Procedure for Obtaining Citizenship in Turkey by Investment (2026)
This guide sets out the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey through investment as the official texts describe it on 5 November 2026. It follows the sequence a file takes: the qualifying investment, the foreign-exchange step, the certificate of conformity, the short-term residence permit, the citizenship application, the review, the decision and the obligations that continue afterwards. Almost every figure comes from a statute, a Resmi Gazete (Official Gazette) text or a page of the offices that run the process, and each is dated.
You will find the legal basis, a table of the investment routes with their thresholds, a step-by-step table naming the responsible office and legal provision, a document checklist, a table of family members, a timeline table limited to durations the authorities themselves state, and worked arithmetic for the USD 400,000 property threshold. The procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey is an exceptional route under the Turkish Citizenship Law, and meeting its conditions does not create an entitlement: the final decision is taken by the President. Individual circumstances differ, so the tables describe the rules, not any particular file.
Procedure for Obtaining Citizenship in Turkey: The Legal Basis
The procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey by investment rests on four layers of rules. The first is Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, adopted on 29 May 2009 and published in the Resmi Gazete issue 27256 on 12 June 2009. Article 10(1) states the general principle for citizenship granted by a competent authority: a person who meets the conditions listed in the Law does not thereby acquire an absolute right to citizenship. Article 12(1) then lists the exceptional cases in which, on condition that there is no obstacle in terms of national security and public order, foreigners may acquire citizenship by Presidential decision. Paragraph (b) of that article, added by Law No. 6735 on 28 July 2016, covers foreigners who hold a residence permit under Article 31(1)(j) of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (No. 6458) or a Turquoise Card, together with their foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign children of the person and of the spouse. Article 12(2) adds that requests from people who present such an obstacle are rejected by the Ministry of Interior, and Article 19(2) assigns the handling of Article 12 cases to that Ministry.
The second layer is Law No. 6458. Its Article 31(1)(j) provides for a short-term residence permit for foreigners who do not work in Türkiye but make an investment of a scope and amount set by the President, and for their foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign children of the investor and spouse. Article 31(5) allows permits under paragraph (j) to be granted for periods of up to five years at a time.
The third layer is the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, put into force by Council of Ministers Decision 2010/139 of 11 February 2010 and published in the Resmi Gazete issue 27544 on 6 April 2010. Its Article 20 contains the list of qualifying investments, the amounts, the document list for the citizenship file, the currency rules and the possibility of switching between investment types. The fourth layer is operational: procedures issued by the offices that determine whether an investment qualifies, the Central Bank instruction on foreign-currency sales, and the Ministry of Interior procedure that links the offices together.
How Article 20 reached its current form
Amounts and categories in Article 20 have been changed by Presidential decisions. Older guides, including earlier versions of this page, sometimes quote figures that no longer apply, so the sequence matters.
| Date | Instrument | What it changed |
|---|---|---|
| 28 July 2016 | Law No. 6735 | Added Article 12(1)(b) to Law 5901 and Article 31(1)(j) to Law 6458, creating the investor residence-permit link |
| 18 September 2018 | Presidential Decision No. 106 | Reset the Article 20 amounts; the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs announced the new figures on 3 October 2018, with USD 250,000 for property |
| 6 January 2022 | Decision No. 5072 (Resmi Gazete 31711) | Restated the investment categories in Article 20(2)(a) to (e) and added the rule that foreign currency must be sold to a bank and then to the Central Bank before the transaction |
| 13 May 2022 | Decision No. 5554 (Resmi Gazete 31834) | Raised the property figure in Article 20(2)(b) from USD 250,000 to USD 400,000 and added paragraph (f), the private pension route |
| 12 December 2023 | Decision No. 7938 (Resmi Gazete 32397) | Rewrote the property wording to units with condominium ownership or easement established, or land with a building on it |
| 1 October 2026 | Central Bank instruction, current version | Sets the transaction rate for the currency sale at the Central Bank buying rate announced at 11:00 and carries amendments effective 1 October 2026 (see the currency section below) |
On 29 September 2026 the Land Registry and Cadastre authority (TKGM) also posted notices about amendments to its Circular 2024/4 and an update to Circular 2024/2. These circulars govern the registry’s own formalities in transactions involving foreigners. The thresholds in this guide are those in Article 20 as amended through 12 December 2023, and the same figures appear on the Ministry of Interior’s citizenship FAQ page viewed on 5 November 2026. Related overviews are in our Turkey citizenship and immigration guide and the article on the USD 400,000 route.
