Turkish Citizenship

Citizenship application

The investor can now apply for citizenship after obtaining the investor residence permit as specified in heading 8.

- Who can apply for citizenship?

• Investor himself
• Investor's spouse – if the investor has more than one spouse, all spouses acquire Turkish citizenship, but the Citizenship Office reports this to the court and an automatic lawsuit is filed. As a result of this lawsuit, the marriages of the other spouses, except the first spouse, are annulled. It is forbidden to marry to the second or third or fourth wife at the same time in Turkish law. Turkish law respects the applicant’s country’s law so it is allowed to get Turkish citizenship for them but marriage.
• Investor's children under 18 – Investor’s children are eligible for Citizenship application. They can be from the investor's current spouse or previous marriage or out of wedlock.
• Children under the age of 18 of the investor's spouse – Investor’s spouse’s children are eligible for Citizenship application. It may be from a previous marriage or out of wedlock of the investor's spouse. We have already stated in the above paragraph that the joint children of the investor can be Turkish Citizens.
• Dependent children of the investor and/or spouse – this dependent child may be from current spouse, from the previous marriage or out of wedlock. Having a disability is not enough on its own. The child's disability must be at a condition that cannot sustain her/his life alone.

For example, we can say that someone who is deaf or blind or lives in a wheelchair as disabled, but over 18 years old. For this reason, our applications for such people are generally rejected. In our the latest interview with the Istanbul Citizenship Office, they stated that about 20 adult dependent children were applied for the CBI program, and only 2 of them were accepted. There must be strong evidence that proves the circumstances of the child/children.

-What are the Required Documents?

• Birth certificate – all applicants must provide (investor, spouse (if applicable), children (if applicable). Name, surname, parent's name, date of birth and place of birth (in city) should be stated in it. It doesn't matter which country it has issued from and where it has certified.

For example, someone with a US passport can present a birth certificate from the Libyan State. He/she can have this birth certificate issued by the Saudi Arabian authorities.

In some countries, there are documents similar to the birth certificate, which replaces the birth certificate. These are also accepted. E.g; Sinasname in Iran, Tazkira in Afghanistan etc.

Both the original document and its translation which are certified either by the Notaries in Turkey or by the Turkish Embassy/Consulate, need to be submitted together.

• Marital Status Certificate – it is the document that shows the marital status of the investor. The point to be noted here is the document must be issued from the country of the investor's passport. There are 4 types of marital status. Let's look at all of them one by one;
• Marriage Certificate – it is a document that shows that the person is married. It must states investor name, spouse's name and date of marriage (Gregorian). The document must be issued from investor’s passport country. It doesn't matter where they're from. If the person got married in another country, he/she must have this marriage recognised in his/her own country and provide a document from his/her own country, such as a family registration document showing his/her spouse.
• E.g; The investor is a Pakistani citizen and his spouse a Moroccan Citizen. Lets assume the marriage took place in Saudi Arabia. In this case, the marriage certificate issued by the authorities from Saudi Arabia alone will not be sufficient. Family Registration Record form NADRA must be obtained from Pakistani authorities. In this document, the spouse of the person should be clearly shown.
• Unmarried Status Certificate – it is a document showing that the person has never been married. The investor must present from the passport country. It doesn't matter where they're from. The point to be noted here is that it will be clearly stated that the investor "never married".
• Divorce Document – it is a document showing that the person is divorced. The divorced spouse must have information and the date of the divorce. It could also be a court order. This document must be from the investor's passport country. If they are divorced in a different country, they must provide proof of divorce from their home country.
• E.g; Let’s assume that the investor and  investor’s spouse are from Iraq. They divorced in U.S. courts. In this case, the divorce certificate obtained by the US authorities alone is not sufficient. They need to submit a document states their divorce from the Iraqi authorities.
• Death Certificate – This document is required if the investor’s spouse has passed away. In this case,  investor needs to present a death certificate of her/his spouse. Attestations may be done from any country.

E.g; Let’s assume that investor is a citizen of Uzbekistan. Investor’s spouse also died in Russia. In this case, investor needs to provide a documents which are the death certificate obtained from Russia and a document states that "his wife is dead and he is currently single" issued from Uzbekistan.

During the citizenship application, the original of both the birth certificates and the marital status certificate will be taken by the Turkish authorities and will NOT be given back.

Both the original document and its translation which are certified either by the Notaries in Turkey or by the Turkish Embassy/Consulate, need to be submitted together.

• Passport translation – all applicants must submit [investor, spouse (if applicable), children (if applicable)]. This translation should be made from notaries in Turkey or Turkish embassies/consulates.
• Citizenship Fee – 15 TL per person.
• 2 Photographs – all applicants must submit [investor, spouse (if applicable), children (if applicable)]. 5cm x 6cm in size, on a white background, straight look without a smile.
• Application form – this form must be submitted at the same time of application. This application form comprises of informations about that who is going to apply for Turkish Citizenship, information on marital status, personal informations (name, surname, place and date of birth, parents' names, etc.)
• Custody decision – if the investor is going to apply for her/his children and she/he is divorced, it is the document that shows that the custody of the children is on the investor.
• Certificate of conformity – the certificate of conformity specified in heading 7 must be submitted at the time of application.
• Power of Attorney – If the investor and his spouse will not apply for Turkish citizenship in person, they must issue a power of attorney for their agent.
• Consent  letter – If the investor will apply for their children, but the spouse will not, or if the children are out of wedlock, the other parent must provide consent letter. If the children are out of wedlock and the investor is a woman, the consent of the children's father is not required. Because, according to Turkish law, all custody of children out of wedlock rests with the mother.

-How to Attest Your Documents

As mentioned just above, birth, marital status documents, consent letter, power of attorney, recognition decision and custody decision must be attested.

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs + Turkish Embassy – Documents can be certified by the Turkish Embassy after being attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of any country.
• Consulate + District Governorate – the relevant document can be certified by the District Governor's Offices in Turkey after being attested by the Consulate of investor’s country in Turkey.
• Apostille – It is an international convention. Approximately 120 countries are parties. Turkey is one of these countries. Accordingly, the documents with an Apostille annotation are valid in Turkey. For more information about the contract and to learn about the parties, you can refer to the link below. If you can get an apostilled document from these countries, you do not need to have it certified anywhere else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention

Note: Power of attorney and letter of consent can be attested according to the validation procedures above. However, there is not an attestaion requirement for the documents which issued by Notary Publics in Turkey or Turkish Embassy/Consulates.