How to Get Turkish Citizenship: Routes, Cost and Timeline

Turkish citizenship can be acquired by a foreigner through investment, general naturalisation, marriage to a Turkish citizen or, for people born to a Turkish parent, by descent from birth (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.5). The investment route is decided by the President and has no residence period in the Law (m.12); general naturalisation requires five years of uninterrupted residence (m.11); a marriage application requires at least three years of continuing marriage (m.16). These are eligibility periods, not processing times. This guide is for foreigners comparing those routes before choosing one: what each requires, where to apply, the documents, the cost and how long the process runs.

1. Turkish Citizenship: Key Points

• Turkish citizenship by investment is available to a foreigner who satisfies any one of seven investment conditions, including real estate of at least USD 400,000 with a three-year no-sale annotation (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2).
• The investment route extends to the investor’s foreign spouse and their minor or dependent foreign children (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.12/1-b).
• General naturalisation requires five years of uninterrupted residence counted back from the application date, together with seven other conditions (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.11).
• Marriage alone does not confer citizenship; a foreigner married to a Turkish citizen for at least three years whose marriage continues may apply (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.16).
• Meeting the conditions of an application route does not create an absolute right to citizenship (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.10).
• Turkish law recognises dual citizenship and records the other nationality in the civil register (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.44).

2. Turkish Citizenship Routes: Which One Applies to You

Turkish citizenship law separates citizenship acquired at birth from citizenship acquired later (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.5). The first question is therefore not which documents to collect but which route applies. Establish whether a parent was Turkish when you were born. If citizenship did not arise at birth, the route depends on your investment, your residence, your marriage or your former citizenship. Subsequent acquisition happens by decision of the competent authority, by adoption, or by exercise of the right of option (m.9); adoption and the right of option are not covered here.

The routes differ on three points: the qualifying period, the authority that decides, and whether the outcome is a decision at all rather than a registration.

Turkish citizenship route	Qualifying period	Who decides	Basis
Investment (exceptional acquisition)	no residence period in the Law	President	m.12
General naturalisation	five years of uninterrupted residence	Ministry	m.11
Marriage to a Turkish citizen	three years of marriage, still continuing	Ministry	m.16
Descent from a Turkish parent	none: citizenship exists from birth	no acquisition decision; proof and registration	m.7
Birth in Turkey without any citizenship	none	no acquisition decision; registration	m.8
Re-acquisition after renunciation with permission	no residence period	Ministry	m.13
Re-acquisition after withdrawal or loss	three years of residence	President or Ministry, by the loss provision	m.14
Re-acquisition under the repealed citizenship laws	no residence condition	Ministry	m.43
Citizens of the TRNC	written declaration	acquisition on the declaration	m.42

For competent-authority routes, meeting the required conditions does not grant an absolute right to acquire Turkish citizenship (m.10). Eligibility to apply and a favourable decision are separate questions, and the decision belongs to the authority in the third column. A person who is already Turkish by descent needs a registration file, not a naturalisation checklist.

2.1. Turkish Citizenship and Nationality: Who Can Apply?

Turkish citizenship routes are not reserved for or closed to particular nationalities. The naturalisation, marriage and investment provisions are addressed to “a foreigner” and do not list or exclude any nationality (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.11, m.12, m.16; Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2). What decides a file is the route’s own conditions and the national-security and public-order condition that each route contains. Whether an applicant can keep their present nationality is a separate question for their own country’s law, discussed under dual citizenship below.

3. Turkish Citizenship by Investment: The Route Without a Residence Period

Turkish citizenship by investment is the exceptional acquisition route decided by the President, available where there is no obstacle in terms of national security and public order, to foreigners holding the investor residence permit under Article 31(1)(j) of Law No. 6458 and to Turquoise Card holders, together with their foreign spouse and their own and their spouse’s minor or dependent foreign children (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.12/1-b). The concrete conditions are in the implementing Regulation: a foreigner who satisfies any one of the listed conditions may acquire citizenship by Presidential decision (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2).

Investment route	Minimum amount	Holding condition	Determined by
Fixed capital investment	USD 500,000	none stated	Ministry of Industry and Technology
Real estate	USD 400,000	three-year no-sale annotation	Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change
Employment	at least 50 people	none stated	Ministry of Labour and Social Security
Bank deposit	USD 500,000	three years	Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency
Government debt instruments	USD 500,000	three years	Ministry of Treasury and Finance
Real estate or venture capital fund shares	USD 500,000	at least three years	Capital Markets Board
Private pension contribution	USD 500,000	three years in the system	Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency

Two timing rules apply across the routes. The dollar amounts are converted at the Central Bank effective selling rate and/or cross rate on the date of determination, not the date of the transaction (Yönetmelik m.20/6). And on the property, deposit, debt instrument, fund and pension routes the foreign currency is sold to a bank operating in Turkey, and by that bank to the Central Bank, before the transaction (m.20/10). The amounts are set by secondary legislation and have been amended several times, so verify the figure in force at the time of investment. The step-by-step procedure, the documents and the investor residence permit are covered in Turkish citizenship by investment.

