Turkey Citizenship by Investment: Routes, Costs and 2026 Rules

Turkey has offered citizenship to investors since January 2017. The legal basis is Article 12 of Law No. 5901, which lets the President grant citizenship to foreigners "who bring industrial facilities or make significant investments" in Turkey. The detail sits in Article 20 of the implementing regulation (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik), which lists the qualifying investments and the authority that certifies each one^[2][1].

The thresholds have moved several times. The 2017 launch required US$1 million in property. A September 2018 amendment cut most routes to US$500,000 and real estate to US$250,000. Presidential Decision No. 5554 (Official Gazette 31834, 13 May 2022) then raised real estate to US$400,000, added the private pension route, and required investors to convert their foreign currency into Turkish lira through a Turkish bank^[3]. A regulation amendment published in the Official Gazette on 12 December 2023 (No. 32397) narrowed which property types qualify^[2]. Since 9 December 2024 the Land Registry certificate confirming the amount, the Tutar Tespit Belgesi (TTB), is issued only electronically^[14].

Each route is certified by its own regulator (see the table below). The Presidency of Migration Management issues the investor's residence permit, the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs (NVİ) takes the citizenship file, security services run background checks, and the President decides^[1][14].

Citizenship is discretionary, and it is never a matter of right. Approval can be refused on security grounds even when the investment is valid. Citizenship obtained through a sham or irregular investment can be cancelled under Articles 31 and 40 of Law 5901, which is what happened to thousands of people in 2026^[4].

Real estate is the cheapest route and, by practitioners' accounts, the most used. You must buy one or more properties worth a combined US$400,000 or more and register an annotation (şerh) on the title deed undertaking not to sell for three years^[2][1]. Since the December 2023 amendment, the property must be a unit with condominium ownership (kat mülkiyeti) or construction servitude (kat irtifakı), or land with a building on it. Undeveloped plots and agricultural land do not qualify^[2][14].

Who you can buy from

The seller must be a Turkish citizen or a Turkish company. You cannot buy from another foreigner. A property already used for a citizenship application is excluded (practitioners differ on whether this applies indefinitely or within the previous three years), and so is a property bought from your own first-degree relatives^[14][11]. Off-plan purchases qualify only where condominium or construction-servitude title already exists, the full price is paid up front, and a notarised promise-to-sell contract carries the same three-year undertaking^[2][11].

Payment and the foreign-exchange certificate

The purchase price must pass through the Turkish banking system. You sell your foreign currency to a Turkish bank, which sells it on to the Central Bank, and the bank issues a foreign-exchange purchase certificate (Döviz Alım Belgesi, DAB). With the transfer receipts, it proves the US$400,000; cash does not count^[3][14].

Valuation report rules

Three figures all have to clear US$400,000: the price you paid through the bank, the value in the official valuation report, and the value declared on the title deed.^[11]. Under Land Registry Circular 2024/2, in force from early March 2024, citizenship valuations could only be prepared by GEDAŞ, a valuation company affiliated with the state housing agency TOKİ^[21]. Since a Ministry approval of 18 September 2026 and an updated circular of 28 September 2026, any Capital Markets Board (SPK) licensed firm that is an active member of the Turkish Valuation Experts Association and connected to TADEBİS may prepare the report, ordered through the Web Tapu portal. Reports are valid for 12 months and need at least three professional signatures^[5][14]. Because the change followed the fake-valuation operation, expect close scrutiny of valuations that land just above US$400,000. One Istanbul law firm suggests structuring purchases at about US$430,000–450,000 where market value is near the threshold^[11].

The three-year hold and the title deed annotation

The no-sale annotation is entered at title transfer and must be lifted on application after three years. Renting the property out is allowed. A sale before the three years are up can lead to cancellation of the citizenship of the investor and family^[14][11]. For VAT-exempt purchases (see costs below), a sale within three years also triggers repayment of the VAT plus interest^[7].

