Purchase one or more properties for a total of no less than 400.00$ And obtain Turkish citizenship

 On Wednesday 19/09/2019, the Official Gazette of Turkey published a law amending the conditions for granting Turkish citizenship to foreigners in exchange for owning property in Turkey or operating, investing and depositing in Turkish banks.

According to the new law, the foreigner can acquire the Turkish citizenship in the following cases:

1. In the event that a property is purchased in Turkey worth a value of no less than 250 thousand USD, provided that the property is not sold three years from the date of its purchase; contrary to the previous condition that comprised the purchase of property estimated at one million USD.
2. Another amendment was made in the Turkish Nationality Law regarding depositing a sum of money in a Turkish bank in order to obtain citizenship. The amendment states that a deposit of $500,000 is sufficient. Whereas in the preceding citizenship law, the minimal limit was $3 million.
3. The law stipulates another amendment regarding the amount of fixed investment in exchange for the Turkish citizenship where it reduced the investment amount from 2 million US dollars to $500,000.
4. The employer or project that secures 50 job opportunities for fifty Turkish citizens is eligible for obtaining the Turkish citizenship. Whereas in the past the capacity necessitated the employment of 100 Turkish citizens.

Special offices will be opened to submit applications for Turkish citizenship, and these offices will be subject to the supervision of the committee composed of the mentioned ministries.

The law has been published on the pages of the official newspaper, which is the archive container for governmental and parliamentary decrees, decisions and laws. We will narrate the text of the relevant articles verbatim:

Resolution No. 106

It was decided to make an amendment to the regulations regarding the mechanism of application for the Turkish citizenship and to append this amendment to Article 46 of the Turkish Nationality Law No. 5901.

September 18, 2018

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The President of the Turkish Republic

Mechanism of Applying for Nationality Through Real Estate:

And in a related matter, the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization issued the executive regulations related to the mechanism of implementing the Nationality Law under No. 135189470, on October 15 2018.

According to the aforementioned regulations, the following criteria are the ones that give the property owner the right to benefit from the law of obtaining Turkish citizenship through the property:

1. The value of the property purchased, before the decision signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, must be $ 1 million.
2. The value of the purchased property after the issuance of the decision of September 19, 2018, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, must be 250 thousand dollars, with the need to transfer the value of the property by the bank.
3. Receipt of real estate Tabu, that is, the buyer of the property has paid the full price of the property, where the value of the property is estimated by the Land Registry Foundation, which in turn issues a document with the value of the purchased property.
4. A pledge not to sell the property three years from the date of purchase will take place by signing the pledge document within the Land Registry.
5. Confirm the address of the property owner in Turkey. Specifically within Turkish lands and not necessarily the address of the same property purchased, but in any other address.

Papers required during applying for citizenship in exchange for real estate:

- The Land Registry document, which refers to the property registration document.

- Passport.

- Title verification document in Turkey.

- Valid residence permit in Turkey.

- Payment receipt taken from the bank through which the payment was made.

Decree to amend the mechanism of application for granting the Turkish citizenship

First Article: Replacing the phrase “the proposal of the Prime Minister and the Ministry” in the second paragraph of Article Twenty in the law submitted on 11/02/2010 CE issued in the same year by No. 139 to the following phrase “the proposal of the President of the Republic”, and replacing the term fixed investment with the value of two million liras Contained in item (a) of the same article, changing the ministries in charge of following up the decision, which are mentioned under the name of the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Industry and Technology with the phrase 5000 USD or the equivalent in Turkish lira, and replacing the phrase “operation 100” “with an estimate of” the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance mentioned in Item C and replacing it with the phrase"l “operation 50” "with the estimate of" the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, and replacing the phrase Deposit of the 3,000,000 USD mentioned in Paragraph C and replacing it with the phrase “500,000 USD or the equivalent of the Turkish Lira”, and the term “financial advisory estimate” mentioned in Item B was replaced with the phrase “the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.”

With confirmation of property purchase with the value of 250 thousand dollars and keep it for three years. "

Fourth Article: The following is considered valid from the first day of its publication.