3.1. Turkish Citizenship by Buying Property

Buying property can lead to Turkish citizenship where the property meets the Regulation’s test. The foreigner either buys, for at least USD 400,000, property under condominium ownership or condominium servitude or land with a building on it, with an annotation in the land register that it will not be sold for three years; or pays at least USD 400,000 in advance under a notarised promise to sell condominium property, with an annotation that it will not be transferred or cancelled for three years (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2-b). The determination is made by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.

A property purchase that does not meet that test can still support a residence permit, but residence is not citizenship. The rules on what foreigners may buy are in buying property in Turkey, and the company and fixed-capital routes in company registration in Turkey.

4. Turkish Citizenship Requirements by Naturalisation

Turkish citizenship by general naturalisation requires eight conditions together, not only the residence period. A foreigner must be of age and have capacity to distinguish under their own national law, or under Turkish law if stateless; must have resided in Turkey without interruption for five years counted back from the application date; must confirm by their conduct a decision to settle in Turkey; must not have an illness constituting a danger to public health; must be of good moral character; must speak sufficient Turkish; must have an income or occupation sufficient to provide for themselves and their dependants in Turkey; and must have no circumstance constituting an obstacle in terms of national security and public order (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.11).

Reaching five years therefore does not confer Turkish citizenship. Employment, income and language evidence address separate conditions, and a file that is strong on residence can still fail on one of the others.

4.1. Turkish Citizenship Residence: How the Five Years Are Counted

For a foreigner, residence means residing in Turkey in accordance with Turkish laws. An applicant may be outside Turkey for a total not exceeding twelve months within the residence period required for the application, and periods spent outside Turkey are counted within the residence periods prescribed by the Law (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.15).

The twelve months are a total within the relevant period, not an annual allowance. Entry and exit records and the legal basis of residence must therefore be checked together, and the five years run backwards from the application date (m.11).

4.2. Turkish Citizenship and Student or Tourist Residence

Lawful residence and residence qualifying for Turkish citizenship are not the same thing. Where a person present in Turkey on a ground of residence not accepted for acquiring citizenship subsequently obtains residence on a ground considered valid, the previous periods of residence are also included in the calculation; that provision does not apply to people present on a tourist residence permit (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.71).

A student’s earlier residence therefore has to be assessed together with any later qualifying status, while tourist residence is expressly excluded from the conversion rule. For the underlying permit categories, see residence permit types in Turkey and Turkey work permit requirements.

5. Turkish Citizenship by Marriage

Marriage to a Turkish citizen does not directly confer Turkish citizenship. A foreigner who has been married to a Turkish citizen for at least three years and whose marriage is continuing may apply, and the applicant must live in family unity, must not engage in an activity incompatible with the marriage union, and must have no circumstance constituting an obstacle in terms of national security and public order (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.16).

The three-year period establishes eligibility to apply; it does not promise a decision on the third anniversary. For the qualifying date when a spouse became Turkish after the wedding, the residence documents, the separate interviews and the effect of death or annulment, see the Turkish citizenship by marriage guide. The marriage procedure itself is explained in getting married in Turkey.

6. Turkish Citizenship by Descent

A child born within the union of marriage to a Turkish mother or father, inside or outside Turkey, is a Turkish citizen. A child born outside the union of marriage to a Turkish mother and a foreign father is a Turkish citizen. A child born outside the union of marriage to a Turkish father and a foreign mother acquires Turkish citizenship when the procedures and principles establishing descent are fulfilled (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.7).

A Turkish grandparent alone is not enough: the intervening parent’s citizenship and the relationship have to be established. Turkish citizenship acquired at birth may still need to be proved and registered later. The Turkish citizenship by descent guide explains grandparent chains, unmarried parents, Blue Card limits, the documents for an unrecorded adult birth abroad, and why proof of citizenship is not tied to any particular form (m.36).

Birthplace is a separate basis and does not cover every child born in the country. A child born in Turkey who cannot acquire the citizenship of any country at birth by reason of their foreign mother and father is a Turkish citizen from birth, and a child found in Turkey is deemed to have been born in Turkey unless proved otherwise (m.8).

