New regulation on Citizenship

New regulation on Citizenship

“The Regulation on the Amendment of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law"  was adopted by the Council of Ministers on  December 12, 2016  on the basis of the  Article 46 of the Turkish Citizenship Law numbered 5901  and published in the Official Gazette on January 12, 2017.

This regulation brought a new sub-article to the 20th article of the existing regulation. This sub-article states that  foreigners creating employment opportunities or investing  in Turkey can become citizens.

According to the inserted sub-article , a foreigner who fulfils any of the following conditions may acquire Turkish citizenship with the proposal of the Ministry and the decision of the Council of Ministers:

-      Foreigners  whose  investments of a fixed capital amounting to at least USD 2,000,000 (This must be determined by the Ministry of Economy) ,

-      Foreigners purchasing real estate amounting to at least USD 1.000.000 ( An annotation  indicating  that the real estates can not be sold for 3 years must be added in the title deed records and this annotation must be determined by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism. ) ,

-      Foreigners creating  employment opportunities at least for 100 employees ( This must be detected by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security) ,

-      Foreigners purchasing government debt instruments amounting to at least USD 3,000,000 . (Purchased debt instruments must be held by the foreigner for 3 years. This must be detected by The Undersecretariat of Treasury ) .

It is also stated that the sale rate  of the Central Bank of Turkey will be taken as basis for the determination of the monetary values mentioned in this new sub-article .