The headline number for Turkish citizenship by investment is a minimum USD 400,000 property purchase. That figure is real, but it is not the total. Once you add the transaction taxes, the mandatory reports and insurance, the state fees, and professional fees, a realistic all-in cost typically lands in the region of USD 415,000 to USD 435,000 on a property bought at the threshold — before any premium a developer may have built into the asking price.
This page sets out each line item, works through a transparent example, and shows where the cheaper headlines you may have seen leave costs out. We are an independent advisory and a member of the Investment Migration Council (IMC), with offices in Istanbul, Athens, and Dubai. We are not a property seller, so we have no reason to understate the bill.
What drives the total cost
The investment itself is the largest line by a wide margin. Around it sit a handful of smaller, mostly one-off costs that Turkish law and procedure require. Most are calculated on the declared value of the property recorded at the land registry, so they scale with the price you pay.
The legal basis for the route is Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 12(b), and Article 20 of its Implementing Regulation. The qualifying property must be valued by an SPK-licensed appraisal report and held for three years — you cannot sell within that period. (Since 2024, appraisals for citizenship purposes are channelled through a designated state-affiliated valuer rather than a freely chosen firm.)
Itemised cost table
| Cost item | Basis | Typical amount (USD) | One-off / recurring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying property | Minimum threshold | 400,000 | One-off (capital, held ≥3 yrs) |
| Title-deed transfer tax (tapu harcı) | 4% of declared value | ~16,000 | One-off |
| SPK valuation report | Fixed report fee | ~200–400 | One-off |
| Notary + sworn translation | Per document | ~300–800 | One-off |
| DASK earthquake insurance | By size/zone | ~20–60 / year | Recurring (annual) |
| Residence-permit + citizenship state fees (harç) | Per applicant | Quoted in writing | One-off |
| Apostille + courier | Per document set | ~100–300 | One-off |
| GMC professional fee | Single fixed fee | Fixed — quoted in writing | One-off |
A note on the transfer tax: it is 4% of the declared value and is, in law, shared equally between buyer and seller (2% + 2%). In practice the buyer is frequently asked to carry the full 4%, so we budget for the full amount and confirm who pays in writing before exchange.
A worked all-in example
On a property bought at the USD 400,000 threshold, a representative single-applicant estimate looks like this:
- Property purchase: 400,000
- Title-deed transfer tax (4%): ~16,000
- SPK valuation report: ~300
- Notary + sworn translation: ~600
- DASK insurance (year one): ~40
- Residence-permit + citizenship state fees: quoted in writing
- Apostille + courier: ~200
- GMC professional fee: Fixed — quoted in writing
**Indicative subtotal (excl. state harç and our fee): ~USD 417,000** on a USD 400,000 purchase. State fees and our fixed professional fee are added on top and are quoted to you in writing before you commit. Family members add further per-applicant state fees and translation costs; we set these out individually in your quote.
In our experience, the difference between a clean all-in figure and the headline is 3% to 8% of the investment, depending mainly on the transfer tax and how many family members are included.
What the cheaper headlines leave out
Three things to watch when you compare offers.
The $250,000 myth. The threshold history runs USD 1,000,000 → USD 250,000 (2018) → USD 400,000, effective 13 June 2022. Yet many competitor pages and brokers still advertise $250,000. That figure has not qualified for citizenship for years. Treat it as a sign the source is out of date — or is quoting you in.
Taxes and fees framed as "extras." A price that shows only the $400,000 is not a total. The transfer tax alone can be around USD 16,000. When an offer omits it, the cost has not disappeared; it has simply been left off the page.
Overpriced and "cash-back" deals. Some developers mark a property up to clear the threshold on paper, sometimes packaged with a "rebate" or guaranteed buy-back. These structures have led to citizenship revocations where authorities found the genuine value fell short. The protection is an honest, independent valuation. Because we do not sell the property, we can flag a non-qualifying or overpriced unit before you pay for it — see the real-estate route for how we check this.
Real estate vs bank deposit: a brief, honest comparison
There are two main routes, and the cheaper-looking one is not always cheaper overall.
- Real estate — minimum USD 400,000, valued by SPK report, held three years. Lower capital, but it carries transaction taxes (the 4% transfer tax in particular) and market risk on resale after the hold.
- Bank deposit — USD 500,000, blocked in a Turkish bank for 36 months. A higher figure, but it avoids property transaction taxes and valuation risk, and the capital is returned in full when the block ends.
Put simply: real estate ties up less money but adds more fees and more variables; the deposit ties up more money with fewer moving parts. The right choice depends on your liquidity and your appetite for property risk, not on the headline number alone. We model both for you in writing.
How GMC quotes
We charge a single fixed professional fee, quoted in writing before you commit — not a percentage of your investment. A percentage fee rises with the price of the property and quietly rewards your advisor for steering you toward a more expensive unit. A fixed fee does not.
Your written quote separates three things clearly: the investment, the third-party costs (taxes, valuation, notary, insurance, state harç), and our fee. You see every line before any money moves. To the best of our knowledge, no competitor publishes its own professional fee the way we do — and we think a firm that will not tell you what it charges has answered an important question for you already.
The named team handling your file, and our process end to end, are set out in how to get Turkish citizenship. For the full programme, start with our Turkish citizenship by investment guide.