Buying real estate in Turkey is one of the ways to apply for a short-term residence permit.
Article 31 of the Foreigners and International Protection Law No. 6458, which regulates short-term residence permits, stipulates that foreign nationals who purchase real estate in Turkey can be granted a short-term residence permit.
What is getting a residence permit by purchasing real estate?
Foreigners can apply for a short-term residence permit by purchasing a residential property in Turkey, provided that it exceeds a certain price.
The real estate to be purchased must be residential. A short-term residence permit cannot be obtained with real estate such as a workplace or land.
Conditions for obtaining a residence permit by purchasing real estate
In order to apply for a short-term residence permit, the conditions specified by law, regulation and other legal legislation must be met.
Article 32 of the Foreigners and International Protection Law No. 6458 lists the general conditions for applying for residence permits.
The general conditions are as follows:
• To apply for a short-term residence permit by citing one of the reasons listed and to submit documents related to this request,
• Not being among the foreigners who will not be allowed to enter Turkey,
• Housing conditions meet general health and safety standards,
• Submission of criminal record (if requested),
• To declare the address where he/she will reside in Turkey.
In addition, in Article 28 of the same law, residence permit applications made by foreigners who own real estate are required to have the real estate be a residence and to be used for this purpose.
The real estate price must be at least 200 thousand dollars
In addition to all these conditions, the legislation has determined a minimum price for the residential real estate to be purchased.
While the lower limit of the price of real estate was previously determined as 75 thousand dollars in metropolitan cities and 50 thousand dollars in cities, these figures have been increased with the latest regulation.
Now, with the new regulation, the price of the property purchased by a foreigner who wants to apply for a short-term residence permit based on the real estate purchased must be AT LEAST 200 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
With the new regulation that came into force as of October 16, 2023, the lower limit has been increased regardless of the metropolitan city.
According to the practice, the residential real estate purchased by the foreigner as of 16.10.2023 must have a sales price of $ 200,000 or more, according to the Central Bank exchange rate on the day of the title deed transfer.
Another difference brought by the new regulation is that in the old regulation, a separate valuation report had to be obtained to prove the value of the real estate.
However, with the new regulation, the valuation report was abolished and instead, it was deemed sufficient that the sales price on the title deed be Turkish Lira equivalent to a minimum of 200 thousand dollars, based on the Central Bank foreign exchange sales rate on the day the title deed was taken over.
Where to apply for residence permit?
Residence permit applications are made to the Provincial Directorate of Immigration Management in the place where the real estate is purchased.
How long is the residence permit to be issued?
Although the law stipulates that the residence permit can be issued for a maximum of 2 years, in practice it is generally granted for 1 year. However, it is possible to extend this period at any time.
What is an extension application?
60 days before the expiration of the residence permit granted for the purchase of real estate, foreigners who still meet the conditions can apply for the extension of the residence permit by citing the same real estate as the reason for the extension.
Can the purchased real estate be rented or sold to someone else after obtaining a residence permit?
There is no legal prohibition preventing the sale or rental of real estate.
However, if it is determined that there is no residence in the real estate, the short-term residence permit will be cancelled.
Is it possible to obtain a residence permit for family members for the same reason?
If the applicant's family members appear as partners in the title deed, they can apply for a residence permit based on the purchase of real estate.
However, without the need for this, after the applicant obtains the residence permit, his/her spouse and minor children can also apply for a family residence permit.
What can be done if the application is rejected?
In practice, the Provincial Immigration Administration may reject applications based on conditions that are not regulated in the law but are regulated in the regulation.
Or, the administration may decide to reject the application within its sole discretion.
In such cases, the person uses the right to appeal or take legal action to annul the administrative action within the time limit.
Since the right of objection is again made to the administration, positive results are generally not obtained.
However, the annulment of administrative action is handled by the Administrative Courts and a comprehensive trial is carried out.