Turkish Citizenship Advisory for Russian Investors

Which route suits you

We handle all seven investment routes to Turkish citizenship under Article 12/1-b of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901. Turkish law sets the amounts and conditions; the right choice for you depends on your budget, how long you can keep the money invested and whether you want to own property in Turkey.

• Real estate (USD 400,000): the lowest amount. You keep the property for 3 years, and it can be a home in Turkey or a property to rent out. As investment advisors, we help you choose and check the property and coordinate the valuation and the title deed.
• Bank deposit, government bonds, investment fund shares and the private pension fund (BES): USD 500,000 each, held for 3 years, with no property to manage.
• Fixed capital investment (USD 500,000) and employment (50 jobs): for business owners who set up or expand operations in Turkey.

Our advice on the four financial routes is led by our founder, Burak Ünal. He holds an MSc in Finance from the London School of Economics (2019) and worked at Oliver Wyman, the management consulting firm, as a Financial Services Consultant before founding Gordion Partners. That background is the basis of how we explain the currency, holding period and exit questions of a USD 500,000 financial investment.

Russian law allows a second citizenship but requires a notification to the Russian authorities (see dual citizenship below), so that step belongs in your plan from the start.

Documents from Russia

Each person in the application needs identity and civil status documents, such as passports and birth and marriage records, and the family relationship must be documented. The exact list depends on your family and on current practice, so we confirm it for your case at the start.

Russia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, which has applied to it since 31 May 1992, and Türkiye is a party too. Russian public documents for use in Türkiye can therefore be apostilled by the competent Russian authority, which depends on the document (for example the Ministry of Justice and its regional offices), instead of being legalised through an embassy.

Foreign documents must be translated into Turkish and certified in a form accepted in Turkey. We check the form each document needs before it is translated, so that nothing has to be done twice.

Transfer of funds

Every route is paid through banks, never in cash. Before the investment, your foreign currency is sold to a bank operating in Turkey and on to the Central Bank (TCMB), and the bank issues a Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB). On the real estate route, only USD, EUR and GBP are accepted for this sale, and the DAB must show the USD equivalent and the citizenship purpose; the bank deposit is USD 500,000 or the equivalent in EUR or GBP. If your savings are in Russian roubles (RUB), plan their conversion into one of these currencies before the transfer to Turkey.

The rules of the country the money is sent from, and the requirements of the banks involved, apply to the transfer itself, so check them with your bank before you start. Keep the bank records of every payment: on the real estate route, the payments to the seller must be proven by bank records.

Dual citizenship and Russian law

Russian law allows a Russian citizen to hold another citizenship. Acquiring a foreign citizenship does not end Russian citizenship, and a Russian citizen who also holds another citizenship is treated by the Russian Federation only as a Russian citizen, except where a federal law or an international treaty provides otherwise (Federal Law No. 138-FZ of 28 April 2023 on citizenship, Article 10). A Russian citizen who acquires another citizenship must notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs within the deadline set in Article 11 of the same law. This is general information from the official text of the law: check the current rules with the Russian authorities before you apply.

Family members

The investor's spouse and children younger than 18 can apply with the investor on the same investment, so the amount does not change with the size of the family. Each person needs their own documents. Men who are 22 or older in the year they become Turkish citizens, or who document military service in their previous country, are deemed to have completed Turkish military service. See family members.

Process and timeline

The investment comes first, then the certificate from the route's authority, a residence permit, the citizenship application, the security review and a Presidential decision. No official processing time is published. For a complete file, citizenship by investment usually takes 8 to 12 months end to end, and no timeframe can be guaranteed. See the process, documents and timeline.

Consultations and property viewings can be done by video call, so you can plan the file from Russia before you travel.

Advice in your language

We give advice in all ten languages of this site, including Russian and English, and this page is also available in Russian. Our fees are not published: contact us for fees, questions and service scope.

Guides for Russian investors

• Turkish Citizenship by Investment for Russian Investors: A Complete Guide
• Turkish Citizenship by Investment Documents: Complete Checklist

Book a consultation or message us on WhatsApp: tell us your budget, your family and where your funds are held, and we will tell you which route fits.