Investment Routes and Thresholds in the Procedure for Obtaining Citizenship in Turkey
Article 20(2) of the Regulation lists the conditions, any one of which allows a foreigner to be considered under Article 12(1)(b) of the Law. The table below follows the paragraph letters of the Regulation text as amended through the December 2023 decision, as reproduced by the Konya Investment Support Office, a public body, and checked against the amounts listed on the Ministry of Interior FAQ page (viewed 5 November 2026).
| Route (Art. 20(2)) | Minimum | Condition stated in the text | Body that determines the condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Fixed capital investment | USD 500,000 or equivalent | Fixed capital investment made | Ministry of Industry and Technology |
| (b) Real estate | USD 400,000 or equivalent | Three-year no-sale annotation on the title deed, or a notarized sale promise with the full amount paid in advance and a three-year annotation against transfer and cancellation | Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change (land registry) |
| (c) Employment | At least 50 people | Employment created | Ministry of Labour and Social Security |
| (ç) Bank deposit | USD 500,000 or equivalent | Held in banks operating in Türkiye for three years | Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency |
| (d) Government debt instruments | USD 500,000 or equivalent | Held for three years | Ministry of Treasury and Finance |
| (e) Real estate or venture capital investment fund units | USD 500,000 or equivalent | Units held for at least three years | Capital Markets Board (SPK) |
| (f) Private pension system | USD 500,000 or equivalent | Contribution kept in funds set by the regulator and left in the system for three years | Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency |
Four general rules apply to the table. Article 20(6) says the monetary values are measured using the Central Bank’s cash selling rate and/or cross rate on the date of determination. Article 20(8) permits movement between investment types in order to complete the three-year period. Article 20(7) allows the Ministry of Interior to set up a follow-up commission with representatives of the Labour, Environment, Treasury and Industry ministries. Article 20(10) requires foreign-currency amounts for the property, deposit, debt-instrument, fund and pension routes to be sold before the transaction to a bank operating in Türkiye and by that bank to the Central Bank; the Turkish lira received is then held for three years in a lira deposit, lira-denominated government debt instruments or the pension funds, depending on the route.
According to the Ministry of Interior FAQ, nationals of Syria cannot use the property route because Law No. 1062 on reciprocity applies to their real estate in Türkiye. The same page says applicants must submit the certificate application, the residence permit application, the card application and the citizenship application in person.
Step-by-Step Procedure for Obtaining Citizenship in Turkey
The Ministry of Interior’s procedure for foreign investors (Yabancı Yatırımcıların İstisnai Olarak Türk Vatandaşlığını Kazanmalarına İlişkin Usul ve Esaslar) and the FAQ page of the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs describe the same chain: investment, certificate of conformity, residence permit, citizenship application, review, decision. The table adds the earlier currency step and the later obligations, with the office and legal provision for each.
