Moving to Turkey is rarely one decision. It is three separate questions: on what legal basis you stay, where you pay tax, and whether you actually need a passport. Below is the order in which we review it with clients.
1. Legal basis to stay: the residence permit
Short-term residence permits (ikamet) are available to property owners and are renewable. Other common grounds are employment, study, family, and holding a shareholder or director role in a Turkish company.
- A property-based permit has no citizenship-level threshold, but the property and address are verified.
- A work permit ties the permit to the employer’s obligations.
- Renewal depends on actual presence and correct documentation.
2. Turkish citizenship by investment
The programme runs through the exceptional citizenship route. Core conditions as of 2026:
- real estate of at least USD 400,000, with a title deed annotation committing not to sell for 3 years;
- alternatives: at least USD 500,000 in capital, bank deposit, funds or government bonds, or creating at least 50 jobs;
- the application covers the spouse and children under 18;
- no residency or language requirement, and dual citizenship is permitted.
A practical point: the contract price, the certified valuation and the amount declared at the land registry must all meet the threshold, and both the seller and the property history are checked.
3. Tax residency
Tax residency follows your centre of vital interests and actual presence (the working reference is more than 183 days in a calendar year). Residents report worldwide income; non-residents report Turkish-source income.
- corporate income tax: 25%;
- standard VAT rate: 20%;
- double tax treaties apply per income type, not to your situation as a whole.
4. Banking and compliance
Account opening involves source-of-funds review, ownership structure analysis and secondary sanctions screening. An opaque ownership chain is the most common reason for refusal.
Sequence we recommend
- define the goal: presence, business, or a passport;
- confirm the permit route and tax consequences before any purchase;
- prepare source-of-funds documentation in advance;
- align the ownership structure with the bank and a tax adviser.
This article is informational. Thresholds and implementation rules change through secondary legislation, so conditions must be confirmed as of the application date.