Updated 9 October 2026BG-EXPERT

BRIDGES expert

Karim Naser

Head of Istanbul Office, BRIDGES

I run BRIDGES matters in Turkey from the first viewing to the passport or İkamet card: I check the Tapu and the valuation and bring together the seller, the notary, the bank and the migration service. Eighteen years in Turkish deals, heading the BRIDGES Istanbul office since 2019.

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Karim Naser, Head of Istanbul Office, BRIDGES

18 yearsin property and residence deals in Turkey

since 2019heads the BRIDGES Istanbul office

Istanbullives and works in Turkey, on site in Antalya and Ankara

4 languagesArabic, Turkish, Russian, English

Path

Beirut, Moscow, Istanbul

Beirut, Moscow, Istanbul. First a law firm handling foreigners’ deals, then his own practice, now the BRIDGES office in Istanbul.

1982Beirut
Born in Beirut to a Lebanese father and a mother from Moscow. He grew up between the two cities, so Russian is as native to Karim as Arabic.
2000-2005Istanbul
Faculty of law, specialising in civil and land law. He learned Turkish in his first year and by graduation wrote it better than his classmates.
2006-2014Istanbul
Eight years at a law firm: foreigners’ property deals, Tapu, notaries, SPK valuation. He saw buyers lose money on an understated price in the documents and learned to catch it.
2014-2019Istanbul and Antalya
His own practice for Russian-speaking buyers: property checks, deals, residence through property. From 2016, when citizenship by investment opened, his first passport matters.
2019BRIDGES
Opened the BRIDGES office in Istanbul. Built a team on the ground: a lawyer, an interpreter and a person who goes to the property on the day of the request.
TodayIstanbul
Heads the BRIDGES Istanbul office. Every Turkish matter goes through Karim: citizenship, residence through property, Turkish bank accounts, card renewals.

Approach to cases

Six rules that do not depend on the country

Six rules Karim applies to matters in Turkey.

01The full price in the Tapu
The migration service looks at the amount in the documents. An understated price saves the seller tax and costs the client the status.
02A margin above the threshold
The lira rate changes every day. We buy with a margin so the valuation on registration day does not drop below the threshold.
03Mortgages checked before the deposit
The land under the building, the developer’s share, the previous owner’s debts - all visible in the register before the client pays.
04Our person at every signature
Notary, Tapu, bank, migration service: the client never queues alone and never signs what they do not understand.
05A refusal is not the end
A refusal can be appealed within deadlines. First we stop the consequences, then we fix the cause.
06A card is not tax residence
A Turkish residence permit does not make the client a tax resident automatically. We say so honestly before the purchase.

Talks and media

Conferences and meetings

Karim speaks at investment migration conferences in Istanbul and meets clients there. You can book a meeting in advance.

Upcoming conferences

Karim online

BRIDGES on Instagram BRIDGES on LinkedIn BRIDGES YouTube channel

Beyond work

The Bosphorus, the market and a big family

At BRIDGES I make sure a client in Turkey is never alone: at the viewing, at the notary, at the bank, at the migration service. I love the day a passport or card is issued: the client walks out of the office and breathes out for the first time in months.

I grew up between Beirut and Moscow and found my home in Istanbul. I live on the Asian side with my wife and three children. On Sundays we have a big lunch: parents, brothers, neighbours, a table for fifteen.

In the morning I cross the Bosphorus by ferry and drink tea on deck. I love markets, cook Lebanese dishes from my grandmother’s recipes and support Fenerbahçe.

TurkeyDealsIstanbulFamilyCooking

Situations

What people come with

These are the questions clients most often bring to Karim.

Turkish citizenship by investment Turkish residence through property (İkamet) Check an apartment and its Tapu before the deposit SPK valuation below the threshold or a refused permitA Turkish bank deposit instead of propertyA Turkish bank account without residence An apartment near an international schoolİkamet renewal and change of addressSelling the property after the passport is granted

Case stories

Three matters in Karim’s own words

How We Saved Turkey Investor Residence Permit When Property Valuation Dropped Below $200k Due to Lira Exchange Rate

Turkey · residence

Two thousand short because of the lira

Maxim deliberately bought an apartment above the threshold, for 205,000 dollars. On registration day the valuation fell to 198,000 because of the lira rate, a refusal came, and with it the threat of removal within ten days.

First we stopped the removal with an appeal. Then we ordered an independent revaluation and had the Tapu reissued with the correct amount. Since then we always buy with a margin above the threshold.

Outcome: Refusal cancelled, Turkish residence for two years

Read the full case

How a Family Obtained Turkish Residence Permit for a British School with Full Property Valuation

Turkey · residence

An apartment near a British school at an honest price

Saltanat from Astana was looking for an apartment in Ankara near an international school for her two children. The seller wanted to understate the price in the documents, and the migration service counts the official amount.

We found an apartment in the diplomatic Çankaya district where the seller declared the full price, 215,000 dollars, in the Tapu. The deal and the filing took two months, in time for the school year.

Outcome: Turkish residence in two months, children enrolled in a British school

Read the full case

How Our Client Obtained Turkish Citizenship Through a $500,000 Deposit Instead of Real Estate

Turkey · citizenship

A passport without an apartment

Aigerim needed a Turkish passport, but property did not interest her: choosing, registering, maintaining, then selling. We offered another route, a bank deposit.

Aigerim placed 500,000 dollars in a Turkish bank for three years. We chose the bank, checked the deposit terms and assembled the confirmation for the migration service.

Outcome: Turkish citizenship through a deposit

Read the full case

Reviews

What Karim’s clients say

Client reviews from matters Karim ran: who the client is, where they are from, which programme - and a link to the full case.

BRIDGES client reviews

DenisBRIDGES client

Turkey · Citizenship

After a refusal from a Caribbean programme I nearly gave up. Karim went through the reasons for the refusal and built a clean file. I have a Turkish passport.

Read the case

DavidBRIDGES client

Turkey · Citizenship

I wanted the passport to bring income. Karim checked a hotel in Antalya and set it up for the programme. I have citizenship and a working asset.

Read the case

SvetlanaInvestor

Turkey · Residence permit

The district where I chose an apartment was closed to foreigners’ registration. Karim checked it before the deal and found a property in an open district. The money is safe, residence granted.

Read the case

All client reviews →

Materials

64 materials written by Karim

BRIDGES knowledge base materials signed by Karim: Turkish citizenship and residence, Tapu, valuation and Turkish banks.

Showing 20 of 64

BRIDGES sections

Where this practice applies

Citizenship by investment Residence by investment Property for programmes Property and deal checks Client cases How BRIDGES works

Team

Who runs the work alongside Karim

A matter is never run by one person: the legal position, the filing, the documents and the work on the ground each have a named owner.

Igor VencReal Estate Managing DirectorChoosing and checking properties

Anna KovalevskayaHead of LegalLegal position and appeals

Nikos PappasBanking Relations SpecialistPayments and bank accounts

Martin DvorzhakDocument Processing SpecialistTranslation and legalisation of documents

All BRIDGES experts

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Tell us what outcome your family needs

We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.

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Anna Kovalevskaya, lead lawyer at BRIDGES GLOBAL

Anna KovalevskayaLead lawyer, citizenship and residency, 12 years of practice