| Step | What happens | Responsible office | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select a route and meet its minimum amount | Applicant; determining body depends on the route | Regulation Art. 20(2) |
| 2 | Sell foreign currency to a bank, which sells it to the Central Bank; bank issues the purchase document | Bank operating in Türkiye; Central Bank | Regulation Art. 20(10); Central Bank instruction Arts. 4 to 8 |
| 3 | Complete the investment (title deed with annotation, deposit, debt instruments, fund units, pension contribution and so on) | Land registry office, bank, broker or fund manager | Regulation Art. 20(2)(b) to (f) |
| 4 | Obtain the certificate of conformity (Uygunluk Belgesi) | Determining institution for the route | Ministry procedure Arts. 3(1) and 4 |
| 5 | Apply for the short-term residence permit | Provincial migration directorate, or the joint offices in Istanbul and Ankara | Law 6458 Art. 31(1)(j); Ministry procedure Arts. 3(2), 5, 6 |
| 6 | File the citizenship application and form the citizenship file | Provincial population and citizenship directorate, or the joint offices | Law 5901 Art. 37; Regulation Art. 20(3); Ministry procedure Art. 3(3) |
| 7 | Review, including the archive research on national security and public order | Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs | Law 5901 Arts. 12 and 19; Ministry procedure Arts. 7 and 8(3) |
| 8 | Decision | President, on submission by the Ministry of Interior | Law 5901 Art. 12(1); Ministry FAQ |
| 9 | Notice document delivered; identity card application | Provincial directorate; district population directorate | Ministry FAQ |
| 10 | Keep the investment for the stated period | Determining institution monitors and reports | Ministry procedure Art. 8 |
Why the order matters
The currency step comes first in practice because Article 20(10) refers to the sale of foreign currency “before the transaction”. The Central Bank instruction adds that, once the Central Bank has completed its purchase, the currency sale cannot be abandoned and the related transactions cannot be cancelled (Article 7), and that the bank which carried out the sale is responsible for determining, tracking and checking the conditions for the property, deposit, debt-instrument, fund and pension routes (Article 8(1)). The certificate of conformity comes next because the Ministry of Interior procedure makes it the document with which the investor applies for the residence permit, and the permit and the documents listed for the file are what the citizenship application is built on.
The procedure also names two separate counters. The permit is requested from the provincial migration directorate of the Presidency of Migration Management, while the citizenship file is opened at the provincial population and citizenship directorate. In Istanbul and Ankara the two ministries staff “special/joint offices” that take the permit application and the citizenship application together with a shared set of documents. Earlier descriptions of the procedure that send the citizenship application to a migration office are not consistent with Article 3(3) of the Ministry procedure or with the FAQ page.
The Real Estate Route: What the Regulation Requires
The property route in Article 20(2)(b) has two alternative forms. In the first, the foreigner buys property of at least USD 400,000, or the equivalent in foreign currency, with an annotation in the land registry records that it will not be sold for three years. In the second, a notarized contract promises the sale of a unit for which condominium ownership or an easement has been established; at least USD 400,000 or the equivalent is paid in advance, and an undertaking not to transfer or cancel the arrangement for three years is annotated in the land registry. In both forms the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change is named as the body that determines compliance. The Ministry of Interior FAQ page identifies the Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre (TKGM) as the office from which the property certificate is obtained.
Which property qualifies
Decision No. 7938, published on 12 December 2023, changed the property wording. The text now refers to units with condominium ownership or a condominium easement already established, and to land-type property that has a building on it. For individual units the practical question is whether the registry shows the right type of title for the unit in question; that is a land registry matter, not one the Regulation answers in more detail.
How the amount is established
The Regulation phrases the condition as buying property in an amount of at least USD 400,000. TKGM’s circulars require a valuation report from a licensed valuation company in transactions involving foreigners, a requirement introduced by TKGM Circular 2019/5 of 30 May 2019 according to a law-firm summary of the circulars. The 6 January 2022 Decision and the Central Bank instruction then add a second record, the foreign-exchange purchase document, which shows how much foreign currency the buyer sold and at what rate. Because Article 20(6) measures the amounts at the Central Bank rate on the date of determination, the dollar figure on a file is a conversion, not simply the number on the sale contract. The worked example further down shows how a small rate difference can move a file across the line.
Installments and the sale-promise form
The second form of the property route requires the whole USD 400,000 equivalent to be paid in advance, so a payment schedule that leaves part of the amount unpaid does not meet the text. Our guide to installment purchases by foreigners covers how developer payment plans are structured. The no-sale annotation is a registry entry, and the Regulation text allows no transfer during the period; the Ministry procedure treats loss of the condition as a ground for cancelling the citizenship decision.
Currency Conversion and the Foreign-Exchange Purchase Document
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) issued an implementation instruction for the currency sale required by Article 20(10). Its current text, dated 1 October 2026 on the CBRT site, was first effective on 21 January 2022 and amended on 23 March 2022, 16 May 2022 and 1 October 2026. According to that text the following rules apply.
