Q: I am Egyptian, and I would like to set up a business in Turkey. I’ve heard that if you invest USD X amount, you may be eligible for privileges. Can I invest in any sector, like restaurants or import and export of clothes? Or it has to be in a specific area of investment? Also, what are the privileges that I can have as a foreign investor? I appreciate your answers.

Q: Hello, I am from Lebanon. A friend of mine told me that, buying property in Turkey grants anyone the right to reside in the country legally because he owns a property, where he renews his residence annually or every two years. That allows him after about five years to apply for citizenship. is this true? Is there any way to cut the "five years" residency and apply directly to Turkish citizenship or after one year or two at max? Please advise as I am thinking of taking such steps.

Q: Hello, I am a foreigner, and I want to invest in Turkey. If I opened a company in Turkey, can I get a work permit for foreigners from my country (Pakistan) or I will be obliged to employ Turkish citizens only? Best regards

Q: Dear ATA Consultancy, I bought 2 apartments in Istanbul, the first one in 10/2018 (TL 450,000) through payments and finished last payment in 1/2020 (but still didn't receive the title deed - Tabu - yet), and the second apartment in 03/2019 (TL 425,000) through payments and received the tabu on 30 December 2019. Payments were made by transferring from my Jordan bank to my Turkish bank and paying to the real estate developer from my Turkish bank. What I transferred so far is USD 160,000, but I am not sure how they will calculate the USD/TRY exchange rate and on what date since I did instalments. I plan to buy my last apartment and apply to Turkish citizenship, but before I do buy my last apartment, I want to make sure I am on the right track and can apply without problems. What is the cost of your services? Do you have a real estate agent also?

Q: I paid AED 25000 as the first installment in 2017 for apartment booking. The developers continue to delay the development and I request recently the cancellation of the apartment and refunding the amount. Now more than two years gone, they didn’t refund my money and they are not responding back. All the money was paid to the developer account and no agreement was signed. Only one paper was given to me as an initial reservation form. I am based in turkey. Please assist me with how I can get back my money. I have all the email correspondences and the payment evidence and receipt.

Many countries have been providing the option of Citizenship by Investment recently, whereby foreign individuals can obtain the citizenship of a certain country in a relatively short period in exchange for a certain amount of investment in sectors like real east, banking...etc. Turkey is one of the countries offering such an option and has made amendments to its legislation to attract investors willing to obtain its citizenship.

Many countries are now providing residency and/or citizenship to foreign investors, in a global trend to encourage investments in many sectors. Among these are real estate, trade, banking and others. Such conditions vary from one country to another subject to their respective laws and regulations.