With the “Regulation on the Amending of the Regulation on the Enforcement of the Turkish Citizenship Law”, published in the Official Gazette dated September 19, 2018, and numbered 30540, it has been decided that foreign nationals determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology to have made a fixed capital investment of USD 500,000 or equivalent foreign currency can be granted citizenship upon the proposal of the Ministry of Interior and the decision of the President of the Republic. Pursuant to the aforementioned Regulation, citizenship applications of foreign natural persons will be evaluated within the framework of the procedures and principles below.

 Application and Evaluation Process

  1. Foreign natural persons who will apply for citizenship based on fixed capital investment1 of USD 500,000 or equivalent foreign currency, make a written application to the Ministry of Industry and Technology with the documents listed below.
    1. The following documents must be included in the annex of the application petition signed by the applicant;
      • The investment information form in ANNEX-1, which is completely filled
      • Photocopy of passport pages containing identity information and residence document if any
      • Signature declaration of the applicant
      • Copy of proxy if applying through a representative
      • If the fixed capital investment constituting the basis of the application is realized through a legal entity, the copy of the Trade Registry Gazette showing the shareholding structure and capital amount of the legal entity that made the said fixed capital investment
      • A special purpose report approved by a CPA, an example of which is included in Annex-2, to determine the fixed capital investment amount of the company. (The report is specifically aimed at determining the fixed investment amount and the paid-in capital of the company must be at a level proportional to the fixed investment)
      • Commitment prepared before a notary public (Annex-3)

1 Fixed capital investment should include investment elements such as land, building, machinery and equipment for the production of goods and services. Purchasing only real property and/or vehicles does not entail the right to apply for exceptional citizenship within the scope of the definition of fixed capital investment, but these expenditures are considered when they are directly related to the investment.

Foreign currency deposit account receipt and bank receipt showing that this amount has been converted into TRY on behalf of the investor

  • Sworn-in Certified Public Accountant's certificate of activity or Independent Audit Firm's Certificate of Incorporation
  • It is not deemed appropriate for the foreign investor to become a partner through the share transfer or the share acquired from the existing partners of the company. However, if it is proved that the company to be a partner makes a capital increase, a foreign investor participates in the capital increase, and it is proven that the increased capital has been paid in cash and added to the paid-in capital, the request will be evaluated. In the event that becoming a shareholder through a capital increase, the shareholding ratio acquired by the foreign investor in the company shall be taken as a basis for calculating the fixed capital share. In addition to the amount that the foreign investor participates in the capital increase, the share of the company in the fixed investment amount documented by the CPA report must be above USD 500,000 as of the date of application.
  • The Ministry may request additional information and documents, taking into account the unique characteristics and special circumstances of the investments.
  1. In case of the application is determined to meet the necessary requirements by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, a confirmation letter shall be sent to the Ministry of Interior Presidency of Migration Management, and the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs. For applications made with missing information and documents, applications that fail to complete the missing information and documents within 1 month following the date of the written notification to the applicant are removed from the process.

 Explanations

  1. In case of the foreign investor completely acquires a non-public company or becomes a partner to a certain extent; the fixed capital amount corresponding to the ratio corresponding to the partnership share acquired by the foreign investor must be at least USD 500,000 or equivalent in foreign currency. Among the investment items, real property and vehicles (including car rental activities) that are not directly related to the field of activity of the investment shall not be included in the fixed investment account.
  2. Natural persons who are entitled to acquire citizenship by making a fixed capital investment cannot transfer their shares in the company to another natural or legal person for at least three years, following the issuance of a certificate of conformity. In cases where a partnership is made, either as a new investment or as a participation in a capital increase, the condition that the shares acquired for the purpose of obtaining citizenship must not be transferredfor at least 3 years should be included in the articles of association of the company and the Trade Registry Gazette, in which the amendment was published, required to be submitted.
  3. Following the application, the Ministry may conduct an on-site inspection for determining the investment, and after issuing a certificate of conformity, the Ministry may conduct an on-site inspection to examine the actual status of the investment without prior notice. Company officials are obliged to submit the information and documents requested from the company during the inspection to the committee assigned by the Ministry.
  4. The process of citizenship procedures of the applicants, who are detected by the administration to which they have applied with a false and misleading document due to its content, is ceased. The aforementioned determinations regarding the persons who have acquired citizenship and the cases where the fixed capital investment is transferred before three years and the minimum amount remaining below shall be notified to the Ministry of Interior. Applications to be made at a later date by persons who apply with false and misleading documents due to their content shall not be taken into account even if they meet the relevant requirements.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.