SPK real estate assessment for Turkish citizenship: why it is needed and how it works in 2026

What is an SPK appraiser report and why you can’t do without it

When a foreigner buys real estate in Turkey for the sake of a passport, the state does not take its word for the number in the sales contract. The seller and buyer can agree on any amount - lower it to save on taxes or, conversely, draw a beautiful price. Therefore, the law requires independent proof of the real market value of the property. This evidence is assessment report (değerleme raporu)which is prepared by a company licensed by the Turkish Capital Markets Authority - Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (SPK).

SPK is the Turkish financial markets regulator, similar to the Securities Commission. It accredits appraisal companies, maintains their register and revokes licenses for violations. The report of such an appraiser is not a formality or a certificate from a real estate agency. This is a 20-40 page document with photographs of the property, an extract from the cadastre, an analysis of comparable transactions in the area, an assessment of the quality of construction, legal status and zoning. It is this that forms the basis of the application for citizenship and is checked by officials line by line.

Without a valid SPK report, the application will not be physically accepted: this is a mandatory document along with an extract from the register (TAPU) and a certificate of currency transaction. If the report shows a value lower than $400,000 - even by a hundred dollars - the path to a passport through this facility is closed. We write in detail about the program itself in guide to Turkish citizenship by investment.

The three-digit rule: why the state looks at DAB, SPK and TAPU assessments

The main thing that confuses beginners is that the threshold of $400,000 is not one amount, but three different numbers, and each of them must reach the bar. The Turkish system deliberately reconciles money at three independent levels to eliminate fraud. If at least one digit falls below the threshold, the file is rejected.

• Payment via DAB (Döviz Alım Belgesi) - currency purchase certificate. Money for the object must go to Turkey and be sold to the bank in lira through the Central Bank (TCMB), and the bank issues a DAB certificate in the amount of at least $400,000. This proves that the investor actually brought currency into the country, and did not conduct a transaction “on paper.”
• SPK rating - market value according to the report of a licensed appraiser. It must be ≥$400,000 on the date of the report.
• Cost in TAPU - the amount that will be entered into the certificate of ownership when registering the transaction in the cadastre (Tapu Müdürlüğü). Previously, it was massively underestimated for the sake of tax - now this is a direct path to refusal.

The point of triple reconciliation is simple: the government wants to see that real money (DAB), independent market valuation (SPK) and officially declared price (TAPU) converge at one point - and this point is not lower than $400,000. Any attempt to save on one of the figures destroys the entire structure. In practice, this means that you can no longer negotiate a lower price with the seller in TAPU: then you either lose citizenship or pay the tax .

Reform 2024: GEDAŞ and random appointment of an appraiser against cheating

Until 2024, the scheme had a hole. The investor (or his developer) could choose an appraisal company from the entire pool of SPK-licensed firms. It is not difficult to guess where this led: there was a “friendly” appraiser who drew the required figure in the report. An object that actually cost $250-300 thousand turned into $400,000+ on paper, and the person received a passport for the undervalued property. This hit both the reputation of the program and the budget.

In 2024, the General Directorate of Land Registry (Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü) issued a circular 2024/2, which closed the loophole. Now, for citizenship purposes, an assessment cannot be ordered from any company of your choice. All assessments under CBI are carried out centrally through GEDAŞ Gayrimenkul Değerleme A.Ş. is a structure affiliated with the state housing authority TOKİ. The application is submitted through the WebTapu portal, and the appraiser is appointed by the system, not the investor.

The effect is double. Firstly, “shopping” by appraiser has disappeared - you can no longer go around ten firms in search of the most generous figure. Secondly, valuations have become closer to the real market because the appointed appraiser has no commercial incentive to please the client. For a buyer, this is even a plus: there is less risk of running into a property that the developer has artificially “inflated” to the threshold, and on the secondary market it is not worth even half. But there is no room left for manipulation - the figure must now be provided by the real cost of the object.

How the assessment works: step by step from application to report

The procedure is built into the overall purchasing process and usually runs in parallel with the preparation of the transaction. Understanding the steps helps you avoid wasting time and not getting a surprise in the form of an underestimated figure at the most crucial moment.

• Step 1. Selecting an object and preliminary verification. Before ordering an appraisal, soberly assess whether the property is worth $400,000 on the market. An experienced consultant makes an estimate in advance so as not to pay for the report blindly.
• Step 2. Application for assessment. The request is submitted through the WebTapu/TADEBİS system. The appraiser is appointed through GEDAŞ - the investor himself does not choose the company.
• Step 3: Inspection and data collection. The appraiser visits the property, takes photographs, compares the area and condition with the cadastre, checks the legal status, zoning, encumbrances and comparable transactions in the area.
• Step 4. Compiling a report. A detailed document is being prepared with the final market value in lira and the equivalent in dollars at the Central Bank exchange rate. Duration: approximately 3-7 working days.
• Step 5. Registration in systems. The report is recorded in registers (TAKBİS, WebTapu, GEDAŞ), after which officials see it when applying for citizenship.

The cost of the report itself is small compared to the transaction - approximately several hundred dollars per object (in 2025 the fixed tariff was called in the region of several tens of thousands of lire). The validity period of the report is limited: according to various sources, from 3 to 6 months, so the assessment is not done “in reserve” long before the transaction - it must be fresh at the time of registration and submission. What objects generally qualify for the program, we analyze in the material about suitable property for Turkish citizenship.

