Free tool · Return comparison
Turkish citizenship by investment requires USD 400,000 in property or USD 500,000 in a bank deposit, government debt instruments or a private pension, held for three years. What almost nobody is told is that on the property, deposit and bond routes the foreign currency must be sold to a Turkish bank, and by that bank to the Central Bank, before the transaction — and that on the deposit and bond routes the resulting lira must then stay in lira for the whole three years.
That single requirement, in Article 20 of the regulation implementing Turkish Citizenship Law no. 5901, is what separates the routes. A deposit paying 40% in lira is not a 40% return; it is a lira return that has to outrun the exchange rate before it becomes a dollar return at all.
The second thing rarely explained is where the tax falls. Turkish tax is computed in lira. When the lira weakens, an investment that has barely moved in dollars can show a substantial lira gain — and the withholding is charged on that lira figure. On the private pension route the 15% exit withholding can consume a large share of a modest dollar profit for exactly this reason.
The tool below models all of it. Enter your own view of where the exchange rate and gold go over three years and the comparison recalculates. Nothing here is a forecast: the figures are yours, and property is handled separately because its outcome depends on rent and resale rather than on a published rate.
Reviewed by Av. Arda Şardağ, Istanbul Bar Association no. 70004 · last updated 8 September 2026
Return comparison
Every route ends in the same passport. Where they differ is what the capital is doing for the three years it is committed — and what tax is charged when you take it back out. Change any assumption and the table recalculates.
USD 500,000 committed in September 2023, measured in dollars today. Historical exchange rate and gold figures are market data; deposit and bond rates are annual averages and can be edited.
Set from gold’s average annual gain of about 10% in dollar terms over the past twenty years.
| Route | Committed | Tax | Returned | Net result | Return |
|---|
Property is set out on its own because the outcome rests on rent and resale rather than a published rate. The number that matters is the resale price needed to break even.
Common questions
No. On the property, bank deposit, government bond and investment fund routes the foreign currency must be sold to a bank operating in Türkiye, and by that bank to the Central Bank, before the transaction. On the deposit and government bond routes the resulting Turkish lira must then be held in lira for the full three years.
It depends entirely on where the exchange rate goes. Deposits and bonds pay high nominal lira rates but carry the currency risk for three years. Property and a gold-linked pension fund hold dollar-linked value but are taxed on the gain measured in lira. There is no route that is best in every scenario.
Yes. Withholding is deducted from the interest. The more significant effect for a foreign investor is not the withholding but the exchange rate over the three-year holding period.
Withholding of 15% applies to the gain on exit before retirement, and the gain is measured in Turkish lira. Because a weakening lira inflates the lira gain, the effective cost against a dollar profit is often far higher than 15%.
The three-year annotation is lifted after three years and the property can be sold freely. A sale within five years of purchase produces a taxable capital gain, computed in lira with inflation indexation. Most owners hold past the fifth year, when the gain on a residential property falls outside income tax.
No. Only lira-denominated Turkish government debt instruments qualify for the citizenship route. Dollar-denominated Turkish government bonds and Eurobonds do not.
General information about Turkish law, not advice on your own circumstances. Past performance does not indicate future returns and nothing here is investment advice. Thresholds, rates and tax rules change; the review date above is when this page was last checked.
Contact
Tell us the outcome you are after and the budget you have in mind. If a Turkish route is not the right answer for you, we will say so — that is a cheaper conversation for both of us than the alternative.
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Şişli, Istanbul, Türkiye
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