Turkish Citizenship – Latest changes
Amendments to the Turkish Citizenship law and its consequences
With the regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 12.12.2023, important amendments were made to the Regulation on implementing the Turkish Citizenship Law. If we look at the pre-amendment version of Article 20 to compare the situation before and after the amendment:
“Purchased an IMMOVABLE PROPERTY amounting to at least USD 400.000 or its equivalent in foreign currency, provided that an annotation of non-sale for three years was put on the title deed records“. According to the previous article, it was possible to acquire all immovable properties in Turkey without any qualification restriction, provided that they were not sold for 3 years.
In the new regulation, Article 20 of the regulation states: “the acquisition of immovable property with the qualification of land on which a condominium or a condominium easement has been established or on which a building is located, amounting to at least USD 400,000 or it’s equivalent in foreign currency, provided that an annotation not to be sold for 3 years is placed in the title deed records“. Therefore, immovable properties which is recorded as “ARSA&TARLA” that will be purchased after 12.12.2023 or purchased before 12.12.2023 but for which a 3-year non-sale annotation application has not been made cannot be used for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship.
Another important issue is that not only the sale of immovables with the qualifications of land or field for citizenship purposes is prevented, but also the acquisition of immovables such as warehouses, industrial facilities, farms, etc., which are not in the qualification of BUILDING and on which it is not possible to establish floor easement-condominium ownership, has become impossible for citizenship purposes. In this case, only immovable properties such as apartments, shops, villas, residences, and condominiums can be acquired for citizenship purposes.
The phrase “immovable property with the qualification of land on which there is a structure” raises many question marks regarding implementation. Because in terms of the content of the concept of structure, it has a much broader scope than the concept of BUILDING. However, it would be appropriate to understand this phrase as buildings located on an immovable property qualified as land(ARSA), but which have not been licensed or have not been licensed for various reasons.
The Regulation will enter into force on the date of its publication. For this reason, it will not be possible to apply for Turkish citizenship on immovables with the characteristics of land and field, which were acquired for citizenship purposes before 12.12.2023, but for which a 3-year non-sale annotation application has not been made. If the land and field are immovable
– Purchased before 12.12.2023 in title deed authority or sales agreement in public notary
– and an application has been made for 3 years of unsaleability annotation, this will constitute a vested right and it will be possible to obtain citizenship through these immovables.
Attorney Selimhan CİNAS
Regulation Text: https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2023/12/20231212-31.pdf
