Obtaining the Turkish Citizenship

During the last ten years, Turkey has witnessed a noticeable development in so many ways, and it became a dream for everyone and every family who wants to live a stable and a luxurious life. In order to make that easier, the Republic of Turkey has stated some laws to ease the way for those people who want to get the Turkish citizenship. One of the most important and easiest ways to get the Turkish citizenship is buying real estate in Turkey.

What are the laws sated by the Republic of Turkey to obtain the citizenship?

1. Hiring 50 Turkish citizen in your own company.

2. A 500K USD cash deposit in a Turkish bank for three years.

3. Buying real estate with at least 250K USD.

Since real estate is considered to be a successful and a secured investment. Because Turkey is witnessing a development in the real estate sector, investors went to get the Turkish citizenship by buying real estate with 250K USD. Here are the steps of getting the Turkish citizenship by purchasing real estate in Turkey.

1. The appropriate real estate should be chosen, that is; it should be suitable for the client’s demand. Plus, it is very important to choose a real estate that matches the citizenship requirements stated by the Turkish government, as it has to be owned by a Turkish citizen or a Turkish company. It also has to be registered in the title deed. Moreover, the real estate to buy should be evaluated by an official specialized company hired by the Turkish government, and it has to be worth more than 250K USD.

2. After making sure that the real estate to buy matches the previous requirements, the money should only be transferred from the client’s bank account whether from a Turkish or a foreign bank. It is important that when transferring the money, the client should explain that the goal of purchasing the real estate is to obtain the Turkish citizenship.

3. A power of attorney should be ready for the purchase process, issuing the title deed, and applying for the Turkish Citizenship.

The powers of attorney are as follows:

• • A purchase power of attorney to sign and issue the title deed (If the client is outside Turkey and the purchase process has to be remotely done).
• • A power of attorney for the husband/wife in order to follow up with the citizenship application. (If the client is single, the power of attorney should be for him only)

Note:

Powers of attorney should be specific; the lawyer cannot do anything other than what’s written in it.

4. After issuing the title deed, the attorney starts with the citizenship procedures, which are:

• The husband/wife’s birth certificate along with the other family members that are aged under 18.

• A marriage statement (If the client is single, a bachelorhood statement should be provided).

• Nationality proof document (Some countries don’t mention the nationality in the passport, but if it is mentioned, then there is no need for it).

5. Then, the lawyer submits an application for an (investor residency permit), then the citizenship application is submitted.

Follow up can be done using the application code as the citizenship process has eight phases, the following points demonstrate the citizenship procedures with the estimated time each phase normally takes.

1. The application is submitted on the system (5 - 8 days).

2. The file is sent to the immigration department’s general directorate (5 - 8 days).

3. The immigration department’s general directorate receives the file, then an initial check is conducted (7 - 10 days).

4. A detailed security check is conducted (20 days to 5 months).

5. The file is pended for approval to be transferred to the Council of Ministers (10 - 30 days).

6. Approval comes and the file is sent for the final decision (5 - 10days).

7. The applicant should check with the department that he applied at to inquire about the result of the application. (7 - 15 days).

8. The client receives the result of the application (7 - 15 Days).

The Turkish citizenship usually takes two to eight months, and the ID card can only be received either from inside Turkey or from the Turkish embassy in the client’s country.

Note: All the powers of attorney or the required documents for buying a real estate and applying for the citizenship should be Certified and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the applicant’s home country. If the applicant is from a country of those that signed on The Hague agreement, then it’s enough to have the Apostille stamp.

In the upcoming article, we will talk more about how the real estate is evaluated for the citizenship purposes, and how you can own more than one real estate to get it too.

For more information about the legal details mentioned in this article, you can directly contact our consultants by calling our offices which are open to assist you.