Turkish citizenship requirements are twofold: First way is getting citizenship by birth and place of birth. Second way is acquiring citizenship later by meeting the conditions.
Titles
Citizenship by Birth
Citizenship by birth refers to citizenship that is acquired during birth. There are two ways to acquire Turkish citizenship by birth:
Citizenship by paternity or maternity
In this condition, if one of the child’s parents is Turkish, it is enough for the child to be a Turkish citizen. If the child is born without marriage; if the mother is Turkish, the child gets citizenship immediately but if the mother is foreigner and father is Turkish the child waits for the judicial process of DNA match to get the citizenship.
Citizenship by birth of place
If the child’s parents can’t be known or the parents are stateless the child can be a Turkish citizen.
Citizenship Acquired After Birth
There are various ways to acquire Turkish citizenship for foreigners. Here are the Turkish citizenship requirements:
Conditions for General Application:
This means the foreigner applies for citizenship and get citizenship by meeting the required criteria. Here are the criteria:
- First, the foreigner has to be an adult for his own country’s constitution. If the person is stateless then, he or she has to be an adult for the Turkish constitution, which is 18.
- The person has to live in Turkey at least for 5 years before the application date. For the Turkish citizens, the minimum is 2 years.
- The person has to indicate his or her willingness to live in Turkey:
There are various ways to show the willingness to live Turkey to the Turkish authorities. You can show your willingness by buying an immovable asset worth of at least $250.000. It was $1.000.000 before the adjustment made in 2018. So, getting Turkish citizenship through buying an immovable asset is more profitable in these days. For the houses, offices and other immovable asset opportunities in İstanbul, Antalya, Bursa and other big cities of İstanbul, you can visit here.
The second way to show the willingness to live in Turkey is through making the capital investment worth of at least $500.000. The minimum was $2.000.000 before the adjustment made in citizenship law in 2018. Therefore, acquiring Turkish citizenship by making capital investment is much more profitable for these days.
The third way to show your willingness to live in Turkey is through establishing a business that employs at least 50 people.
The fourth way to show your willingness to live in Turkey is through buying state bonds worth of at least $500.000. This minimum amount was also reduced in 2018 with an adjustment in citizenship laws.
The fourth way is to marry a Turkish citizen and stay married for at least 3 years. The minimum is a proof for the marriage is not made to get citizenship only. In the case of divorce after becoming a citizen, the citizenship status is not affected.
The fifth way is to get an education in Turkey. By studying in Turkey, you can show your willingness to live in Turkey to Turkish authorities.
Additionally, the applications that are made for the whole family are more persuasive than personal applications.
Overall, Turkish citizenship requirements are much more profitable compared to other European countries and past years. Turkish authorities enable you to sell or give away all your investments and immovable assets after three years of becoming a Turkish citizen. The same is valid for marriages, too.
Conditions for Exceptional Applications
For the foreigners who have exceptional features, the Turkish authorities may give citizenship even though they do not meet the general criteria outlined above. Here are the conditions to acquire Turkish citizenship through exceptional way:
- For the foreigners who show successes in industrial, technological, economic, social and sportive areas, the ministry can give special permits and proposals and accept them to Turkish citizenship.
- Foreigners who are seen as extremely necessary for Turkey’s interests can acquire citizenship by the permission of ministry.
- Foreigners who are accepted as immigrants according to Turkish laws. These immigrants are people who have Turk ascendants and have Turkish culture to live in Turkey. The council of ministers decides on who the immigrants are. The Balkan Turks are considered in this status.
- The foreigner who applies for exceptional citizenship must not be a threat to Turkish national security.
- The Ministry of Interior Affairs accepts the applications for exceptional citizenship and decides.
Conditions for Becoming a Turkish Citizen Through Adoption
Conditions to Acquire Citizenship for the Persons who lose their Turkish Citizenship due to their Families
A child who loses his or her Turkish citizenship because of his or her family can apply for Turkish citizenship after he or she becomes an adult. Thus, a Turkish origin child can acquire Turkish citizenship again after he or she becomes an adult.
Turkish Citizenship Requirement
Turkish citizenship requirements are outlined above. Turkey accepts both general applications which can be done after buying an immovable asset worth of at least $250.000, making an investment worth of at least $500.000, buying state bonds worth of at least $500.000, establishing a business that employs at least 50 people, marrying a Turkish citizen for at least three years and to be living in Turkey for 5 years (two years for the citizens of Turkic states) by the time of applications date.
Turkey proposes various opportunities for investors, successful people in the fields of industry, technology, economy, and sports and provide an easy procedure for them to get citizenship. Another advantage of Turkey compared to other European countries is that you don’t have to apply for all the members of your family. Even though the family applications are more appreciated by the ministry as an indication of willingness to live Turkey, the personal applications are also welcomed by Turkish authorities. It is not mandatory to apply as a family. Another advantage of Turkey is that Turkish citizenship requirements through investment and buying immovable assets, state bonds and establishing businesses is more profitable compared to other European countries. Thus, Turkey welcomes citizenship applications that meet the criteria.
