Translation of the Amendment Decision to the Law Granting Turkish Citizenship in Exchange for Property Purchase

As part of the facilities provided to foreign investors in Turkey to support the real estate sector, and in culmination of a series of clarifications and amendments to the new Turkish Citizenship law, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed an important decision to amend the mentioned citizenship law, allowing the granting of Turkish citizenship in exchange for a property deed, enabling foreigners to apply for Turkish citizenship by purchasing an under-construction property, whereas previously it was limited to completed properties only!

Below is an exclusive translation of the latest decision provided by Imtilak Real Estate, followed by an image of the decision in Turkish.

Decision No.: 418 on Granting Turkish Citizenship

The decision was issued according to Article 46 of the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 regarding the amendment of the decree applied under the mentioned law below, related to granting Turkish citizenship, and comes into effect immediately.

December 6, 2018

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President of the Republic

The new law for granting Turkish citizenship in exchange for purchasing a property

Article 1 - A phrase was added to item (b) of the second paragraph of the decree related to the application of the Turkish Citizenship law, effective according to the cabinet decision dated 02/11/2010 No. 2010/139, adding the phrase after "that he bought," which is "either a full ownership deed or a floor easement deed," provided the property price is paid in cash with a value no less than 250,000 US dollars or its equivalent in Turkish lira, the promise of sale contract to be organized before a notary public, and an additional annotation placed on the property deed clarifying that the property cannot be sold or transferred to another party for three years.

Article 2 - This decree shall enter into force from the date of its publication.

Article 3 - The President of the Republic shall execute the provisions of this decree.

Raising the minimum to 400,000 dollars (June 2022)

It is noted that the amount of 250,000 US dollars mentioned in Decision No. 418 above was the current value at the time the decision was issued in 2018, but it is no longer the applicable value.

According to a presidential decree published in the Turkish Official Gazette on May 13, 2022, which came into effect one month after its publication, i.e., from June 13, 2022, the minimum value of property required to obtain Turkish citizenship was raised from 250,000 US dollars to 400,000 US dollars, or the equivalent amount in Turkish lira or other foreign currency.

The other conditions stated in the original decision remain unchanged: the buyer’s commitment not to sell the property or transfer its ownership for three years from the purchase date, and organizing the necessary annotation on the property deed (title deed) clarifying this commitment.

Accordingly, the currently applicable minimum value to obtain Turkish citizenship through property ownership is 400,000 US dollars, not 250,000 US dollars as stated in the translated original decision text above.

Edited by: Imtilak Real Estate©