Türkiye · Citizenship by investment
Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by Exceptional Procedure (Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 12/b)
Thresholds have not changed since the June 2022 increase from USD 250k to USD 400k, and the Presidency's Investment Office has reconfirmed them through 2026. Industry watchers expect 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 The YUVAM foreign-currency deposit route was withdrawn in 2025.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. If it chooses to actually move, it can then claim a 20-year exemption on all foreign-source income, plus a 1% inheritance rate. That package 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 being 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
A 3-year no-sale annotation is placed on the title deed. A licensed appraisal is required. Verified by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.
There is a 3-year lock-up, verified by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). Interest accrues to the investor.
A 3-year hold, verified by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
A 3-year hold, verified by the Capital Markets Board (SPK).
Verified by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
Funds must remain in the system for 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. There is 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. That covers a 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.
- Route type
- Citizenship by investment
- 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 and unappealable step.)
- Physical presence
- None for the investor, before or after grant. There is no residence, language or interview requirement. Since the 2024 procedural changes, spouses must hold a residence permit as part of the file.
- Family
- SpouseChildren under 18Children of any age who are dependent due to disability
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. Citizenship is granted directly.
- Citizenship
- Immediate. 4–12 months from qualifying investment.
- Language test
- None
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- a clean criminal record for the main applicant, and since 2024, for the spouse as wella licensed appraisal report from a government-authorised valuation company, dated at the time of purchaseall funds moved bank-to-bank through the Turkish system, with a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB). Cash purchases are not recogniseda 3-year no-sale, no-withdrawal annotation registered against the asseta short-term residence permit, obtained as part of the process, for both investor and spouseno threat to national security or public ordera Presidential 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 does not, therefore, confer immediate E-2 eligibility. The three years can fall at any point before the application and do not need to be immediately prior, but they must reflect real domicile, not simply 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, and it requires non-immigrant intent. For Turkish nationals, the reciprocity schedule caps validity at 60 months, with a 2-year I-94 admission per entry. You can renew it indefinitely, but it confers no permanent residence. It builds nothing toward US citizenship, and it evaporates if the business fails. Dependent children lose their status automatically at 21. Families who want permanence in the US 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. Authorities arrested 106 people 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 that returned the property to the seller after naturalisation. Citizenship obtained on false information can be revoked retroactively, and that revocation reaches dependants too. Despite the crackdown, fraud has resurfaced into 2026.
- YOU WILL PROBABLY OVERPAY FOR THE PROPERTY. Much of the stock marketed to CBI buyers is priced to hit the threshold, not to reflect the market. The appraisal only confirms that the USD 400k floor is met. It does not protect you from a 20–40% foreigner premium. Because of the 3-year lock, you find out what the property is really worth only when you try to sell it, in 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 underneath it. On the deposit route, the interest you earn is paid in a currency that has repeatedly lost value faster than it pays out.
- AML SCRUTINY IS NOW REAL. Turkish banks apply heavy source-of-funds review in 2026. Capital that arrives through intermediaries or exchange houses without a clean audit trail will not produce a DAB certificate and may end up frozen. Applicants from high-risk jurisdictions can expect a materially deeper enquiry.
- TAX RESIDENCY IS A SEPARATE QUESTION FROM CITIZENSHIP. A Turkish passport does not make you a Turkish tax resident, and it does not shield you from CRS. Türkiye exchanges information on the basis of tax residency, not nationality. The reverse is also true. If you move to claim the 20-year exemption, spending 183 days in Türkiye makes you taxable on worldwide income. And the exemption itself covers only foreign-source income, with no expense deduction and no foreign tax credit.
- THE PASSPORT IS MID-TIER. It opens roughly 114 destinations, but there is no Schengen, UK or US visa-free access. Families buying Turkish citizenship for European mobility are buying the wrong product.
- Presidential discretion means there is no appeal and no service standard. Timelines quoted by agents are marketing, not an entitlement.