Turkish Citizenship Through Real Estate

1) Identify the property you want to purchase according to the budget and desired criteria, and contact the seller. 2) Check the registry details of the property together with the seller or the seller’s representative at the Directorate of Land Registry. 3) An appraisal report which shows the actual value of the property shall be issued by a company authorized for property appraisal. 4) The document shall be checked by the Directorate of Land Registry, and any incomplete items shall be completed. The parties shall be informed on the fees they are to pay for the transaction. 5) Apply to the Land Registry Directorate with the documents required to start the sales procedures of the property. 6) Deposit the fees. Pay the cost of the property to the seller. Payment can be made via TAKASBANK to make it more secure. In that case, the contract price deposited to the recipient’s account shall be blocked and it shall be transferred to the seller’s account after the contract is signed. 7)Sign the official contract issued by the Directorate of Land Registry for the sale, under the presence of the public officer, and the sales transaction will be completed when the contract is signed.

Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644, amended with the Law No. 6302 specifies that “Provided that legal restrictions are complied with, foreign origin real persons who become citizens of the country as defined by the President where required for international bilateral relations and interests of the country may acquire property and limited real rights in Turkey. Real persons who are citizens of a country in the list of specified countries are not required to obtain a separate residence permit to acquire a property and limited real rights.

First of all, the country of the foreigner desirous of acquiring a property must be among the countries cleared by Turkey for property acquisition as specified in Article 35. Property acquisition by foreign real persons is only possible within the scope of legal restrictions further to Article 35 of the Land Registry Law 2644. Foreigners may not acquire properties in military forbidden zones further to the Military Forbidden Zones and Security Zones Law No. 2565. A foreign real person may acquire properties and restricted real rights of up to 30 hectares maximum. The President may increase this size up to two times. Total area of properties acquired by foreign real persons and independent and continuous limited real rights may not exceed ten percent (10%) of the surface area of the subject district of the private property. Acquisition by foreigners is not possible at the places included in strategic areas and special security zones defined by the President as areas where foreign real and legal persons may not acquire properties.

The military forbidden zone query has been removed in 81 provinces (except in certain districts) as advised in our Communique 2017/4. As a result, foreign real persons’ property acquisition procedures are now the same as those applied to Turkish citizens.

The General Directorate of Census and Citizenship started Blue Card arrangement on 12 April 2013 and Blue Cards issued after that date may be used as an identity certificate on their own. Documents issued before 12 April 2013 regarding the use of rights reserved in Law 4112/5203 (Blue/Pink Card), shall continue being considered together with the identity from the country or passport. Transactions of individuals who apply with a passport or an identity card from their countries without presenting their Blue Cards but having the rights provided in Law 5901 shall be carried out after they are queried on the blue card log of central civil registration system (MERNIS) or through the query of the census registry to be obtained from the civil registry for this purpose.

Any foreigner who acquires a land without any building is required to develop a project on the acquired land within 2 years from the date of acquisition, and submit the project for the approval of the related ministry depending on the type of the project. The time frame for completing the project shall be determined by the relevant ministry. (Review of regulations to extend the time frame is underway).

The list of countries that may acquire properties in Turkey according to Article 35 of the Land Registry Law 2644 is not public, and the acquisition status my individually be learned on country basis from any of our directorates.

Transfer of property to foreign origin real persons by inheritance is possible. However, if the transferred property is located in a zone where a real person may not acquire a property; the property is required to be sold or liquidated otherwise after the transfer. Furthermore, in the event of transfer of property by inheritance to a person who is from a country not include in the list of Article 35, the property in question must be sold or liquidated otherwise after the transfer.

As regulated in our communique on “validation of identity in foreigners’ land registry transactions” no. 2013/13, Turkish translations of passports and foreign country identity cards with an alphabet other than the Roman alphabet may be requested by the Directorate of Land Registry if required; however, Turkish translation will not be requested for passports or national identity cards issued in the Roman alphabet.

a. The property’s Title Deed or details of village/quarter, section, parcel, building, independent unit, b. Identity card or passport (together with the translated copy thereof where required). Submission of the same is compulsory in order to identify the nationality of the foreigner, c. Property appraisal report issued by any of the organizations authorized by the Board of Capital Markets (SPK) for property assessment at http://www.spk.gov.tr/SiteApps/SirketIletisim/ List/gds) . d. ''Real Estate Market Value Document” of the property from the related Municipality, e. Compulsory earthquake insurance policy for buildings (residences, workplaces... etc.), f. One photograph of the seller and two photographs of the buyer (taken in the last 6 months, at a size of 6x4), g. Certified interpreter if there is a party who fails to speak Turkish, h. If an action is to be carried out with a power of attorney issued abroad, the translation and the original or approved copy of the power of attorney.

The sum of receipts evidencing payments must have a value equal to USD 250,000 according to the USD selling exchange rate of the Central Bank of Turkey on the date prior to the date of deposit. The amounts listed in the appraisal report and the official bill may not be less than the sum of values in the receipt.

on the basis of the effective selling exchange rate of the Central Bank of Turkey on the work day prior to the date when each receipt is issued must be USD 250,000.

Effective selling exchange rate of the Central Bank of Turkey on the date prior to the payment date for receipt and prior to the selling transaction for the value on the official title deed shall be considered. In that case, both values are required to reach USD 250,000.

In the event that the receipt is paid in Turkish Lira, selling exchange rate of the Central Bank of Turkey on the date prior to the date of payment shall be considered to calculate USD equivalent of the receipt amount.

No, they can’t. The property to be acquired by foreign nationals through actual sale or a sale promise should not be registered to the title of the legal entity of the company that the real person owns or manages.

Properties sold or subject to a sale promise must be registered in the name of Turkish citizens. Furthermore, they should not be any properties transferred by a foreign real person after 12 January 2017. (Including self, spouse and children of the foreign person who acquires it)