Obtaining Turkish Citizenship through Investment in the Real Estate Sector in Turkey

It is known that the Turkish government has reduced the minimum requirement for Turkish citizenship by investing in the country, in accordance with the recent legal amendments issued on 19 September 2018.

What is new regarding amendments allowing Foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship?

After the amendment of the Turkish Nationality Law, the minimum investment required for citizenship has decreased, however, it should be noted that the investments covered by the amendment are only after 19 September 2018.

As for the foreigner who invested in Turkey earlier than this time, he can take advantage of the opportunity available in the light of the recent amendments, by doing new investments.

Below are the minimum requirements for obtaining Turkish nationality by type of investment:

Nearly five months after the amendments to the laws issued on 19 September, minor other amendments were added explaining the procedural details of granting Turkish nationality through investment applications.

Thanks to those developments that addressed the concerns of foreign investors, the fundamental ambiguities surrounding those laws have been removed.

The state of waiting and anticipation that prevailed among foreign investors in the first phase (until December 2019) changed.

Turkish nationality: One of the main reasons for the high demand for real estate in Turkey

In the midst of Turkey's increasing need for foreign capital inflow, the above referred legal amendments have been approved, which has resulted in a very positive response by local authorities and executive bodies to Turkey's investment applicants.

Certainly, this new approach will not only eliminate the procedural and bureaucratic obstacles to foreign investors but will also make their transactions easier and faster than the previous period.

At the present time, dozens of requests for Turkish citizenship are being processed each week by investment. So far, the number of applications for citizenship has exceeded 1,000, in order to take advantage of Turkish citizenship features in the future.

According to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute, the proportion of sales of properties to foreign investors reached 78.30% in 2018 compared to the previous year 2017.

There is no doubt that the main factor behind this dramatic rise in real estate sales is the recent turnout to get citizenship through the new investment laws.

In Istanbul, foreigners bought about 15,000 properties. A number of other cities follow the list of leading investment destinations in cities like Antalya, Bursa, Ankara, and Yalova. For example, real estate sales have surpassed 90% in Yalova!

The background of foreign investors in Turkey is vastly different. While the majority of them come from Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait, foreigners from other countries are also increasingly interested in Turkish real estate. The Russians own more than 3,000 homes in 2018.

Affordable investments give you Turkish citizenship

There are many reasons for the steady increase in the demand for Turkish nationality through investment opportunities, and we will try to summarize these motives in the following points:

In nutshell:

For anyone who asks how to get Turkish citizenship, it seems that the last step taken by the Turkish government to facilitate the requirements of foreign investors wishing to get Turkish nationality; has raised the interest of investors, especially Arabs.

This concern shows that for many investors, Turkey remains a "safe haven". Current statistics on applications for Turkish citizenship through investment and real estate sales are promising. So 2021 may see a boom in the sale of real estate to foreigners in Turkey.