According to the new instructions of the General Directorate of Land Cadastre, from 01.01.2023, a new set of rules for the acquisition of real estate for obtaining citizenship will apply.
Below you can see a summary of the new rules that will come into effect on 1st January:
Number of properties
- The number of properties that an applicant can purchase is not limited.
- The value of one property cannot be less than $400,000 to apply for citizenship.
- If an applicant purchases multiple properties for a combined price greater than $400,000, the authorities will only approve the citizenship application if the same contract applies to all properties.
Joint acquisition of real estate
- It is not possible to apply for citizenship based on the acquisition of shares in the property, unless all shares are acquired by the same foreign citizen.
- Property registered to more than one person may only qualify for citizenship if all shares are acquired by a single foreign citizen.
Property valuation report
- Applicants for citizenship must receive a property valuation report no later than three months before the notarization of the preliminary sales contract. In this case, a separate property valuation report is not required before submitting an application to the Land Registry.
- A new valuation report is not separately required in the event of a sale based on annotated preliminary sales contracts.
Selling parties
- A property can only be the subject of a citizenship application once.
- A foreign person cannot subsequently sell this property to another foreigner in order to obtain Turkish citizenship.
- Real estate subject to sale or a preliminary sale and purchase agreement must not be registered to a legal entity whose authorized person is a foreign citizen.
Certificate for the purchase of currency
- If the buyer transfers the amount before the issuance of the currency purchase certificate, the transfer must be made in foreign currency.
- If the buyer transfers the amount after the issuance of the currency purchase certificate, the transfer must be made in Turkish Lira.
Mortgages:
- In the case of buying real estate on credit in foreign currency, the amount remaining after deducting the loan amount from the sale price must be at least $400,000.
