TURKISH CITIZENSHIP RECENT AMENDMENTS
With the amendment made in the Circular No. 2019/5 issued within the scope of the Implementation Regulation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, the guide provisions that will be valid as of 01/01/2023 in the Application of the Turkish Citizenship Law are as;
Changes to the application in preliminary sales contract
- As of 01.01.2023, the amount sought in the Regulation must be met with a single contract for applications made based on the preliminary sales contract. In this context, while it is possible to subject more than one real estate to preliminary sales contract under a single contract, applications made based on more than one in preliminary sales contract will not be considered.
- In applications made regarding promise to sell contracts, it is required that the amount specified in the regulation (at least 400.000 USD) has been paid in advance. The price corresponding to this amount must be paid at the latest on the date of the preliminary sales contract.
- It is not possible to apply for citizenship with the acquisition of the immovable as shares. However, if a whole real estate registered in the name of more than one person (subject to joint ownership) is acquired by a foreign person, this real estate may be subject to citizenship.
- A real estate valuation report showing the market value (current market value/current situation value) is sought in order to determine the 400,000 USD amount sought according to the date of acquisition within the scope of the regulation.
- The valuation reports submitted during the application are valid for 3 months from the date of issue. No new reports will be requested for transactions submitted within this period.
- If there are valuation reports prepared no more than 3 months before the date of issue of the promise of sale at the notary public, these are processed. In this case, a separate valuation report is not sought before the endorsement date.
- The foreign currency purchase document to be issued by the Bank must be issued on the contract date at the latest and sent to the relevant Land Registry Directorate via KEP. An official formal deed will be issued by the Land Registry Office based on the TL amount shown in the foreign exchange purchase documents.
- The approved bank receipt showing that the minimum amount required by the regulation has been paid to the real estate seller or the person concerned must be submitted to the land registry office. Although the price stated on the bank receipt should be equal to the amount shown in the foreign currency purchase document, in case of a difference between these two prices, it is sufficient that the price stated on the bank receipt meets the minimum amount required by the Regulation at the rate stated in the foreign currency purchase document.
Changes Regarding In Preliminary Sales Transactıons
- Within the scope of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law; In the Registration Request Document for the preliminary sale transactions, the Applicant:
Commits that the contract for acquiring immovable/immovables for the purpose of acquiring Turkish Citizenship will not be transferred or withdrawn 3 years from the date of annotation.
- Within the scope of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law; In the Registration Request Document for the sale transactions, the Applicant:
Commits that it will not sell the immovable / immovable properties acquired for the purpose of obtaining Turkish Citizenship for a period of 3 years.
- In the registration process of the 3-year commitment to the registry; in cases where the phrase “this contract is made for the purpose of obtaining citizenship” is included in the preliminary sale contracts, the unilateral application of the applicant is sufficient. However, in contracts where this expression is not included, the parties must apply together.
Other Changes
- The second-hand immovable/immovables subject to sale and promise of sale must not be immovables transferred to a Turkish citizen/company by any foreign real person within the last three years. Acts arising from contracts of work are determined as an exception to this article.
- Express authorization must be given for transactions to be made by proxy.
In addition to authorization to buy; “Making a commitment that the property will not be sold for three years” or “Making a citizenship application within the framework of the Turkish Citizenship Law and relevant legislation” or “doing the transaction in order to benefit from the Turkish Citizenship” must be included.
- As a rule, it is not possible to transfer the real estate to a third party by canceling the declaration of foreign real persons who have acquired Turkish citizenship before the expiry of the commitment period. However, after the “Certificate of Conformity” is issued and before the 3-year commitment period expires, in case the relevant person requests the cancellation or transfer of the commitment to a third party together with the cancellation, an official letter sent by the Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs indicating that the citizenship application has been cancelled, the commitment is cancelled and the transaction request is met within the framework of the legislation.
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