The citizenship-by-investment (CBI) threshold moved from $250,000 to $400,000 USD in June 2022. The intent was to cool a programme that had become Turkey's highest-volume foreign-buyer driver. It worked — approvals dropped 40% over the following 18 months.
What surprises most applicants in 2026 isn't the price. It's the exclusion rules. You cannot count a property that has been previously owned by a foreign national toward the $400k. That single rule knocked out a big chunk of Istanbul inventory overnight — the same apartments had been trading within the foreign-buyer pool for years.
The holding period is 3 years, and Tapu (title deed) restrictions prevent sale or transfer during that window. Miss it and the citizenship is revocable in principle, though enforcement has been patchy. The documentation path runs through a sworn translator, Tapu office, and finally the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs — realistic timeline 6-9 months from deposit to passport.
Who still makes it work? Buyers who want a second passport more than a second home — Iranians, Iraqis, and Central Asians dominate the flow now. The yield on a $400k Istanbul apartment is 5-6% gross; that doesn't justify the cost vs the passport, but that's the point.