A recurring question from couples, business partners and families: we are buying a property worth well over USD 400,000 together, so surely each of us qualifies? The answer is no, and it is one of the few points in Turkish citizenship practice where there is no room for argument. This article explains why shared ownership fails, how the defect arises, and what can be done about it once it has.
The requirement
The regulation requires that the applicant acquire immovable property with an appraised value of at least USD 400,000. Acquisition means ownership of the property, recorded in the applicant's name at the land registry. A share in a property held with others is a different thing in Turkish property law, and it does not satisfy the requirement.
The point is not about value. A ninety per cent share in a property appraised at USD 900,000 is worth far more than the threshold and still does not qualify, because what has been acquired is a share and not the property.
The two forms of co-ownership in Turkish law
Understanding why requires a short detour into the Civil Code, because Turkish law recognises two quite different forms of shared ownership.
Shared ownership (paylı mülkiyet), under Articles 688 and following of the Civil Code, gives each owner an abstract fractional share — a half, a third — in the whole property. No owner has a specific physical part. Each may deal with their own share, but decisions about the property require the participation of the others.
Joint ownership (elbirliği mülkiyeti), under Article 701, arises where the law creates a community of owners — most commonly among heirs before an estate is divided. Here there are no defined shares at all; the owners hold the whole together and can act only unanimously.
Neither form gives any individual owner the property. That is the whole of the reason the citizenship route is closed to both.
Why the rule is applied strictly
The requirement of full ownership does real work. Without it, a single property could be divided among several applicants — four shares in a property worth USD 1.6 million, four citizenship applications — which would defeat the threshold entirely. The three-year annotation also assumes a single owner who can give the undertaking; a shared title makes the undertaking depend on co-owners who have made no commitment.
This is why the ministry does not treat it as a technicality to be waived on strong facts. The rule is structural.
How the defect arises
- Spouses splitting the title. The most common version by far. A couple buy a property worth USD 850,000 and take half each, assuming both will qualify. Neither does.
- Family arrangements. A parent's or sibling's name is added for reasons of inheritance planning or funding, without anyone considering the citizenship consequence.
- Buying a share of a plot. Land is frequently sold in shares, particularly agricultural parcels. A buyer acquires "a share of a field" without appreciating that it is not a parcel.
- Inherited property. An heir's interest in an undivided estate is joint ownership. Even where the estate is worth many times the threshold, no individual heir owns a property.
- Business partners. Two investors buy a commercial unit together and each expects to apply.
In every case the transaction is perfectly valid as a purchase. It is only its use for a citizenship application that fails.
What can be done afterwards
Once the shared title exists, the options are limited and none of them is free.
Consolidate the shares. The co-owner transfers their share to the applicant, so that the applicant holds the whole. This works where the co-owner is willing, but it is a further transfer: another title deed fee, another appointment, and, between spouses or family members, potentially a gift tax question. The valuation must then support the threshold for the whole property in the applicant's name.
Buy a different property outright. Clean, but it requires capital that has already been committed.
Partition, for co-owned land. Where a plot can be physically divided, a partition action under Article 698 of the Civil Code — or an agreement between the owners — can produce separate parcels with separate titles. This is slow, dependent on zoning rules about minimum parcel sizes, and unavailable for an apartment.
Sell and start again. The most expensive option, and sometimes the only one where a co-owner will not cooperate.
Notice that every one of these depends on the co-operation of someone who may have their own view. That is the practical risk in shared ownership: the remedy is not in the applicant's own hands.
Where couples actually stand
This is the question that generates the most anxiety, and it has a reassuring answer.
A spouse does not need their own qualifying investment. One investment, held by one applicant, covers that applicant, their spouse and their children under eighteen. So the correct structure for a married couple is not two half-shares — it is one property in one name, with the other spouse included as a family member.
Both receive full Turkish citizenship, identical in every respect. The name on the title deed does not create a hierarchy of citizenship.
Where the couple want both names on the deed for reasons of matrimonial property or inheritance, that is a legitimate objective — but it should be achieved after the annotation period, or through other instruments, rather than by defeating the application.
Two properties, two applicants
Where two people genuinely want separate applications — adult siblings, business partners, a parent and an adult child — the structure is straightforward: each acquires a separate property, in their own sole name, each appraised at USD 400,000 or more, each with its own annotation.
Two applicants, two properties, two files. Not one property split two ways.
Inherited property
A foreign national who inherits Turkish property receives an interest in a joint estate, not a property. Until the estate is divided — by agreement among the heirs or by an action for partition — no heir owns anything that can support an application.
Where division does occur and an heir receives a property outright, a further question arises: whether property acquired by inheritance rather than by investment satisfies a route designed to attract capital. This is a point on which advice should be taken on the specific facts rather than assumed either way.
Frequently asked questions
My share is worth more than USD 400,000. Does that help? No. The requirement is ownership of the property, not value of a share.
Can my spouse transfer their share to me? Yes, by a further transfer at the land registry, with the associated fees and possible tax consequences.
Can we buy two apartments in the same building instead? Yes, provided each is separately owned and each meets the threshold.
Does the rule apply to the deposit and bond routes? The same principle applies: the qualifying investment must be held by the applicant. A joint account raises the same problem in a different form.
What if I hold the property through a company I own? The applicant must hold the qualifying investment. Company ownership is a different structure and does not substitute for personal acquisition.
Can I add my spouse to the deed after citizenship is granted? After the three-year annotation expires, ownership can be dealt with freely. During the period, the annotation restricts disposal.
Is a life interest (usufruct) enough? No. The requirement is ownership.
Checking before you sign
The whole of this article reduces to one line in the sale contract and one line in the title register: whose name, and how much of it. Confirming that the transfer will place the entire property in the applicant's sole name takes a moment before the contract and cannot be done afterwards without another transfer.
Dural Hukuk reviews the title and the intended registration before any deposit is paid, and structures the purchase so that the applicant acquires the whole property while the family is covered as the regulation provides. Call +90 535 260 74 54 or use the contact form on this site.
This article is general information on Turkish law as at August 2026 and is not legal advice. Co-ownership situations turn on their facts; obtain advice on your own before acting.