A reserve of 5-10% on the lira exchange rate: why is it critical

Here lies a trap that even prepared buyers stumble upon. The citizenship threshold is fixed in dollars ($400,000), but Turkish real estate and official valuations are calculated in liras. And the lira is an unstable currency; it can weaken by several percent literally in the weeks between signing the contract, payment and registration.

Imagine: the appraiser valued the apartment in lira, which at the exchange rate on the day of the report gives exactly $400,000. While the documents are being prepared, the lira is sinking by 4-5%. And now an object that yesterday “cost” $400,000 turns into $382,000 in dollar terms. Formally, there is a shortfall in the threshold, and the application risks being rejected, although in fact you did nothing wrong. The exchange rate difference ate up your application.

That is why the professional standard is to lay margin 5-10% on top and aim not at exactly $400,000, but at an estimate of $420,000-440,000. This buffer absorbs fluctuations in the lira at the junction of dates and provides a cushion if the appointed appraiser turns out to be more conservative than the developer expected. Being greedy at this stage means risking the entire deal to save a few percent. Against the backdrop of obtaining a passport, this is bad arithmetic. An experienced team always takes the object with a reserve, and not right next to the threshold.

What if the score is below the threshold: scenarios and refusal

The most painful scenario is that the SPK report comes in, and it contains less than $400,000. This happens when the developer has inflated the sale price relative to the real market, when the resale property is overvalued by the seller, or when the lira has moved unsuccessfully. What happens next and what are the solutions?

• Refusal for this item. If the final score is below the threshold, you cannot apply for citizenship through this property. No amount of verbal agreements and “additional payments past the register” will save the situation - they look at the figure in the official report.
• Renegotiation of the deal. Sometimes you can renegotiate the conditions: add another object from the same seller to the purchase so that the total assessment reaches the threshold (the program allows several objects to be taken into account in one application).
• Selecting another unit. If there is a larger apartment or a property with a better appraisal in the same complex, it is wiser to switch to it than to argue with the appraiser.
• Replacing an entire object. It happens that it is easier to get out of an unsuitable option and take a property that costs over the threshold with a margin.

Key lesson: underestimation cannot be “pushed” - with the transition to GEDAŞ, the choice of a loyal appraiser is excluded. Therefore, all work on checking the cost must be done BEFORE payment and registration, and not after. A competent preliminary assessment of the market saves both money and nerves. We discuss the connection between real estate and a passport in detail in the guide about Turkish citizenship through real estate.

How to prepare for an assessment: checklist and our conditions

To ensure that the SPK assessment goes smoothly and leads to a passport and not a refusal, it makes sense to prepare in advance. Here is a working checklist that we use on client transactions.

• Consider the market, not the developer's promises. Before ordering an appraisal, independently estimate the real value of the property based on comparable transactions. If the seller quotes $400,000, and around the same apartments go for $320,000, the GEDAŞ appraiser will see this.
• Take the object with a margin of 5-10%. Aim for an estimate of $420,000-$440,000 so lira fluctuations and the appraiser's conservatism don't derail the bid.
• Check the "closedness" of the area. This is more important for a residence permit, but when purchasing under citizenship, you should make sure that the object is legally clean and free of encumbrances.
• Sync your dates. DAB, assessment and registration with TAPU must be completed within a short period of time while the report is valid (3-6 months).
• Keep three digits above the threshold at a time. Do not underestimate the TAPU value for the sake of tax - this ruins the application.

We at BRIDGES GLOBAL handle the entire transaction: we check the property for its real value before the appraisal, control the correct amount in DAB and TAPU, support the appointment of an appraiser through GEDAŞ and insure exchange rate risks with a threshold margin. If you are considering a Turkish passport through real estate - discuss your property with our specialists before making a deposit. Early verification costs less than refusal after payment.

Expert review: what do we look at first in a report?

Getting the SPK report is half the battle. It is important to read it correctly, because it contains details that determine the fate of the application. What do we look at first when a report comes into our hands?

• Final figure and currency. We check the market value in lira and the dollar equivalent at the Central Bank exchange rate to see if it reaches the threshold with a margin.
• Report date and validity period. Is the document fresh? Do we manage to meet the registration window before it expires?
• Comparable transactions. On what analogues did the appraiser base his conclusion - whether they are artificially inflated, whether the assessment will withstand the official’s inspection.
• Legal status and encumbrances. Is the property clean, are there any arrests, disputes, or zoning problems?
• Coincidence of areas. Does the footage in the report correspond to the cadastre and the contract?

These five points cover most of the risk of failure. If something doesn't add up, it's better to fix it before submitting than to have your application returned. It is useful to compare Turkey with other programs - for example, in materials UAE vs TurkeyandGrenada vs Turkey It’s clear where Türkiye wins in speed and where it lags in visa-free travel.

Official sources and where to check data

Investment migration is an area where numbers and rules change, and the cost of an error is refusal and lost time. Therefore, any important detail should be checked with the original source, and not with advertising articles of developers. Here are the guidelines.

• Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (SPK) - a regulator that accredits appraisal companies and maintains their register. Official website: spk.gov.tr.
• Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü (TKGM) - Land Registry, the body that issued Circular 2024/2 on the centralization of assessments through GEDAŞ and the leading register of TAPU: tkgm.gov.tr.

What is important to keep in mind: the program rules and thresholds are periodically revised, and the exchange rate situation for the lira is dynamic. Therefore, we always confirm specific figures on the report, valuation tariff and deadlines as of the date of the transaction, rather than relying on last year’s data. If a fact is not confirmed in open sources, we mark it as indicative and check it directly through Turkish government agencies and our lawyers on the spot. This approach protects the client from unpleasant surprises at the final stage, when the money has already been brought into the country.