- The foreign currency is sold to a bank (a deposit or participation bank under Banking Law No. 5411) before the transaction that is meant to satisfy the citizenship condition (Article 4(1)).
- The transaction rate is the foreign-exchange buying rate announced by the Central Bank at 11:00 on the day the currency is converted into lira (Article 3(b), as amended with effect from 1 October 2026).
- Accounts are opened for the Central Bank at the bank in US dollars, euros, pounds sterling and Swiss francs; other currencies are converted by the bank into one of these before the sale (Articles 4(2) and 5(2)).
- The bank reports the transfer to the Central Bank on the same day on the form annexed to the instruction (Article 4(3)).
- For the deposit, debt-instrument and pension routes, the lira obtained from the sale must be held with the same bank that carried out the currency sale, for three years (Article 6).
- For the property route, the bank’s purchase document must show at least the name of the foreign person, the passport or foreign identity number, the US dollar equivalent of the currency sold and a statement that the sale was made under Article 20(10). The US dollar equivalent is calculated with the US dollar rate announced at the same moment as the transaction rate (Article 8(3) and (4)).
- The CBRT’s responsibility is limited to the purchase of the currency. The documents for the citizenship application are prepared by the banks and given to the person applying (Article 8(2)).
The instruction also requires banks to check that each transaction complies with national and international standards on money laundering and terrorist financing and to notify the CBRT if a violation is found (Article 9). Our guide to costs and taxes when buying property in Turkey covers the separate charges that arise on a purchase; none of them is part of the Article 20 threshold calculation described here.
Worked Example: Testing a USD 400,000 Property Against the Rate
The following example uses invented exchange rates, chosen only to make the arithmetic easy to follow. They are not market quotes, and the real file uses the rates announced by the Central Bank on the relevant dates.
A foreign buyer agrees to purchase an apartment for USD 420,000 and sells that amount of dollars to a bank. Assume the 11:00 buying rate on the conversion day is TRY 40.00 per dollar. The bank receives TRY 420,000 x 40.00 = TRY 16,800,000 and records USD 420,000 on the purchase document, because the dollar equivalent is calculated with the dollar rate announced at the same moment.
Separately, the valuation report for the unit states a value of TRY 16,400,000. Because Article 20(6) measures the amounts at the Central Bank rate on the date of determination, the same lira report can sit above or below the line depending on that rate. The table tests the same report against three assumed rates.
| Assumed rate on the determination date (TRY per USD) | Threshold in lira (USD 400,000 x rate) | Report of TRY 16,400,000 in dollars | Position against USD 400,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40.00 | TRY 16,000,000 | USD 410,000 | USD 10,000 above (TRY 400,000) |
| 41.00 | TRY 16,400,000 | USD 400,000 | Exactly at the threshold |
| 41.50 | TRY 16,600,000 | USD 395,180.72 | USD 4,819.28 below (TRY 200,000) |
The steps behind the last row are: 400,000 x 41.50 = 16,600,000; 16,600,000 – 16,400,000 = 200,000; and 16,400,000 / 41.50 = 395,180.72, so the shortfall in dollars is 400,000 – 395,180.72 = 4,819.28. The example shows why the figure to watch is the dollar value established at the determination date, not the contract price alone, and why the rate and the date are written into the file.
The same arithmetic for a euro payment
If the buyer sells euros instead, the bank converts them at the euro rate announced at 11:00. Assume EUR 380,000 at TRY 46.00 per euro: 380,000 x 46.00 = TRY 17,480,000. With the dollar rate announced at the same moment assumed at TRY 40.00, the dollar equivalent is 17,480,000 / 40.00 = USD 437,000. This dollar figure, not the euro amount, is what the purchase document must show.
The financial routes in the same terms
For the government debt-instrument route, the Treasury procedure requires a dollar sale of at least USD 500,000 and a purchase of lira-denominated instruments with at least the lira amount obtained. At the assumed TRY 40.00 rate, 500,000 x 40.00 = TRY 20,000,000 is the minimum purchase. The three-year period runs from the date the minimum investment amount is reached, which the procedure calls the blocking date; if that date were 10 December 2026, the three years would end on 10 December 2029. A later fall in the market price of the instrument below the minimum does not affect the application or the acquisition (Article 4(10) of the Treasury procedure).
