Turkish Citizenship by Investment Law: legal framework and government agencies in 2026

What law is the program based on?

The right of a foreigner to obtain a Turkish passport for investment stems not from departmental instructions or from the promises of the developer, but from an act of parliament - Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, adopted on May 29, 2009. This law describes all methods of acquiring Turkish citizenship: by birth, by marriage, by long-term residence and - in a separate line - in an exceptional manner. It was the last category that became the legal “container” for the investment program.

Key norm - article 12. Its subparagraph (b) expressly allows for the granting of citizenship to foreigners who “make investments in the amount and categories determined by the President,” along with their spouses and minor or dependent children. That is, the law itself does not name specific amounts: it delegates the right to set thresholds to the executive branch. This was done deliberately - in order to adjust the numbers without the long procedure of amending the law.

The specifics are set by the subordinate level: Regulations on the application of the Citizenship Law, issued under Article 46 of Law No. 5901, as well as Council of Ministers Decision 2018/11973 and the Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete) on September 18, 2018. It was this package that introduced the current logic of investment categories and amounts. We gave a detailed practical analysis of amounts and steps in guide to Turkish citizenship by investment.

Exclusive citizenship versus naturalization by residence

To understand the legal nature of an investment passport, it is important to distinguish between two completely different routes within the same law.

Ordinary naturalization (Article 11) - this is the “classical” way. It requires five years of continuous legal residence in Turkey, sufficient knowledge of the Turkish language, intention to settle in the country, no threat to public order or health, and an integration assessment. The applicant effectively proves that he has become part of Turkish society. The decision in such a case is ultimately made by the Ministry of the Interior.

Exclusive citizenship (istisnai vatandaşlık, article 12) it's arranged differently. There is no requirement to live for five years, no language exam and no integration assessment. The law sets only one substantive condition - the absence of obstacles from the point of view of national security and public order. The investor is not required to move to Turkey and physically live in it in order to maintain his status.

• Duration of presence: naturalization - 5 years of residence; investment route - no accommodation required.
• Language and integration: are checked during naturalization; with exclusive citizenship - no.
• Who decides: naturalization is approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; exclusive citizenship is granted personally by the president by decree.
• Base: in the investment case - a completed investment in approved categories and amounts.

We analyzed the comparison of different jurisdictions according to this logic in the material UAE or Türkiye: which is more profitable?.

Which government agencies are handling the case?

Turkish citizenship by investment passes through a chain of departments, and each is responsible for its own area. Understanding this chain removes the applicant’s main fear - that “the papers will go to waste.”

General Directorate for Population and Citizenship Affairs (Nüfus ve Vatandaşlık İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü, NVI) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the central authority. It is his citizenship departments that formulate and verify the case, verify compliance with investment thresholds and conditions, and prepare a presentation. Official portal of the department - nvi.gov.tr, where Law No. 5901 itself and the procedure for acquiring citizenship were published.

Main Directorate of Migration (Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı) and its provincial departments (İl Göç İdaresi) are connected at the residence permit stage: before applying for citizenship, the investor usually issues a short-term residence permit. We described this track separately in the review how to obtain Turkish citizenship step by step.

Relevant departments confirm the very fact of the investment: cadastral management (TKGM) - real estate transaction through TAPU; Capital Markets Council (SPK) - site assessment report; banks and regulator - deposit or investment in funds; Ministry of Labor - creation of 50 jobs. Then the matter goes to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and then to the president’s desk. Final act - presidential decree (Cumhurbaşkanı Kararı), which is published in Resmi Gazete; From the moment of publication, citizenship is considered acquired.

What the law requires from an investor

The law and regulations specify a closed list of investment categories. You need to complete one of them - and keep the investment for a specified period.

• Property from $400,000. Purchase of one or more objects with an obligation not to sell them for at least 3 years; the ban is recorded in the TAPU register. The cost is confirmed by an appraiser's report according to SPK rules.
• Bank deposit from $500,000 in a Turkish bank with a retention period of 3 years.
• Government bonds from $500,000 with retention for 3 years.
• Investment fund units from $500,000 (real estate or venture capital funds) with a retention period of 3 years.
• Creation of 50 jobs, confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

The family is included in one file: the main applicant, his or her spouse and any minor or dependent children. An adult child passes as an independent investor or through the division of shares in the asset. Türkiye allows dual citizenship - the law does not require you to renounce your previous passport. It is important to take a sober look at the status of the passport: Türkiye is neither a member of the EU nor Schengen, but is included in the list of countries party to the agreement E-2 with USA, which opens the way to an E-2 investor visa. If you are preparing a budget and documents, it makes sense discuss the deal structure with a BRIDGES GLOBAL consultant before the first payment.

Legal status and legality of the passport

The main question that reasonable people ask is: “Is this even legal and recognized?” The answer is yes, and here's why. Turkish investment citizenship is a full-fledged citizenship, and not a separate “investor” class with reduced rights. After the publication of the presidential decree, a person receives the same rights as any Turkish citizen: a national passport, the right to vote, access to government services, the right to live and work in the country without restrictions. The documents do not contain the note “received for investment.”

