Erdal Nuhbasa – Law and Consulting Firm – Legal Services
ERDAL NUHBASA
LAW AND CONSULTING FIRM
Erdal Nuhbasa – Law and Consulting Firm – Legal Services
ERDAL NUHBASA
LAW AND CONSULTING FIRM
With the amendment to the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, the rules for obtaining Turkish citizenship have changed as of 18.09.2018. Accordingly, persons who make the investments included in the regulation are exceptionally entitled to apply for Turkish Citizenship for their spouses and children under the age of 18.
The process of acquiring Turkish citizenship through investment proceeds through the following 3 stages.
These details are of great importance in terms of whether you can obtain Turkish citizenship. For example, your application may be rejected because the real value of a house sold to you for $400.000 dollars is not the real worth of the apartment.
It will always be good to consult a lawyer in jobs that require large investments in order to reduce or eliminate risks. However, if you want to do all the job by yourself, I would like to mention some important points that you should pay attention to.
One of the ways to obtain Turkish citizenship is to buy real estate. Foreigners may acquire Turkish citizenship through the purchasing real estate which worth at least $400.000 USD or equivalent thereof in foreign currency or in Turkish Lira. What you need to do for this is as follows orderly.
The tax registration number can be obtained from any tax office and an original passport and photograph are required.
– Total value of USD 400.000 or its foreign currency equivalent in Turkish Lira
– One or more completed or near-completed properties,
– License for occupancy has been obtained,
– Ready title deed with condominium easement or condominium ownership,
– Valuation report obtained from municipality
It is received via Webtapu. an appraisal examination is made by opening a record. The date of issue of the valuation report submitted during the acquisition application must be no more than 3 months prior to the application date. The said valuation report will be considered valid until the transaction is completed.
It is a document showing that the foreign currency has been sold to a bank operating in Turkey to be sold to the Central Bank before the sale proceed is done. So, basically the procedure is; foreigners firstly must sell their foreign currency to the Central Bank through a bank in Turkey by stating the reason and get the Foreign Currency Purchase Certificate from the bank to submit to the land registry office.
The price of the property is paid in Turkish Lira to the owner of the property. But it is not possible to use the foreign currency exchanged at exchange offices or by cash while buying the property in case you want to apply for citizenship.
Payment is made via bank transfer, it is not possible to use the foreign currency exchanged at exchange offices or by cash. The price of the property is paid in Turkish Lira to the owner of the property. And a title deed and/or notarized sales contract/sales promise contract is obtained with the statement that it will not be sold for 3 years.
Certificate of Conformity is the letter of the Regional Land Registry Directorate stating that the real estate purchased by the foreigner is suitable for the right of residence and citizenship.
After receiving the commitment not to sell the immovable for 3 years, the Land Registry Directorate forwards this operation to the competent authority that will issue a certificate of conformity. When the “Certificate of Conformity” is issued, it is sent to the General Directorate of Migration Management and the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs for information and to the relevant person via e-mail.
As a final step you must apply to the Directorate General of Migration Management for a short-term residence permit under subparagraph J. The foreigner must attend the appointment after the application in person and provide an eye retinal scan and fingerprint.
The Foreign Currency Purchase Certificate shall include at least the name and surname of the person on whose behalf the foreign currency is exchanged, his/her passport number or foreign identity number, the US Dollar and TL equivalent of the foreign currency purchased. In addition, a statement indicating that this transaction is carried out within the scope of “Article 13 of the Capital Movements Circular” should also be included.
The foreign currency can be sold to a bank, first by the buyer to the seller’s account and then by the seller to the central bank for exchange. The most important point here is that the foreign currency purchase document must be executed before the transaction. The sale of foreign currency can be made by the buyer, seller, their proxies or lawyers
If you want to buy a property for 400.000 dollars and obtain Turkish citizenship, you need to pay attention to every detail. Because not every property is suitable for this program. If you do not buy an apartment with the criteria mentioned above, you will not be able to obtain a certificate of conformity and therefore it will not be possible to apply for citizenship.
The points to be considered are generally as follows:
In accordance with Article (13) of the Capital Movements Circular of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, foreign currency must be exchanged for the full amount of the sale price.