Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship Through the Purchase of Real Estate

Turkey's exceptional-citizenship framework allows foreigners who purchase qualifying real estate to acquire Turkish citizenship, provided that no impediment exists from the standpoint of national security or public order. Not every property is eligible, however: the type of property, its value, and the manner of its acquisition and payment are each subject to independent requirements under Turkish law. These requirements are set out below with direct reference to — and, where appropriate, verbatim quotation of — the relevant legislative and regulatory texts.

I. Legal Basis

The foundational provision underlying citizenship acquisition through the acquisition of real estate is Article 12 of Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship, titled "Exceptional Cases for the Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship." The first paragraph of the article reads as follows:

"Provided that there is no impediment from the standpoint of national security and public order, the foreigners specified below may acquire Turkish citizenship by decision of the President."

— Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship, Article 12(1)

Under subparagraph (b), added to this paragraph by Law No. 6735 of 28 July 2016, foreigners who make investments of a scope and amount determined by the President are afforded the opportunity to acquire citizenship by way of exception. The procedures and principles governing the acquisition of citizenship through real estate are set out in Article 20(2)(b) of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship. This subparagraph, in the form currently in force — as last updated by the amendment published in the Official Gazette of 12 December 2023 — reads as follows:

"A foreigner determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change to have purchased, subject to an annotation in the land registry that it will not be sold for three years, real estate worth at least USD 400,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency on which condominium ownership or condominium easement has been established, or which is registered as land with a structure on it; or who, subject to an annotation in the land registry undertaking that no transfer or cancellation will take place for three years, has paid in cash at least USD 400,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency under a notarised contract by which the sale of real estate on which condominium ownership or condominium easement has been established is promised, may acquire Turkish citizenship by decision of the President."

— Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, Article 20(2)(b)

The elements contained in this provision are examined separately in the sections that follow.

II. Minimum Investment Amount

Under the provision quoted above, the minimum investment amount currently in force in 2026 is USD 400,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency. This amount may be satisfied through a single property or through the combined value of multiple properties; the legislation places no upper limit on the number of properties that may be acquired.

Where the property is acquired by way of a promise-of-sale agreement — that is, a notarised contract containing an advance undertaking that a sale will take place in the future — the relevant implementation guide issued by the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre provides as follows:

"In applications based on a promise of sale, the amount required under the Regulation must be secured through a single contract, and the properties subject to the promise must be specified in that contract. Accordingly, more than one property may be made subject to a single promise-of-sale contract. However, applications based on more than one separate promise-of-sale contract will not be taken into consideration."

— Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, 9 December 2024

III. Nature of the Property: Eligible and Excluded Categories

In addition to the requirement concerning the amount, the Regulation imposes a separate and independent requirement as to the nature of the property. A property's value meeting the required threshold is not, by itself, a sufficient criterion.

A. Eligible Categories

Under the Guide prepared pursuant to Article 20(2)(b) of the Regulation, which entered into force on 9 December 2024, the requirement concerning the nature of the property is expressed as follows:

"It is required that the property be registered in the land registry as an independent section under Law No. 634 on Condominium Ownership, or, in the case of land, that the property be registered with the qualification of land and that the existence of a permanent structure conforming to legislation and holding an occupancy permit be established."

— Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, 9 December 2024, p. 2

Accordingly, properties on which condominium ownership has been established — completed and registered independent units such as flats, offices, shops, warehouses, or residences — and properties on which condominium easement has been established — under-construction developments whose project has been registered in the land registry, though not yet completed — are, as a general rule, eligible. For land to be eligible, it must additionally be established that a permanent structure holding an occupancy permit and conforming to legislation exists on it.

B. Excluded Categories

The same Guide expressly identifies two categories that are excluded:

"It is not possible to acquire, for the purpose of obtaining citizenship, properties without structures that are subject to the two-year project-development obligation referred to in the fourth paragraph of Article 35 of Law No. 2644 on Land Registry, or agricultural land."

— Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, 9 December 2024, p. 3

The first element of this exclusion concerns the project-development obligation set out in Article 35(4) of Law No. 2644 on Land Registry, applicable to properties with no structure on them; under that paragraph, foreign natural persons are required to submit, within two years of acquiring unbuilt land, a development project for the approval of the relevant ministry. Until this obligation has been fulfilled, such property is not treated as an investment for citizenship purposes. The second element concerns agricultural land: fields, vineyards, orchards, and similar agricultural properties are excluded from this scheme because they are subject to a separate regulatory regime (Law No. 5403 on Soil Conservation and Land Use and the related Council of Ministers Decision).

The Guide further provides that properties subject to timeshare rights are likewise not eligible for citizenship acquisition through property ownership:

"Properties subject to timeshare rights may not be made the subject of the acquisition of Turkish citizenship through the acquisition of real estate."

— Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, 9 December 2024, p. 3

Consequently, agricultural land worth more than USD 400,000, or land without a completed structure holding an occupancy permit, cannot serve as the basis of a citizenship application merely because it meets the value threshold; it is advisable to bear in mind, before proceeding with an acquisition, that a Certificate of Conformity (see Section VI) will not be issued for property of this kind.

C. Other Requirements and Restrictions

In addition to the requirements concerning the nature of the property, several further restrictions should be taken into account in practice.

• Fractional (shared) acquisition: According to the Guide, "acquisition of a property on a shared basis does not permit an application for citizenship to be made." Accordingly, where a property is acquired in shared ownership by more than one foreign natural person, that property cannot be made the subject of a citizenship application; conversely, the acquisition of the entirety of a property registered in the names of multiple persons by a single foreign person is permissible.

• Acquisition from relatives or one's own company: As the Regulation concerns the personal acquisition of real estate by the foreign natural person, acquisitions made in the name of the applicant's spouse or children, or in the name of a company in which the applicant is a partner or manager, are not taken into account in calculating the required amount.

• Re-acquisition following a prior transfer: To prevent circumvention, property that has, after 12 January 2017, been transferred by the applicant, the applicant's spouse or children, or another foreign national of the same nationality, to a Turkish citizen or a company, may not be made the subject of citizenship-related acquisition.

• Repeated use of the same property: Once a property (or a share in it) has enabled one person to acquire citizenship, no other foreigner may apply for citizenship on the basis of the same property or share, even after the three-year commitment period has expired.

• Nationality restriction: Under Article 35 of Law No. 2644 on Land Registry, the acquisition of real estate in Turkey is permitted only to nationals of countries designated by the President. Nationals of countries not included on this list (for example, Syrian nationals) cannot personally acquire real estate in Turkey and, consequently, cannot apply for citizenship through this route.

• Quantitative restriction: Under the same article, foreign natural persons may acquire, nationwide, no more than 30 hectares per person and no more than 10% of the area of a district open to private ownership.

• Military prohibited zones, security zones, and special security zones: Under Law No. 2565 on Military Prohibited Zones and Security Zones and the related Regulation No. 5949, the acquisition of real estate by foreign natural persons is not possible within designated military prohibited zones and security zones. Within "Special Security Zones," acquisition is subject to the permission of the governorate of the relevant province.

IV. Determination of Value

The actual value of a property is determined by a valuation report prepared by an appraisal firm authorised and listed with the Capital Markets Board (SPK). The procedure by which this report is reflected in the land registry transaction was updated by Circular No. 2024/4 of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre. The Circular defines the relevant document as follows:

"The Valuation Determination Certificate for Citizenship Acquisition through Real Estate Acquisition (TTB) ... is a document, prepared through the TADEBİS application as an annex to the relevant real estate valuation report and transmitted to the TAKBİS/Webtapu system, indicating the investment amount of the relevant property that may be accepted for the purpose of citizenship acquisition."

— General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, Circular No. 2024/4, 13 June 2024

Accordingly, land registry directorates rely directly on the amount stated in the TTB; a TTB submitted in physical form is not accepted for processing. Furthermore, where the period between the issuance of the TTB and the citizenship application exceeds six months, the valuation report and the corresponding TTB must be renewed.

