The Regulation on the Amendment of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law was published upon the decision numbered 5554 on the date of 12.05.2022 in the Official Gazette. Regarding this amendment; new changes are made in terms of the condition of acquiring the Turkish citizenship by purchasing real estate that is regulated in the Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law dated 11.02.2010. In this matter, with the amendment in the clause (b) of the second section of the Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law, the requirement to acquire Turkish citizenship by purchasing real estate with the worth of 250.000 USD or the equivalent in another currency has been changed to purchasing real estate with the worth of 400.000 USD or the equivalent currency. The related amount is increased from 250.000 to 400.000. The new provision of the regulation shall be come into force after 1 month of a period and this requirement shall be used starting from the 13th of June.
With the Official Gazette dated 12.05.2022, the clause (f) was added to the second section of the Article 20 of the same regulation and the tenth section of the same article has been changed. The stated amendment below, aside from the aforementioned amendment, shall be came into force starting with the date of publishment and in order to review those related amendments closely:
· The newly added clause (f) in the Article 20 of the Regulation on this matter is as “Determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority as to keep the contribution margin as in minimum amount of 500.000 USD or the equivalent in foreign currency in the funds which the scope was determined by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and kept the related amount within the system for three years” and the right to acquire Turkish citizenship is defined for foreign state citizens that fulfill those requirements.
· Again the other newly added amendment on the section 10 of the Article 20 of the related Regulation, it is stated as “The amount in the foreign currency which are stated in the clauses (b), (ç), (d), (e) and (f) are sold to a bank which is in force in Turkey before the proceeding and shall be sold to the Central Bank by the related bank. As the conclusion of the selling procedure; the amounts in Turkish Liras which are collected in accordance with the section (ç) are kept in Turkish Lira accounts; the amounts in Turkish Liras that are collected in accordance with the clause (d) of the second section are kept in the Governmental debt instruments in Turkish Lira equivalent; the amounts in Turkish Liras that are collected in accordance with the clause (f) of the second section are kept in funds which are determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority within the private pension system for 3 years of a period. The procedural merits on this matter are determined by the Central Bank of Turkish Republic” and the requirement on keeping the amount in Turkish Liras after the sales in related investments for 3 years of a period is added in addition to the currencies which are subjected to the sales and investments that mentioned in the Regulation to the Central Bank of Turkish Republic in terms of foreign state citizens to acquire Turkish citizenship.
In a summary, with these amendments, the amount of minimum 250.000 USD that was regulated with the Official Gazette dated 06.01.2022 for acquiring citizenship by purchasing real estate in Turkey was needed and it has changed with the amendment that was made with the Official Gazette dated 12.05.2022 as to purchase real estate with the minimum worth of 400.000 USD or the equivalent currency and the related amount is increased. In addition, the foreign state citizens, who has a private pension shall be entitled to obtain Turkish citizenship, provided that they keep the amount to 500.000 USD or the equivalent currency in the funds determined by the Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Authority for 3 years.