The Turkish government soon to offer citizenship to investors for buying a property for $300,000, cutting the current requirement from $1 million (by 70%) to receive Turkish citizenship. The Government soon to submit an omni-bill to the parliament lowering the investment requirements.
Update: Turkey has cut prices to $250,000. Read here
Turkey has currently active citizenship by investment program running in the country. According to Invest Turkey, the current investment requirements are..
As per the new regulations published in the Official Gazette on January 12, 2017, foreigners who meet any of the following conditions may be eligible for Turkish citizenship, subject to the proposal of the Ministry and the decision of the Council of Ministers:
- Proven by the Ministry of Economy to have made a minimum fixed capital investment of USD 2,000,000
- Proven by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization to have acquired a real estate worth a minimum of USD 1,000,000 with a title deed restriction on its resale for at least three years
- Proven by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to have created jobs for at least 100 people
- Proven by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency to have deposited at least USD 3,000,000 in banks operating in Turkey with the condition of not to withdraw for at least three years
- Proven by the Undersecretariat of the Treasury to have bought at least USD 3,000,000 worth of government bonds with the condition that they cannot be sold for at least three years
- Proven by the Capital Markets Board of Turkey to have bought at least USD 1,500,000 worth of real estate investment fund share or venture capital investment fund share with the condition that they cannot be sold for at least three years
According to Global Property Guide, The initiative is expected to bring $10 billion foreign exchange per month. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait make up the biggest group of foreign buyers in Turkey.
Real Estate
According to figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), foreigners bought more than 22,000 homes in Turkey in 2017, with Iraqis and Saudis topping the list. The latest TUIK data, released March 21, show that Iraqis remain on top of the list, buying 308 homes in February, Al Monitor reported last month.
In residential sales in 2017, Istanbul took the first place with 238 383 residential sales and 16.9% share. Istanbul, according to the number of sales, 150,561 home sales with 10.7% share and Ankara, Izmir 84 184 residential sales and was followed by a 6% share. The least sales were realized in Hakkari with 124 houses.
The housing sales to foreigners has increased by 22.2% compared with the previous year in 2017. In 2017, the first order was Istanbul with 8 182 houses and the second order was Antalya with 4707 residences. Antalya saw 1 474 residential sales with Bursa and 1 079 residential sales with Yalova.
According to GYODER figures, Iraqis made the largest number of home purchases — 4,341 — last year, followed by Saudis with 2,351, Kuwaitis with 1,771, Russians with 1,686, Germans with 1,627, Afghans with 1,620 and Britons with 1,465. Nationals of other countries bought 9,824 more homes. The statistics, however, do not indicate how many of those homes were worth $1 million or more to make their buyers eligible for Turkish citizenship, according to Al monitor
Turkish passport
In a recently released Henley passport rankings, Turkey has the 49th powerful passport in the world with visa free access to 111 countries.
Source: Global Property Guide
