Legal Guide for Foreign Investors in Türkiye

What you can do as a foreign national

Turkish law does not distinguish between domestic and foreign investors in matters of direct foreign investment. A foreign individual or company may form a company in Türkiye, take a shareholding in an existing one, or acquire real estate. The three routes below are the most common.

Which one is right depends on your purpose. A liaison office will not serve if you intend to earn income in Türkiye; forming a company is unnecessary overhead if you only mean to observe the market.

Limits on acquiring property

Foreign individuals may acquire real estate, but not without limit. Three rules should be known before any purchase decision.

• Area limit: The total area a foreign individual may acquire across Türkiye may not exceed 30 hectares. The limit is calculated across all holdings nationwide, not per province.
• Local limit: There is also an upper limit expressed as a proportion of the privately owned area of the relevant district.
• Military and special security zones: Property in these zones requires permission from the military authorities. Without it the sale cannot be completed.

The legal status of the property itself matters just as much: the title register must be examined for attachments, mortgages or annotations preventing transfer. Paying before that examination is, in practice, the most expensive mistake there is.

In your own name or through a company?

The same investment produces different outcomes depending on whose name it is held in. Three headings determine the choice:

• Tax: Individuals and companies are taxed differently; rental income, capital gains and profit distribution follow separate regimes.
• Citizenship: If a citizenship application by investment is contemplated, whose name the property is registered in has direct consequences.
• Liability and transfer: Transferring shares in a company works differently from transferring a property registered to an individual.

This is a decision that is difficult to unwind later. It should be settled before registration.

Bringing funds into Türkiye

Bringing the investment amount into Türkiye through the banking system and in foreign currency is often not a preference but a requirement. Where a citizenship application by investment is contemplated, the inflow must be evidenced by a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB).

The common failure is payment made in cash, through a third party's account, or without obtaining the certificate. The investment may genuinely have been made, yet it becomes impossible to prove in official processes.

Residence and work permits

Investing does not by itself confer a right to reside in Türkiye; these are separate processes. If you will be in Türkiye to manage your investment you need a residence permit, and a work permit if you will work. The same applies to any foreign staff you employ.

• Residence permits for foreigners in Türkiye
• Work permits for foreigners in Türkiye
• Legal remedies against residence permit refusal
• Company formation in Türkiye by foreigners
• Opening a liaison office in Türkiye

If you want citizenship

Investments above certain thresholds can support an application for Turkish citizenship on an exceptional basis. The minimum is USD 400,000 through real estate and USD 500,000 through the other routes. Beyond the figures, the process carries technical conditions.

• Turkish citizenship by investment: conditions, process and current thresholds
• Turkish citizenship through marriage
• Turkish citizenship: general route conditions

Common mistakes

• Paying a deposit or the price before the title register has been examined.
• Transferring funds outside the banking system, or without obtaining the foreign exchange certificate.
• Trying to decide whose name the investment should be in after registration has taken place.
• Assuming a liaison office may carry on commercial activity.
• Signing contracts without settling the jurisdiction and governing law clauses.
• Proceeding on the basis of information given only by the seller or the estate agent.

How we work

Before the investment we examine the title register and the legal status of the property, and assess the choice of structure together with its tax and citizenship consequences. We follow the payment and documentation process and conduct the permit applications. When a dispute arises, the same office pursues it — your file does not change hands.

Since 2018 we have worked with companies, financial institutions and international investors. We advise in Turkish, English and Arabic.