An article has been amended in regards to the law granting Turkish citizenship to foreigners who want to acquire a property under construction in the Turkish state, as the official newspaper in Turkey published on 8/12/2018 this amendment.

The previous article stipulated that the property acquired in order to obtain the nationality must be ready (in which Tabu papers were transferred and housing was acquired) and after the amendment, it became possible for the owner of a property under construction to obtain Turkish citizenship.

As it is stipulated in the amended article that the price of the property (ready or under construction) must not be less than 250 thousand dollars, or its equivalent in the Turkish currency, it shall be paid in cash since the real estate purchased in installments is excluded and not accepted.

Taking into account the period of time during which the property owner cannot sell it, while pledging to do so as stated in the previous decision, which stipulates the pledge by the investor not to sell the property before three years have passed.

Are Palestinian nationals entitled to own a property in Turkey?
The Department of Foreigner Affairs issued a decision regarding Palestinian nationals, the law amendment allows Palestinians to own real estate in Turkey and obtain Turkish citizenship

Holders of Palestinian travel documents before the decision: Previously, Palestinians who did not have a travel document and had no passport from the Palestinian Authority could not own property in Turkey because The Turkish authorities did not recognize the Palestinian documents in order to acquire property.

The Palestinians coming to Turkey with travel documents and wanting to own property, had to first extract a document stating that they are without a homeland, only then do they have the right to purchase property.

In this context, Mr. Bayram Taksa, chairman of the board of directors of one of the institutions, states that many Palestinians who hold travel documents have already submitted requests to receive Tabu documents, but it ended in rejection and the only obstacle left to the Palestinians was the lack of recognition by the Turkish authorities of the travel document.

Conditions for pre-purchase of real estate in Turkey:
The most important requirement is that the Palestinians must secure a residence permit. The new decision stipulated that the Palestinians can, through their travel documents, from the country in which they reside, whether it is Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt ... or other countries to own property in Turkey. According to what the Directorate of Ownership issued, the decision entered into force on March 6, 2019, and stipulates, as previously mentioned, that Palestinian citizenship holders have the right to ownership in Turkey, provided that the holder of the Palestinian document has fulfilled the condition of obtaining residency.

Holders of Palestinian travel documents after the decision:
The Turkish Ministry of Economy and the Department of Immigration Affairs of the State of Istanbul discussed a decision for the year 2013 regarding the right to ownership for Palestinians, and at the end of the discussions held between them, a decision was issued on 06/03/2019 to amend the previous decisions regarding ownership of real estate for the Palestinians to include everyone with a passport from the Palestinian Authority or a travel document issued by any country, and this decision is considered an exceptional amendment specific to the Palestinians only to facilitate the ownership procedures.

Real Estate Allows For The Right To Obtain Turkish Citizenship:
Turkey has witnessed changes in the laws of obtaining Turkish citizenship, from the value of the property which previously stated you to purchase one or more properties with a value of no less than one million Dollar and not selling the property for 3 years. The decision was modified and settled for an amount of not less than $250,000, and as a result, the real estate market in Turkey has been remarkably active, registering a growth rate that has contributed to the movement of its economy.

The Text for the Law on Palestinian Ownership in Turkey:
The Presidency of the Foreigners Affairs Department - the General Directorate of Land Registry and Space that belongs to the Ministry of Construction and the Environment, issued a general amendment No. 1058120 dated 06/03/2019 on Law 1734 of 08/06/2012, and Resolution 5150 of 2013 related to organizing Internal Regulation And bylaws 81 on August 21 2013 for Notary (Notre), as follows: Special only for citizens of the State of Palestine, that in the event that a Palestinian who holds a travel ID obtains a residence permit issued by the Directorate General of Immigration Administration, an ID card, his passport issued from his country, or an ID card, and a passport issued from foreign countries, or a travel document etc. are accepted. The residence number issued to foreigners (starting with 99) should be written in the ID number field in the electronic system for real estate data, and in the absence of the residence number, the passport, or ID card issued from their country should be used.

The Official Gazette of Turkey has issued a new legal amendment aimed at facilitating the process of obtaining Turkish citizenship for foreigners who have purchased property in Turkey before the issuance of the last Turkish citizenship law.

