Turkey’s Citizenship by Investment Program
Last updated: April 2026
At a glance
Minimum investment
USD 400,000
Processing time
3 – 6 months
Visa-free access
~113 destinations
Dual citizenship
Permitted
Turkey’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program is one of the most established direct-citizenship-by-investment routes in the world. Unlike golden visa programs that grant residency first and require years of physical presence before naturalization, Turkey offers a direct path to full citizenship within approximately three to six months of making a qualifying investment. The program has been fully operational since 2017 and remains open as of April 2026 with no suspension or pause.
The program is particularly popular among investors from the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia who value Turkish citizenship for its global mobility, business access, and the E-2 Treaty Investor visa pathway to the United States. Turkey also allows dual citizenship without restrictions under Turkish law, meaning investors do not need to renounce their existing nationality.
Golden visa vs. direct citizenship
Many investors searching for a “Turkey golden visa” are actually looking for Turkey’s CBI program, but the two concepts are different. A golden visa typically grants temporary or permanent residency in exchange for investment, with citizenship available only after several years of physical presence. Turkey’s program skips the residency-waiting phase entirely: once the investment is verified and due diligence is passed, citizenship is granted directly. Turkey does also issue a short-term investor residence permit as part of the CBI application process, but this is a procedural step, not a standalone product. The end result is full Turkish citizenship and a Turkish passport.
Investment routes
Turkey offers four qualifying investment routes. All routes require a minimum three-year holding period before the investment can be liquidated or sold.
| Route | Minimum amount | Holding period | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real estate | USD 400,000 | 3 years | Multiple properties can be combined to meet the threshold. Title deed annotated with a three-year sale restriction. Residential, commercial, or qualifying land. |
| Bank deposit | USD 500,000 | 3 years | Deposited in a Turkish bank. May be split across multiple banks. Withdrawal restricted for three years. |
| Government bonds or investment funds | USD 500,000 | 3 years | Must be maintained for three years. Bonds or fund units purchased through authorized institutions. |
| Business / fixed capital | USD 500,000 | 3 years | Fixed capital investment of USD 500,000 in a Turkish company, or creation of at least 50 full-time jobs for Turkish nationals. |
The real estate route is the most popular. Foreign currency must be converted into Turkish lira through the Central Bank’s DAB system to finalize real estate transactions. The property can be sold after the three-year holding period, although subsequent buyers cannot use the same property for their own CBI application. Property valuations are subject to government scrutiny, and transactions involving overvaluation or inflated appraisals risk denial or retroactive revocation.
Key benefits of Turkish citizenship
Global mobility
Turkish passport holders have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to approximately 113 destinations as of the 2026 Henley Passport Index, ranking around 44th–45th globally. Key visa-free destinations include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, and most of Central and South America. Turkish citizens require a visa for the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Schengen visa access
Turkish citizens apply for a standard Type C short-stay Schengen visa, which allows travel across Schengen countries for up to 90 days within any 180-day period. A July 2025 “cascade rule” introduced faster progression to multi-entry visas (MEV): applicants with a good travel history can advance to one-year, three-year, and five-year MEVs more quickly. This is a procedural facilitation, not a visa waiver. Turkey remains a formal EU accession candidate, but negotiations have been frozen for years with no near-term change expected.
E-2 Treaty Investor visa to the United States
Turkey has a bilateral Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with the United States (1990), making Turkish citizens eligible for the E-2 Treaty Investor visa. The E-2 allows the holder and their family to live and work in the United States while operating or investing in a qualifying US business.
However, Turkish citizens who acquired citizenship through the CBI program face an additional requirement. The AMIGOS Act, signed into law on December 23, 2022 (Pub. L. 117-263, amending INA § 101(a)(15)(E)), requires that CBI-acquired citizens must have been continuously domiciled in Turkey for at least three years before applying for an E-2 visa. “Domicile” in this context means establishing Turkey as the principal residence with intent to remain indefinitely, supported by evidence such as tax residency, bank accounts, property, family ties, and school enrollment. A Turkish residence permit alone is not sufficient.
This three-year domicile requirement applies only to investors who obtained Turkish citizenship through a financial investment program. Turkish citizens who acquired citizenship through ordinary naturalization, descent, or marriage face no such requirement and may apply for an E-2 visa immediately. Additionally, since September 2025, the US State Department requires E-2 applicants to apply at the US consulate in their country of citizenship or residence, ending the practice of third-country filing.
Dual citizenship
Turkey permits its citizens to hold multiple citizenships without restriction. Whether dual citizenship is possible in practice depends on the laws of the investor’s home country. Some countries revoke citizenship upon acquisition of a foreign nationality, so investors should verify their home country’s rules before proceeding.
Rights of citizenship
Turkish citizenship grants the full right to live, work, and study in Turkey without any permit requirements, access to the public healthcare system (GSS), political rights including voting, and the ability to pass citizenship to future generations through descent (jus sanguinis).
