# Turkish Citizenship by Investment: $400,000 Threshold and E-2 Visa Access > Turkey's citizenship by investment program: real estate from $400,000 or assets from $500,000, processing timelines, and Turkish citizens' access to the U.S. E-2 investor visa. Author: Алёна Дунаева — юрист, Family Office (https://wiki.private.law/authors/dunaeva) Last modified: 2026-07-21T10:01:00.000Z Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/turkey-citizenship-investment Topics: migration Jurisdictions: turkey Semantic tags: permanent-residence, residence-permit --- ## Program history Turkey opened citizenship by investment in January 2017, and at first the threshold was prohibitive — around one million dollars in real estate. In September 2018 the property figure was cut straight to $250,000, and that upended the market: within a few years the country became the world leader by number of investor passports issued, overtaking the Caribbean programs combined. The inflow of capital and pressure on housing prices pushed the authorities to walk part of the way back — in June 2022 the minimum was raised to today's $400,000. It remains the largest [citizenship-by-investment program](https://wiki.private.law/en/citizenship-by-investment) by volume outside the Caribbean. ## Concept The logic of the program is simple: a foreigner invests a set sum in the Turkish economy and receives full citizenship in return — with the right to live, work, and own property, to pass the passport to children, and to keep the original citizenship. There is no requirement to reside in Turkey before or after naturalization, no language exam, and the application can include a spouse and minor children. The program's appeal lies in the combination of a moderate entry threshold, speed of processing, and the decent mobility of a passport whose place in the [passport index](https://wiki.private.law/en/passport-index) holds in the middle of the global ranking. ## Investment thresholds The core and most popular route is real estate from $400,000 with an obligation to hold it for three years; the value is confirmed by an SPK-licensed appraiser, and the money moves through an official bank transfer. Alongside it, the law recognizes five alternatives at $500,000: a bank deposit in a Turkish bank supervised by the BDDK, government bonds, units in a venture-capital or real-estate fund, a contribution to fixed capital, and the creation of at least 50 jobs for Turkish citizens. Each option carries the same three-year holding period and is certified by the relevant ministry — from the Ministry of Industry and Technology for capital to the Ministry of Labour for jobs. In structure this is a classic [investment migration program](https://wiki.private.law/en/golden-visas), where citizenship is granted in exchange for capital locked up for three years. > ⚙️ The real-estate threshold was raised to $400,000 in June 2022 — previously it was $250,000. The valuation is carried out by an SPK-licensed appraiser, and the currency must be sold through a Turkish bank to the central bank with a DAB certificate (Döviz Alım Belgesi) issued. This chain cuts out paper deals, inflated valuations, and settlements that bypass the banking system. ## Regulation and pitfalls The program carefully closes the loopholes that were abused at the start. The same property cannot be run through citizenship twice: if a piece of real estate has already been used for someone's naturalization, it will not work a second time, and reselling it to another foreigner under the same scheme within three years is prohibited. Transactions in military and border zones are closed to foreigners and undergo separate screening. Citizenship itself does not automatically make the investor a Turkish tax resident — residency is determined by actual presence of more than 183 days a year, and that is worth keeping in mind for anyone counting on a tax benefit. > 🧭 Turkey takes part in the automatic exchange of financial information under the CRS standard, so an account and assets declared under the program are visible to the tax authorities of your country of residence. More detail in the note on [tax transparency](https://wiki.private.law/en/tax-transparency). ## Timeline Formally the whole path takes on the order of 8–12 months: first the investor residence permit is arranged, then the citizenship application is filed, and with a fully assembled package the decision arrives closer to the lower end of that range. As of mid-2026 the Turkish passport gives visa-free or simplified entry to roughly 110–115 destinations — about 45th place in the Henley Passport Index, and over the past couple of years the figure has slowly declined. An important caveat: a visa is still required to enter the EU, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, so the passport's main value is mobility across the Balkans, Central Asia, parts