Dear visitor, welcome to our Turkish Citizenship Through Immigration page.

The new Citizenship Law has included immigrants who are not included in the Law No. 403 among foreigners who can acquire Turkish citizenship within the scope of exceptional circumstances with the expression “persons accepted as immigrants”. In the regulation on the implementation of the Citizenship Law No. 5901, 3 articles express the scope of the application of the said regulation, and it is very important to understand who is meant by the term “Immigrant” in our Law. Here in the G clause; “Immigrant: A person of Turkish descent and Turkish culture who came to Turkey alone or collectively to settle down and accepted as an immigrant pursuant to the Settlement Law No. 5543”. Following this, other Immigrant statuses are also mentioned:

• e) Free immigration: Those who are of Turkish ancestry and who are connected to Turkish culture and who come to Turkey alone or collectively for the purpose of settlement and are accepted to the country provided that they do not want to be resettled by the State.
• f) Settled immigration: Persons who are of Turkish descent and who are connected to Turkish culture, brought from abroad by special laws and resettled by giving immovable property according to the provisions of these Laws.
• g) Individual immigration: Persons of Turkish descent, affiliated with Turkish culture, and come as a family to settle in our country.
• ğ) Collective immigration: These are families of Turkish descent, affiliated with Turkish culture, and come collectively to settle in our country according to an agreement between the two countries.

Article 20, which is the continuation of the Regulation, mentions the necessary documents and procedures for the exceptional acquisition of Turkish citizenship, and in Article 21, the subject comes to Immigration Procedures.

ARTICLE 21 – (1) Citizenship files of individuals who are accepted as immigrants in accordance with the Settlement Law No. 5543 are prepared by the public works and resettlement directorate of the province and sent to the relevant Ministry. The file of the foreigner sent to the Ministry to acquire Turkish citizenship is examined and a proposal is made to the Council of Ministers for the person to acquire Turkish citizenship. The person can acquire Turkish citizenship with the decision of the Council of Ministers.

(2) For foreign spouses and children who cannot acquire Turkish citizenship as a migrant, the provisions of article 37 are applied. (For detailed information on this issue, see: Article 37: The consequences of later acquisition of Turkish citizenship in terms of spouse and children.)

Which foreign nationals will be granted “immigrant” status is regulated in the Settlement Law No. 5543 in 2006. In the Settlement Law, the conditions and procedure for acquiring Turkish citizenship of immigrants are also regulated.

Who Is Called “Turkish Descent”?

In various legal regulations in Turkish law, concepts such as “persons of Turkish ancestry”, “foreigners of Turkish descent” are encountered. However, the legislation does not define “Turkish ancestry” or “Turkish descent”, there are no clear statements on the basis of which “Turkish descent” will be determined. Therefore, the competent authorities decide who is of Turkish descent.

Although citizenship refers to a legal bond between a person and a state; concepts such as nationality and ancestry; non-legal in technical terms, covering items such as race, religion, language, and culture are sociological concepts. For this reason, there is no precise criterion that can be applied to the determination of the Turkish descent. “Being a Turkish descent” is a sociological phenomenon. In this case determination, many factors such as the person’s name and surname, language, country of birth, region of residence, noteworthy documents and population records are used.

A Turkish descendant is required to benefit from Law no. 2527, but it is not sufficient by itself. Due to the fact that the admission of immigrants has both political and economic aspects, it is necessary for the competent authorities to decide who will be deemed to be of Turkish descent. Since being a Turkish descent is a sociological phenomenon, it is not correct to give a definition on this subject. In the doctrine, some definitions are given for the concept of Turkish descent foreigner. However, in these definitions, there is no clarity on the basis of which “being a Turkish descent” will be determined.

Turkish Citizenship Transactions of Turkish Ancestry Persons …

Exceptionally, VAT-4 application form called Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship is used for Turkish citizenship applications to be made by Turkish ancestry people as immigrants. All documents requested in the application are as follows:

• VAT-4 Exceptional Turkish Citizenship Application Form.
• Machine-readable biometric photograph, 2 pieces and 50 x 60 in size, with a white background, without a pattern and in accordance with the photo standards determined by ICAO.
• A passport or similar document indicating which country the person is a citizen of, and if the applicant is stateless, a relevant document must be attached, if available.
• Certificate of civil status of the person and additional documents related to his condition. If married, marriage certificate, divorce certificate if divorced, and if widowed death certificate of his spouse is attached.
• A document showing the identity of the person, such as a birth certificate or a birth certificate must also be attached to the file. In addition, if the person is married, a copy of the identity register or a similar document proving the family ties of his spouse and children is attached.
• If there is no month and day on the date of birth in the documents of the person, a document obtained from the competent authorities of the country is used to complete the date of birth. If such a document cannot be obtained, a signed declaration is submitted showing that he / she accepts the action in accordance with Article 39 of the Population Services Law (No. 5490). This article refers to the acceptance of the date of birth of the person as the 1st day of July of the year in which he was born.
• The file is completed by adding the receipt showing that the application service fee has been paid to the tax office cashier.

Citizenship files of individuals who are accepted as immigrant after completing their procedures in accordance with the Settlement Law No. 5543 are prepared by the provincial directorate of migration management and sent to the relevant Ministry. The documents of the foreigner whose file is sent to the Ministry to acquire Turkish citizenship are examined and a proposal is made to the Council of Ministers to acquire Turkish citizenship. A person can acquire Turkish citizenship with the decision of the Council of Ministers. In accordance with Article 12 of the Citizenship Law No.5901: Provided that they do not have an obstacle in terms of national security and public order, the following foreigners can acquire Turkish citizenship with the Ministry’s proposal and the decision of the Council of Ministers: d – Persons accepted as immigrants.

As Inforeigner, Turkish citizenship by marriage, we provide preparation, application and follow-up services with our expert consultants in all topics like: Turkish citizenship by marriage, Turkish citizenship with long-term residence, Turkish citizenship with real estate worth 250,000 USD, Turkish citizenship through employment investment, general acquisition of Turkish citizenship, citizenship with five years of residency, Turkish citizenship with a bank deposit of 500,000 USD, the processes of obtaining Turkish citizenship by marriage and exceptionally, Turkish citizenship through immigration, Turkish citizenship by place of birth and descent, Turkish citizenship through election, regaining of Turkish citizenship, citizenship by buying a house in Turkey, Citizenship with a work permit, and so on.

To get detailed information and to start your Turkish citizenship application, you can reach us from all our contact information or by calling 0212 706 91 48. We wish you a nice day.