The deposit route requires US$500,000 held at a bank operating in Turkey for three years. Since the 2022 amendment the foreign currency must be sold to the bank and the Central Bank and held as a Turkish lira deposit, so the investor carries lira exchange-rate risk for the full three years^[3].

Two Central Bank schemes once softened that risk: the YUVAM account for non-residents and the FX-protected deposit (KKM) scheme. Practitioners report that YUVAM was removed from the citizenship deposit route on 2 January 2025^[11][12]. The Central Bank ended the opening and renewal of KKM accounts from 23 August 2025^[19]. Deposit interest may offset part of any currency loss, but that is not guaranteed. The bank's compliance team also reviews source of funds before it accepts the deposit^[11].

Government bonds, fund shares and the pension route

Bonds, fund shares and pension contributions (each US$500,000, held three years) remain in the regulation^[2][1]. One Istanbul law firm reports that the government-bond route is not operating in practice in 2026^[11], so confirm with your bank before committing.

Capital investment and employment

The fixed-capital route (US$500,000 certified by the Ministry of Industry and Technology) and the employment route (50 jobs certified by the Ministry of Labour) suit investors running a genuine business in Turkey and carry no stated holding period^[14]; they take longer to document^[1].

The title deed fee is fixed by law at 2% of the declared value for each side of the transfer^[8], and on a citizenship purchase the declared value cannot be understated. The largest variable is VAT. Article 13(i) of the VAT Law exempts the first delivery of a newly built home or workplace to a foreigner not settled in Turkey, provided the price is paid in foreign currency brought into the country; if the property is sold within three years, the VAT becomes due with interest^[7]. Resale stock bought from a Turkish individual normally carries no VAT. Annual property tax is 0.1% of the tax value for homes and 0.2% for other buildings, doubled in metropolitan municipalities^[15]. Passport fees come from the NVİ schedule; one agent puts a 10-year passport at about US$331 plus a US$33 booklet fee in 2026^[17][18].

• Age and status: the main applicant must be an adult foreign national. No language test, interview, or minimum stay is required^[10][11].
• A certified investment: one of the routes above, evidenced by the relevant authority's certificate (for property, the electronic Tutar Tespit Belgesi)^[14].
• Investor residence permit: the investor obtains a short-term residence permit on investment grounds before or alongside the citizenship file. Since 2024, according to an Istanbul law firm, the spouse also needs one; some agents date this rule to 2025–26^[11][12].
• Clean record: apostilled and translated criminal record certificates for the main applicant and spouse, normally dated within six months^[12][11].
• Documents: passports, birth and marriage certificates, family register extracts, biometric photos and proof of source of funds, all apostilled or legalised and translated into Turkish by a sworn translator. Incomplete source-of-funds evidence under Turkey's anti-money-laundering law is the most common reason files stall^[11].
• In-person biometrics: the main applicant and spouse attend the provincial migration office for fingerprints and photos. A short trip of a few days is usually enough when the file is ready^[12].
• Security clearance: Turkish security services must clear the applicant. Nationals of some countries face longer checks^[14].

One investment covers the main applicant, the spouse, and unmarried children under 18. Children of any age who are dependent because of a disability are also included^[10][11]. There is no extra investment or government fee per dependant, so the cost of adding family is limited to documents, translations, insurance, residence permits and passports.

Parents, siblings and children aged 18 or over are not included. An adult child needs a separate qualifying investment. Parents can be given a residence permit, but not citizenship, through the investor^[13]. Since 2024 the spouse must also obtain a residence permit, submit a criminal record, and attend biometrics in person. Minor children usually only need documents, plus notarised consent from a non-applying parent where relevant^[12][11].

A child born after the parent's naturalisation is Turkish by descent. A spouse who marries a Turkish investor after the grant is not included automatically. That spouse follows the ordinary marriage route, which requires three years of marriage.

The process below is for the real estate route, which most applicants use. Other routes replace steps 2–4 with the relevant regulator's certificate.

