In recent years, obtaining Turkish citizenship through investment has become a common topic in the Arab world, and during the four years since the enactment of laws related to this matter in 2017, thousands of foreigners, most of them from Arab countries, were able to obtain Turkish citizenship by investing in Turkey.
But investment is not the only way to obtain this citizenship, as those who have lived in Turkey for a period of time and fulfill some other conditions can also acquire the right to Turkish citizenship, and this is called the law of obtaining Turkish citizenship by public application.
And at the present time there are hundreds of thousands of Arabs living in Turkey, especially after the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa region following the events of the Arab Spring, and then many of these have been living on Turkish lands for about 5 years, and perhaps they have gained the right to request citizenship, But the spread of wrong information among the Arab community has made many people unaware that they have this right, and then they miss the opportunity to take wrong actions.
In this article, we present the legal conditions required to apply for Turkish citizenship through public submission, as well as address some important aspects of this topic, and present the most prominent misinformation spread among Arabs.
There are no guarantees:
Firstly, it should be noted that achieving all the legal conditions necessary to obtain Turkish citizenship through public application does not necessarily mean that the applicant has acquired an absolute right to obtain this nationality, as the final decision remains always in the hands of the Turkish authorities.
In practice, however, these requests are often approved, unless there are security or public order concerns.
General Conditions:
Chapter 11 of the Turkish Citizenship Law states that the conditions that must be met by the applicant are the following:
1- Enjoying legal capacity in terms of age and mental perceptions.
2- Submit evidence confirming his intention to live in Turkey.
3- Enjoying good manners and good conduct.
4- To be able to speak Turkish adequately.
5 - To have a stable income or a job that enables him to support himself and those under his sponsorship, if any.
6- Not to suffer from a communicable disease that poses a threat to public health.
7 - He does not pose a threat to national security and public order, does not have a dangerous criminal record and has not been subject to criminal prosecution.
8- He has been living legally residing in Turkey for 5 consecutive years before the application date.
The first condition regarding age and mental perceptions is clear, and it is precisely defined in Turkish civil law.
As for the second point related to proving the intention to live on Turkish territory, it is not specified in the law, and there are some examples of how to achieve this by transferring commercial activity to Turkey, buying a property or applying for the whole family, or completing studies in Turkey, or having a relative of the degree The first obtained Turkish citizenship previously.
There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the residency requirement in Turkey.
The Turkish Citizenship Law states that “living as a resident according to the rules and law in Turkey for a period of 5 consecutive years” means that the applicant has lived in Turkey with a valid residence permit for the five years, and even after completing this period, he should still hold a valid residence permit. Until submitting the application for citizenship.
As for the third point related to good conduct, the authorities have the full right to assess this matter, and in general, problems related to prostitution or drug trafficking are evidence of the lack of this condition.
In the fourth point, the authorities do not require that the Turkish language be spoken fluently, but they expect that the naturalization applicant will reach a level that enables him to live in Turkey, and this is confirmed by inviting the person for an interview with the citizenship committee.
As for the fifth point related to guaranteeing a stable income, the authorities do not require additional documents if the applicant holds a work permit or owns his own project in Turkey, and the naturalization applicant can enhance his chances by invoking the bank account statement if he has funds in his balance.
If the applicant for citizenship has a constant income from a commercial activity outside Turkey, then presenting a bank statement becomes necessary.
If the applicant does not hold a work permit and does not own a project of his own in Turkey, or any permanent income that can be legally proven in his bank account, the authorities expect from him a letter of guarantee from a Turkish person for the benefit of the applicant.
And in the sixth condition, it is not related to any kind of diseases, but only those that pose a threat to public health.
This is determined by a comprehensive medical report that is required to be submitted, and it is required that it be issued by one of the Turkish public sector hospitals, and not from a private or foreign sector hospital.
As for the seventh condition, it is clear that anyone can obtain his judicial record in Turkey by entering through the relevant government portal.
The most difficult condition:
The eighth point appears to be the most confusing to foreigners, as there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the residency requirement in Turkey.
The Turkish Citizenship Law states that “living as a resident according to the rules and law in Turkey for a period of 5 consecutive years” means that the applicant has lived in Turkey with a valid residence permit for the five years, and even after completing this period, he should still hold a valid residence permit. Until submitting the application for citizenship.
It should be noted that short-term visas that are granted on the basis of tourism, treatment or study, and diplomatic or asylum visas are all excluded from the list of residence permits that can be relied upon to meet the eighth condition, but there is another important exception related to these types of residency, except for the residence permit. Tourist.
If the candidate is able to obtain another type of residence permit (such as a work permit or a short-term residence permit based on owning a property) during the final year of the five-year period, previous residence permits (except for a tourist residence permit) can be considered.
This means that the tourist residence permit is never taken into consideration!
But all other types of short-term residency can grant the right to apply for Turkish citizenship if the appropriate conditions are met.
The candidate must also not have spent a total of 12 months outside Turkey during the five years, contrary to what is promoted by several sources that the period of stay outside the country should not exceed 6 months.
This rule, in turn, applies to some exceptions related to serious health problems.
Let's show the eighth point with an example:
Suppose that a foreign resident in Turkey completed 5 years on Turkish territory as follows:
Study permit: from 08/24/2015 to 07/18/2019.
Short-term residence permit (which is the special residence permit granted to recent graduates in Turkish universities for a period of 6 months): from 07/19/2019 to 01/17/2020.
Work permit: from 01/18/2020 to 02/17/2021.
Assuming that this resident has not spent more than 12 months outside Turkey in the period between these dates, he acquires the right to apply for Turkish citizenship through public submission starting from 08/24/2020 because:
Complete 5 years.
He still holds a valid residence permit (work permit) on the date on which the application is expected to be submitted.
A study permit alone is not usually accepted, but it is taken into consideration if it is followed by a valid residence permit, as in this case (work permit).
Important clarification:
Let's change this example a little:
Study permit from 08/24/2015 to 07/18/2019.
Short-term residence permit (the special residence permit granted to foreigners who have recently graduated in Turkey for a period of 6 months): from 07/19/2019 to 01/17/2020.
Tourist residence permit: from 01/18/2020 to 07/17/2020.
Work permit: from 07/18/2020 to 02/17/2021.
(You should focus on the bold part since it is the only one that has changed in the second example)
Usually the tourist residence permit is not taken into consideration, so this scenario means that the applicant will not be so lucky, right?
The reason is that if this foreign resident obtained a work permit after the first short-term residence permit, he would have been able to apply for Turkish citizenship, but because he had a tourist residence permit for only 6 months, all the years he spent in Turkey would be wasted, so does this seem fair ?
In fact, this does not seem fair, and therefore the calculations are not on this basis, but in a different way: If the tourist residence permit is for a period of 6 months and not for a year, then the residency requirement for a period of 5 consecutive years does not spoil, but rather will be taken into consideration as a time interval that the person spent outside The country, and then it will be counted within the 12-month period, which is the maximum period that can be spent outside the country in the previous five years.
Then, besides these six months, if the candidate did not spend more than 6 more months abroad, he will acquire the right to apply for Turkish citizenship despite the presence of a tourist residence permit.
In conclusion, we stress the need to assign a lawyer and seek his advice, because dealing with official documents may be difficult, and the application process can take up to a year and a half.