Turkey Citizenship by Investment

For many families, yes. The money sits in property or a deposit you own rather than a contribution, the whole immediate family is included, there is no residence requirement, and Turkey is a large country you could genuinely move to. The limits are the passport itself, which needs visas for the Schengen Area, the UK and the United States, and the three years of currency and property risk. If travel freedom to Europe is the main goal, other programs do that better.

It has become much better. Under Law 7582 of 2026, people who become Turkish tax residents after three calendar years without Turkish domicile or tax liability can keep foreign income and gains outside Turkish tax for 20 years, and they pay 1% on inheritances during that period. Income earned in Turkey is still taxed at 15% to 40%. You need an exemption certificate, and you become tax resident by actually living there, usually more than 183 days a year. Citizenship alone does not make you a tax resident. Book a free call and we can look at your situation.

It works well for a business that genuinely operates in Turkey. Banking is modern, foreign currency accounts are common, and 2026 brought generous incentives for service centres and the Istanbul Finance Center. For a global holding company, though, corporate tax of 25%, a 15% withholding tax on dividends and the volatility of the lira mean we usually place the structure elsewhere and keep Turkey for the citizenship and, if you move, the personal tax exemption.

Not through this program. The minimum is US$400,000 in property, or US$500,000 on the other routes, held for three years. Entrepreneurs at an early stage usually get more from a low cost residency, such as Paraguay, and revisit Turkey once the capital is there.

Yes. You must keep ownership for three years, recorded as an annotation on the title deed, but you can live in it or let it during that time.

No. There is no residence requirement before or after citizenship. Most steps can be handled through a power of attorney, and usually one short visit is needed for the residence permit.

The US$400,000 threshold and three year holding period did not change. Three practical things did. Since 1 July 2026, property payments must go through a state secure payment system that holds the money until the title is registered. From late September 2026, any licensed valuation firm can value the property through the land registry portal, and the valuation report is valid for 12 months instead of six. And the sale price, the valuation and each individual payment must each meet the US$400,000 threshold. Reports of an automatic 25% markup on valuations are not accurate.

It depends on their age. A son who becomes a citizen is liable according to his age that year; military age starts in the year he turns 20, and anyone who is 22 or older in the year of naturalisation is treated as having served. Dual citizens living abroad can defer until the end of the year they turn 35, and after three years abroad they can discharge the obligation by paying a fee in foreign currency. We go through this with you before you apply.

Turkey allows dual citizenship and does not ask you to renounce your current one. Some countries, such as China and India, end their citizens' nationality when they acquire another, so we check your own country's rules first.

Approx. 113 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival, including Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and much of Latin America. The Schengen Area, the UK, Canada and the United States require visas. Turkey is on the US E2 treaty list, but someone who gained citizenship through investment must live in Turkey for three years before applying for an E2 visa.

Buying, valuing and registering the investment usually takes one to three months. The citizenship decision has slowed in 2026: many files take more than four months, some longer than a year, and approvals tend to come in batches. We plan around six to twelve months in total.

Yes. Once the three years have passed you can sell the property or release the deposit and keep your citizenship. A gain on property sold within five years of purchase is taxable in Turkey, so selling in year four or five has a cost. Property marketed for citizenship is often priced above the local market, which is why an independent valuation before you buy matters.