HOW TO ACQUIRE EXCEPTIONAL TURKISH CITIZENSHIP?
According to ‘’Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law”, people who meet the conditions listed below can acquire Turkish citizenship exceptionally:
- Foreigners who make a fixed capital investment amounting to a minimum of 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency in a Turkish corporate entity;
- Foreigners who purchase of immovable worth at least 250.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency, provided that they are not sold for three years,
- Foreigners who employ at least 50 people;
- Foreigners who deposit of at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency are deposited in banks operating in Turkey, provided that they are kept for at least three (3) years,
- Foreigners who purchase of government debt instruments with a minimum value of 500.000 USD or its equivalent foreign currency provided that they are kept for at least three (3) years;
- Foreigners who purchase real estate fund participation shares or venture capital investment fund participation shares with a minimum value of 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency, provided that they hold for at least three (3) years.
- Foreigners who pays at least 500.000 USD or its equivalent in foreign currency into the private pension system, provided that they hold it in the funds established by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency and remains in the system for three years.
**As a result of the amendment made in the Official Gazette on 06 January 2022; the phrase “or its equivalent in Turkish Lira” in the text of the regulation has been removed. Foreigners who want to acquire Turkish citizenship must make the investment amount either in American Dollars or its equivalent in foreign currency. Investments made in Turkish Lira will no longer grant Turkish citizenship to foreigners.**
HOW DOES THE PROCESS OF ACQUISITION OF EXCEPTIONAL CITIZENSHIP?
After the foreigner meets the requirements of the exceptional citizenship above, the relevant procedure works as follows:
- First of all, the applicant must apply to the Directorate General of Migration Management in order to obtain short-term residence permit.
- After the residence permit is taken, the applicant must apply for the ‘’Certiticate of Conformity’’. The certificate of conformity is the document issued by the relevant institution in order to confirm that the minimum investment requirement is met.
- The applicant must collect all of necessary documents to be submitted to Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs. (These documents are explained in the section below ‘’Required Documents for Exceptional Turkish Citizenship’’)
- The officer in the Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs creates the citizenship file and sents to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Interior.
- A letter is written to the Police Department on the subject and a Security Investigation is requested on whether the applicant is a threat against national security and public order.
- After the positive results of all these procedures, the final checks are made by the application authorities and the file is sent to the Council of Ministers for a decision on the file. With the positive decision of the Council of Ministers, the applicant acquires Turkish citizenship.
- While applicants are informed via SMS and e-mail, applications are finalized in an average of 6 to 24 months.
For all kinds of residence permit, work permit or citizenship procedures; you can contact CBI investment advisor, which is an expert and experienced in its field. With the expert and experienced lawyers of our investment expert, we can carry out all your international legal transactions in accordance with the procedures.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR EXCEPTIONAL TURKISH CITIZENSHIP
All about Turkish citizenship by investments
It is extremely important that documents must be accurately and adequately submitted in order not to be denied. While making an exceptional application for Turkish Citizenship, the required documents may vary from person to person and case to case, but in general they are as follows:
1) A completed preliminary examination form (VAT-4 Form)
2) 2 photographs that must have white background and must be biometric.
3) Applicant’s passport as translated and notarized.
4) Documentation showing applicant’s identity information
5) Birth certificates of the applicant. If the applicant has first or second degree Turkish citizen relatives, a copy of the birth certificate of this person(s) must also be attached to the file.
6) Certificate showing applicant’s marital status such as married, divorced or widowed. In case the applicant is married, the document which proves family ties of spouse and, if existent, family ties of children must be attached to the file. If the applicant is divorced, the document proving this situation must be presented, and if the applicant is widowed, his/her spouse’s death certificate must be presented. In addition, the marriage certificate must have the date of marriage as day /month /year.
7) Valid residence permit of the applicant
8) ’Certiticate of Conformity, which shows that the minimum investment requirement is met.
9) Receipt showing that the application service fee has been paid to the Financial Office.
Note : Documents which are referred to Article 3, 4, 5 and 6 must get apostilled in order to gain legal validity in Republic of Turkey. This procedure have explained below at ‘’Apostilization Procedure’’ title.
APOSTILIZATION PROCEDURE
In order for the official document received from a foreign country to have the quality of an official document in Turkey, apostilization is mandatory. Apostilization is a document approval system that certifies the authenticity of a document and its legal use in another country. The Apostille approval system created by the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 is used by the member states. This process is carried out by district governorships. Another way is to have the official document approved by the Turkish consulates in the foreign country where the official document was obtained. Official documents obtained from countries that are not part of the Hague Convention are approved by Turkish consulates in these countries and become valid in Turkey.
