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Stage one: the qualifying purchase
Choosing a property that will pass on its own merits, then establishing its value in a report by a licensed appraiser working under state regulation. The report, not the asking price, is what counts.
Property in Turkey · Citizenship by investment
Turkish citizenship by property investment
A government procedure with published requirements, not a service anyone can sell you. Here is what the route actually asks for.
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About this
Turkish citizenship through property: how the procedure actually works
The route exists, and the decision belongs to the state
Turkey operates a citizenship-by-investment route, and a qualifying property purchase is one of the ways into it. The thing to understand at the outset is whose decision it is. The requirements are published by the Turkish state, the valuation is carried out under state regulation, the annotation is entered by the Land Registry, and the application is decided by a government authority. An estate agent, a lawyer or a consultancy can prepare a file well or badly, and a good one is genuinely worth having, but none of them grants anything. That distinction sounds pedantic until you meet a company selling turkey citizenship by buying property as though the outcome were theirs to hand over.
Valuation, annotation, and the numbers that keep moving
Three mechanical steps sit at the centre of the route. The purchase must reach a published minimum value, and that value is not the figure on the contract but the one in a valuation report prepared by a licensed appraiser working under state regulation. The property is then registered with an annotation on the title deed committing the owner not to sell it for a defined holding period. Only then does the application go to the relevant Turkish authorities. Both the minimum threshold and the length of that holding period have been changed by the government more than once, so take neither from an article, an agent or this page. Confirm both against the official source on the day you decide.
Who can be included, and what citizenship does not do
The applicant's spouse and dependent children are generally able to be included, each with their own documentation to produce, so the practical question is usually what the family file needs rather than whether the family can come at all. What the route does not do is change where you are tax resident. Tax residency follows where a person actually lives and the rules of the country they live in now, and a second passport does not rewrite either; that belongs with a tax adviser before you apply. It is also worth separating citizenship from the ikamet, the Turkish residence permit, a much lighter and entirely separate process open to property owners, and often the thing people actually wanted.
Where this route goes wrong
Three things are worth watching for. The first is a valuation written to reach the threshold rather than to describe the property, which is a problem for the application and a larger one when you come to sell at a real market price. The second is any package sold as guaranteed approval: the decision sits with a government body, and nobody outside it can honestly promise a result in advance. The third is the blurring of the state procedure with an intermediary's commercial service, so ask plainly which fees are official and which are the company's own. And remember that the property is still a property. You will hold it through the required period and then sell it, which means it has to be worth owning on ordinary terms.
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Start here
The route is real. The rules belong to the state, not to an agency.
Turkey allows a qualifying property purchase to lead to an application for citizenship. Every part of it is published: the minimum value, the valuation, the annotation on the title deed, the holding period. The figures have been revised before, so the first step is always to read the current version rather than last year's article.
Where to look
The route in three stages
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Stage two: registration and application
The title deed is registered with an annotation committing you not to sell for the defined holding period, and the file then goes to the relevant Turkish authorities for a decision.
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Stage three: life after approval
Family members included on the file, the property held through the required period, and a sale at the end of it. The flat has to be worth owning for all of that time.
Before a reservation
A render sells a mood. A tapu tells you what you own.
We gather the facts behind a property first, then say plainly what holds up, what needs answering and what is simply unknown at this stage.
Title and rights
What the tapu says, which form of ownership it is, and whether the registry shows anything undisclosed.
The building
Construction date against the building code, whether the iskan is in place, and the state of the block.
The real cost
Service charge, utilities, property tax and insurance, written out as a yearly figure.
Getting out
Who the next buyer would be, and how long a sale in this district usually takes.
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Your shortlist
What we can usefully tell you about this route
We sell property, and the citizenship decision is not ours to make or to promise. What we can do is show you which properties would stand up as an ordinary purchase first, and point you at the official requirements as they read today.
- Properties that make sense on their own terms, since you will hold and then sell them
- The current threshold and holding period read from the official source, not from memory
- The line between the state procedure, its official fees and any intermediary's own charges
How we work
We would rather send four properties that fit than forty that do not.
The first conversation is about how the property will be used, not about what is available this week. Everything after that follows from the answer.
The brief
How many months a year you will be there, who else uses it, and what you will not compromise on.
The shortlist
A small number of properties in districts that match, with the trade-off in each spelled out.
The checks
Registry, permits, service charge history and the questions to put to the seller in writing.
The purchase
Tax number, bank account, valuation report and the Land Registry appointment, in order.
Checks before you buy
Eight things a property should survive
Title, permits, contract, building age, service charge, season, management and resale. We are not your lawyer; we make sure you arrive at one with the right questions.
The process
Four steps, and no rush at the start
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Tell us the plan
Pick a messenger and leave a number. You may have a town in mind, or none at all.
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A short conversation
Months of use, budget range, timing, and the things that would rule a property out.
- 03
The shortlist
A handful of options that fit, with what to compare and what to check on each.
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The next step
Viewings, questions to the seller, and the paperwork in the right order.
Questions worth asking out loud
A property worth buying can take an awkward question.
Why this district?
Demand, season length, what is open in winter and what is being built nearby.
What does a year cost?
Service charge, utilities, tax and insurance, before anyone talks about yield.
What if plans change?
Use, letting and resale are worth discussing before a deposit, not after.
Who is the next buyer?
A property local buyers also want is a property you can sell.
Read next
FAQ
Before the first conversation
How much do I have to spend to qualify?
There is a published minimum, and this page deliberately does not quote it. The threshold has been changed by the Turkish government more than once, and any figure written down here would eventually be wrong in a way that costs someone real money. Check the current amount against the official Turkish source on the day you make the decision, and treat any agent quoting a number from memory as a reason to verify rather than a reason to relax. The figure that matters is also the one in the licensed appraiser's valuation report, not the price agreed in the contract.
Can I sell the property afterwards?
Yes, once the holding period has passed. The commitment is recorded as an annotation on the title deed at the Land Registry, and while it stands the property cannot be sold. The length of that period has also been revised by the government in the past, so confirm the current term against the official source rather than assuming it matches what a friend went through. Plan the purchase on the basis that you will own the property for the whole of it and then need a buyer at the end.
Does Turkish citizenship make me a Turkish tax resident?
No, and the two questions are separate. Tax residency is determined by where a person actually lives and by the rules of the country they currently live in, not by which passports they hold. A second nationality can still interact with your existing obligations, including reporting duties at home, in ways that vary considerably by country. That is a conversation to have with a tax adviser before applying rather than afterwards. Citizenship is also distinct from the ikamet, the Turkish residence permit, which is a separate and much lighter process available to property owners.
Can a foreigner buy an apartment in Turkey?
Yes. Citizens of most countries can own residential property in Turkey in their own name. The limits are geographic rather than personal: purchases are restricted inside designated military and security zones, and there is a cap on the share of land in any one district that foreign nationals may hold. Both are checked before a reservation, not after.
Citizenship by investment
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