An off-plan purchase can qualify a foreign buyer for Turkish citizenship by investment through the second limb of Article 20(2)(b) of the Implementing Regulation: a notarized contract promising the sale of a unit in a building on which condominium servitude (kat irtifakı) or condominium ownership (kat mülkiyeti) is already established, with at least USD 400,000 paid in advance and the undertaking not to transfer or cancel the promise for three years annotated (in Turkish, şerh) on the land register. The title does not have to pass to the buyer first. The risk with off-plan is the stage of the project: before the servitude is registered there is no unit the promise can attach to, and a reservation form or a developer’s sales contract is not the instrument the regulation names. This guide explains how the annotation works, where project-stage transactions break the file, and how to keep an off-plan acquisition citizenship-eligible from payment through filing.
What is a tapu annotation (şerh) and why does it matter for citizenship?
A şerh is an annotation recorded on the land register (tapu sicili). On a purchase it records that the property will not be sold for three years; on a promise to sell it records the buyer’s undertaking that the promise will not be transferred or cancelled for three years. For a citizenship-by-investment file based on real estate, this annotation is not optional paperwork. It is the registry evidence that the investor has committed the asset for the period the law requires, and the citizenship route is built around it. Without the annotation on the register, on a title or on a promise, there is no qualifying acquisition to file on.
The annotation is recorded at the Land Registry office (Tapu Müdürlüğü) when the qualifying sale or the notarized promise is registered, and the bank receipt for the price must reach the office before the undertaking is annotated (guidance to TKGM circular Genelge 2024/4). On a purchase the buyer remains the owner throughout and may use or rent the property; the annotation only blocks resale before the three years lapse. The threshold is USD 400,000 and the period three years, both under Article 20(2)(b).
Can you get Turkish citizenship from an off-plan (project-stage) property?
Yes. The regulation names two acts on the real estate route, a purchase with the three-year no-sale annotation on the title and a notarized promise to sell with the three-year undertaking annotated on the register, and the second is the one built for units not yet delivered. The guidance to TKGM circular Genelge 2024/4 sets its conditions: the building carries condominium servitude or condominium ownership; the whole USD 400,000 is reached in one notarized contract, which may name several units, and an application resting on more than one promise contract is not considered; the amount is paid in advance, by the date of the contract at the latest; the foreign exchange purchase certificate covers at least the advance and is issued by the contract date at the latest; a shortfall on units already bought cannot be made up with a promise; and a share in a unit does not qualify. When the title later passes to the buyer under the annotated promise, no new TTB is asked. The legal question is never whether off-plan is permitted in the abstract. It is whether this project has reached the servitude stage and whether this contract meets those conditions on its own date.
This is the central difference between off-plan and a ready-title purchase. With a completed property that already has a clean, transferable deed, the qualifying transfer and the annotation can be done in one coordinated step. With off-plan, the registry event the file depends on is the servitude on the project, and a promise signed before it exists, or one that leaves part of the price to later instalments, does not carry the file. The strategy stays clean only if the project’s register and the payment schedule are read before money moves.
What goes wrong with off-plan purchases in a citizenship file?
A strong project and a cooperative sales team are not enough. Off-plan adds timing, documentation, payment-trail, and completion risks that do not arise the same way with a ready title. The recurring failure modes are specific and avoidable.
- No servitude yet. Until condominium servitude is established on the project, the unit cannot carry a promise the registry will annotate for citizenship, so the file has no asset to attach to.
- Timing mismatch. The construction and registration schedule runs past the window the buyer planned the citizenship application around, which can stall the filing or force a less favorable route.
- Broken payment trail. Citizenship files require the investment to be documented through banking channels with the supporting foreign-exchange and valuation records. On a promise the USD 400,000 must be paid by the contract date, and a receipt for the advance dated after the contract is not counted, so a developer’s instalment plan does not carry the file; payments made informally, in cash, or directly in cryptocurrency without conversion through banking channels leave the documentary chain incomplete.
- Seller and title-history eligibility. Eligibility rules screen who the seller is and where the title came from. A unit assigned through a chain of off-plan resales, or acquired from an ineligible seller, can fail the eligibility check that ready-title diligence would normally surface earlier.
- Valuation timing. The qualifying investment amount is confirmed by the TTB built on the valuation report of an SPK-authorized valuation firm, and the TTB may be no more than twelve months older than the application for the citizenship transaction (TKGM circular Genelge 2024/4, as amended on 28 September 2026). Valuing a project-stage asset and aligning that figure with the threshold set by regulation is more fragile than valuing a completed property.
The annotation problem is usually a symptom rather than the disease. When the annotation cannot be recorded, it is almost always because the underlying transaction logic, the servitude on the project, the documented price, the eligible seller, is not yet in place.
How does the payment trail need to be documented for an off-plan CBI file?
The investment must be traceable from the buyer’s funds to the qualifying transfer through banking channels, with the foreign-exchange and valuation records the regulation requires. For a citizenship file, the price recorded in the notarized contract, the bank transfer record, the foreign-exchange documentation, and the valuation report must all tell one coherent story. Off-plan complicates this because payment is staged over construction milestones rather than settled in a single transfer.
