Dear visitor, welcome to our Turkish Citizenship with Exceptional Methods page. Article 12 of the Turkish citizenship law (no. 5901) describes the exceptional cases of acquisition of Turkish citizenship. People who can acquire citizenship with this method: those who make investments in Turkey within the scope and amount determined by laws, those who bring industrial facilities to Turkey, science, technology, sports or culture and arts, etc. persons who perform extraordinary services in the areas and also persons with immigrant status. In the rest of our article, you will be able to access detailed information about all these application methods. First of all, let’s examine article 12 of Law No.5901 in detail:

Who Can Gain Exceptional Turkish Citizenship?

In some cases, Turkish Citizenship can be obtained exceptionally for individuals who meet certain conditions. Foreign nationals who meet the aforementioned conditions can acquire Turkish Citizenship with the decision of the President. Below, for your review, we indicate the persons who can gain Turkish citizenship exceptionally by commenting on the relevant section of 5901:

Article 12, Part 1: Foreign nationals, whose details are specified below, can acquire Turkish citizenship by the President’s decision, provided that they do not pose an obstacle to national security and public order.

1. Persons who bring an industrial facility to Turkey or who have or are thought to provide extraordinary services in scientific, social, technological, economic, sports, artistic, cultural fields and to whom a reasoned proposal is made by the relevant ministries. (In addition, those who do not work in Turkey but will invest in the scope and amounts determined by the President and their spouse and their minor children are also included in this scope. You can examine the details.
2. (Supplement: 28 July 2016 – 6735/27) In accordance with subparagraph J of paragraph 1 of Article 31 of the Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection dated April 4, 2013, foreign nationals who hold a residence permit and Turquoise Card holders and their foreign national spouse, his / her spouse under the age of eighteen (minor) or over eighteen but dependent foreign nationals.
3. Persons who are deemed necessary to have Turkish citizenship. (Situations such as Political and Diplomatic Protection etc.)
4. Persons accepted as immigration status. Article 12, Part 2: Annex: Article 7039/29 dated October 19, 2017. The requests of those who have situations that might constitute an obstacle in terms of national security and public order are rejected by the Ministry.

Exceptional Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship by Investment

With the first article of the Regulation dated December 12, 2016 and numbered 2016/9601 of the Council of Ministers, investment conditions were added to the conditions of obtaining Turkish citizenship exceptionally, and paragraph 2 was added to the relevant citizenship article. As of 2016, persons who meet the following conditions can acquire Turkish citizenship exceptionally. According to the provisions of the regulation, it must be ensured that at least one of the following conditions are fulfilled. When we came to 2018, the investment conditions were rearranged with the President’s Decree No. 106, which was published in the Official Gazette with the number 30540 and dated 19 September 2018, and all the conditions were facilitated in order to increase the demand. Currently, these conditions are as follows:

1. Persons who have made a capital investment of at least 500,000 USD (US Dollars) in Turkey (The Ministry of Industry and Technology is authorized to determine the transaction. The required amount for the application was 2 million USD before 2018, and has been reduced to 500 thousand USD with the regulation dated September 19, 2018. In addition, the conformity determination authority was transferred from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Industry and Technology. In addition, the article expressing the eligibility of the equivalent of different foreign currency types in US dollars was added on this date.)
2. Persons who have purchased real estate worth at least 250,000 USD (US Dollars) in Turkey (In this process, a 3-year non-sale annotation should be included in the land registry record). The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization is authorized for the determination of the process. While the amount required for the application was 1 million USD before 2018, it was reduced to 250 thousand USD with the regulation dated September 19, 2018. In addition, the article that states that the equivalent of different foreign currency types in US Dollars is eligible for application was added on this date. With the President’s Decree numbered 418 published in the Official Gazette dated 7 December 2018 and numbered 30618, after the phrase “purchased” in this paragraph, “or a floor ownership or floor easement has been established, at least 250 thousand USD or it is added that the contract issued in the notary public that promises the sale of the property for which foreign currency or equivalent TL Turkish Lira amount is deposited in advance is annotated in the land registry with the commitment that it will not be transferred and abandoned for three years.
3. People who create employment by employing at least 50 people in Turkey (Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services is authorized to determine the transaction). The number of Turkish employees required for the application was reduced from 100 before 2018 to 50 with the regulation dated 19 September 2018. In addition, eligibility the detecting authority was turned from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services.
4. Persons who have deposited at least USD 500,000 (US Dollars) worth of deposits in a bank or banks operating in our country (The deposit must be kept in the account for 3 years. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency is authorized to determine the transaction. While it was 3 million USD before, it was reduced to 500 thousand USD with the regulation dated September 19, 2018. In addition, the article expressing the eligibility of the equivalent of different foreign currency types in US Dollars was also added on this date).
5. Persons who purchase government debt securities worth at least USD 500,000 (US Dollars) in Turkey (These tools must be kept for 3 years. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is authorized to determine the transaction. The required amount for the application was 3 million USD before 2018, it was reduced to 500 thousand USD with the regulation dated September 19, 2018. Moreover, the conformity determination authority was converted from the Undersecretariat of Treasury to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.)
6. Persons who purchase real estate investment fund participation shares or venture capital investment funds participation shares of at least USD 500,000 (US Dollars) in Turkey (These shares must be held for at least 3 years. The Capital Markets Board is authorized to determine the transaction.)