The Certificate of Conformity by Route
The Ministry of Interior procedure defines the certificate of conformity (Uygunluk Belgesi) as the document in which the competent ministry or institution states that the applicant meets the required condition. The investor applies to the determining institution in person or through an agent with a special power of attorney (Article 3(1) of the procedure), although the Ministry FAQ page says the applicant must appear personally for the certificate, the permit, the card and the citizenship application. If the conditions are met, the certificate goes to the applicant and to both the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs and the migration authority. If they are not met, the applicant is informed (Article 4).
| Route | Office named on the Ministry of Interior FAQ page | Further procedure published |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed capital | Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Capital | Set by the determining institution under Art. 20(9) |
| Real estate | Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, through TKGM | TKGM circulars on transactions involving foreigners (Circulars 2024/2 and 2024/4 were the subject of notices on 29 September 2026) |
| Employment | Labour ministry, International Labour Force General Directorate | Set by the determining institution |
| Bank deposit | Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency | Set by the determining institution |
| Government debt instruments | Ministry of Treasury and Finance | Published procedure; bank sends the file to the Ministry |
| Investment fund units | Capital Markets Board (SPK), Intermediary Activities Department | Published SPK procedure with stated working-day limits |
| Private pension | Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency | Set by the determining institution |
The Treasury procedure for debt instruments
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance publishes a procedure on its site for this route. The investor must buy through a deposit or participation bank, sell the foreign currency to that bank first and buy lira-denominated instruments with the proceeds on the same day or the next business day, and the sale and the investment must be at the same bank, with no transfer between banks (Article 4(2)). The investor undertakes that the instruments will stay in the account for three years, and the bank passes the file to the Ministry as an official letter with the investor’s statements, the currency sale form, passport copy and account statement (Article 5). The holding in the account is voluntary in the sense that the investor may lift the commitment and cancel the citizenship process, in which case the bank informs the Ministry and the Interior Ministry on the next business day (Article 4(8)). The Ministry does not deal directly with investors; it communicates through banks, and when the review is positive it sends a conformity letter to the Ministry of Interior (Article 6).
The SPK procedure for fund units
The Capital Markets Board describes the fund route on its site. At least USD 500,000 or the equivalent must be placed in real estate investment fund or venture capital fund units, held continuously for at least three years from the date the threshold is met. If the dollar value later falls below USD 500,000 because of exchange-rate movements, the application is not affected, and decreases outside the investor’s control, such as distributions or liquidation, are not counted as loss of the minimum. The Central Registry Agency (MKK) checks the units; blocking them in a citizenship sub-account is optional, and the SPK page says it does not restrict the investor’s right to dispose of them. The certificate is issued by SPK and sent to the applicant and to the two Interior authorities.
The Short-Term Residence Permit Under Article 31(1)(j)
With the certificate in hand, the investor applies for a short-term residence permit under Article 31(1)(j) of Law 6458, using the documents required by the migration authority, at the provincial migration directorate of the province of residence or at the joint offices in Istanbul and Ankara. The Ministry of Interior FAQ page describes the permit as a precondition: the people who may apply for citizenship by investment are those who obtained a residence permit under that provision, as well as Turquoise Card holders. The Ministry procedure assigns the evaluation of permit applications to the migration authority on the basis of the certificate (Article 6).
Article 31(1)(j) covers foreigners who do not work in Türkiye, and its family wording matches Article 12(1)(b) of the Citizenship Law. Permits under paragraph (j) can be granted for up to five years at a time, under Article 31(5). Separately, a 2024 amendment (Law No. 7533 of 21 November 2024) added a paragraph 31(6), which provides that the nature and value of the property that supports a short-term residence permit is determined by the Ministry of Interior. By its wording it concerns the property that supports a short-term permit, that is the property-owner category in Article 31(1)(b), and not the investor permit in paragraph (j). Our guide to extending a residence permit covers renewal in general.