The first step of the apostilization process is translation of the official document at a translation office. The translated document must also include the translator’s signature. After this step, the translated document is combined with the original document and sealed by the notary. With the notary’s signature and seal, it is recorded that your document has been approved by the Republic of Turkey. As a final step, approval must be obtained from the district governorship where the notary public is affiliated in order to prove the authenticity of the seal. Thus, the apostilization process is completed and the document will be valid in the the Republic of Turkey. However, it should significantly be noted that an apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the document, but certifies the signature and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which is actually necessary to be certified.
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PURCHASING A HOME OR LAND IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE TURKISH CITIZENSHIP
- Actually, the easiest and fastest option is to become a Turkish citizen by purchasing a property worth of 400.000 USD for a minimum. The procedure are explained in our article named ‘’Acquiring Turkish Citizenship by Purchasing of Home and Land’’, you can check from here (burada link verilebilir). In this article, things to consider when buying will be explained.
- Search for the property market. A piece of friendly advice, real estate investments are the most profitable investments in the long term. Do not see your investment only for a key to citizenship. It also returns a smart profit in the long term or you can sell them after a 3-year period of restriction.
- Do not hesitate to invest in more than one property if you cannot find a single immovable or real property which is worth of 400.000 USD for a minimum. Our expert team shall advice you the best property offers.
- A preliminary application should be made to the land registry offices for the transfer process. The transfer of the property is possible with the authenticated contract and registration signed at the land registry offices.
- If your property is still in progress of the building, make sure that the construction will soon end before you apply for citizenship. Actually we advise you to buy a property which has finished, has got condominium and habitation permit. In Turkey, some contractors are not capable of starting and finishing work on time in accordance to construction agreement and they make many owners suffer. Also some contractors make promises within the agreement about workmanship, performance, manpower but they may not be honest with the work said they would perform. The expected result may not always achieved. This can lead to disappointment in the home you will buy.
- It must be noted that there are no restrictions on the real estate such as hypothec, lien or interim injunction. These should be checked at the relevant land registry office before starting the sale process. If the purchased immovable is hypotheced, a citizenship application still can be made. However, the remaining amount is taken into account by deducting the hypothec value in determining the minimum value sought for the property. If the remaining amount is less than 400.000 USD, your citizenship application will be denied. Therefore, we advise you not to buy a property with a hypothec or lien.
- Inquiries related to real estates can be made online at the address parselsorgu.tkgm.gov.tr, and the city, district, neighborhood/village, map and parcel information can be used to query the real estate here. Thus, basic information about real estate, including its current status, can be accessed online from anywhere in the world.
WHY DO YOU NEED THE PROFESSIONAL LEGAL SERVICE FROM A LAW FIRM?
- Being aware of new legal regulations and applying them to the solution of the current legal problemis the job of an attorney. For this reason, receiving consultancy services will prevent loss of rights and interests.
- Required documents for citizenship application must be accurately and adequately submitted in order to your application be approved. Legal services will make sure that all your documents are correct and properly submitted to competent authorities.
- It is extremely important to receive legal support for company establishment. Companies are subject to various legislative provisions. In this respect, the contractual provisions of a company must be within the legal framework. Otherwise, your company may suffer material damage as a result of wrongful activities that result in legal sanctions. An attorney also informs you about legal procedures in legal matters that your company needs. Even after your company is established, it will be beneficial to work with an attorney for your company.
WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE CBI ?
- CBI is adviced to be the best since the beginning of the investment program. With our expert and experienced lawyers, we handle your citizenship applications from start to finish. As CBI, we support our clients the management of the process related to the citizenship application, the collection of documents, the making of applications to the necessary authorities and following up of these applications.
- Wıth years of experience, we work by providing the right strategy and fast solutions with legal services in a wide framework. We keep client satisfaction at the highest level with our service policy.
- We are dedicated to being excellent communicators with our clients. We return your calls or emails in a timely manner.
- Our investment expert is in coordination with best real estate agents in Turkey. Therefore, if you have any intention of acquiring citizenship by purchasing real estate, you can communicate with us. We propose many options to you with trusted ones to avoid any legal trouble.
- If you have any intention of acquiring citizenship by investing bank deposit, we offer you the best interest rates and the most reliable banks we have contracted with.
Note : Clients who are in abroad and would like to receive legal services from us; they must personally apply to the Turkish Consulate in the relevant country and issue a ‘’Power of Attorney (PoA)’’ on our behalf through the consulate.
Clients who are in Turkey and would like to receive legal services from us; they must personally apply to the notary publics and issue a ‘’Power of Attorney (PoA)’’ on our behalf through the notary public.
source:https://serkalaw.com/all-about-turkish-citizenship-by-investment/
