The most important inquiries about Turkish citizenship procedures by buying a property in Turkey
By receiving inquiries from many customers and buyers, and communicating with Turkish real estate consultants, we have prepared a list of the most important inquiries that those looking to own real estate in Turkey may ask to obtain the citizenship of the country, which are:
1. What security approval is usually required of foreigners when buying real estate in Turkey? Does it affect the procedures for obtaining Turkish citizenship?
Security approval is required once in any real estate project because foreigners are prohibited from owning near the military and security centers in Turkey. If you are the first foreigner to buy real estate in the project, you must obtain security approval, which takes between one month and 45 days, but if there were foreigners before you who bought real estate from the project, there is no obstacle.
Therefore, it is very important to ask about foreigners who bought real estate in the project in which you want to buy real estate, so that you can assess the time required to complete the ownership procedures and then obtain Turkish citizenship.
2. What are the ways to pay the amount of 250 thousand US dollars while buying a property in Turkey to obtain Turkish citizenship?
Payment must be made by bank transfer, from the buyer's account to the seller's account, and all official vouchers and receipts evidencing the transfer are kept.
The property can be purchased “cash” in one payment of 250 thousand dollars, or in installments, provided that the first payment is at least 250 thousand dollars, with attaching a certified copy of the sale contract, provided that the payment is before 9/19/2018, the date of issuance of the latest citizenship law amendments.
3. Can you buy real estate in several different Turkish states to obtain Turkish citizenship?
There is no problem, it is possible, provided that the two conditions that we talked about are met: that the total prices of these properties be at least 250 thousand US dollars, and that the properties are not sold until 3 years from the date of purchase.
4. Is it possible to buy more than one type of real estate, for example, an office, a house, a land... or should all real estate be of one type?
There is no condition that prevents this, the important thing is that the total real estate prices are 250 thousand dollars, even if they are different, that is, a person can buy a plot of land, an apartment, an office or a store, and then apply for citizenship as long as the sum of their prices exceeds the required limit.
5. Does the buyer grant citizenship to his family? And when?
If the husband buys real estate for the amount of 250 thousand dollars, then he has the right to apply for citizenship with his wife and children who have not reached the age of 18, and this is in the same transaction as him, meaning that they will not wait until he obtains citizenship, but rather they apply with him.
Here we affirm that if the wife is also the purchaser, then her husband and her children under the age of 18 have the right to apply with her in the same transaction.
6. Is it possible to apply in person or is a lawyer required? What are the powers of a lawyer?
There is no objection to applying in person, or in the presence of a lawyer accompanying you, or in your absence and the presence of your lawyer. In the latter case, there must be an official power of attorney, and this authorization allows the lawyer to perform all procedures in the event of your absence except for the interview at the Immigration Department, in which the person concerned must attend by himself.
7. Is it possible to buy real estate under construction in Turkey to obtain Turkish citizenship?
Yes, there is an amendment to the Turkish citizenship law for foreign investors that allows them to apply for Turkish citizenship when buying the property under construction, but the sales contract should be attached along with other documents, and of course, the first payment of the property price must be at least 250 thousand Turkish liras.
Reasons for granting Turkish citizenship in return for real estate investment
Supporting the Turkish economy
Turks in general are trying to maintain the development of their economy and increase its resources and opportunities to maintain its escalation. Today, Turkey has the second European economy in terms of growth, where the economic growth rate last year was 7.4%, while the first European was Ireland with a growth rate of 7.8%, in order to avoid the impact of the Turkish economy.
This step by Turkey represents an increase in the demand for buying real estate in Turkey and an increase in the market movement, not to mention that these investments provide new job opportunities if the real estate is commercial.
support Turkish lira
For nearly half a year, the Turkish lira has been experiencing several fluctuations in the exchange rate against the US dollar and the rest of foreign currencies. Therefore, the Turkish government plans before the presidential and parliamentary elections in June 2017 and afterward were all aimed at increasing foreign exchange reserves in Turkish banks and increasing the confidence of foreign and local investors in the Turkish economic sector, and this step came in line with the decline of the Turkish lira against the dollar, during the period of issuing this decision for the first time, one million dollars corresponded to approximately 3 million Turkish liras, but now it is equal to 6 million Turkish liras as a minimum, so it was necessary to reduce the minimum To correspond with the change in the price of the Turkish lira.
Real estate is not negatively affected by the change in the value of the local currency exchange against other foreign and international currencies, but exchange fluctuations can be used to issue and enact incentive laws for investors. Dealing with the economy of a strong country with a presence in global markets cannot be compared to dealing with weak countries that all its vital and economic sectors will be negatively affected by an emergency.
Increasing gross domestic production in Turkey
One of the important things for Turkey is to increase the country's domestic product. Increasing the productivity of human resources of Turkish citizens is one of the most important factors that contribute to the rise in domestic production, the arrival of real estate investors and capital, and their presence as Turkish citizens in the markets of the Turkish economy in its various sectors, all of which are in the interest of Turkey.
Not to mention the consequences of real estate investors obtaining Turkish citizenship by opening new projects and creating additional job opportunities, which increases the average per capita income in Turkey. With these measures, Turkey maintains an increase and escalation of the annual domestic product, which reached 10% last year.
Supporting Vision 2023
Perhaps this is one of the most important reasons that prompted the Turks to take such a decision, as the government of Justice and Development has developed a plan and a future vision for the country since 2002, which aims to reach advanced ranks globally on several levels, the most important of which is the economic aspect. Turkey aspires to be among the first ten countries economically by 2023.