Documents for the Citizenship File
Two official sources list documents for the citizenship file. Article 20(3) of the Regulation lists the documents from which the file is built once the Ministry of Interior instructs the application office to open it. The Ministry of Interior FAQ page adds practical items. The table combines both and marks where each comes from.
| Document | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Application form (Vat-4) | Wet-signed by the person or the agent | Regulation Art. 20(3)(a); FAQ |
| Passport or equivalent | Shows the nationality; a document for stateless persons where obtainable | Regulation Art. 20(3)(b); FAQ |
| Marital-status documents | Marriage, divorce or the spouse’s death certificate; the FAQ asks for the marriage date as day, month and year | Regulation Art. 20(3)(c); FAQ |
| Identity and family-link documents | Birth certificate or civil-registry extract, and family-link records for spouse and children, officially certified | Regulation Art. 20(3)(ç); FAQ |
| Records of Turkish relatives | For first- or second-degree relatives who are Turkish citizens; the application office takes them from the system | Regulation Art. 20(3)(d) |
| Proof of birth month and day | Only if the birth date is incomplete; otherwise a signed declaration under Population Services Law Art. 39 | Regulation Art. 20(3)(e) |
| Criminal-record certificate | From the authorities of the home country | FAQ |
| Service-fee receipt | Paid to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance cashier; the FAQ lists TRY 135.45 per person in the file | Regulation Art. 20(3)(f); FAQ |
| Certificate of conformity and residence permit | Issued earlier in the chain | Ministry procedure Art. 3 |
The TRY 135.45 figure is the one printed on the Ministry FAQ page as viewed on 5 November 2026. Fee schedules in Türkiye are revised periodically, so the page is the reference for the amount in force. The FAQ also states that applications are not accepted by post, that the application office is the governor’s office (provincial population and citizenship directorate) at the place of residence inside Türkiye or the consulate abroad, and that where fingerprints are mandatory the application must be made in person while later requests for missing papers can be handled personally or by an agent. The applicant can follow the file with the application number on the Directorate General’s “Vatandaşlık Başvurum Ne Aşamada?” page; the number is obtained from the provincial directorates or the Directorate General’s public relations branch.
Family Members in the Procedure for Obtaining Citizenship in Turkey
Article 12(1)(b) of the Citizenship Law names the persons covered: the foreign spouse, and the minor or dependent foreign children of the investor and of the spouse. Article 31(1)(j) of Law 6458 uses matching words for the residence permit. The Law on Foreigners defines a “child” as someone who has not reached 18 and is not of age (Article 3(1)(e)).
| Person | Position in the text | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign spouse of the investor | Named in Art. 12(1)(b) and Art. 31(1)(j) | Law 5901; Law 6458 |
| Minor foreign child of the investor | Named | Law 5901 Art. 12(1)(b) |
| Minor foreign child of the spouse only | Named (children of the investor and of the spouse) | Law 5901 Art. 12(1)(b) |
| Dependent foreign child | Named; the Citizenship Law does not define “dependent” in the articles reviewed here | Law 5901 Art. 12(1)(b) |
| Child who reaches adulthood before the process ends | Is treated as an adult and must apply on his or her own account | Ministry FAQ |
| Child in the custody of a parent | Acquires citizenship if the other parent consents; if consent is withheld, the court decision of the country of habitual residence applies | Law 5901 Art. 20(2) |
| Child born later to a Turkish-citizen parent | Acquires citizenship by descent under the rules on birth | Law 5901 Art. 7 |
| Parents, siblings, adult non-dependent children | Not named in Art. 12(1)(b) | Law 5901 |
Article 32 of the Citizenship Law also matters for families: a cancellation decision applies to the spouse and children who acquired citizenship through the person concerned. The families section of our Turkish citizenship guide uses the same list, and the second citizenship overview places it beside other countries’ programs.
Review, Decision and Notification
After the file is formed, the provincial directorate sends it to the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs, which carries out the review and the work that the Law assigns to the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry procedure states that the Directorate General completes the citizenship work on the basis of the file and the result is communicated to the person through the provincial directorate or consulate (Article 7). If the archive research on national security and public order returns a negative result, the citizenship application is rejected and the migration authority is informed (Article 8(3)). The FAQ page adds that, where there is no such obstacle, the decision is submitted for the President’s approval and the final decision is taken by the President.