V. Payment of the Price: The Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate Requirement

In sales to which a foreign natural person is a party, the foreign currency corresponding to the sale price must be sold to a bank and, through that bank, to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. This requirement is set out in the Central Bank's Circular on Capital Movements as follows:

"Parties are required, in their application for the land registry transaction, to submit to the land registry authority a foreign exchange purchase certificate evidencing that the foreign currency constituting the sale price has been sold to a bank. The Turkish lira amount recorded on the foreign exchange purchase certificate shall be declared to the land registry authority as the sale price."

— Circular of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on Capital Movements, Article 13(3)

Accordingly, a transaction cannot be completed where the price is paid directly in Turkish lira or where the foreign currency is exchanged at a currency exchange bureau; the currency must be converted through official channels via a bank. The foreign exchange purchase certificate must, at a minimum, contain the name of the person converting the currency, that person's passport or foreign identification number, the property number, the US-dollar equivalent of the currency converted, and a statement indicating that the transaction is undertaken for citizenship purposes.

VI. The Three-Year Prohibition on Sale and the Certificate of Conformity

Under the Regulation quoted in Section I, where the property is acquired by sale, an annotation is entered in the land registry that it may not be sold for three years; where it is acquired by way of a promise of sale, an undertaking that no transfer or cancellation will take place for three years is instead annotated in the land registry. In practice, sale transactions include the following undertaking in the official deed:

"I undertake that I will not sell this property/these properties, which I have acquired for the purpose of obtaining Turkish citizenship under Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, for a period of three years."

— Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship

The documents relating to this undertaking — the official deed or promise-of-sale contract, the valuation report/TTB, the foreign exchange purchase certificate, the payment receipt, and identification/passport — are forwarded to the competent authority, which reviews the file and issues a Certificate of Conformity confirming that all requirements as to the type of property, the amount, and the procedure have been satisfied. Substantive examination of the citizenship application by the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs becomes possible only once this certificate has been issued.

VII. Basic Documents Required for the Application

Under Article 20(3) of the Regulation, the application file must contain, at a minimum, the following documents:

• Application form (petition),

• A valid passport or equivalent identity document,

• A certificate of marital status,

• A birth certificate or civil registry extract showing identity information, and, where applicable, a document evidencing the family relationship of spouse and children,

• The official deed or promise-of-sale contract relating to the acquisition of the property, the valuation report/TTB, the foreign exchange purchase certificate, and the payment receipt,

• A criminal record certificate and a biometric photograph,

• A receipt evidencing payment of the applicable service fee.

VIII. Conclusion

Acquiring Turkish citizenship through the acquisition of real estate is a process that can proceed within a predictable framework, provided that a property of the appropriate nature is selected, the required amount is paid in accordance with the applicable procedure, and the necessary documents are obtained in full. That said, the nature of the property — in particular, the exclusion of agricultural land and unbuilt land subject to a project-development obligation — the applicant's nationality, and the property's conformity with regional restrictions are matters that must be satisfied independently of, and in addition to, the value requirement.

In this context, it is advisable, before proceeding with a purchase — preferably before the official deed is executed — to verify the property's land registry record with the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, and to carry out the process with the support of a real estate lawyer or a consultant specialised in this area.

This article has been prepared for general informational purposes. For specific applications, confirmation should be sought from the current legislation and from the official records of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre and the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

Note: The quoted provisions of Turkish legislation reproduced below have been translated into English for the purposes of this article. They are unofficial translations provided for informational purposes; the Turkish originals remain the authoritative texts.

Principal Legislation Cited (Provisions Currently in Force)

• Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship, Article 12(1)(b).

• Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship, Article 20 (as last updated by the amendment published in the Official Gazette of 12 December 2023).

• Law No. 2644 on Land Registry, Article 35.

• Law No. 634 on Condominium Ownership.

• Law No. 2565 on Military Prohibited Zones and Security Zones and Regulation No. 5949.

• Circular of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on Capital Movements, Article 13.

• Circular No. 2024/4 of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre and its annex, the "Guide on the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Turkish Citizenship" (as in force from 9 December 2024).