Türkiye selects by criteria and decree, not points — investors via Presidential decision, workers via CSGB's published tests, residents via Law 6458.
Overview
Türkiye has no points system. Selection runs through three decision-makers applying published criteria: investment citizenship is granted by Presidential decision under Article 12(b) of the Citizenship Law 5901 once a named regulator attests the qualifying investment (US$400,000 real estate with a three-year title annotation, US$500,000 across five financial routes, or 50 jobs); work permits are decided by the Directorate General of International Labour Force (UİGM) under Law 6735 against published employment-ratio, financial and salary-coefficient criteria, with the employer as applicant; and residence permits are decided by the Presidency of Migration Management under Law 6458 — a regime that has tightened markedly, with tourism-purpose permits hard to renew and first-time applications refused in 'closed neighbourhoods' where foreigners exceed 20% of residents. The Turquoise Card offers a criteria-scored permanent track for highly qualified individuals. Long-term residence requires eight uninterrupted years; ordinary naturalization requires five years' residence plus language and integration conditions, and Türkiye permits dual citizenship. Verified against invest.gov.tr, csgb.gov.tr and goc.gov.tr as of June 2026.
Every Route and Who Decides It (2026)
| Route | Decider | Core test | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenship by investment (Art. 12(b), Law 5901) | President of the Republic, on NVİ file | Attested investment: US$400k real estate / US$500k financial routes / 50 jobs | Citizenship for applicant, spouse, children under 18 |
| Work permit (Law 6735) | UİGM (Ministry of Labour and Social Security) | Employer meets 5:1 ratio, financial criteria, salary coefficients | Initial 1 year with employer; extensions 2 then 3 years; counts as residence permit |
| Turquoise Card | UİGM (criteria-scored) | Highly qualified labour, investor, scientist, athlete, artist | Indefinite work right after 3-year transition; family residence; citizenship-eligible category |
| Short-term residence — property owner | Göç İdaresi (provincial) | Title deed; valuation and neighbourhood limits apply | Renewable short-term ikamet |
| Short-term residence — tourism | Göç İdaresi | Concrete documented purpose; renewals on tourism alone routinely refused | Short, increasingly restrictive |
| Student residence | Göç İdaresi | Enrolment at a Turkish institution | Duration of study; part-time work possible after first year (associate/bachelor) |
| Family residence | Göç İdaresi | Turkish-citizen or settled sponsor; income and housing tests | Up to 3 years per issue |
| Long-term residence permit | Göç İdaresi | 8 uninterrupted years, income, no social assistance in last 3 years | Indefinite residence |
| Ordinary naturalization (Art. 11, Law 5901) | NVİ → Ministry of Interior | 5 years' residence + language/integration conditions | Citizenship; dual nationality permitted by Türkiye |
The Work-Permit Decision — How UİGM Evaluates an Employer's File
- The employer applies, not you: domestic applications are filed by the employer through the e-Devlet system; from abroad, you lodge at a Turkish consulate and the employer completes the file within ten days with a reference number.
- The published criteria do the selecting: five Turkish employees per foreigner, company financials (TRY 500,000 capital / TRY 8 million net sales / US$150,000 exports), and role-based salary floors from 1× to 5× the gross minimum wage. Files that miss a criterion are refused unless a sectoral exemption applies.
- Sectoral carve-outs matter: IT-expertise roles, R&D and design-centre personnel (with Ministry of Industry and Technology approval), public-project workers, foreign airlines' senior staff, and defined tourism roles are exempt from the employment/financial criteria; health and education professions instead need pre-permits from the Ministry of Health or the education authorities.
- Some professions are closed: a published list of jobs is reserved for Turkish citizens (the CSGB maintains it — historically including roles such as lawyers, notaries and private security). Check it before negotiating an offer.
- Refusals are appealable: first to the issuing authority within statutory time limits, then to the administrative courts.
- Permit arithmetic builds tenure: first permits run one year with a specific employer; extensions run two then three years, and the work permit doubles as a residence permit — eight cumulative lawful years opens criteria exemptions and the long-term permit.
Residence Selection Has Tightened — the 2022–2026 Reality
- Closed neighbourhoods: since mid-2022, address registration for new foreign residents is closed in neighbourhoods where foreigners exceed 20% of the population (the threshold was cut from 25%). First-time applications declaring an address in a closed mahalle are rejected — verify the current list through Göç İdaresi before leasing.
- Tourism-purpose permits: first issues are shorter and renewals citing tourism alone are routinely refused; applicants must show a concrete, verifiable purpose — enrolled study, business activity, property, family ties or medical treatment.
- Property-based permits still work, but Migration Management applies valuation expectations and the neighbourhood quota on top of the title requirement — owning a flat in a closed neighbourhood does not open it.
- Appointment discipline: applications run through e-ikamet with an in-person appointment at the provincial directorate; missed appointments or incomplete files void the application rather than pausing it.
- Overstay consequences scale: fines, entry bans and refusal of future applications — and time on an expired permit does not count toward the 8-year long-term clock, which requires uninterrupted lawful residence.