7. Turkish Citizenship Application: Where and How to File

Applications relating to the acquisition and loss of Turkish citizenship are made to the governorship of the place of residence within the country, and abroad to the foreign missions, in person or by a power of attorney relating to the exercise of this right (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.37). Route-specific rules still apply; for general naturalisation the governorship of residence is identified in the implementing Regulation (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.16). On the investment route the file is compiled by the application authorities on the written instruction of the Ministry and then sent to the Ministry for a decision (m.20/3-4).

Filing at a consulate does not remove a residence condition attached to the chosen route.

7.1. Turkish Citizenship Documents by Route

The document list depends on the Turkish citizenship route. General naturalisation, marriage applications and adult birth registration abroad each have their own provision (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.17, m.26 ve m.9). A document needed for one route should not be presented as a universal requirement.

For general naturalisation, the file covers (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.17):

• Identity and nationality: a passport or equivalent document, and a birth certificate or civil registry record. Evidence of statelessness is requested where it can be obtained.
• Civil status and family relationships: the relevant marriage, divorce or spouse’s death document, and family records where applicable. The authority itself obtains registry records for Turkish first- or second-degree relatives where there are such relatives.
• Health: the health report addressing the public-health condition.
• Income or occupation: a work permit, tax registration certificate, undertaking or similar document proving the income or occupation by which the applicant supports themselves and their dependants in Turkey.
• Residence: entry and exit records covering the preceding five years, and a residence permit with enough remaining validity for the citizenship proceedings.
• Other applicable records: a certified final criminal judgment if one exists, evidence or the prescribed declaration where the birth date lacks a day or month, and the service-charge receipt subject to the statutory exemption.

For marriage applications, the provision instead lists the request form, the Turkish spouse’s registry record obtained by the authority, nationality and identity documents, any applicable final criminal judgment, birth-date completion documents where needed, and the service-charge receipt subject to exemption. Where the applicant’s place of residence is in Turkey, the most recent residence permit is expressly required (m.26), and failing to produce a requested document is a ground for not accepting the application (m.25).

7.2. Turkish Citizenship Application Stages and the Interview

For general naturalisation the receiving authority first examines eligibility and the file (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.16 ve m.17). A complete file then goes to an investigation covering matters including public order, good moral character, the purpose of residence and absences from the country (m.18). The commission then examines the application conditions, spoken Turkish, means of support and adaptation to social life, and the file of a foreigner found to meet the required conditions is sent by the provincial directorate to the Ministry so that a decision can be taken (m.19).

Marriage applications use a different interview. The foreigner seeking Turkish citizenship and their spouse are interviewed by the commission separately and together, so that it can be examined whether the marriage is genuine or was entered into in order to acquire citizenship (m.29).

8. Turkish Citizenship Processing Time: How Long Does It Take?

Turkish citizenship has no single statutory processing time. The five-year residence and three-year marriage requirements concern eligibility before applying, and the three-year periods on the investment route concern holding the investment or the annotation; none of them is a promise that a submitted file will be decided within that period. The naturalisation stages cover document review, investigation, the commission interview and the decision, and those provisions do not set one guaranteed end-to-end time (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.17, m.18 ve m.19). On the investment route the Regulation says only that the completed file is sent to the Ministry for a decision (m.20/4).

Any duration quoted for a Turkish citizenship application is therefore an expectation drawn from practice, not a legal entitlement. The official NVI citizenship application status service provides an enquiry form using the application number and date of birth. A status enquiry is separate from notification of the final decision (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.41).

9. Turkish Citizenship Cost: Fees and Investment Amounts

Turkish citizenship involves two different kinds of amount, and they should not be added together as a “price”. The first is the service charge for subsequent acquisition, determined jointly by the Ministry and the Ministry of Finance and recorded as budget revenue; it is not taken from people who have no income under Income Tax Law No. 193, or from their non-adult children processed together with them (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.45). The Law sets the mechanism, not a figure, so confirm the current charge with the receiving authority.

The second applies only on the investment route: the investment itself, of at least USD 400,000 in qualifying real estate or USD 500,000 on the other monetary routes (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.20/2). It is not a fee paid to the State; it is an asset the investor holds under the route’s conditions. Notary, translation and land registry charges follow their own tariffs. A Turkish passport, once citizenship is acquired, carries its own fee under the Fees Law (492 sayılı Harçlar Kanunu m.83).