From the point of view of international law, citizenship is the sovereign prerogative of the state. Türkiye determines who and under what conditions to accept as citizens, and does this through its own law No. 5901 and presidential decrees. Therefore, the passport is recognized abroad as a regular Turkish travel document. This fundamentally distinguishes the Turkish model from “gray” schemes: there are no fictitious grounds, each case is verified, and the basis is a real economic investment.

It is worth understanding the other side. The law directly stipulates that fulfillment of all conditions does not in itself give rise to an unconditional right for citizenship: the administration has discretionary powers and in exceptional cases can refuse for security reasons. In addition, if a forgery or fictitious transaction is revealed, citizenship can be canceled or revoked. That is why the purity of the source of funds and the reliability of documents are critical - our analysis is dedicated to this due diligence checks when applying for Turkish citizenship.

Due diligence and the role of security

The discretion of the administration is not an empty formulation. There are several security filters in the way of investing, and they should not be underestimated.

Once NVI has accepted a complete case, it is subject to national security and public order review. The special services and the General Directorate of Security are involved in the procedure: the applicant’s connections, the source of origin of funds, presence in sanctions and search databases, and reputational risks are checked. Only if there are no obstacles does the matter move further - through the Ministry of Internal Affairs for presentation to the president.

In practice, this means that it is important for the applicant to collect a transparent picture in advance: confirmation of the legal origin of the money, a clean transaction with a correct valuation, and the absence of problematic jurisdictions in the payment chain. The weak point of most refusals and delays is not the amount of investment, but questions regarding documents and money. Therefore, competent support begins not with choosing an apartment, but with an audit of the applicant’s profile.

It is useful to keep official primary sources at hand - for example, a description of the procedure for acquiring citizenship on the website Main Directorate for Population and Citizenship Affairs. If you want your profile and deal to be reviewed before submitting, Request an estimate from the BRIDGES GLOBAL team.

How the law turns into a passport: the route of the case

The legal framework is beautiful on paper, but it is important for the applicant to see how the rules unfold into a real sequence of steps. Schematically the path looks like this.

• Step 1. Investment. Purchase of real estate, deposit, bonds, fund shares or hiring 50 employees - according to the selected category, subject to the amount and withholding obligations.
• Step 2. Certificate of conformity. The relevant department (for example, in the case of real estate - cadastre and assessment according to SPK) issues confirmation that the investment meets the requirements of the program.
• Step 3. Residence permit. Through the provincial migration department, a short-term residence permit is issued as a technical status for applying for citizenship.
• Step 4. Apply for citizenship. The case is submitted to the NVI department: questionnaires, passports, documents on investments and family composition.
• Step 5. Checks. Document control, security assessment, submission through the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
• Step 6. Presidential Decree. The final decision is a decree published in Resmi Gazete; from that moment on, the person is a citizen.
• Step 7. Documents. Entry into the population register, issuance of an identity card (kimlik) and a foreign passport.

In terms of timing, the procedure usually takes about 3-8 months, depending on the workload of the organs and the purity of the case. Detailed step-by-step mechanics - in our guide how to obtain Turkish citizenship.

Where the law places restrictions and risks

The law not only opens up opportunities, but also sets boundaries, which it is more to know about in advance.

Prohibition of early sales. For real estate and financial investments, a retention obligation of 3 years applies. Selling an object ahead of schedule or early withdrawal of the deposit is a direct basis for revocation of citizenship. The ban on alienation of real estate is recorded in the TAPU register; it is technically impossible to circumvent it.

“Closed” areas and type of object. Separate rules concern restrictions on purchases by foreigners in a number of locations, as well as requirements for a correct market valuation - the artificially inflated value of an object will not pass the SPK test. These nuances more often emerge specifically in investment citizenship, and not in the route of a residence permit for real estate, which has its own thresholds and its own “closed” neighborhoods.

Discretion and security. As noted above, the state has the right to refuse even if the conditions are formally met. This is not a reason for paranoia, but a reason to take seriously the source of funds and reputational integrity.

If you are choosing between the Turkish model and the Caribbean programs, it is useful to compare the logic and risks in the materials Grenada or TürkiyeandVanuatu or Türkiye.

Bottom line: why the legal framework is the main argument

Turkish citizenship by investment is based on a strong legal structure: Parliamentary Law No. 5901, Article 12 on exclusive citizenship, the secondary regulation on Article 46 and the Presidential Decree setting the amounts. The chain is led by clear authorities - the Department of Population and Citizenship Affairs as the central authority, the migration service at the residence permit stage, the relevant departments to confirm the investment and the president as the final authority.

This path differs fundamentally from naturalization by residence: five years of living in the country, language and integration are not required, but a real investment and passing security checks are required. In this case, the passport is full-fledged, without marks or impairments in rights, recognized abroad as an ordinary Turkish document.

For an investor, this means a simple thing: with a clean profile and a correctly executed transaction, the decision is based on the law, and not on someone’s good will. That is why preparation should begin not with the selection of an object, but with a legal audit of the case. The BRIDGES GLOBAL team is building a deal in accordance with the letter of Law No. 5901 - discuss your case during a consultation.