SERVICES PROVIDED IN OUR OFFICE FOR GAINING TURKISH CITIZENSHIP THROUGH REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT

With the changes made in the law in 2016 and 2018, gaining Turkish citizenship became possible by investing in real estate in Turkey. The service provided by our office covers all transactions from the finding of real estate to the purchase process and subsequent acquisition of citizenship.

This document has been prepared to provide basic information about acquiring citizenship.

OUR SERVICES ABOUT GAINING CITIZENSHIP

1-) FINDING AND SELECTION OF REAL ESTATE

The points taken into consideration when choosing real estate are the personal preferences of the applicant, as well as finding places that are suitable for the structure of the city and are likely to provide economic profit. For this purpose, options are determined within the framework of the agreements between our office and the most prestigious real estate consultants in the city, and many different options are offered to the customer as a result of the filter made according to the customer’s preferences.

2-) LEGAL RESEARCH ON REAL ESTATE

Here is the list of our services for your needs:

a-) Background Check of Owners

We are investigating the legal records of householder. This is really important because undesirable and unwanted obstacles may arise at the last minute when we try to finalise the process. For example, if house holder has debt to the financial institution or other third parties, they can block our sales process and in some specific legal situations, your sales process can be cancelled after a few months later and then you have to sue against salesman to save your money back. So this research is really important to prevent situations like this.

b-) Background Check of Properties

We are also investigating the legal records of property.  Because some kind of obligations are not directly linked with persons, but directly connected with property in Turkish Law. This research is in order to avoid situations like this. For example using liens are very common in Turkey, look like mortgages in US. If you buy a property which includes a lien record, bank can sell the property after buying it. Because this is an obligation directly linked to the property record.

So checking property is also very important. Our service includes researches in this government places:

• Tapu (A government place which property records are kept and also transfers are made)
• Belediye (A government place called municipality is the place where different kind of permits are issued and health-durability reports are issued)
• Tax Authority (For investigation of past debts)
• Court (Any law suits about property)

c-) Preparation of Preliminary Contract

It is a common practice to give deposits before the legal sales procedure starts, in Turkey. So we have to take precautions before takeover transactions started. We prepare preliminary contracts for deposit and if the sales transaction fails you can save your deposit money.

d-) Sales Contract and Transaction

In Turkey, Tapu (Registry office for properties) makes the primary sales transaction, so we can check your primary sales contract at the Tapu and handle all other processes in this government place.

3-) APPLICATION FOR CITIZENSHIP

There are many steps to gaining Turkish citizenship by purchasing real estate.

a-)  Application for Certificate of Conformity

At this stage, it is important that the purchased property is carefully selected. The purchased real estate must be suitable for the Certificate of Compliance. Because the eligibility certificate is the first step in applying for Turkish citizenship and is very important. Because the presence of the Certificate of Eligibility will ensure the right to apply for Turkish Citizenship. If the application for a Certificate of Conformity is rejected, it is possible to reapply for the Certificate of Conformity by resolving the reason for the rejection of the application. However, it is impossible to continue the Citizenship Application process with a rejected eligibility certificate application.

After the application for the Certificate of Compliance is made to the relevant district land registry office, a notice of inability to sell for 3 years is placed in the land registry of the real estate for which the certificate of conformity is applied. If this annotation is not included, the request for a certificate of conformity will be rejected by the land registry.

The total value of real estate acquisitions after 12.01.2017 must exceed $400,000 for gaining Turkish citizenship.

Whether the real estate sold has the necessary features according to the Regulation on the Implementation of Turkish Citizenship is first examined by the district land registry office to which the real estate is affiliated. If the district land registry office sees a deficiency in the documents or application, it will notify the applicant and give the applicant time to correct the deficiency. After the deficiency is completed, the application file is sent to the Regional Land Registry Directorate for review. If the application meets the necessary conditions, the Regional Land Registry Office issues a Certificate of Eligibility on behalf of the applicant. And with this eligibility certificate, other necessary documents are provided and the next stage, which is the residence permit application, is made.

b-) Application for Temporary Residence Permit within the Scope of Clause B.31-j

The second stage in gaining Turkish citizenship through investment is to obtain a short-term residence permit in accordance with Article 31/1(j) of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458. The conditions for obtaining a short-term residence permit are regulated in Article 32 of the same law.

According to this for gaining Turkish citizenship;

• To make a request by citing one or more of the reasons listed in Article 31/1 and to submit information and documents related to this request.
• Not being among the foreigners who will not be allowed to enter Turkey
• Having housing conditions that comply with general health and safety standards
• If requested, to submit a document showing the criminal record issued by the competent authorities of the country of which the person is a citizen or legally resides.
• Giving address information where he/she will stay in Turkey

If the essential documents for the residence permit application are missing, the application request will be rejected at the first stage by the Provincial Directorate of Immigration. Main documents are the essential documents required to apply, such as the applicant’s birth certificate, health insurance or eligibility certificate. If the missing documents are not original, the Provincial Directorate of Immigration gives the applicant time to complete the missing documents. In order for the application to continue to be heard, the deficiency must be corrected within this period.