of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. ## E-2 bonus for the United States > 🔗 **Related** > [Citizenship by Investment](https://wiki.private.law/en/citizenship-by-investment) · [Turkey Residence Permit](https://wiki.private.law/en/turkey-residence-permit) · [Second Passport and Plan B](https://wiki.private.law/en/second-passport-plan-b) · [Grenada CBI (E-2)](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-grenada) · [Malta Citizenship for Merit](https://wiki.private.law/en/malta-citizenship-merit) · [CRS and FATCA](https://wiki.private.law/en/tax-transparency) A separate reason for the interest is the treaty between Turkey and the United States, under which Turkish citizens are entitled to apply for the [E-2 investor visa](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employment/treaty-trader-investor-visa-e.html), which allows them to live in the United States and run a business there. But since December 2022 the State Department has closed the quick loophole: someone who acquired the citizenship of a treaty country through investment must now show continuous domicile in that country for at least three years before filing for E-2. A Turkish passport on its own no longer gives instant access to E-2 — you have to actually live in Turkey for three years. The rule applies to all investment citizenships, including [Grenada citizenship](https://wiki.private.law/en/cbi-grenada): the Caribbean passport can be obtained faster than the Turkish one, but the three-year domicile before filing for E-2 has to be waited out just the same, so the choice between them is a question of where it is more comfortable to spend those three years, not of the speed of the visa itself. The broader frame matters too: Turkish citizenship leads neither to EU nor to U.S. citizenship, and in the logic of a [second passport and Plan B](https://wiki.private.law/en/second-passport-plan-b) it is a tool of mobility and a fallback — it does not replace a change of primary citizenship. ## Who it suits The typical applicant is an entrepreneur or investor from the Middle East, South and East Asia, or the post-Soviet countries, who needs a fast second passport without relocating. The scenarios vary: easing business travel and banking, a backup document in case of instability at home, a basis for a future U.S. business through E-2 (with the three-year domicile adjustment), and sometimes asset diversification through Turkish real estate. For those to whom actually living in the country and tax status matter, it is more logical to start with a [Turkey residence permit](https://wiki.private.law/en/turkey-residence-permit) and treat citizenship as the next step. And when the program's reputation and entry into Europe come first, European routes are closer to hand — for example, [Malta citizenship for merit](https://wiki.private.law/en/malta-citizenship-merit). ## Evolution and outlook The history of the Turkish program is a pendulum between accessibility and control. The cheap 2018 threshold brought record volumes and at the same time overheated the housing market in Istanbul and along the coast; the rise to $400,000 and the tightening of valuation in 2022 were a response to that pressure. Logic suggests that with a new surge in demand or a political prompt the sum could be raised again and the source-of-funds requirements tightened; in parallel, the visa value of the passport itself is slowly declining. For the investor the practical rule that follows is simple: lock in the terms at the moment of the transaction and check the current thresholds before filing, allowing a margin for their possible increase. > 🍓 Turkey grants a second passport for real estate from $400,000 or other assets from $500,000, held for three years and with no residency requirement. Access to the U.S. E-2 visa remains a substantial plus, but since 2022 it works only after three years of genuine domicile — which noticeably changes the calculation for anyone who came to the program primarily for the United States. *This material is expert-analytical in nature and does not constitute individual legal or tax advice.* --- ## Sources - [E-2 investor visa](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employment/treaty-trader-investor-visa-e.html) --- ## Factual claims - Turkey opened citizenship by investment in January 2017, and at first the threshold was prohibitive — around one million dollars in real estate. - The core and most popular route is real estate from $400,000 with an obligation to hold it for three years; the value is confirmed by an SPK-licensed appraiser, and the money moves through an official bank transfer. - A separate reason for the interest is the treaty between Turkey and the United States, under which Turkish citizens are entitled to apply for the E-2 investor visa, which allows them to live in the United States and run a business there.