Turkish Citizenship Requirements: 2024

In recent years, obtaining Turkish citizenship through investment has become an increasingly popular topic — particularly across the Arab world. In the five years since the relevant law was enacted in 2017, thousands of foreign nationals, the majority from Arab countries, have acquired Turkish citizenship by investing in Turkey.

However, investment is not the only route to Turkish citizenship. If you have lived in Turkey for a certain period and meet a number of other conditions, you may also be eligible to apply — this route is commonly referred to as acquiring Turkish citizenship through the general (public) application process.

In the wake of the upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa — particularly following the Arab Spring — hundreds of thousands of Arabs have made Turkey their home. Many have now been living here for around five years, which means they may already have the right to apply for citizenship. Yet due to widespread misinformation circulating within Arab communities, many people are simply unaware of this right and are missing their opportunity to become Turkish citizens.

aljazeera

Below, we address the most common misconceptions circulating among Arab communities, along with a clear breakdown of the legal requirements for applying for Turkish citizenship through the general application route.

No Guarantee of Approval

One important point to understand from the outset: meeting all the legal requirements for a Turkish citizenship application through the general route does not give you an absolute right to be granted citizenship. The final decision always rests with the Turkish authorities.

That said, in practice, applications that meet all the criteria are generally approved — unless there are concerns relating to national security or public order.

General Requirements

Article 11 of the Turkish Citizenship Law (Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu) sets out the conditions an applicant must satisfy. These are as follows:

Legal capacity — being of legal age and sound mind.

This first requirement — relating to age and mental capacity — is clearly defined in the Turkish Civil Code (Türk Medeni Kanunu, TMK).

Evidence of an intention to settle in Turkey.

The law does not specify exactly how you must demonstrate an intention to live in Turkey, but it gives a number of practical examples: transferring a business to Turkey, purchasing property, making a joint application for the whole family, having completed your education in Turkey, or having close relatives who already hold Turkish citizenship.

There is a great deal of confusion around the residence requirement. The Turkish Citizenship Law makes clear that “five consecutive years of lawful and uninterrupted residence in Turkey” means the applicant must have held a valid residence permit throughout that five-year period — and must still hold a valid residence permit at the time of submitting the citizenship application.

Good character and conduct.

The authorities have discretion on this point. As a general rule, involvement in prostitution or narcotics offences would be taken as evidence that this requirement is not met.

A sufficient command of the Turkish language.

The authorities do not require fluency. What they expect is that you can get by in everyday life in Turkey. This is typically assessed by inviting the applicant to an interview during the citizenship process.

A stable income or employment sufficient to support yourself and any dependants.

If you hold a work permit in Turkey or run your own business here, the authorities generally do not ask for additional documentation. Providing recent bank statements showing sufficient funds can strengthen your application. If your income comes from a business activity based outside Turkey, bank statements will be required as evidence. If you have neither a work permit nor a business in Turkey, and cannot demonstrate a stable income through your bank account, the authorities may ask for a financial guarantee letter from a Turkish citizen on your behalf.

No contagious or infectious disease that poses a threat to public health.

This condition relates only to diseases that present a genuine risk to public health — not to any illness in general. It is assessed through a comprehensive medical report, which must be issued by a Turkish state hospital, not a private or foreign-sector hospital.

No threat to national security or public order, no serious criminal record, and no ongoing criminal prosecution.

Anyone in Turkey can obtain their criminal record certificate (sabıka kaydı) through the government’s e-Devlet (e-Government) portal.

Five consecutive years of lawful residence in Turkey prior to the date of application.

This is the requirement most commonly misunderstood:

Because this point generates so much confusion, it is worth spelling it out clearly. Under the Turkish Citizenship Law, “five consecutive years of lawful and uninterrupted residence” means you must have held a valid residence permit for the entire five-year period — and you must still hold a valid residence permit at the time you submit your citizenship application.

It is also important to note that short-stay visas issued for tourism, medical treatment or work purposes, as well as diplomatic residence status or asylum-based permits, are all excluded from the list of qualifying permits for this requirement. There is, however, one significant exception that applies to tourist residence permits specifically — explained below.

Earlier residence permits (other than tourist residence permits) can be taken into account, provided that in the final year of the five-year period the applicant holds a different type of residence permit — such as a work permit or a short-term residence permit based on property ownership. In short, a tourist residence permit never counts on its own — but all other types of short-term residence permit can qualify, provided the conditions are met.

One further point: contrary to claims you may have read elsewhere suggesting that absences from Turkey must not exceed six months, the correct rule is that you must not have spent more than a total of 12 months outside Turkey during the five-year period.

There are also limited exceptions to this rule for serious health reasons.

Let’s walk through this eighth requirement with a worked example:

Suppose a foreign national residing in Turkey completes five years in Turkey with the following permit history:

Work permit: 15/02/2014 – 07/02/2018

Short-term residence permit (a special six-month permit issued to recent graduates of Turkish universities): 20/09/2018 – 11/03/2019

Work permit: 18/01/2019 – 17/02/2020

Assuming this person has not spent more than 12 months outside Turkey during these periods, they would be eligible to apply for Turkish citizenship through the general route from 15/02/2019, because they satisfy two key conditions:

A full five years of consecutive residence.

A valid residence permit (work permit) in place at the time of application.

Note that a work permit alone is generally not sufficient — but in this case, because it follows directly on from a valid residence permit, it can be counted.

• Important clarification:

What if a tourist residence permit is involved? Generally, a tourist residence permit does not count towards the citizenship application. But this does not automatically mean those years are wasted. If the tourist residence permit lasted only six months (rather than a full year), it will not break the requirement for five consecutive years of residence. Instead, it is treated as a gap — equivalent to time spent abroad — and counts towards the maximum 12-month absence allowance over the five-year period. This means that as long as the applicant did not spend more than an additional six months outside Turkey during those five years (i.e. the tourist permit period plus any time abroad does not exceed 12 months in total), they can still be eligible to apply for Turkish citizenship.

Finally, given that dealing with the paperwork can be complex and the application process itself can take up to a year and a half, we strongly recommend instructing a lawyer and seeking professional legal advice before you begin.