TL regulation was introduced in the transition to citizenship by buying real estate and investing. According to the regulation change published in the Official Gazette, the foreign currency amount to be obtained from the sale of houses to foreigners will be sold to the Central Bank through a bank and converted into TL. The amount that foreigners are obliged to keep in the bank for investment will also be converted into TL.
With the regulation published in the current issue of the Official Gazette, a regulation supporting the Turkish Lira was made in the conditions of transition to Turkish citizenship.
Foreigners could acquire Turkish citizenship by buying a house worth at least $250 thousand or by making a fixed capital investment of at least $500 thousand.
According to the new regulation, the minimum amount of US Dollars required to acquire citizenship is defined as ‘Dollar equivalent of another foreign currency’. According to this regulation, it will be accepted in another foreign currency amounting to dollars.
According to the most important change in the regulation, when foreigners buy real estate, they will sell their foreign currency to the Central Bank for this real estate, which will amount to at least $250 thousand, through Turkish banks.
The ‘condition of keeping deposits in Turkish banks’, which is defined as at least 500 thousand dollars in the regulation, was also changed and the condition that this amount should be exchanged at the Central Bank through banks was introduced.
The regulation in the Official Gazette is as follows:
- “The subparagraphs of the second paragraph of the 20th article (a), (b), (c), (c), (d) and (e) and the seventh paragraph of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, which was put into force with the Council of Ministers Decision dated 11/2/2010 and numbered 2010/139 has been amended as follows, and the following paragraphs have been added after the eighth paragraph.
- a) It is determined by the Ministry of Industry and Technology that it must have been made a fixed capital investment of at least $500,000 or equivalent foreign currency.
- b) Purchased real estate worth at least $250.000 or equivalent in foreign currency, provided that it is not sold for three years in the land registry, or a condominium or construction servitude has been established, determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, in which the sale of the immovable is promised by a contract drawn up in a notary public, provided that at least $250.000 or its equivalent in foreign currency is deposited in advance and an undertaking that it will not be transferred or canceled for three years in the land registry.
- c) Those determined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to employ at least 50 people.
- รง) It has been determined by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency that he deposited at least $500,000 or equivalent in foreign currency in banks operating in Turkey, with the condition of keeping them for three years.
- d) It is determined by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance that it has purchased government debt instruments of at least $500,000 or equivalent in foreign currency, provided that they are kept for three years.
- e) As determined by the Capital Markets Board, to have purchased real estate investment fund participation shares or venture capital investment fund participation shares in the amount of at least $500,000 or equivalent foreign currency, on the condition that they hold for at least three years.
- (7) In order to follow the process regarding the citizenship applications to be made within the scope of the second paragraph, a commission consisting of the representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and the Ministry of Industry and Technology may be established.
- (9) The procedures and principles to be applied in determining whether the investment conditions within the scope and amount specified in the second paragraph are met are determined by the institution making the determination.
- (10) The foreign currency amounts specified in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of the second paragraph are sold to a bank operating in Turkey and this bank to the Central Bank before the transaction. The Turkish Lira amounts obtained as a result of the sale pursuant to subparagraph (c) of the second paragraph are kept in Turkish Lira deposits, and the Turkish Lira amounts obtained pursuant to subparagraph (d) of the second paragraph are kept in Turkish Lira State debt instruments for a period of three years. The principles of practice regarding this issue are determined by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
Source: NTV / Translated by Irem Yildiz