10. Turkish Citizenship and Dual Citizenship: Does Turkey Allow It?

Turkish citizenship can be held together with another nationality: Turkish law recognises multiple citizenship. Where people who acquire the citizenship of a foreign state produce the documents relating to that situation, and the examination establishes that the entries refer to the same people, an annotation that they hold multiple citizenship is made in their records in the civil family registers (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.44).

10.1. Turkish Citizenship by Naturalisation: Is Giving Up Another Nationality Required?

Turkish citizenship by general naturalisation is not conditional, under the Law, on giving up an existing nationality; renunciation is not among the conditions in Article 11(1). The implementing Regulation adds a discretionary element: together with those conditions, a condition of leaving the citizenship or citizenships the foreigner holds may also be sought, with the principles for that discretion determined by the Council of Ministers (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.15/2). The provision allows the condition to be sought; it does not require it of every applicant.

Turkish law settles the Turkish record only. Some states withdraw their nationality when a further one is acquired, and whether the other nationality can be retained is a question for that country’s law, to be checked before the Turkish application is made.

10.2. Turkish Citizens Who Take Another Nationality: Keep It or Leave With Permission

Turkish citizenship and a foreign nationality acquired later are handled through two separate routes, and choosing between them decides whether the person remains Turkish.

Route	What the Law provides	Source
Keep Turkish citizenship and record the other	On production of the documents and an identity check, multiple citizenship is annotated in the civil family register	m.44
Leave Turkish citizenship with permission	The Ministry may grant permission or an exit document to a person who is of age and capable, has acquired a foreign citizenship or shows convincing signs of acquiring one, is not wanted for any offence or for military service, and is under no financial or criminal restriction	m.25/1
Validity of the exit permission	The permission document is valid for two years from the decision; the holder must file proof of the foreign citizenship with the governorate or consulate within that time, or the document lapses	m.26/2
After leaving: Blue Card rights	Those who were Turkish by birth and lost citizenship by obtaining exit permission, and their descendants to the third degree, continue to benefit from the rights granted to Turkish citizens, subject to the exceptions in the Article; national security and public order provisions are reserved	m.28/1

Blue Card rights therefore belong to people who have left Turkish citizenship with permission, not to people holding Turkish citizenship alongside another nationality.

11. Turkish Citizenship and Military Service

Turkish citizenship acquired later in life brings a military service obligation for men, with two exceptions that cover most adult applicants. A person who acquires Turkish citizenship later performs military service like those who enter military age in that year, according to their age and education on the date of acquisition (7179 sayılı Askeralma Kanunu m.43/1). Military age starts on 1 January of the year in which a man turns 20 (m.3/1-a).

Two groups are treated as having completed military service (7179 sayılı Askeralma Kanunu m.43/1):

• Men aged 22 or over in the year of acquisition: they are deemed to have done military service.
• Men who served in their previous country: those who document that they did military service, or were deemed to have done it, in the country they came from before naturalisation.

For others, service is postponed for two years from the date of acquisition if they ask, after which they are processed with those who reach military age that year; in a general mobilisation they may be called up as needed (m.43/1). This matters most for a son who acquires citizenship with an investor or naturalising parent before turning 22. Men who acquire citizenship later on the basis of descent cannot rely on this article (m.43/3).

12. Turkish Citizenship Refusal: What Happens Next

A Turkish citizenship refusal can be challenged through administrative judicial review. The question is the lawfulness of the refusal, not an automatic entitlement to citizenship once an applicant asserts that the conditions are met, because meeting the required conditions does not grant an absolute right in the acquisition of citizenship (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.10).

Keep the refusal and its notification record. Decisions relating to the acquisition and loss of Turkish citizenship are notified to the person concerned and to the application authorities, while decisions of deprivation given under Article 29 are published in the Official Gazette and are deemed notified on the date of publication (m.41). Identify which decision you are holding before counting any period from it.

On the marriage route, two separate examinations can each end in a negative answer at different stages. The acceptance check at the receiving authority covers the three-year marriage, a marriage that has ended, pending proceedings or detention, and missing documents (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanununun Uygulanmasına İlişkin Yönetmelik m.25). The substantive assessment of family unity and of the national-security and public-order condition comes later, after the investigation and the interview (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.16).

12.1. Turkish Citizenship Decisions: Withdrawal and Correction

Withdrawal and correction address different defects in a Turkish citizenship decision. Decisions relating to the acquisition or loss of Turkish citizenship are withdrawn where it is subsequently understood that they were given without the legal conditions having arisen, or that they were duplicated (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.40). Where there is a material error or omission in a decision, a correction or completion decision is taken by the Directorate General in conformity with its basis (m.39).

