Despite the fact that the Turkish citizenship granted by the Turkish government to foreign investors is of exceptional origin (meaning that the nationality law can be changed or even cancelled at any time and without prior notice), we found during the past months a part of the investors underestimating the importance of this free grant and believing that this law is part of the constitution that will never change, even though they witnessed the reduction of the required limit from $1 million to $250.000 in September of 2018 and then the raising of the required amount from $250.000 to $400.000 in June of 2022.
And despite the fact that obtaining Turkish citizenship does not require any additional costs (only owning a property with the minimum amount indicated by the state currently, which is $400.000 and a pledge not to sell it for a period of 3 years), and despite the high investment returns achieved by investors since 2018 to this day and reached in some correct investment options up to 400% on the basis of the dollar, we still sometimes notice investors waiting for a drop in real estate prices in Turkey to take the purchase decision, citing the European and American markets, which are in fact unrelated to the Turkish real estate market for many reasons that we cannot mention here now.
The Central Bank of Turkey was able, during the year 2022, to reduce the interest rate, while international banks were rushing to raise interest, led by the US Federal Reserve, which represents the largest power in the world, as it raised interest rates from 0.25% to 4.5% during the year 2022, while the Turkish Central Bank was able to reduce interest from 13% at the beginning of the year to 9% at the end, while maintaining the stability of the exchange rate during the third and fourth quarters of 2022, and this in itself is considered a very big achievement in favour of a developing economy in a country like Turkey.
In conclusion, Turkey is making great and rapid strides in various fields and is still an incubating environment for foreign investments in the past, today and in the future.
New amendments to the exceptional Turkish citizenship law:
Before mentioning the new amendments, it should be noted that the door to real estate investment has been open in Turkey since ancient times and will always continue. As for any amendment that takes place, it is the exceptional Turkish citizenship law, which is a free option that the investor can apply for while making his real estate investment when the required conditions are met (to which amendments occur from time to time).
1- It is not possible to apply for Turkish citizenship by purchasing two properties, one of which is ready for housing with a ready-made title deed, and the other under construction with a promise-to-sale contract with a floor easement.
2- The contract of promise to sell must be one within the minimum required to obtain the exceptional Turkish citizenship (400 thousand dollars). This means that it is no longer appropriate for the real estate investor to buy more than one property in different projects and collect them to apply for citizenship.
The promise-to-sale contract is the contract certified by the notary public and is issued by the projects in a state under construction because the final title deed is not granted by the Turkish state before the completion of the project by 100%.
3- Every real estate, no matter how high its value, is valid for applying to one nationality only, and it is not acceptable to divide the title deed among more than one person.
Previously, if there was a family whose member was over the age of 18, the father would buy a property worth at least $800.000 and write half of it in his name (and he, the wife, and children under the age of 18 would obtain exceptional Turkish citizenship) and the second half in the name of his son over the age of 18.
Today, it is no longer acceptable to have a partnership in the title deed if the goal is to obtain Turkish citizenship.
4- The holder of Turkish citizenship cannot sell his property after the end of the 3-year period to a foreign person with the aim of obtaining Turkish citizenship as well.
Notes:
+ These amendments will be applied starting from 01/01/2023.
+ All these amendments concern those who wish to obtain Turkish citizenship. As for the foreign real estate investor who is not interested in obtaining Turkish citizenship, these amendments and other laws do not affect the success of his investment.