If the necessary documents are completed and the application is approved, the applicant is given a residence permit for 1 year. During this residence permit, you will have the right to apply for citizenship to the Provincial Population Directorate.

c-) Citizenship Application

After obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility and Residence Permit, we finally make our application to the Provincial Population Directorate, including our request to become a citizen. We find it useful to say that in addition to the documents required up to this stage, the Provincial Population Directorate may also request different documents for each file, if deemed necessary. For example, if the person purchasing the real estate is applying for his/her spouse with whom he/she is in a marriage union and his or her underage child born from this marriage, in addition to the marriage certificate that will prove the marriage in question, the marriage document must be obtained within the last 6 months and that the marriage is still continuing, therefore, the applicant child’s marriage certificate must be valid for this marriage. He/she will ask for an additional document proving that he/she was born in the same union.

The completed file is sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for decision. It should be noted here that the fact that the investments have been made and the citizenship application has been made to the Provincial Population Directorate after the necessary stages have been completed does not alone result in the acquisition of Turkish Citizenship. Because the administration has discretion in the decision to naturalize the applicant. In other words, the administration has the right to reject requests that would pose an obstacle to national security and public order. Making an application does not mean that you are entitled to become a citizen. In order to acquire Turkish Citizenship through this exceptional method, there must be a positive decision of the competent authority.

4-) REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR GAINING TURKİSH CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION

In order to complete all these stages and gaining Turkish Citizenship, applications must be made to different institutions. Therefore, each institution has documents that it requires to be submitted according to its own internal rules and regulations. However, as we mentioned before, each application may need different documents from this general list of documents. In addition, in order to avoid providing incomplete or incorrect information regarding the documents to be requested, it is necessary to hold the necessary meetings with the authorized institutions at each application stage and complete the missing documents. The basic documents required during the application phase are as follows:

• Passport or similar document showing which state you are a citizen of, or if you are stateless, a notarized Turkish translation of the relevant duly approved document,
• A duly approved document showing all identity information as a basis for registration (Birth Certificate, Population Registration Sample, etc.),
• Marital status certificate (marriage certificate if married, divorce certificate if divorced, spouse’s death certificate if widowed, etc.) (Additional documents taken in the last 6 months may be requested.)
• If married, a civil registry copy or similar document proving the relationship between spouse and children
• Biometric photo
• Health insurance (We will offer insurance policies from 10 different insurance companies)
• Criminal record
• Other detailed information and issues such as how to provide documents will be explained during the face-to-face meeting.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT OUR FIRM

Altinkan Law Firm, which was established in Istanbul in 1984 and started its legal activities, continues its national and international legal services with its nearly half a century of experience in its office in Antalya. Altinkan Law Firm provides all kinds of legal support to local and foreign real and legal entities, and thanks to its dynamic team, it provides services within the scope of legal and commercial relations entered into in all provinces of Turkey and abroad.

Legal services of Altinkan Law Firm, which provides advocacy and consultancy services in all branches of law; It starts before the establishment of commercial or individual relations, at the point of preventing legal disputes that may arise in the future.

Altinkan Law Firm attaches importance to professional principles and ethical values in the provision of advocacy, legal consultancy and representation services in official authorities, and prioritizes a professional quality policy in its relations with clients. Altinkan Law Firm, which carefully follows the alternative dispute resolution methods that have developed in recent years, also serves the law with mediation and conciliation activities.

Altinkan Law Firm provides professional legal services in the litigation and enforcement proceedings stages in order to protect the client’s rights from the moment the dispute arises and to distribute the rights in accordance with justice.

Contact With Us

Partners of Altinkan Law Firm; worked as lecturers at the university in areas such as “Beginning of Law”, “Law of Obligations”, “Constitutional Law” and “Commercial Law”. Partners works as a “Lecturer” at Akdeniz University for years and currently serves as a legal expert registered in the list of the President of the Justice Commission of the Antalya First Instance Court of Judicial Jurisdiction.

Among the current partners of Altinkan Law Firm, there are lawyers who have completed postgraduate education in Construction Law, a doctorate in Law of Obligations, and who teach in different fields such as Consumer Law and Civil Law at various universities. In addition, Altınkan Law Firm lawyers; He also teaches courses as an instructor in various public institutions such as ATSO (Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Antalya Bar Association, and Chamber of Veterinarians.

Altinkan Law Firm lawyers also have 2 published law books and articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Altinkan Law Firm lawyers, who constantly improve themselves, also have dozens of different certificates.

Altinkan Law Firm, with its structure that constantly follows legislative changes and new case law and is constantly aware of current law; It provides services in line with its expertise and knowledge in terms of fulfilling client demands and finding justice.

IF YOU WANT TO APPLY FOR CITIZENSHIP, PLEASE SEND US AN EMAIL: info@altinkan.com

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