From Permit to Permanence to Passport
- Long-term residence permit: after eight years of uninterrupted lawful residence, with sufficient and regular income, valid health insurance, no social assistance in the preceding three years and no public-order objection — it is indefinite and removes permit renewals.
- Ordinary naturalization (Article 11, Law 5901): five years' residence in Türkiye before application, with intent to settle, good character, sufficient Turkish, income, and no security objection; absences beyond the statutory allowance reset the clock — keep documented continuity.
- Marriage route: three years of genuine marriage to a Turkish citizen opens a separate application track, tested by interview and joint-life evidence.
- Exceptional citizenship is the fast lane: investors (via the seven attested routes) and Turquoise Card holders can be granted citizenship by Presidential decision without the five-year residence accumulation — the investment routes commonly conclude within months of the conformity certificate, though no statutory deadline binds the decision.
- Dual citizenship is permitted by Türkiye — no renunciation is demanded — but your home country's rules govern whether you may add a Turkish passport.
- Children and spouses: CBI grants cover the spouse and under-18 children in one decision; for naturalization, family members file their own applications under the relevant articles.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast is Turkish citizenship by investment, really?
There is no statutory deadline — the grant is a discretionary Presidential decision — but the process is administratively streamlined: once the attesting authority issues the conformity certificate (for real estate, after the title transfer with the three-year annotation and official valuation), you take the Article 31(j) residence permit and file the citizenship application with NVİ. Files commonly conclude within several months of a clean conformity certificate; complications almost always trace to the investment leg — valuation shortfalls, encumbered titles, or funds that didn't move through the Turkish banking system with proper foreign-currency documentation. Build your timeline around perfecting the investment evidence, not around the citizenship file itself.
Does Türkiye use a points system anywhere?
Not in the Canadian or Australian sense. There are no ranked pools or draws. The closest analogue is the Turquoise Card, which UİGM scores against published qualification criteria (education, salary, experience, contribution to Türkiye) for highly qualified workers, investors, scientists, athletes and artists. Everything else is criteria-based: work permits pass or fail CSGB's employment-ratio, financial and salary tests; residence permits pass or fail Law 6458's category conditions; investment citizenship turns on attested thresholds. The practical consequence: in Türkiye you don't improve a 'score' — you either restructure the application (different role classification, different employer financials, different permit ground) until it meets the published test, or you don't qualify.
Can I live in Türkiye long-term on tourist residence permits?
That door has substantially closed. Since 2023, Göç İdaresi issues shorter first-time tourism-purpose permits and routinely refuses renewals based on tourism alone — you must evidence a concrete purpose such as study, business, property or family. In parallel, first-time applications registered to addresses in 'closed neighbourhoods' (foreigners above 20% of local population, a list in force since mid-2022) are rejected outright. If your goal is long-term presence, choose a ground that compounds: a work permit (which counts as residence and builds toward the 8-year long-term permit), student status, a family permit, or property ownership in an open neighbourhood — and protect continuity, because gaps reset the long-term clock.
What does my employer have to prove for my Turkish work permit?
Three published tests, applied by UİGM: (1) employment ratio — five Turkish citizens on payroll per sponsored foreigner (relaxed for companies with TRY 50 million+ net sales, and inapplicable in exempt sectors like IT expertise and R&D centres); (2) financial standing — TRY 500,000 paid-in capital, TRY 8 million net sales or US$150,000 exports; (3) salary — at least 5× gross minimum wage for senior executives, 4× for engineers/architects, 3× for other managers, 2× for expertise roles, 1× otherwise. Health and education roles need ministry pre-permits. If you've lawfully resided in Türkiye three of the last five years, the employment and financial criteria are waived for up to three such hires per workplace.
What is the Turquoise Card and how does it lead to citizenship?
The Turkuaz Kart (Law 6735) is Türkiye's permanent track for the highly qualified: scientists, researchers, senior professionals, qualified investors, and internationally distinguished athletes and artists. UİGM scores applications against published criteria; holders get an indefinite right to work after a three-year monitored transition, and their spouse and dependants receive residence rights. Critically, Turquoise Card holders are one of the two categories named in Article 12 of the Citizenship Law for exceptional citizenship (the other being attested investors), so the card is a genuine non-capital route to a Turkish passport for people whose asset is expertise rather than US$400,000 — though the exceptional grant remains discretionary.
How does ordinary naturalization work if I'm not investing?
Under Article 11 of Law 5901 you need five years of lawful residence in Türkiye before applying, with absences within the statutory allowance, plus: intent to settle (working, owning property, family in Türkiye all evidence this), sufficient Turkish to get by — assessed in the application interview, a regular income, good character/clean record, and no security objection. Time on a work permit counts, since it is a residence permit by law. Married applicants can instead use the three-year marriage track. Türkiye permits dual citizenship, so you keep your original passport unless your own country objects. Decisions run through NVİ and the Ministry of Interior; budget a year or more of processing after the five-year mark.