This vision is approaching, and Turkey has come a long way to achieve it. Therefore, Turkey always tries to ensure the realization of this vision and not be negatively affected by any crisis that Turkey has been exposed to or may be exposed to later. It is trying to maintain a good and solid ground for the economy away from the control of the International Monetary Fund, which is replaced by foreign investment financing.
Turkey's increasing penchant for the Middle East
Previous Turkish governments have always strived to please the West and obtain a seat within the European Union, but after several thorny issues, especially at the political level, and in return since 2011, Turkey has shown its alignment with the opposition forces and revolutions in the Middle East, especially in Libya, Egypt and Syria alongside Its pro-Palestinian stance made Turkey a safe haven for many Middle Eastern investors. In return, Turkey was relieved of this demand and increased the incentives to attract investors and investments from this region.
Turkey's geographical location as a link between Asia and Europe and the gateway to the West towards the East, and on the contrary, all made Turkey closer to the peoples of the Middle East.
The feasibility of this trust that Turkey attaches to Arab and Middle Eastern investors has become evident after the coup of 2015 when many European and Western investments left, but on the parallel trend, Arab investments increased and did not care about the security situation in Turkey. On the contrary, the Gulf and Iraqis’ demand for real estate purchases in Turkey has increased, and the recent Turkish decision represents an additional incentive, especially for Iraqis, Egyptians, and Libyans, because Turkish citizenship brings more comfort than the nationalities of their countries that suffer from many crises, and perhaps many of them cannot benefit from their full civil rights in their nationality of origin due to certain political conditions.
The Turkish national feeling that Turkey is a nation and not just a country
Those who lived with the Turks and mixed them feel that they do not see their country Turkey as a country in the literal sense, but many of them still live their glories as a real nation, so they always address the issues of Muslims in all Islamic and Arab countries, Turkey hastened to support Gaza and the Turks stood to The side of the Gazans in the Freedom Flotilla and the Marmara Ship and the position of the Turkish President at the Davos Conference. Then the Turks stood with the revolutions in the Middle East. They also stood with Saudi Arabia in Operation Decisive Storm. They have a mediating position in the Gulf crisis alongside Kuwait, and not the last of that Turkish presence in northern Syria. All of these measures stem from the Turkish feeling that their country is a compound of all Islamic nationalities: Arab, Turkish, Kurdish and Persian, and therefore they do not find any difficulty in acquiring many new citizens from other nationalities.
"These six reasons we mentioned are the most important reason why Turkey took these amendments to the Turkish Citizenship Law to maintain the increase in economic growth and the rise of the domestic product, in addition to other reasons and motives."
Why the amendments on the Turkish citizenship law through real estate investments
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These modifications have been requested by Turkish real estate developers for months
Earlier this year, a number of real estate developers launched demands that they addressed to the Turkish official authorities to make amendments to the law on obtaining Turkish citizenship and to reduce the minimum amount from one million US dollars to something less than that. The claimants explained that the Turkish GDP has increased by 8 percent. Such measures increase the naturalization of productive human resources, which achieve a greater increase in the gross domestic product year after year.
At that time, the real estate developers linked their demands to the inquiries they received from foreign investors about Turkish citizenship, especially in real estate exhibitions in Doha, Dubai, and Paris. Most of the questions were about the minimum, which many considered relatively large in the past, which indicated their constant interest in this issue and their follow-up to it.
In addition to the above, real estate developers focus on the fact that the first motive for foreigners to invest in Turkish real estate is the incentives that the Turkish government launches from time to time, aimed at touching the aspirations and desires of foreign investors.
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The amendments will open doors for new investments in Turkish real estate
When the minimum amount was one million US dollars, many foreign investors could not obtain this advantage, so they opened limited investments and bought real estate in Turkey with the limits of the money in their hands, because the difference between what they owned and the limit was large, for example, who now owns a property worth 100,000 A dollar or 150 thousand dollars, the difference between what they have and the minimum is a big difference, but now the difference is reasonable and accessible.
Investors can thus reach the real estate limit more easily, and this particular segment of investors is the most targeted by this amendment, as they are the closest to stimulus, especially since what they saw as far approached them greatly.
As well as those who invested amounts very close to the new minimum of 250 thousand dollars, he must strive for other investments that achieve the possibility of his candidacy for Turkish citizenship. All of these matters are largely in the interest of increasing the number of new real estate investments and encouraging investors to buy apartments or houses in Turkey in order to achieve the conditions for obtaining citizenship.
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The amendments shortened the way for former nationality seekers
There are many foreign investors who own real estate in Turkey worth more than a quarter of a million dollars, but they have not reached the previous limit of “one million dollars.” Those are the quickest to benefit from the Turkish citizenship law because the citizenship requirement has become fully applicable to them.
Therefore, we advise foreigners who own real estate in Turkey to calculate the values of the properties they own in order to find out whether they are entitled to obtain Turkish citizenship or not. It was clarified in the last amendment that several ministries in Turkey will open joint offices to ease and facilitate matters of obtaining Turkish citizenship. These offices will be emanating from the Ministry of Interior and supervised by the ministries of Finance, Social Security, Labor, and others.
The recent amendment to the Nationality Law will undoubtedly contribute to increasing the number of properties that will be sold to foreigners in Turkey and will increase the volume of foreign real estate investments in the country. The next stage represents a serious challenge for the Turkish presidency and the new presidential system to eliminate bureaucracy and open joint offices between the various Turkish ministries to achieve Several gains regarding the application of legal procedures to buy real estate in Turkey and benefit from it in obtaining Turkish citizenship.
If you want to obtain Turkish citizenship by buying a property in Turkey, browse our properties in Istanbul, or contact us by registering your information here or via WhatsApp to find the right property for you
