Turk Estate regularly posts information on price trends in various cities and regions of this country to help you navigate real estate purchasing. Our readers are particularly interested in new developments concerning application for a residence permit and the details of everyday life in Turkey, particularly now, when the current events have taken their toll on the political and economic situation. Read on to find out about the latest updates in the legislation you should take into account, the ways of transferring money across the border, and the services you can use for shopping and payments.
Content:
- Payments for services
- Payment for residence purchasing
- Applying for a residence permit
- Top cities to live in Turkey
Payments for services
Special deposit cards
Besides regular payment tools, Turkey will now offer deposit cards, as reported by the Sabah newspaper. Before the trip, tourists can transfer a certain amount for personal spending to their tour operator (that sells them a package tour) and the company transfers this amount to a Turkish account, whence it is forwarded to the hotel where the tourists are planning to stay. Upon check-in, the client receives something like a bank card at the reception desk, which they can use for shopping, at the hotel itself, in cafés, etc.
Representatives of the Turkish tourism industry expect that this solution will make package tours to this country even more attractive and allay the fears of potential vacationers who are concerned about traveling because they are unsure whether they will be able to pay for purchases and don’t want to be stranded without cash. However, there have been no official reports about launching such deposit cards. This will hopefully happen in the nearest future, or an alternative will emerge.
TROY
Another way of making payments in Turkey is the TROY financial instrument. TROY is an already existing Turkish payment system that may issue cards to foreigners if financial organizations from the corresponding country open accounts at Turkish banks.
These foreign banks will thus be able to issue cards of the TROY payment system that includes 29 Turkish banks and financial organizations, such as DenizBank, Ziraat, and İşbank.
The side effects for other countries’ financial markets, however, may include bypassing the official financial structures and the whole domestic payment system. This process would be impossible to control or regulate. Another obvious drawback is that such a hybrid structure could discontinue operations in a given country at any time and without any explanations.
Nevertheless, this option would make life much easier for tourists and residence permit holders in Turkey.
Payment for residence purchasing
People who would like to purchase a home in Turkey are concerned about making the payment, as it is inconvenient to transfer large amounts of money and the limit of cash that can be taken across the border is $10,000 per person. Some potential buyers worry that their apartment of choice will be purchased by someone else or rapidly become more expensive while they are travelling back and forth to bring the required amount in cash.
This is definitely no reason for concern, though, as Turkish developers (and we recommend purchasing from developers or their official representatives, not private persons) are always happy to meet clients halfway.
To reserve an apartment, townhouse, mansion, or villa, you can simply make a small down payment, even $1,000 – $2,000.
The remaining amount can be paid in installments interest-free over one, two, or even three years. The specific terms and conditions should be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the seller. The buyer won’t necessarily have to pay 50% or more upfront. You can pay in equal installments, e.g. $10,000 – $15,000 per quarter, over three years. This way, you can also save up some money from your passive income (if you have any) or select a more spacious home in a better district or location.
Applying for a residence permit
You might remember that fast-track citizenship is available for buyers of residential properties (one or several, it doesn’t matter) worth $400,000 or more. The others can apply for a residence permit. Last year, almost all buyers of housing who hold a TAPU (a title deed) and their closest relatives could get a residence permit, but in 2022, a significant share of districts all over the country were “restricted”, no longer making homeowners eligible for residence. This means that buyers will not be able to apply for citizenship after five years of owning real estate and residing in Turkey.
You should therefore select areas that do promise such an opportunity.
Bad news: updates in the list of “restricted” areas
In the first decade of October, Süleyman Soylu, Minister of the Interior of Turkey, announced that eight more popular areas will become “closed” for foreigners (in the sense that they won’t be able to get a residence permit under a TAPU). Küçükçekmece, Başakşehir, Bağcılar, Avcılar, Bahçelievler, Sultangazi, Esenler, and Zeytinburnu were added to this list.
In summer 2022, a total of 1,169 localities all over Turkey were on this list that you can view in full on goc.gov.tr.
Importantly, this does not apply to extending residence permits. Those who purchased a home a year ago and earlier can extend their residence permit under the TAPU on the same terms.
Good news: some “closed” districts were opened again
Some “closed” districts were partially opened. This means that Turkey will probably resume issuing residence permits under a TAPU for everyone who purchased housing in the currently “restricted” localities before July 1, 2022. This was shared by Özer Tuncay, Founder of the Turkish legal firm Tuncay&Barcin. As of the time of writing this post, there has been no official statement in mass media to this effect.
This news is particularly relevant for hundreds of homeowners and their families who have been purchasing apartments over the past half-year, specifically homes in popular resort cities, towns, and areas, such as Antalya, Alanya, Mahmutlar, Kargıcak, and their surroundings.
Re-applying for a residence permit: immediately but with a proviso
There have been many complaints over the past few months that applicants are being refused residence permits both under a TAPU (in the “restricted” districts for the abovementioned reasons) and under rent contracts (in case of tourism residence permits). In such cases, the applicant must leave the country and may apply for a new residence permit no earlier than in six months.
Not everyone, however, remembers another rule: if you applied for a residence permit and were refused, but still have “visa-free” tourism days left (so you don’t have to leave the country urgently to avoid paying a fine because you can stay for a few more days as a tourist), you can apply for another type of a residence permit almost immediately – if you can collect the necessary documents, of course.
For example, if a tourism residence permit or a residence permit under a TAPU was refused to you, you can try to collect documents and re-apply: a) for a family residence permit (foreign spouses of Turkish citizens are almost never refused unless the applicant violated Turkish laws), b) for an education residence permit (e.g. upon getting enrolled in a local university, some of which deliver training in English), or c) under a guarantee.
Top cities to live in Turkey
Finally, a ranking of best cities to live in Turkey was published recently. At the top are the country’s three megalopolises – Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir (number one – three respectively). Tekirdağ, Kocaeli, Antalya, Yalova, Bursa (the fourth largest megalopolis), Eskişehir, and Trabzon are also in the top 10.
Why does it matter? Because some of the above cities (and all of them are large and feature well-developed infrastructure) include numerous “unrestricted” districts that make you eligible to apply for an initial residence permit, specifically, based on real estate ownership. There are almost 1,200 such districts in Turkey but few in Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya.
Our professional team on Turk Estate will gladly help you to select the best possible home in this beautiful country!