In addition, it is required to determine that the applicant is not in a situation that will pose a threat to the national security and public order of Turkey and that he/she will not create such a situation. Instead of the requested US Dollar as a material condition, the foreign currency or Turkish Lira equivalent to the same value is sufficient for this condition to be fulfilled. In the determination of this material condition, the effective selling rate and / or cross exchange rate of the CBRT Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on the date of determination are taken as basis.

Regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by investment, we strongly recommend that you review our following pages:

• Turkish Citizenship by Investment
• Turkish Citizenship Through Real Estate Investment
• Turkish Citizenship Through Employment Investment

Exceptional Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship for Immigrants

Persons with immigrant status are defined with the following expressions in the Settlement Law No. 5543: “Those of Turkish descent and Turkish culture, those who come to Turkey alone or collectively for settlement purposes and those who are accepted in accordance with this Law.” Therefore, the ability of a person to apply for Turkish Citizenship with immigrant status depends on the origin of this person (s) and their adoption of Turkish culture.

In order for these people who are accepted as immigrants to acquire Turkish Citizenship by exceptional means, first of all, it is necessary to examine and determine by the relevant authorities that it will not create a situation that will pose a danger to Turkey’s national security and public order. Then, the requested documents are prepared, the citizenship file of the person is created and they can acquire Turkish Citizenship with the decision of the President. There are a number of other principles and documents that must be obtained for the immigrant’s spouse and children, who cannot acquire Turkish Citizenship with immigrant conditions, to acquire Turkish Citizenship and these are arranged in a different way.

Regarding the Exceptional Acquisition of Turkish Citizenship for Immigrants, we strongly recommend you to review our following pages:

Turkish Citizenship Through Immigration

Documents Required for Exceptional Turkish Citizenship

In the above sections of our article, an application file will have been created for the person who meets all the conditions in accordance with his / her own situation or preferences, although the required documents may vary from person to person and situation to situation when applying for Turkish Citizenship, in general terms are as follows:

• VAT-4 application form for the exceptional acquisition of Turkish citizenship
• 2 photographs (It must be white background and biometric. It must comply with the biometric photography standards determined by ICAO, must be presented as 2 photographs with dimensions of 50 by 60 mm. The photographs must be machine readable.)
• Passport (Proof of which state the person is a citizen of. It must be valid. If the person is stateless, the relevant document is submitted. The documents are duly attached with a notarized Turkish translation.)
• Document showing the identity information of the applicant (For example, birth certificate, birth certificate, etc.)
• If the applicant has relatives of 1st or 2nd Degree Turkish Citizens, the identity register copy of this person (s) is also attached to the file.
• A document showing the marital status of the applicant must also be submitted. In case the applicant is married, the marriage certificate and in addition to this, a copy of the birth certificate indicating the spouse and children proving their ties are attached to the file. If the applicant is divorced, a document proving this status, and if he is a widow, the death certificate of his spouse is presented.
• If only the year of birth of the applicant is known and the month and day of birth in this year are not known, the official document taken from his / her country and a notarized Turkish translation are attached to the file to add these dates. If this document cannot be presented either, a signed declaration showing that the person accepts the transaction in accordance with Article 39 of the Population Services Law (No.5490). The relevant article states that the person’s date of birth is accepted as the first day of July of the year of birth.
• A receipt showing that the service fee for the citizenship application has been paid is also attached to the file.

Important note: As can be seen, the documents about the person’s personal situation and the conditions under which he applied for exceptional Turkish citizenship are not included in this list. These are entirely related to your personal situation and detailed information will be communicated by Inforeigner experts when you wish to initiate your application.

Exceptional Turkish Citizenship Application

In exceptional citizenship applications, the relevant procedure works as follows:

• A written instruction is sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the application authority regarding foreign nationals who wish to acquire Turkish Citizenship by exception.
• The application authority receives the necessary documents from the applicant and creates the citizenship file.
• By writing a letter on the subject to the Security Directorate, a Security Investigation request is made regarding whether the applicant is in a state that will pose a threat to the security of the country and public order.
• After all these procedures are concluded positively, the file is sent to the Council of Ministers in order to take final checks by the application authorities and take a decision regarding the file.
• With the positive decision of the Council of Ministers, the person acquires Turkish citizenship.
• If it is later determined that the matter (s) that constitute the basis for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship are concealed or false statements are made, the decision regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship by the foreigner is canceled.
• If there are children who are required to acquire Turkish citizenship depending on them, they should apply together. Compliance of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 for Children. The documents specified in Article 38 of the relevant Regulation are attached to the application documents.
• If foreign nationals who wish to acquire Turkish citizenship make false statements during their transactions, they are sentenced to imprisonment in accordance with Article 67 of the Population Services Law No. 5490.
• An applicant who uses false documents during citizenship procedures is punished with imprisonment from two (2) to five (5) years, pursuant to Article 204 of the Turkish Penal Code.

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, etc.

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.