Two points decide whether the trail holds. First, the contract must document the full transaction value: the price in the promise and the transfers must each reach USD 400,000 and the TTB must confirm it, and the foreign exchange sale may carry nothing but the price, so VAT, commission, costs and fees stay outside it (guidance to Genelge 2024/4). Full-value documentation is the protective standard, not an optional one. Second, every payment meant to count must route through the banking channel to the seller’s side and reach the registry with a receipt that names the unit or refers to its foreign exchange certificate. A payment that cannot be traced cannot be relied on when the file is assessed.
How does off-plan timing interact with the holding period and resale?
The three years are those of the annotation: on a purchase, the no-sale annotation on the title; on a promise, the undertaking annotated against the promise. Neither a reservation nor the first instalment of a developer’s plan starts them. This matters for exit planning. A buyer who assumes the holding period started when he first paid may misjudge when the property can be sold, and the clock the registry recognizes is the annotation.
Plan the exit at the start. Map the construction and registration schedule against the holding period set by regulation, and confirm when a sale would become possible if that is part of the investor’s plan. The same discipline applies to family planning and any residence or status steps that depend on the citizenship timeline, all of which key off the registry events, not the sales contract.
How does off-plan compare to other residency and citizenship-by-investment routes?
Many buyers weighing a Turkish off-plan acquisition are also comparing programs elsewhere, such as Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programs or European residence-by-investment routes in countries like Greece or Portugal. These programs differ in structure, and the terms of each are set by that country’s own law and change frequently, so the current conditions of any specific program must be confirmed directly before relying on them.
The structural distinction that usually matters is asset versus donation. Several citizenship programs are built on a non-recoverable contribution, where the qualifying sum is paid into a fund and is not returned. A real-estate route is built on an asset the investor owns and may, subject to the holding period, eventually sell. That difference, rather than any headline figure, is what an investor should weigh first, and it is one reason the off-plan question is worth getting right: the asset only protects the investment if it actually reaches a clean, registered, annotated title. We do not advise on the merits of non-Turkish programs; this comparison is framed only to position the Turkish off-plan decision.
What should a buyer do before committing to an off-plan route?
Review the project-stage risk and the title and annotation mechanics before any money is committed. The decisive questions are how the asset will be documented, whether the registration timeline aligns with the citizenship plan, and whether the evidentiary trail stays coherent from first payment through filing. If a buyer is being pressed to move quickly, that pressure is itself a reason to slow down and test the file. The strongest off-plan files are the ones where the registry outcome was contracted for before the first installment, not hoped for afterward.
A focused legal review separates what is already documented from what still has to be proven, and turns a promising-but-uncontrolled purchase into a file with a defined path to a registered, annotated title.
Documents and information to assemble for a project-stage review
- Project documents, the developer’s title and permit position, and sales-stage representations in writing
- Any title, annotation, or land-registry materials available at the current stage
- The payment schedule and the banking-channel route for installments
- The intended valuation approach and how it maps to the qualifying threshold set by regulation
- The citizenship-file assumptions tied to this property and the target filing timeline
- Records showing the sequence of timing, completion, and documentation through to registration
How Serka Law Firm structures an off-plan citizenship file
We run the title and encumbrance review on the unit, screen the seller and the title history against current eligibility rules, and read on the register whether the project already carries condominium servitude. We check that the valuation report comes from an SPK-authorized valuation firm through Web Tapu, route the investment through banking channels with the foreign-exchange documentation the regulation requires, and ensure the full transaction value is documented in the notarized contract so the file is built to withstand later review. The aim is to convert an off-plan opportunity into a documented action plan: what can be claimed, what must be proven, what to do first, and the realistic path to a registered title carrying the annotation.
Frequently asked questions
Is an off-plan purchase automatically unsuitable for citizenship?
No. An off-plan property can support a citizenship file, but it requires tighter legal control and clearer documentary planning than a ready-title purchase, because the promise qualifies only on a unit whose building already carries condominium servitude, with the whole amount paid by the contract date.
When does the no-sale annotation period start for an off-plan property?
The three years are those of the annotation, recorded on the register against the promise or, on a purchase, on the title; neither a reservation nor the first instalment starts them. Exit timing should be planned against the annotation.
Can a foreign buyer handle an off-plan citizenship file remotely?
In many cases yes. A properly issued power of attorney, a clear document list, and a remote communication plan can reduce or remove the need to travel, with one brief in-person appointment where the process requires it.
What is the single biggest off-plan risk to a citizenship file?
An incoherent documentary chain. When the contract price, the banking record, the foreign-exchange documentation, and the valuation do not align, or the project does not yet carry condominium servitude, the file is exposed regardless of how strong the project looks.
Speak to a Turkish citizenship lawyer about an off-plan purchase
If you are weighing an off-plan property for a Turkish citizenship file, the project-stage risk, the title and annotation path and the documentary chain decide whether the route can be controlled tightly enough for your filing date. On instruction the file opens on the reservation form or sales contract, the payment schedule and the project’s register; write on WhatsApp at +90 530 127 59 35 or at info@serkalaw.com before the first installment leaves your account.
Related reading and services: Citizenship by Investment counsel, Real Estate Law and Property Acquisition, Immigration and Residence Permits, Establishing Companies, and Foreign Direct Investment.
This article is general information about Turkish law and citizenship-by-investment practice and is not legal advice. Figures, thresholds and holding periods are stated here as they stand on the date of this page. No attorney-client relationship is formed by reading this article; it forms only through a signed engagement.