Application process
The entire process can be completed remotely through an apostilled power of attorney, without the applicant needing to visit Turkey in person. The typical timeline for the real estate route is as follows:
| Stage | What happens | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Preparation | Obtain a Turkish tax ID, open a bank account, engage legal counsel, and prepare documents | 1 – 4 weeks |
| 2. Investment | Complete the real estate purchase (or other qualifying investment). Title deed annotated with a three-year sale restriction for real estate | 2 – 4 weeks |
| 3. Certificate of Conformity | Ministry of Environment and Urbanization reviews the transaction and issues a Certificate of Conformity | 4 – 8 weeks |
| 4. Residence permit | Apply for a short-term investor residence permit (a procedural prerequisite) | 2 – 4 weeks |
| 5. Citizenship application | Submit citizenship application with all documents and proof of investment. Ministry of Interior and National Intelligence (MİT) conduct background checks | 3 – 5 months |
| 6. Approval and oath | Oath of allegiance and issuance of citizenship certificate, followed by Turkish ID and passport | 1 – 2 weeks |
Document checklist
The main applicant typically needs the following documents. All foreign documents must be apostilled and translated into Turkish by a sworn translator:
- Valid passport (with at least six months’ remaining validity)
- Biometric passport photographs
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate (if applicable)
- Criminal background certificate from the country of nationality and any country of residence
- Health certificate
- Source-of-funds documentation (bank statements covering 6–12 months)
- Title deed with CBI annotation (real estate route) or proof of deposit, bond purchase, or capital investment
- Certificate of Conformity from the Ministry of Environment
- Power of attorney (if applying remotely, must be apostilled)
Family inclusion
The main applicant can include their spouse and dependent children under the age of 18 in the citizenship application at no additional investment requirement. Children with disabilities may be included regardless of age. Government processing fees apply per family member (approximately USD 574 per applicant, though this fee is denominated in Turkish lira and may be adjusted periodically). Dependent parents are not consistently confirmed as eligible for inclusion and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Due diligence and denial risks
Turkey conducts thorough due diligence through multiple agencies: the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (for the Certificate of Conformity), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA, for bank deposit verification), the Ministry of Treasury and Finance (for bonds), and National Intelligence (MİT) for background security reviews.
Common reasons for denial include a criminal record, anti-money-laundering (AML) red flags, inadequate source-of-funds documentation, property overvaluation or inflated appraisals, biometric or document issues, and nationality-based security restrictions. Turkey does not publish official approval-rate statistics. In recent years, compliance enforcement has increased, with stricter scrutiny of property valuations, DAB currency-conversion requirements, seller eligibility, and title-history checks. Transactions involving sham or inflated deals carry a risk of retroactive revocation of citizenship.
Tax considerations
Turkey’s tax system distinguishes between residents and non-residents. Residents (defined as individuals who spend six or more continuous months in Turkey in a calendar year) are taxed on worldwide income at progressive rates of 15%, 20%, 27%, 35%, and 40%. The top rate of 40% applies to income above the highest inflation-indexed threshold. Non-resident Turkish citizens are taxed only on Turkish-source income, such as rental income from Turkish property, Turkish employment income, or Turkish-source capital gains.
For real estate investors, capital gains tax is an important consideration. If the property is sold after a holding period of more than five years, the capital gain is fully exempt from income tax. If sold between three and five years (after the mandatory CBI holding period expires), the gain is taxable at progressive rates of 15% to 40%, subject to an annual indexed exemption and inflation adjustment. Turkey also levies annual property taxes, inheritance tax at progressive rates of 1% to 10%, and gift tax at rates of 10% to 30%.
Turkey has double-taxation agreements with many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, which can reduce or eliminate double taxation on income for CBI investors. Turkey does not impose a wealth tax or a known exit tax.
Military service
Male Turkish citizens are generally subject to mandatory military service. However, under Article 43 of Law No. 7179, males who obtain Turkish citizenship at age 22 or older are classified as having bypassed the conscription age and are typically exempt. Additionally, a paid military service buyout option is available (approximately 417,000 TRY as of 2026). Most CBI applicants fall into one or both of these exemption categories.
2026 program updates
The Turkey CBI program remains fully operational in 2026 with no suspension or threshold changes. Investment minimums are unchanged from the 2022 adjustment (USD 400,000 for real estate, USD 500,000 for other routes). Key developments to be aware of include stricter compliance and audit enforcement on property valuations and DAB currency-conversion requirements, the AMIGOS Act impact on E-2 visa eligibility for CBI holders (three-year domicile requirement enacted December 2022), and the September 2025 US State Department policy requiring E-2 applications to be filed at consulates in the applicant’s country of citizenship or residence.
Risks and disadvantages
While Turkey’s CBI program offers compelling benefits, investors should weigh the following considerations. The Turkish lira has experienced significant depreciation over the past decade, which can affect the real-value return on a Turkish-denominated real estate investment. Property valuations are subject to government scrutiny, and inflated or sham transactions carry the risk of denial or retroactive revocation. The E-2 pathway to the United States, while valuable, now requires three years of domicile for CBI holders, adding both time and commitment. Turkey requires a Schengen visa for European travel, unlike CBI programs from Caribbean nations that offer visa-free Schengen access. Finally, investors who become tax residents (by spending six or more months per year in Turkey) will be taxed on worldwide income at rates up to 40%.
