With the amendment made in the Circular No. 2019/5 issued within the scope of the Implementation Regulation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, significant changes have been made in the implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, effective as of 01.01.2023.

Preliminary Contract for Real Estate Sale

• It is stipulated that transactions based on the promise to sell immovable should be made with a single contract per investor. Moreover, in case of signing a preliminary contract for sale for more than one real estate, citizenship applications cannot be made even if the total price exceeds 400,000 USD.

• Immovables purchased with the real estate preliminary sales contract cannot be used to complete the price of 400,000 USD together with any other real estate.

Foreign Currency Purchase Document

• In the preliminary contract for sale, it is regulated that the foreign currency purchase document must be issued for the minimum amount paid in advance and at the latest on the contract date.

Share Sale

• It will not be possible to apply for citizenship with the share acquisition of the real estate. To give an example, even if two foreigners acquire an immovable with a value of 1,000,000 USD in equal shares, they will not be able to apply for citizenship. For each real estate, only one foreign investor can be the owner, and only said owner can apply for citizenship.

Other Important Updates

• It has been made possible to optionally use secure payment systems offered by banks for real estate payment transfers. In this context, it is considered that payment by blocked cheque is clearly permitted.

• The second-hand immovables subject to sale or preliminary contract for sale must not be immovables transferred to a Turkish citizen/company within the last three years by any foreign real person.