Türkiye · Citizenship by investment
Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by Exceptional Procedure (Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 12/b)
Thresholds unchanged since the June 2022 increase from USD 250k to USD 400k, and reconfirmed by the Presidency's Investment Office through 2026. Industry expects a rise to USD 500–600k but no draft has been gazetted. The YUVAM foreign-currency deposit route was withdrawn in 2025.
Since 4 June 2026 this is arguably the strongest combination in the market: a family can naturalise in under a year with no presence requirement, then — if it chooses to actually move — claim a 20-year exemption on all foreign-source income plus a 1% inheritance rate, a package that beats most European non-dom regimes on both duration and breadth. Separately, Türkiye is one of only two CBI jurisdictions with a US E-2 treaty (the other is Grenada), which is the real reason many families look here rather than the Caribbean. But the E-2 route is far narrower than the industry advertises.
Qualifying routes
3-year no-sale annotation on the title deed; licensed appraisal required; verified by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change
3-year lock-up; verified by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). Interest accrues to the investor
3-year hold; verified by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance
3-year hold; verified by the Capital Markets Board (SPK)
verified by the Ministry of Industry and Technology
must remain in the system 3 years; verified by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency
employment of at least 50 people, verified by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; no cash threshold
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $400k
- Total landed cost
- Real estate route: USD 400k plus roughly USD 30–50k in transaction and application costs for a family of four — 4% title deed transfer tax (about USD 16k), roughly 2% agency commission on resale stock, appraisal, notary, sworn translation, legal fees of 0.5–1.5%, and government fees. VAT of 1–20% may apply on new-build purchases; a first-purchase VAT exemption exists for foreign buyers but the paperwork is onerous and many forgo it to protect the timeline. Deposit and fund routes: USD 500k plus roughly USD 15–25k, with capital returned after three years.
- Timeline
- 4–12 months — Realistically 6–12 months from investment to passport. Real estate files clear fastest; deposit and fund routes carry extra verification. Every grant requires a Presidential decree — a discretionary, unappealable step.
- Physical presence
- None for the investor, before or after grant. No residence, language or interview requirement. Spouses must hold a residence permit as part of the file since the 2024 procedural changes.
- Family
- spousechildren under 18children of any age dependent due to disability
- Permanent residency
- n/a — citizenship is granted directly
- Citizenship
- Immediate; 4–12 months from qualifying investment
- Language test
- none
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- clean criminal record for the main applicant and, since 2024, the spouselicensed appraisal report from a government-authorised valuation company dated at the time of purchaseall funds transferred bank-to-bank through the Turkish system with a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB); cash purchases are not recognised3-year no-sale/no-withdrawal annotation registered against the assetshort-term residence permit obtained as part of the process (investor and spouse)no threat to national security or public orderPresidential decree
- THE E-2 TRAP. Public Law 117-263, signed 23 December 2022, amended INA 101(a)(15)(E) to require anyone who acquired treaty-country nationality by investment to have been domiciled in that country for a continuous period of at least three years before applying for an E-1 or E-2 visa. A Turkish CBI passport therefore does NOT confer immediate E-2 eligibility. The three years may fall at any point before the application and need not be immediately prior, but they must be real domicile — not merely holding the passport. Anyone previously granted E status, and anyone who acquired Turkish nationality by birth, descent or marriage rather than investment, is exempt from the rule. Any adviser selling Turkish CBI as a same-year E-2 play is either uninformed or misleading you.
- THE E-2 IS NOT A GREEN CARD. It is a non-immigrant visa requiring non-immigrant intent. For Turkish nationals the reciprocity schedule caps validity at 60 months with a 2-year I-94 admission per entry. It is renewable indefinitely but confers no permanent residence, accrues nothing toward US citizenship, and evaporates if the business fails. Dependent children lose status automatically at 21. Families wanting US permanence need EB-5, not E-2.
- CITIZENSHIP CAN BE REVOKED. On 28 September 2025 the Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of an Istanbul-centred network running sham CBI property deals; 106 people were arrested across 19 provinces and revocation proceedings were opened against 451 foreign investors and their families. The scheme relied on inflated appraisals and cash-back arrangements returning the property to the seller after naturalisation. Citizenship obtained on false information can be revoked retroactively, and revocation reaches dependants. Fraud has resurfaced into 2026 despite the crackdown.
- YOU WILL PROBABLY OVERPAY FOR THE PROPERTY. Much of the stock marketed to CBI buyers is priced to the threshold rather than to the market. The appraisal confirms the USD 400k floor is met; it does not protect you from a 20–40% foreigner premium. The 3-year lock means you discover the real value only at exit, into a market where every other seller is a CBI investor whose lock has just expired.
- CURRENCY AND MACRO RISK. Funds must enter the Turkish banking system and convert to lira against a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB). Persistent lira depreciation and high inflation mean a USD 400k asset can hold its dollar valuation on paper while losing real value; deposit-route interest is earned in a currency that has repeatedly lost value faster than it pays.
- AML SCRUTINY IS NOW REAL. Turkish banks apply heavy source-of-funds review in 2026. Capital arriving via intermediaries or exchange houses without a clean audit trail will not produce a DAB certificate and may be frozen. Applicants from high-risk jurisdictions face materially deeper enquiry.
- TAX RESIDENCY IS A SEPARATE QUESTION FROM CITIZENSHIP. A Turkish passport does not make you Turkish tax resident and does not shield you from CRS: Türkiye exchanges on the basis of tax residency, not nationality. Conversely, if you move to claim the 20-year exemption, 183 days in Türkiye makes you taxable on worldwide income — and the exemption covers only foreign-source income, with no expense deduction and no foreign tax credit.
- THE PASSPORT IS MID-TIER. Roughly 114 destinations, and no Schengen, UK or US visa-free access. Families buying Turkish citizenship for European mobility are buying the wrong product.
- Presidential discretion means no appeal and no service standard. Agent-quoted timelines are marketing, not entitlement.