Acquisition of Exeptional Turkish Citizenship for Foreing Investors

ACQUISITION OF EXCEPTIONAL TURKISH CITIZENSHIP WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REGULATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TURKISH CITIZENSHIP LAW and

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR APPLICATION AND PROCEDURES TO BE TAKEN

(1)           In the cases listed in Article 12 of the Law, a foreigner may exceptionally acquire Turkish citizenship.

(2)           A foreigner who fulfills one of the conditions listed below may acquire Turkish citizenship by a decision of the President under subparagraph (b) of the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Law:

About a foreigner

a) who makes an investment in fixed assets of at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency as determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

b) who purchases a real estate property with a minimum value of  400.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency and attached an annotation of no-sale for at least three (3) years at the relevant title registry; or who purchases a real estate property which has a property ownership or a construction servitude on it, with a preliminary sale contract executed before a notary public and at least 400.000 USD or amount of foreign currency is paid in advance and such notarized preliminary sale contract shall be recorded at the relevant title registry with the undertaking not to transfer or assign the agreement for a period of three (3) years as determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. (The request for a monetary floor of 400.000 USD is made as of 13.06.2022. Until this date, it is 250.000 USD).

c) who generates employment for at least 50 individuals as determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

ç) who deposits at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency in a bank operating in Turkey, on condition that he/she will hold this deposit for at least three years in the bank concerned as determined by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

d) who purchases government debt instruments with a value of at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency to hold in reserve for at least three years, as determined by the Department of Treasury and Finance.

(e) who purchased shares in real estate investment funds and venture capital funds with a value of at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency, provided that he/she holds them in reserve for at least three years, as determined by the Capital Market Board.

(f) who pays at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency into the private pension system, provided that he/she keeps it in the funds established by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency and remains in the system for three years as determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency.

(3) And who wishes to acquire Turkish citizenship exceptionally, a file consisting of the below-mentioned documents is prepared by the application authorities upon the written instruction of the Ministry:

  a) A form stating the request.

 b) Passport or similar document showing from which state the person originates, and if stateless, the corresponding document, if it is possible to obtain it.

 c) Certificate of marital status and marriage certificate for married persons, divorce certificate for divorced persons, death certificate for widowed persons.

    ç) A document proving the identity of the person, such as a birth certificate or an extract of civil registry, and he/she is married, an extract of civil registry or similar document proving the family ties of the spouse and children.

      d) If he/she has first or second degree relatives with Turkish citizenship, the extract of civil registry of these persons taken from the system by the application authorities.

      e) If the person does not have the month and date of birth, the document obtained from the competent authorities of his/her country for the completion of the date of birth, and in case the document cannot be obtained, the signed declaration declaring that he or she accepts the process in accordance with Article 39 of the Population Services Law no. 5490.

                f) A receipt showing that the service fee is deposited to the cashier.

(4)           The completed file is submitted to the Ministry for decision.

(5)           The applications of persons to be naturalized under subparagraphs (b) and (c) of the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Law are received by the Ministry when deemed necessary, and the file consisting of the documents referred to in the third paragraph are prepared.

(6)           In the determination of the monetary values specified in the second paragraph, the effective selling rate and/or cross exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on the date of determination are taken as a basis.

(7)           A committee consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Technology may be established to follow the procedure for citizenship applications to be submitted under the second paragraph.

(8)           A transitivity is possible in order to complete the specified period between investment types to be made within the scope of the second paragraph.

(9)           The procedures and principles to be applied in determining whether the investment conditions are met to the extent and amount referred to in the second paragraph are determined by the institution making the determination.

(10) The foreign currency amounts specified in subparagraphs (b), (ç), (d), (e) and (f) of the second paragraph are sold to a bank operating in Turkey and to the Central Bank by this bank before the transaction. As a result of the sales; Turkish Lira amounts obtained in accordance with subparagraph (ç) of the second paragraph are kept in Turkish Lira deposit accounts, Turkish Lira amounts obtained in accordance with subparagraph (d) of the second paragraph are kept in Turkish Lira government debt instruments, Turkish Lira amounts obtained in accordance with subparagraph (f) of the second paragraph are kept in the funds of the private pension system determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency for three years. The implementation fundamentals regarding this issue are determined by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.