Home · Turkish citizenship by investment · Bank deposit, USD 500,000
Place USD 500,000 with a Turkish bank, leave it there for three years, and you and your family can apply for citizenship without buying anything. The principal comes back in full on a known date, which is why investors who dislike property risk choose it. It comes back in lira, and whether the interest outran the lira in those three years is where the decision actually lies.
The threshold for this route is USD 500,000. If your budget is between USD 400,000 and USD 500,000, the property route is open to you instead and we will tell you so.
At a glance
| Item | Bank deposit, USD 500,000 |
|---|---|
| Minimum investment | USD 500,000 or the equivalent, converted to Turkish lira through a Turkish bank |
| Holding period | Three years, blocked and undertaken in writing to the bank |
| Legal basis | Turkish Citizenship Law no. 5901, article 12/B; Regulation article 20; Presidential Decision no. 5042 |
| Certifying authority | Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) |
| Where it is held | In Turkish lira, at a bank licensed and supervised in Türkiye, for the full three years |
| Typical timeline | Eight to nine months from application to presidential decree, in our files |
| Who is included | Spouse and children under 18 |
Thresholds and tax rates are set by regulation and have been revised before. Confirm the figures in force on your filing date before any transfer is made.
The law
Article 20 of the implementing regulation lists a deposit held in banks operating in Türkiye as a qualifying investment, on condition that it is not withdrawn for three years. Presidential Decision no. 5042 fixes the amount at USD 500,000. The bank gives an undertaking to the regulator, the regulator issues the certificate of conformity, and that certificate is what the citizenship file is built on.
Under the regulations, the foreign currency is sold to a Turkish bank, and by that bank to the Central Bank, before the deposit is made. Whatever the headline dollar figure says, what you hold for the three years is Turkish lira.
The deposit has to be in the applicant's own name. Money held by a company you own, or by a relative, does not qualify, and the source of the funds has to be documented to the bank's satisfaction before the account is opened at all.
Fit
This route suits an investor whose first concern is getting the capital back. There is no asset to sell, no buyer to find and no valuation to argue about. At the end of three years the bank releases the money.
It suits you less well if you want to keep your capital in dollars. The deposit is held in lira, it earns lira interest, and whether you finish ahead or behind in dollar terms depends on how that interest compares with the fall in the lira over three years. Investors who want a return with a defined maturity usually look at the bond route instead.
Process
Our files typically run eight to nine months from application to decree. The deposit is the quickest of the four investments to put in place, because there is no valuation and no land registry appointment; the slow part is the bank's source-of-funds review, which should be started before anything is transferred.
Documents
Children are included on the file up to the age of 18. A child who turns 18 while the file is pending falls out of it, which is why the birth dates of teenage children change the order in which we do things.
On top of these, the deposit route needs the source-of-funds evidence the bank requires, the account documentation, the written three-year undertaking and the certificate of conformity from the regulator.
Costs
The deposit route carries few external costs. What it does carry, and what quotes tend to leave out, is the cost of moving the money.
| Item | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Currency conversion spread | Charged on the way in and again on the way out. Roughly 1.5 per cent per conversion at the banks our clients use |
| Withholding tax on interest | Deducted at source by the bank, at the rate in force for the term and currency of the account |
| Transfer and account fees | Charged by the sending and receiving banks |
| Notary, translation and apostille | Per document, for every family member |
| Residence permit and application fees | Per applicant, set annually |
| Legal fee | Quoted for your family once we have seen the file |
Interest rates, withholding rates and spreads change. The figures used in our calculator are the ones in force on the review date shown at the foot of this page.
Risks
Between 2021 and 2025 the deposit route was effectively underwritten: the FX-protected lira deposit scheme, and the YUVAM variant aimed at non-resident investors, paid lira interest while compensating the holder for lira depreciation. YUVAM was closed to new citizenship applications at the start of 2025 and the FX-protected scheme stopped taking new accounts and renewals in August 2025.
The practical consequence is that the deposit carries the currency risk itself. High lira interest leaves you ahead in dollars only if the lira falls by less than that interest over three years. That is the whole bet, and it should be made deliberately.
The bank's conversion spread is a real cost that appears nowhere in a brochure. On USD 500,000 a spread of 1.5 per cent is 7,500 dollars, taken at the moment of conversion, and taken again on the way out.
In numbers
USD 500,000 converted to lira on day one and held for three years. What decides the dollar outcome:
| Element | Effect on the dollar outcome |
|---|---|
| Entry conversion | The bank's spread, paid once on the full capital |
| Lira interest over three years | Adds to the lira balance at the rate the bank offers |
| Withholding on interest | Deducted at source by the bank |
| USD/TRY in year three | The single largest variable. It decides whether the interest outran the lira |
| Exit conversion | The spread again, on the whole balance |
The deposit calculator puts real numbers on each line and shows the break-even exchange rate: the level of USD/TRY in year three at which you get back exactly USD 500,000.
Set the interest rate and the exchange rate you expect in year three, and see what USD 500,000 returns in dollars after withholding and after both conversion spreads. The break-even exchange rate is shown alongside it.
Open the calculatorQuestions
USD 500,000 or the equivalent, converted to Turkish lira through a Turkish bank and held in a bank operating in Türkiye without withdrawal for three years.
Any bank licensed and supervised by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. The bank has to be willing to give the undertaking and apply for the certificate, and not every branch handles these files regularly.
No. The foreign currency is sold to a Turkish bank, and by that bank to the Central Bank, before the deposit is made, and the deposit is held in Turkish lira for the full three years. The exchange rate risk sits with you.
Yes. The account is blocked, not frozen. Interest accrues at the agreed rate and is subject to withholding tax deducted by the bank.
The capital must remain untouched for three years. Whether interest can be drawn depends on how the account is structured, and it should be agreed with the bank before the account is opened.
The block is lifted and the money is yours, in Türkiye or transferred out. The citizenship already granted is not affected once the three years are complete.
Not any more. The FX-protected deposit scheme stopped taking new accounts and renewals in August 2025, and the YUVAM scheme was closed to new citizenship applications at the start of 2025. The deposit today carries its own currency risk.
Usually not for the account itself, which can be handled under a power of attorney. One short visit is normally needed for fingerprints during the citizenship application.
Thorough. The bank will want documented evidence of where the money came from, and funds that have moved through several jurisdictions take longer. This is the part of a deposit file that should be started first.
No. It has to be held in the applicant's own name.
The investment is quicker to put in place, because there is no valuation report and no land registry transfer. The gain is a few weeks; the application itself runs on the same timetable as every other route.
Before the certificate is issued, yes. Once the file is built on a certified deposit, switching means starting the investment stage again.
Each route returns a different amount of money at the end of the three years, and the gap between them is larger than most investors expect. Our comparison tool sets one exchange rate and one gold price, then shows the after-tax dollar outcome of the bond, deposit and gold fund routes side by side. Compare what each route returns.
Start here
Within one business day you get a written answer from the lawyer who would run your file: whether this route suits you, 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.
Written and reviewed by Av. Arda Şardağ, Istanbul Bar Association no. 70004 · last updated 22 September 2026. Thresholds, processing times and tax rules change; this page is checked periodically.
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.