The Turkish passport gives visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 112 destinations and ranks 49th in the 2026 Henley Passport Index, which also counts eTA destinations^[9]. It is a strong passport for travel to Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Brazil^[10].

It does not give visa-free entry to the Schengen area, the UK, the US or Canada. Turkish citizens generally need visas for all four. Turkey has long negotiated visa liberalisation with the EU, but nothing is in force. If European mobility is the goal, a Caribbean passport such as St Kitts and Nevis citizenship or Grenada citizenship gives visa-free Schengen access, or you could consider an EU residence route.

US E-2 treaty investor visa

Turkey has a treaty of commerce with the United States, so Turkish citizens can apply for the US E-2 treaty investor visa to run a business they have invested in. Under the AMIGOS Act, anyone who acquired treaty nationality through investment must have been domiciled in that country for a continuous three years before applying, so a new Turkish passport does not give immediate E-2 access^[10][20]. Grenada is the only Caribbean CBI country with the same treaty status. Compare the options in our ranking of the strongest passports available by investment.

Citizenship alone does not make you a Turkish tax resident. Residence for tax purposes depends on having your legal domicile in Turkey or staying more than six months in a calendar year. Non-residents are taxed only on Turkish-source income, such as rent from the qualifying property^[16]. If you move to Turkey, residents are taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates.

Inheritance and gift tax runs from 1% to 30%; tax paid abroad on inherited assets is deductible from the Turkish tax base^[15]. Turkish forced-heirship rules can apply to Turkish real estate, so estate planning is worth doing early. Rental income from the property is taxable in Turkey, and so is a gain on sale within five years under the general income tax rules. Take advice in both countries before you buy.

Military service. Article 43 of Military Service Law No. 7179 deals with people who acquire Turkish citizenship later in life. A man who is 22 or older in the year he is naturalised is deemed to have done his service, and so is anyone who proves service, or exemption, in his former country. Younger naturalised men are treated like other men of their age group. They can ask for a two-year deferral from naturalisation, after which they are processed with that year's age group; the general paid-service option then applies. Everyone covered by Article 43 can still be called up in a mobilisation^[6]. Families with sons under 22 should take advice before they apply.

Dual citizenship. Turkey allows multiple citizenship and does not ask investors to renounce their existing nationality^[11]. Whether you can keep your original passport depends on your own country's law. China, India, Japan and several other countries do not allow dual nationality.

The grant is full citizenship, not a residence stage, and children born afterwards are Turkish by descent. The ongoing risk is the three-year condition: breaking it, or a later finding that the investment was irregular, can lead to cancellation under Articles 31 and 40 of Law 5901 for the investor and the family members naturalised on the same file^[4].

It suits investors who want a second passport backed by a tangible asset, families with young children, people who want a second nationality with a large economy behind it, and entrepreneurs who plan to pursue the E-2 route after three years in Turkey.

Look elsewhere if Schengen or UK visa-free travel is the priority, if you need the cheapest possible passport (see our guide to the cheapest citizenship by investment options), if your home country bans dual nationality, or if you have sons under 22 and cannot accept the military-service rules. If you mainly want a right to live in Turkey, a residence permit costs less. The Turkey residency by investment route starts at a far lower property value. Our article on citizenship by investment versus a golden visa explains the trade-off.

• Egypt citizenship by investment: property, deposit and direct-payment routes in the same region.
• Jordanian citizenship through investment: deposit, bond, business and share routes.
• Grenada passport programme: Schengen visa-free access and E-2 treaty status, from a lower donation.
• St Kitts and Nevis citizenship: the oldest CBI programme, with broad visa-free access including Schengen.
• Cambodian citizenship by investment: an Asian option with lower entry amounts but weaker travel access.
• Vanuatu citizenship: fast and fully remote, though its passport has lost Schengen access.

For a wider view, compare all programmes on our citizenship by investment hub or in the Caribbean citizenship comparison.