just a quick note to let you guys know that my TR project is going really well and I am finding everything and everybody here working incredibly fast and efficient… Already got my initial residence permit…
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Just FYI…
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Has anyone here pursued the Turkey CBI in the past year? Would be curious to hear real-world experiences.
I know someone who did.
If you outline your questions I may be able to find some info.
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Thanks for replying! While I’m sure a competent lawyer can answer the standard procedural questions, I was more looking to hear from applicants to learn from their actual experiences, get a sense of the potential issues of the real estate vs. bank deposit vs. bonds pathways, as well as learn “what I don’t yet know enough to ask about”.
I only have info about the RE path there.
Some hidden issues were outlined in earlier posts of this thread.
I’d say the main ‘issue’ is finding an eligible RE asset to buy, as only a subset of properties on the market would be eligible for various reasons, such as to name a few:
- the seller must be a Turkish citizen
- the full purchase price must be shown on the title deed, which is NOT a normal practice, hence this further narrows the scope to:
- older than 5-year old properties
- only those sellers who are happy to show the full price
- then also the official evaluation report price is another limiter, as the investment excess above the official evaluation does not count
Once the property is chosen the buyer should be careful in ensuring it has the habitation licence as it cannot be assumed (that is similar to PT in fact). There are in fact two habitation licences - one for the building, and another one for the apartment unit in that building (obviously a standalone house/villa would only have one).
If one reads TR English-speaking forums, people advise there that one must ensure both licences are in place.
But I found this advice a bit over-the-top ‘Western’-type view. In practice it is common practice NOT to have an individual licence, but only rely on the building licence.
Lawyers would check that but always best to know what they are checking and challenge them to show evidence of that. Lawyers obviously would want to cut corners if the buyer does not watch over them like a hawk 
‘Family reunion’ is more stringent than PT, in that only the partner and minor children are eligible to join the main applicant. There are some technicalities further on the documentation requirements but I’d say nothing too scary for anyone familiar with PT GV.
I’d say these are the main points to be aware of.
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Thanks!! Might you have links to the “TR English-speaking forums” you mentioned?
Sure, the ‘best’ so far I found is
But even there, there is nothing on TR CBI as such…
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Article in the Sunday Times about Turkish CBI (paywall).
Some extracts below:
Over the past five years, tens of thousands of investors and their families have gained Turkish citizenship through investing in property, raising billions of pounds for the state.
Though the government does not regularly publish statistics on the scheme, last spring Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, confirmed that citizenship had been granted to nearly 26,000 investors, many of whom applied with their families. Initially, most came from Middle Eastern countries, but increasingly Chinese and more recently Ukrainians and Russians have applied for the programme, which is able to provide Turkish citizenship in about three months.
A few years ago, she said, Turkey had risen to account for about half of all approvals for citizenship by investment globally.
While Turks still have to apply for visas to visit the UK, the US or the Schengen area, the process is much easier — and the approval rate far higher — than for citizens of Iran or Russia.
Last year, the minimum investment required to obtain citizenship through property investment rose from $250,000 to $400,000 after domestic political opposition to the scheme — but also, said several people involved in it, because it was clear that demand would remain at the higher price, which requires applicants to commit to keeping the property for at least three years.
The programme is particularly attractive to Russians locked out of golden passport schemes for western countries such as Cyprus due to sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.
Part of the scheme’s appeal, said three lawyers who have worked on it, is that it does not ask too many questions. Unlike the increasingly stringent vetting in countries such as Cyprus, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, obtaining Turkish citizenship requires little to no proof of the origin or extent of your funds.
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So in March 2023 they still refer to the Cyprus GV which has been dead for about 3 years?
Gotta love the MSM… 
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Currently I’m pursuing CBI in Turkey via bank deposit. The real estate pathway has come under heavy political pressure and various administrative hurdles appear to be making the likelihood of obtaining the passport much riskier than before.
Couple new points learned from my lawyer about the program:
(1) As of this year, applicants are required to travel to Turkey personally for fingerprinting following acknowledgement of the bank deposit (presume this would be needed for real estate investment as well) at the time of the residency application.
(2) As of this year, background check / non-criminal certificate is also required; however, we are awaiting confirmation on whether the certificate must come from country of nationality or country of residence, and how long Turkey will consider the certificates to be valid. If the expiration timeframe is three months and certificate must come from country of nationality, then US citizens will have problems just like in PGV because the certificate will already be “expired” at the time the apostille is completed.
Thanks for the info. I was starting to look into this option. Are there still exchange rate protected accounts available and can they be used for CBI?
Apparently they are available and can be used for CBI.
Look up YUVAM accounts.
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I had used that bank deposit route approx. 4 years ago for my spouse. Exchanging to TL wasn’t mandatory back then. The process was quite straightforward. You get the letter from your bank, just file everything at one stop after that and it should take around 6 months.
If anyone interested in purchasing real estate, I suggest you check local ad websites such as sahibinden.com
You could also easily find an appraisal firm to make sure you are not overpaying. Actually, it’s required anyways later on while applying for the citizenship but I’m not 100% sure.
Anyways, if anyone needs help or have questions, you can message me.
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Yes, it is.
Good advice re sahibinden.com, just to point out that only a fairly small portion of properties are eligible. Best trick is to use the turkish word for ‘citizenship’ as a search keyword. Otherwise a lot of time will be wasted on chasing the property just to find out in the end it was never eligible.
I don’t think there was any strict criteria about what you can buy other than the purchasing price and/or cadastral value.
It is best to focus on city and regions first and then just do some browsing on “sahibinden”
I’d recommend checking out Antalya and Izmir rather than Istanbul.
Other than the real estate and bank deposit options, I believe investing in government bonds is also possible. This was new when I went through the process and wasn’t really available. Investing in USD denominated bonds (with 5-6 years maturity) that would yield around 7.5-8 % annually. Not bad for a relatively safe investment and would save you dealing with your real estate ( realtors, tenants etc. ), unless you will really visit & live there occasionally.
Well, the RE criteria are not strict but nevertheless rather limiting.
Anyways, it was discussed here already, so nothing new to share in that respect:
Update: background check expiration is six months 
, certificate must come from country of origin 
. For US citizens living as expats, this likely means getting yourself fingerprinted at a local police station, sending those prints to the FBI, waiting several weeks, then once you have the result in hand, paying an apostille expediter to reduce the 11-week US Dept of State apostille to something like 3-4 weeks.
Also hearing that the state is starting to ask more questions about where the money comes from, so expecting that more documentation may be requested for that during the process.
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Is there a private firm somewhere in the US whom you just pay some money and they organize the certificate in an expedient manner?
The apostille yes as noted, but the fingerprinting and FBI background check request part, you must do yourself. Or you can pay a third party for the privilege of doing most of the work yourself.
Didn’t find any third party outside the US that could take fingerprints electronically outside the US and submit them to the FBI without the need for paper fingerprint form, unfortunately.