12(2)).
The decision takes effect on the day it is made (Art. 20(1)). The law accepts multiple citizenship (Arts. 3 and 44), so it does not ask the investor to give up a first passport; the home country may still do so.
Investment routes and minimum amounts
Article 20(2) of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law lists seven routes. Each amount is in US dollars or the equivalent in another foreign currency, and a different public body confirms each investment before the application file is opened:
| Route | Minimum | Confirmed by |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate, not sold for three years | $400,000 | Environment ministry, via the land registry (TKGM) |
| Fixed capital investment | $500,000 | Ministry of Industry and Technology |
| Bank deposit, held three years | $500,000 | Banking regulator (BDDK) |
| Government bonds, held three years | $500,000 | Treasury and finance ministry |
| Real estate or venture capital fund shares, held three years | $500,000 | Capital Markets Board (SPK) |
| Private pension contributions, three years in the system | $500,000 | Pension regulator (SEDDK) |
| Jobs for at least 50 people | No amount set | Labour ministry |
On the property, deposit, bond, fund and pension routes, the foreign currency is first sold to a bank in Turkey, which sells it on to the Central Bank (Art. 20(10)). Each amount is measured at the Central Bank’s effective selling rate on the day the confirming body makes its determination (Art. 20(6)). To complete the three years, an investor may move from one route to another (Art. 20(8)).
The property route: titles, off-plan homes and the three-year hold
Presidential Decision No. 7938 narrowed the property types on 12 December 2023. Since then, real estate qualifies only with a condominium title (kat mülkiyeti), a condominium easement (kat irtifakı) or as a building plot with a structure on it. The purchase is registered with a no-sale annotation on the title deed for three years. A home still under construction can count through a notarised promise-to-sell contract once a condominium easement (kat irtifakı) is registered for it. The whole $400,000 is then paid upfront, and an undertaking not to transfer or cancel for three years is annotated in the land register (Art. 20(2)(b)).
The land registry (TKGM) adds its own checks on the seller, the history of the unit and its value. The page on properties for citizenship by investment applies them to listings. The money check is the one to clear before any deposit: the deed price, the valuation and the bank transfers to the seller must each reach $400,000.
Application steps
Several public bodies handle a property application in turn. The order below follows the regulation and the Ministry of the Interior’s description of the process published in August 2026:
- The investment. The investor sells the foreign currency to a local bank and buys the property or makes the financial investment. For real estate, a valuation report is ordered through the land registry’s system from a valuer licensed by the Capital Markets Board.
- The certificate of eligibility. The confirming body issues an investment eligibility certificate; for property, the land registry issues it on the basis of the valuation report.
- The investor residence permit. The certificate opens the way to a short-term residence permit for investors, which Law No. 6458 allows for up to five years per grant (Art. 31(1)(j) and (5)). Holding it is what opens Article 12(1)(b).
- The citizenship file. It contains the application form, the passport, civil status records, birth or family registry documents and the receipt for the service fee (Regulation, Art. 20(3)).
- Security checks and the decision. The General Directorate of Security and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) carry out a security investigation and archive search. If both are clear, the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs completes its approval and the file goes to the President.
How long it takes and what it costs
Neither Law No. 5901 nor Article 20 of the regulation sets a deadline for the decision, and the government publishes no standard processing time. The wait depends on the confirming body, the security investigation and how complete the file is. Some agencies advertise a passport within a few months; such figures are their own estimates, and no official source commits to them.
The investment is the largest cost. The purchase itself adds costs, including the title deed fee listed in the Turkey buying guide. Further items are the valuation report, the fee and card charge for the investor residence permit, certified translations of foreign documents and the citizenship service fee. The Ministry of the Interior sets that fee jointly with the finance ministry. Applicants with no income do not pay it, nor do minor children processed with them (Law No. 5901, Art. 45).
Spouse and children
The family covered by Article 12(1)(b) is the investor’s foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign children of the investor and of the spouse. Parents, and adult children who are not dependent, fall outside it. A child in the investor’s custody becomes Turkish with the parent if the other parent consents. Without that consent, a court in the country of habitual residence decides (Art. 20(2)). A child left out of the file applies after reaching adulthood under the ordinary rules of Article 11 (Art. 20(3)).
The family also shares the investor’s risk. When a citizenship decision is cancelled, the cancellation extends to the spouse and children who acquired nationality through that person (Art. 32).
Revocation and the 2026 checks
A decision can be reversed after it is made. It is cancelled if it rested on a false statement or on concealing a material fact (Art. 31), and withdrawn if the legal conditions were not met (Art. 40). On 4 August 2026 the Ministry of the Interior reported that 6,134 people, meaning 1,413 investors with their family members, had lost citizenship acquired through investment on these grounds. In 1,150 investor cases the land registry, the Tax Inspection Board and the police found sham or irregular transactions, and cancelling the eligibility certificates cost 5,391 people their citizenship. The other 743, meaning 263 investors with their families, had citizenship withdrawn after security checks. The statement followed an operation against forged property valuation reports in 16 provinces.
A common belief is that an issued passport closes the file. It does not: a valuation that overstates a property to reach $400,000 can later cost the investor and the whole family their passports.
Tax after naturalisation
Turkish income tax follows residence, not the passport. A person is taxed on worldwide income if their domicile is in Turkey. The same applies to anyone who stays more than six months in a calendar year (Income Tax Law No. 193, Arts. 3 and 4). A new citizen living abroad is therefore not a full taxpayer just for holding a Turkish passport. Income earned in Turkey, such as rent from the property, is still taxed there.
If this route does not fit
- A budget under $400,000. A home worth at least $200,000 supports a short-term residence permit for its owner; see Turkey residence permit by buying property.
- A plan to live in Turkey first. Ordinary naturalisation needs no investment, only time and integration: five years of uninterrupted residence among other conditions (Law No. 5901, Art. 11).
- Capital you would rather not tie to a building. The deposit, bond, fund and pension routes need no property, but they start at $500,000 and lock the money for three years.
- Comparing countries. The citizenship by investment comparison sets these thresholds beside other programmes.
How we check this page
Methodology
The amounts, dates and legal acts in the key facts box and the rule history come from our record of programme changes. Each entry was checked against the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) or the consolidated text on mevzuat.gov.tr, and the box shows the date of the latest check. Every condition in the text above names the article it comes from. We are a property marketplace, not a law firm or a government agency.
Further sources
Opened on 9 November 2026, in addition to the acts listed under Sources:
- Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Articles 3, 11, 12, 20, 31, 32, 40, 44 and 45
- Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, Article 20 (consolidated text)
- Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 31
- Ministry of the Interior: statement on forged valuations and irregular citizenship cases, 4 August 2026
- Income Tax Law No. 193, Articles 3 and 4
- Military Service Law No. 7179, Article 43
- Invest in Türkiye: acquiring property and citizenship
Limitations
We describe the rules as written; we do not give legal advice and cannot predict how an application will end. The Presidential decision is discretionary, and the bodies that confirm investments may change their internal checks without amending the regulation (Art. 20(9)). Before paying anything, ask a lawyer licensed in Turkey to confirm the current requirements.
