Why Invest in TR Now (citizenship, benefits and investment)

Between 2017 and 2020, about 7,000 foreigners acquired Turkish citizenship through property purchases. On January 6, 2022, the Turkish government issued a small update to its regulations on granting citizenship to foreigners in exchange for certain real estate investments.

Foreign buyers of properties worth at least $400,000 in Turkey are acquiring Turkish citizenship. Buyers must own the property for three years, and their spouse and children under 18 will also receive Turkish passports.

Under the new rules, foreign currency obtained from the sale of property to foreigners must now be sold to the central bank through a local bank and exchanged for Turkish lira. Before this change, people could invest in foreign currency or the equivalent Turkish lira.

The new requirements will help strengthen the lira by preventing and reversing the dollarization of the country. Despite the new situation, the monetary value of real estate investments has not changed and the new regulations are not expected to slow down real estate transactions or create a gap.

Home sales to foreigners hit an all-time high in November, up 48.4 percent from a year earlier, with 7,363 units sold. Real estate investment reached $5.7 billion, central bank data showed. In 2021, sales to foreigners crossed the 50,000 annual threshold for the first time.

Minimum Value of Real Estate to Obtain Residence Permit

If you and your family want to benefit from this program, you must purchase a property valued at more than $75,000 starting May 5, 2022. This amount is for buyers interested in property in one of Turkey's 30 metropolitan areas. You can also benefit by purchasing properties worth $50,000 in the remaining 51 small cities in Turkey.

The 30 cities administered by the Metropolitan City are Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Aydin, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Eski Shehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Terkirdag, Trabzon and Van.

Thanks to this provision, if a foreign family member is the co-owner of the apartment, it is possible to apply for a residence permit in this case. This benefits the applicant's spouse, children under the age of 18 and dependent adult children.