Immigration attorneys address rumors of Turkey raising its real estate CBI investment to $600,000

By Moustafa Daly

Turkey’s citizenship by investment program might soon change its real investment threshold again.

Initially launched with a threshold of $1 million in 2017, the program reduced it to $250,000 and then rose to $400,000 in 2022.

Unconfirmed local media reports say officials are mulling raising the threshold once more, to $600,000, during 2024.

However, industry experts are already voicing skepticism about this alleged increase.

“The minimum real estate investment amount for acquisition of Turkish citizenship by investment is now set at $400,000,” says Arslan Tenha, owner and senior counsel at Tenha Law Firm. “Media reports that this minimum amount will be raised to $600,000 are currently just rumors. This information has not yet been confirmed by any official authority.”

Orhan Yavuz Mavioglu, the managing partner of ADMD law office, also reiterates that “there are rumors published in local media. However, no official announcement on the matter,” he says.

However, Mavioglu adds, a recent minor change to the CBI application fees was introduced. He says that in addition to the $400,000 threshold, investors also had “another threshold for real estate investment for residency purposes, which was previously set at $75,000,” he explains.

“Now that threshold is raised to $200,000,” he reveals, indicating that the program has effectively already been made more expensive, albeit indirectly.

“Based on this, it may be assumed that they postponed the hike to $600,000 for now, but you can never be sure,” he says.

Would Turkey’s CBI still be popular with a higher investment threshold? 

However, if confirmed, the move would not be a justified one, Tenha cautions. “As things stand, the demand for Turkish citizenship by investment program is declining. Against this background, it does not seem rational to increase the minimum investment amount,” he adds.

In fact, the rumors might have been designed to address local political grievances over the CBI program.

“There has been some criticism in the Turkish domestic public opinion that citizenship is being granted on the cheap,” he explains. “The government may plan to take some steps in response to these criticisms.”

According to Mavioglu, the political pressure could stem from higher rental and property prices, which are assumed to be caused by foreign property purchases in the country. With municipal elections coming up, he adds, the government could be politically motivated to be seen to be taking steps on this front.

“In my opinion, taking such a step would significantly reduce the attractiveness of the Turkish citizenship by investment program,” cautions Tenha, adding that such a change would imply that “the government would be suspending its expectations from the program.”

Mavioglu, on the other hand, maintains optimism in the program’s value proposition. “The program may remain competitive even with $600,000 due to its practicality, value, and swiftness,” he expects.

Despite his optimism, he also does not think the government could take such a move anytime soon. “We do not expect the hike to $600,000 to happen by the new year (as rumored in the unconfirmed media reports),” he says.

“Even if it is introduced, a grace period is likely to be provided at least for 2-3 months,” he adds. “We do not expect any further changes for now.”

Powered by Froala Editor