Where clients of Damas Real Estate Consulting Group can apply for Turkish citizenship according to the new conditions in the following order:
- The purchase of real estate by foreigners after the date of 12/01/2017 and obtaining a Tabu papers after 09/19/2018
- The last owner of the property must be a Turkish person or a Turkish company.
- The value of the real estate should not be less than 250 thousand US dollars. If the value of the property is less than the defined amount, purchase additional property until the titan value is equivalent to 250 thousand dollars.

The new amendment law eliminates the requirement to show a bank receipt in an application to obtain Turkish citizenship for real estate purchased from government construction companies such as TOKI and Emlak Konut, whether it was they who undertook the project entirely or in partnership with private companies, but the requirement to prove payment by receipts remains valid when purchasing real estate from private companies or individuals.
Customers who bought 1 million dollars worth of properties as of 12/01/2017 are not required to prove their payments through bank receipts, even if their property is purchased by private companies.
One of the most important amendments is the exchange rate of the Turkish lira against the dollar.
In order to complete the application papers in a positive way in order to obtain Turkish citizenship, you must check the condition of the Turkish lira exchange rate against the dollar.
In order to complete the application papers correctly to obtain Turkish citizenship, you must check the condition of the Turkish lira exchange rate against the dollar on the payment dates, bank receipts, property evaluation reports, delivery dates of the real estate document and the dates of requesting citizenship.

Buying Property in Turkey With a Value of 250 Thousand Dollars:
1. The value of the purchased property after the issuance of the decision of September 19, 2018 signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, must be 250 thousand dollars.
2. Receive Tabu documents issued by the Land Registry that estimates the value of the property and accordingly issue the Tabu document.
3. A pledge not to sell the property three years from its purchase shall take place by signing the pledge document within the Land Registry.
4. Confirmation of the owner's address. Specifically within the Turkish lands and not necessarily fix the address in the same property that he bought, but in any other address.

Features of Turkish Citizenship:
In addition to the Turkish citizenship allowing you to visit more than a hundred countries around the world without a visa, Turkish citizenship gives you the opportunity to work in various sectors and government interests without requiring a work permit, and to take advantage of the retirement law and free public transport services (buses, dolmus, metro, tramway, the metrobus, etc.).
Also practicing professions prohibited to foreigners such as dentistry, law, pharmacy, veterinary, customs clearance, notes, translation (sworn or certified translator), marine professions, and tour guide. Not requiring the employment of 5 Turks when opening a company, and taking advantage of government privileges, which are provided in particular to Turkish investors, such as financial support, tax cuts, and in some cases, the abolition of value-added tax and others.

The executive regulations for the amendment of the executive regulations related to the application of the Turkish Nationality Law

Article 1 - The phrase "250,000" has been changed to "400,000" in the text of item b of the second paragraph of Article 20 of the executive regulations relating to the implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, which entered into force by Cabinet Resolution No. 139/2010 and dated 11/2/2010.

Article 2 - Item f has also been added to the second paragraph of Article 20 of the executive regulations related to the implementation of the Nationality Law, to come after item e of the aforementioned article with the following text: Among the conditions eligible to apply for Turkish citizenship in return for a deposit:

1. F) Contribute a share of $500,000 or equivalent in Turkish lira or foreign exchange, to one of the financial funds specified by the Institution for Regulation and Supervision on Private Pension Insurance, provided that the process of depositing this share is officially documented by the mentioned institution, and on condition that this share is kept a share for three years.

10) The currency amounts mentioned in items b, ç, d, e, and f of the second paragraph are deposited in one of the banks operating in the Turkish banking sector, and this bank in turn sells these amounts to the Central Bank of Turkey, before initiating the transactions to prove the right to apply for Turkish citizenship.

Article 3 - The articles of this regulation shall enter into force as follows:

1. The first article enters into force one month after the regulation is published.
2. The rest of the articles shall enter into force from the date of publication of the regulation.

Article 4 - The President of the Republic directs the implementation of the provisions of this regulation.