Law 5901 Article 20(1) provides that decisions on acquiring citizenship take effect from the date of the decision. Once a person is found suitable, a notice document is sent to the application office and delivered to the person against a signature; with that document the person applies for the Turkish identity card at the district population directorate. A rejected applicant who again meets the Law’s conditions can apply again to the governor’s office or consulate, according to the FAQ.
Timeline: only the durations the authorities state
No official text reviewed for this guide gives an overall processing time for the review or the decision. The table lists the periods that the offices themselves state.
| Stage | Stated period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bank report of currency purchase to the Central Bank | Same day | Central Bank instruction Art. 4(3) |
| Lira from currency sale used for government debt instruments | Same day or next business day | Treasury procedure Art. 4(2) |
| Treasury: correct missing or wrong documents | 20 business days from written notice, otherwise a new application | Treasury procedure Art. 6(1) |
| SPK asks MKK about the units | Within 2 business days of complete documents | SPK page |
| MKK replies to SPK | Within 3 business days | SPK page |
| SPK issues the certificate | Within 2 business days after MKK confirmation | SPK page |
| Short-term residence permit under Art. 31(1)(j) | Up to 5 years per grant | Law 6458 Art. 31(5) |
| Holding or no-sale period (property, deposit, debt instruments, fund units, pension) | 3 years (fund units: at least 3 years) | Regulation Art. 20(2) |
| Military service deferral on request after naturalization | 2 years | Law 7179 Art. 43 |
| Review and decision | No period stated | Ministry FAQ |
For the SPK route, the three limits of 2, 3 and 2 business days add up to 7 business days. That sum is only the total of the separate limits, since each of them starts when the previous step is complete, and the SPK page does not state a combined figure. The Ministry of Interior, Treasury and Central Bank texts contain no other durations that apply before the citizenship decision.
Obligations After the Decision
The Ministry procedure states that foreigners must keep meeting the Regulation’s conditions for the prescribed period. If the conditions are lost, the decision to grant citizenship is cancelled under Article 31 of the Citizenship Law, and the determining institution reports the loss to the Directorate General and to the migration authority (Article 8(1) and (2)). Article 31 independently provides for cancellation where a decision was obtained through a false statement or by concealing material facts. In the property route the practical anchor is the three-year annotation; for the financial routes the banks, MKK and the other determining bodies report changes. The Treasury procedure, for example, requires banks to notify the Ministry and the Interior authorities by official letter on the next business day if the instruments are sold, transferred or restricted.
Military service
Article 43 of the Military Service Law (No. 7179) deals with people who acquire citizenship later in life. They perform service as persons who reach conscription age in that year, judged by their age and education on the date of acquisition. Those who show that they served in their previous country, or who are 22 or older in the year they are admitted to citizenship, are treated as having served. On request, service is deferred for two years from the date of admission, and in mobilisation they can be called up as needed. The article does not apply to persons who acquire citizenship through descent.
Tax residence and dual nationality
Tax residence in Türkiye follows residence, not citizenship. Under Articles 3 and 4 of the Income Tax Law (No. 193), people are taxed on their worldwide income if they are resident in Türkiye, meaning their domicile is there or they stay continuously for more than six months in a calendar year. Citizenship is not one of the criteria for individuals living abroad, apart from Turkish citizens posted abroad by Turkish public bodies. The rules for each person differ, and the home country applies its own tests. On nationality, the conditions in Article 12 of the Citizenship Law are limited to the absence of a national-security or public-order obstacle, and no renunciation of the previous nationality appears among the Article 11 conditions; whether the home country permits a second nationality is a matter for that country. Our dual citizenship article gives background.
