Residency and citizenship in Turkey through property, 2026 — is it 200,000 or 400,000 dollars?

The four numbers, explained

If you have spent any time reading Persian-language guides to buying property in Turkey, you have seen all of these presented as the threshold: 75,000 dollars. 200,000. 250,000. 400,000.

Every one of them was true. None is a rumour. They belong to different routes, and to different years.

Two live numbers. 200,000 dollars for a residence permit. 400,000 dollars for citizenship. Everything else is a historical figure that someone forgot to update.

This is why the arguments in the comment sections never resolve. Two people, both correct, are describing different years and different products.

Residence permit and citizenship are not the same product

They are confused constantly, and the confusion is expensive.

A residence permit lets you live in Turkey legally beyond the 90-day limit. It is renewed periodically. It is not citizenship, it does not become citizenship by itself, and it does not give you a passport.

Citizenship is full Turkish nationality — a passport, indefinite right to live and work, the same rights as any citizen.

An adviser who blurs the two is either careless or selling you something.

Route one — residence permit, USD 200,000

Since 16 October 2023 a single nationwide minimum applies. The old split between metropolitan cities and other provinces is gone.

The deed price governs. For property acquired after 16 October 2023, the figure recorded on the tapu — converted at the Central Bank selling rate on the day the deed was registered — is what counts. A valuation report is not what the immigration file is tested against on this route.

This is a persistent confusion worth clearing up: an SPK-licensed valuation report is still required at the Land Registry for any transfer to a foreign buyer. That is a land-registry rule about the purchase. It is not the immigration threshold test.

Residential only. The tapu must carry residential status (konut vasfı) and the property must be used as such. Land, shops, offices and warehouses do not qualify, however expensive.

Older purchases keep their old rules. Bought between 26 April 2022 and 16 October 2023 — the 75,000 / 50,000 thresholds still apply, tested against a valuation report. Bought before 26 April 2022 — no minimum value applies at all.

Family. If your spouse and children appear on the tapu as co-owners, each holds their own permit on the same property with no additional value required. If they do not, you sponsor them for a family residence permit — which carries its own conditions: a year of registered residence, health insurance covering everyone, and income of at least one third of the minimum wage per person. It is not automatic.

Long absences. You may have read that leaving Turkey for more than 120 days cancels your permit. That rule was repealed in 2016 and still circulates on property websites a decade later. There is no fixed absence limit on a short-term permit. What can happen instead is that at renewal, a permit visibly not being used for its stated purpose is refused.

Building toward something more. After eight years of continuous legal residence you may apply for a long-term permit. In practice the authorities expect meaningful presence — roughly half the year, each year.

This route does not give you a passport. It gives you the right to live here, and a foundation.

Route two — citizenship, USD 400,000

The legal basis is Article 12/1(b) of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, with the amounts set in Article 20 of the implementing regulation. The current figure was set by Presidential Decision 5554 — published 13 May 2022, effective 13 June 2022.

USD 400,000 minimum, in one property or several combined.

The valuation governs here — not the price you negotiated. An appraisal by an SPK-licensed firm establishes the figure. If the appraisal comes in under 400,000, renegotiating the contract price downward does not fix it. In practice all three figures need to clear the threshold — the appraisal, the declared deed price, and the amount actually transferred. This is the single most common way a file fails.

Not every property qualifies any more. Since December 2023 the property must be under condominium ownership or condominium easement, or land with a structure on it. Raw land no longer qualifies.

Money must move through the Turkish banking system. The foreign currency must be sold to a Turkish bank and a currency purchase certificate — the DAB — issued. A file missing the DAB does not proceed, however clean everything else is.

Mortgages reduce the qualifying amount. A mortgaged property is not disqualified, but the loan is deducted and only the remainder counts. You need 400,000 of your own money in it.

A three-year no-sale annotation goes on the title deed. You may rent the property out throughout. You may not sell it for three years. You keep the citizenship afterwards — the holding period binds the investment, not your status.

Spouse and children under 18 are included at no additional investment. Adult children and parents are not.

The sequence runs: purchase and annotation → appraisal → certificate of conformity from the Land Registry → a short-term residence permit → the citizenship file → security vetting → Presidential decision. No actual physical residence in Turkey is required at any stage.

Timeline: typically three to six months for a complete file, stretching to nine or twelve where security clearance or missing documents intervene.

Route three — ownership, no status

You can buy Turkish property as a foreign national with no interest in residency at all. The asset is the point.

You will still need a Turkish tax number to complete the purchase. For living in the property day to day — utilities, banking — you will need a kimlik, which we cover in its own article.

Route four — managed investment

For investors whose objective is return rather than relocation. PERGAS acquires and manages the portfolio; no residence status is involved and no threshold applies beyond what the mandate sets.

What we do, and what we don't

PERGAS is a property firm. We find, acquire and manage real estate, and we advise on which route your objective and budget actually fit.

We are not an immigration consultancy and we are not a law firm. Citizenship and residence applications are filed by licensed Turkish immigration lawyers we work with. You meet them, you engage them, their fee is separate and visible to you.

The asset has to be worth owning on its own terms — if it only makes sense as a route to a passport, it is not an asset, it is a fee.

Before you commit to anything

1. What do you actually want — to live in Turkey, to hold a passport, or to own an asset? The answer sets the threshold, not the other way round.

2. What does the valuation say? Not the asking price. Ask for an indicative valuation before you sign anything binding.

3. Is the figure current? Turkish thresholds have moved repeatedly, always upward. Confirm in writing on the day you commit.