Turkey residence permit through property ownership

What housing qualifies

The property must be residential and registered in the applicant’s name: the title deed (tapu) must be in order, free of encumbrances, and designated as residential rather than commercial or land. The immigration authority states the requirement as follows: the property must be a residence and must be used as one.

There is a widespread and costly misconception about family applications. The right to apply on this basis is granted not by family ties to the owner, but by a share in the property: family members may apply under the same article if they co-own the property jointly or as tenants in common. If the title deed (tapu) is in one person’s name, the others do not qualify on this basis — they need a family residence permit, where the owner acts not as a property owner but as a supporting person, and that comes with its own set of requirements.

A separate procedure applies to purchases by foreign nationals: a certified valuation of the property, transfer of funds through a bank with a currency conversion certificate, and mandatory earthquake insurance. These steps are not formalities — without them, the transaction will either not be registered or the documents for residency status will later be rejected.

• The property must be designated as residential — commercial premises and land plots do not qualify
• Title deed in the applicant’s name and free of encumbrances
• A certified appraisal report is a mandatory part of the transaction for a foreign buyer
• The currency transfer certificate and earthquake insurance are arranged during the process
• This ground is available to property owners — including co-owners; family ties without a share in the tapu do not qualify

Why no one can quote you a statutory threshold

The law sets no minimum property value. In 2024, Article 31 of Law 6458 was amended with a sixth paragraph, which states one thing only: the characteristics and value of property used as the basis for a short-term ikamet are determined by the ministry. The amendment was introduced by Law 7533 of 21 November 2024 and has been in effect since 30 November 2024.

Everything else follows from this. The threshold is set by secondary legislation, meaning it can be changed without amending the law and without public consultation; it may also differ depending on the type of application and location. This is precisely why open sources diverge so widely — they cite figures from different periods and different situations, each convinced they are correct.

We don’t publish a specific figure on the page — and now we can explain why, rather than simply citing caution. Naming one would send a buyer after a property priced against a threshold that isn’t fixed in law and is verified against the requirement in force on the date of the transaction. We check two things before any deposit: whether your property qualifies by value and whether the quarter is open for registration — and we answer based on the documents, not on an article we found online.

How this differs from citizenship by investment

These are two different programmes, and the difference lies not in the size of the investment but in the outcome. A real-estate ikamet grants a residence permit that must be renewed; citizenship by investment grants a passport, but requires a significantly higher threshold, a commitment not to sell the property for three years, and a separate procedure involving a certificate of conformity.

The practical advice: if citizenship is the goal, buying ’something affordable and topping up later’ will not work. The threshold is assessed per transaction, and a property that qualifies for a residence permit usually does not qualify for citizenship.

Procedure and documents

• Property and neighbourhood check before the deposit — this is the only point where walking away costs nothing
• Transaction: valuation, bank transfer of funds, tapu registration, earthquake insurance
• Tax number and setting up utilities in your name
• Filing an e-ikamet application with a tapu as the basis, with health insurance for the full period
• In-person appointment at the provincial migration office, followed by the card arriving by post

Common mistakes

• Pay a deposit and only then discover that the district is closed for registration
• Buying an apartment with commercial designation and expecting to receive status
• Trusting a developer’s promise of a ’residence permit included with purchase’ — status is granted by the state, not the seller
• Transferring money outside the bank conversion system and ending up without the required certificate
• Register the tapu in one name and wait for status for the whole family: co-owners apply on this basis; everyone else needs a family ikamet

Frequently asked questions

Verified September 11, 2026. The thresholds and amounts are tied to indicators that are reviewed annually — check the official source for your country before filing.