Istanbul law firm · Bar No. 70004 · Turkish citizenship by investment
You are about to send USD 400,000 to a country you do not know, for a property you cannot inspect, from a seller you have never met. The application is the easy part. The apartment is where people lose money — and an estate agent paid by the seller is not the person who will protect you from that.
We are an Istanbul law firm. We find the property, check it at the land registry before a lira moves, negotiate on your side, complete the purchase and file the citizenship application for your whole family. One firm. One fee. One party accountable.
Minimum USD 400,000 in property, held three years, then freely sellable. Passports for you, your spouse and children under eighteen in roughly four to six months. You visit Istanbul once, for a single day, to sign.
Caribbean programmes take a USD 250,000 donation and it is gone forever. Turkey asks you to own USD 400,000 of Istanbul property for three years — collect the rent, then sell it. You come here once, for a single day, to sign. Passports for your whole family in about six months.
The minimum is USD 400,000 in property — and it has only ever moved upward: USD 1,000,000 in 2017, USD 250,000 in 2018, USD 400,000 since 2022. We work only with buyers at or above the current threshold.
Who you can actually hire
The international consultancies are not in Turkey and do not touch the file. The Turkish firms that hold a licence do this alongside twenty other practice areas. The specialists sell eight programmes and know none of them deeply. And the local operators who focus on Turkey are usually estate agents, not lawyers.
| Provider | Regulated Turkish lawyers |
Turkey is the only programme |
Sources and vets the property |
Independent of developers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International advisory firms | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Turkish general-practice firms | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Multi-programme specialists | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Property agencies in Turkey | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| SARDAG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
The last column is the one people underestimate. An agency earning a commission from the developer is not going to tell you the building is overpriced. We are paid by you, and we are the ones who have to defend the file.
One firm, both halves
The property side and the legal side are the same transaction. When they sit in separate companies, nobody is accountable for the outcome that actually matters: the file is approved. We do both, so there is one party responsible from the first viewing to the passport.
Property
Legal
The economics
Caribbean and European citizenship programmes are largely a fee: you donate to a government fund and the money is gone. Turkey is a purchase. The USD 400,000 buys an asset that stays registered in your name, that you can rent out, and that you are free to sell after three years.
While you hold it
After three years
Rental figures are indicative of current market levels for this segment and are not a guarantee. Resale value depends on market conditions at the time of sale. The passport is not free: title deed fees, taxes, appraisal and legal fees apply, and we quote them in full in writing before you commit. What is different here is that the USD 400,000 itself remains your asset.
Where files get rejected
Turkish citizenship applications are rarely refused because of who the buyer is. They are refused because the property was never eligible in the first place — and by then the money has moved.
The USD 400,000 is measured by a CMB-licensed appraisal report, not by what you paid. Buyers who negotiate hard on an overpriced unit routinely find the valuation lands below the line.
Properties previously transferred to foreign nationals can be blocked from qualifying again. Sellers do not volunteer this. It is visible in the registry if you look before you sign.
Funds must reach the seller through the banking system with the currency converted and certified. Cash, third-party payments, or transfers made in the wrong order can invalidate an otherwise clean file.
Unfinished developments sold at citizenship-inflated prices are the single most common way foreign buyers lose money in Turkey — the passport may arrive, the building may not.
The sequence
A short call to confirm your budget, nationality, family situation and timeline. If the programme is not right for you, we say so on this call.
A shortlist matched to your budget, with registry checks already completed. Viewings by video if you are not travelling.
One trip, one day. Notary, bank account, power of attorney and viewings all completed in a single visit. From this point on you can go home and follow the file remotely.
Independent valuation, bank transfer with currency conversion certificate, title deed registered in your name with the three-year annotation.
The Ministry confirms the investment qualifies. Short-term residence permits are issued for you and your family.
The application is filed and tracked to decision. Passports and identity cards are collected and couriered to you.
If you go further
In June 2026 Turkey introduced a regime aimed squarely at wealthy new arrivals. It is separate from citizenship — you do not need it, and most of our clients take the passport and stay where they are. But if Turkey becomes your home, the numbers change substantially.
Individuals who become Turkish tax resident, and who had no Turkish tax residency in the preceding three calendar years, are exempt from Turkish income tax on income earned outside Turkey for twenty years.
For those inside the regime, transfers by inheritance during the exemption period are taxed at a flat one per cent instead of Turkey's progressive scale. For a family with substantial assets abroad, this is often the larger number.
This is a residence-based regime, not a citizenship benefit. Buying property and flying home does not qualify you. Turkish-source income — including rent from your Istanbul apartment — remains taxable under the normal rules.
The exemption depends on an application and a foreign asset declaration filed correctly and on time. Missed conditions can be reassessed with penalties. This is one of the things we handle, and one of the reasons to use a tax lawyer rather than an agency.
Our position
Being clear about what we will not do saves both of us a call.
The firm
SARDAG Law & Consultancy is a boutique practice at Nurol Tower, Şişli. The registry office, the appraiser, the notary, the tax office and the migration directorate are all a short drive away, and we deal with them in person, in Turkish, every week. Advisers abroad have to send that work to someone like us. You are simply skipping the layer.
Start here
Tell us your budget and deadline. Within one business day you get a written answer from the lawyer who would run your file — whether it is realistic, what it costs in total, and what could go wrong. No brochure, no sales call.
Your details are used only to respond to this enquiry. We do not sell or share enquiry data.
Tell us your budget and deadline. Within one business day the lawyer who would run your file writes back personally — whether it is realistic, what it costs in total, and which districts fit. No brochure, no sales call.
Your details are used only to respond to this enquiry.