Terms Used in Official Texts
Texts about the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey mix Turkish and English labels, and ministry names have changed over time. The table lists the terms that recur in the sources.
| Term | Meaning in the procedure |
|---|---|
| Uygunluk Belgesi | Certificate of conformity issued by the determining institution for the route |
| Tespit kurumu | Determining institution that checks whether the investment condition is met |
| Tapu | Title deed registered in the land registry |
| Şerh (takyidat) | Annotation on the title record, such as the three-year no-sale entry |
| Döviz alım belgesi | Purchase document issued by the bank for the currency sold to it |
| İl göç idaresi müdürlüğü | Provincial migration directorate of the Presidency of Migration Management, which handles the residence permit |
| İl nüfus ve vatandaşlık müdürlüğü | Provincial population and citizenship directorate, which receives the citizenship application |
| Özel/ortak ofis | Joint office in Istanbul or Ankara staffed by migration and citizenship personnel |
| Duyuru belgesi | Notice document delivered to a person whose citizenship acquisition is approved |
Two naming points often cause confusion. First, the Ministry in charge of land and planning has had several names, and the current text of Article 20 uses “Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change”. Second, the Presidency of Migration Management appears in older texts as the Directorate General of Migration Management. Both refer to the same office for practical purposes. Readers who want the broader context for foreign buyers can start from our Türkiye country page and the citizenship and immigration hub. Property insurance is a separate topic covered in our real estate insurance guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much must be invested under the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey?
According to Article 20(2) of the Regulation, as amended through 12 December 2023, the property route requires at least USD 400,000 or the equivalent in foreign currency with a three-year no-sale annotation, while the fixed-capital, deposit, government debt instrument, fund-unit and private pension routes each require at least USD 500,000 or the equivalent. The employment route requires at least 50 people. The Ministry of Interior FAQ page, viewed on 5 November 2026, lists the same amounts.
In what order do the offices act in the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey?
The Ministry of Interior procedure sets the order: the determining institution issues the certificate of conformity, the provincial migration directorate (or a joint office) handles the Article 31(1)(j) residence permit, and the provincial population and citizenship directorate (or a joint office) opens the citizenship file, which the Directorate General reviews before the President decides.
Is a residence permit required before the citizenship application?
Yes. Article 12(1)(b) of the Citizenship Law applies to foreigners who hold a residence permit under Article 31(1)(j) of Law 6458 or a Turquoise Card, and the Ministry FAQ lists the permit as the second stage after the certificate of conformity.
Which family members are covered?
The foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign children of the investor and of the spouse are named in Article 12(1)(b). The Ministry FAQ states that a child who becomes an adult before the process is complete must apply individually.
How long does the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey take?
The official texts give no overall time. They state separate limits, such as 2, 3 and 2 business days for the SPK fund-unit certificate and 20 business days for correcting a Treasury file, and the Ministry FAQ says the status of a file can be followed online with the application number.
Can the property be sold after the application?
Not during the three years. The Regulation text requires an annotation against sale in the land registry, and Article 8 of the Ministry procedure says that losing the condition during the prescribed period leads to cancellation of the citizenship decision.
Does the applicant have to give up the existing citizenship?
The Citizenship Law does not list renunciation among the conditions in Articles 11 and 12. Whether the home country allows a second nationality depends on that country’s own law.
Does meeting the conditions create an entitlement to citizenship?
No. Article 10(1) of the Law says meeting the conditions gives no absolute right, Article 12 makes the grant subject to the absence of a national-security or public-order obstacle, and the FAQ page says the final decision is taken by the President.
Who issues the certificate for a property purchase?
The Ministry of Interior FAQ names the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, through the Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre. The Regulation text assigns the determination to the same Ministry.
Can the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Turkey be completed by an agent?
The Ministry procedure allows the investor to apply to the determining institution in person or through an agent with a special power of attorney, but the FAQ page says the certificate, residence permit, card and citizenship applications must be made by the applicants themselves, and that fingerprints are taken in person where mandatory.
Last checked: 5 November 2026. Sources: Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship; Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection; Military Service Law No. 7179; Income Tax Law No. 193; Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs, citizenship FAQ; Ministry of Interior procedure for foreign investors; Directorate General announcement of 3 October 2018; Ministry of Treasury and Finance procedure for debt instruments; Capital Markets Board, fund-unit route; Central Bank instruction on currency sales; Resmi Gazete 31711, Decision 5072; Resmi Gazete 31834, Decision 5554; Resmi Gazete 32397, Decision 7938; Konya Investment Support Office, Article 20 text; TKGM announcement on Circular 2024/4; law-firm summary of TKGM circulars.
