In March 2021, some significant changes were brought to Turkey citizenship by investment program. Most of the changes are associated with real estate property investments. Are you looking to make a real estate investment in Turkey to acquire citizenship? If so, you should be more prudent after the changes, as these put some caps on the qualification for the investment for citizenship applications. Turkish citizenship by investment program procedures are more complicated than before. Here, we will look at the recent modifications to the CBI program of Turkey.
- Buying land or another real estate property type from a foreign citizen was not permissible before the changes. Foreigners who want to invest in real estate for citizenship had to do so with Turkish people, a rule that still applies. Now, however, there is a further rule making it not permissible to purchase land or some other real estate type from the children or spouse of a foreign citizen. Under the new rule, a Turkish individual married to an overseas person cannot sell their real estate asset to a non-Turkish investor who looks for citizenship.
A foreigner will now need to check whether or not that Turkish real estate owner is in a marital relationship with a foreigner. As a team of immigration consultants in Abu Dhabi, we find this rule restrictive for Turkish nationals.
- Now, this is where it might get more confusing to laypeople. If a foreigner sells their real estate to a Turkey citizen, and the latter sells it to a non-Turkish investor, the above rule would be a non-issue for the investor. That means the investor could use the asset to apply for Turkey citizenship by investment program. Nevertheless, there is a catch: if the nationality of the foreigner real estate owner and the prospective investor is the same, the latter could not use it for citizenship.
Then again, for the restriction to apply, the transaction between the foreigner and that Turkish person should come after December 01, 2017. If it occurred before the date, there would be no issue for that foreign investor. Much of this process can seem bewildering to you when considering Turkish citizenship in Abu Dhabi. As a visa consultant in Abu Dhabi, we find it easier to understand.
- If an overseas investor purchases land or some other real estate property from a company in Turkey, it should have no partner with the same nationality as that investor. That necessitates checking the latest partnership arrangement of the company where they want to make the purchase. There was a similar restriction for just those companies where the investor, their spouse or kids are partners. The rule change has made the restriction broader in terms of its scope.
- Real estate that has already been used in the form of a qualifying investment for citizenship is not useable for a different citizenship application. That said, if only a part of the asset has been utilized for citizenship, the other part would qualify under Turkey citizenship by investment program.
There are many other rule changes in this program. Further changes will most likely come in the future as well. As a layperson, you cannot always keep up with all these new pieces of immigration information, unlike migration consultants in Dubai or elsewhere.
As one of those consultancy teams, we keep up to date with such changes to best serve our customers. So, it would pay to talk to one of our migration consultants in Abu Dhabi when planning on investing in any nation with a CBI program for citizenship.