13. Turkish Citizenship and the Turkish Passport: How to Get One

Turkish citizenship comes before the Turkish passport, because the ordinary passport is issued to Turkish citizens. The ordinary individual and group passports of Turkish citizens are issued within Türkiye by the Ministry of the Interior or, under the authority the Minister delegates, by the governorships, and abroad by the consulates of the Republic of Türkiye (5682 sayılı Pasaport Kanunu m.15). Turkish citizenship decisions take effect from the date of the decision (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.20/1), so the passport application follows that decision; the places of application and the documents are determined by the Ministry of the Interior (5682 sayılı Pasaport Kanunu m.17).

Turkish citizenship holders pay a fee for the ordinary passport, not a price set case by case. Passport transactions listed in tariff No. 6 annexed to the Fees Law are subject to the fee (492 sayılı Harçlar Kanunu m.83), the fee is charged as a fixed amount according to the type of transaction (m.89), and it is owed by the person who asks for the transaction (m.84). The amount is in the tariff, so ask the issuing office for the figure that applies on the day you apply.

13.1. Turkish Citizenship and Passport Types: What Is the Green Passport?

Turkish citizenship gives access to the ordinary passport, one of five types the Law lists: diplomatic, special (hususi damgalı), service (hizmet damgalı), ordinary, and passports for foreigners (5682 sayılı Pasaport Kanunu m.12). The “green passport” is the common name for the special passport, which follows a person’s office rather than how they became a citizen; the Law lists, among others, civil servants and public officials in defined grades, mayors during their term, and lawyers registered with a bar for at least fifteen years (m.14/A). A new citizen by investment, naturalisation or marriage receives the ordinary passport. Visa requirements by passport type are published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its list of visa requirements for Turkish citizens.

13.2. Turkish Citizenship Is Not Conferred by a Passport Stamped for Foreigners

Turkish citizenship is not acquired by holding a Turkish-issued passport stamped “for foreigners”. The Ministry of the Interior may issue such a passport to stateless persons and to persons treated as stateless, and the Law states that it carries no meaning for the acquisition of Turkish citizenship and confers no right on its holder (5682 sayılı Pasaport Kanunu m.18).

13.3. Turkish Citizenship Holders Who May Be Refused a Passport

Turkish citizenship does not guarantee a passport in every case. No passport or travel document is issued to persons whose departure abroad has been prohibited by the courts (5682 sayılı Pasaport Kanunu m.22). A passport may also be refused to a person who lost their passport without a justified reason, and to a person deported from the country where they were, having regard to the reasons for the deportation (m.22). The other refusal grounds in the first paragraph of Article 22 have changed over time, so check them against the text in force on the day of application.

14. Turkish Citizenship in Special Cases: Re-acquisition, Ottoman Ancestry and the TRNC

Turkish citizenship can be regained, and certain groups have their own provisions; each depends on a specific earlier fact rather than on residence or investment.

14.1. Turkish Citizenship Re-acquisition After a Loss

The re-acquisition route depends on the legal basis of the previous loss. Where there is no obstacle in terms of national security, people who lost Turkish citizenship by obtaining permission to renounce, and those who lost it as dependants of a parent without exercising the right of option in time, may re-acquire citizenship by decision of the Ministry irrespective of any period of residence in Turkey (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.13). Those whose citizenship was withdrawn under Article 29 may re-acquire it by decision of the President, and those who lost it under Article 34 by decision of the Ministry, provided there is no obstacle in terms of national security and they reside in Turkey for three years (m.14). The former loss decision identifies which provision applies.

14.2. Turkish Citizenship and Ottoman Ancestry

Ottoman ancestry alone does not establish Turkish citizenship through the parentage rule (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.7). The provision often meant instead addresses people who themselves lost citizenship under the repealed laws: persons who lost Turkish citizenship under subparagraphs (a), (ç), (d) and (e) of Article 25 of the repealed Turkish Citizenship Law No. 403, and persons stripped of citizenship under the repealed Law No. 1312 of 28 May 1928, may on application be re-admitted by decision of the Ministry without a residence condition, provided there is no obstacle in terms of national security (m.43). That provision lets the people it identifies apply for themselves; it does not grant their descendants citizenship on the basis of genealogy alone.

14.3. Turkish Citizenship for Citizens of the TRNC

Citizens of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus who apply in order to acquire Turkish citizenship acquire it if they declare in writing that they wish to become Turkish citizens. The general naturalisation provisions apply instead to those who acquired TRNC citizenship subsequently (5901 sayılı Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu m.42). The applicant’s records should therefore establish how TRNC citizenship itself was acquired.