Turkey Citizenship by Investment for Pakistani Nationals: The 2026 Guide

Turkey’s citizenship by investment rules do not exclude Pakistani nationals, so a Pakistani can in principle qualify, for example with a USD 400,000 property held for three years. But Turkey is not on Pakistan’s official dual nationality list. Under s.14(1) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951, a Pakistani who becomes Turkish ceases to be a Pakistani citizen unless they make a declaration under Turkish law renouncing Turkish nationality. Children under 21 are outside that rule (s.14(1A)). This guide covers both sides.

This guide is general information about Turkey’s citizenship by investment rules and the Pakistani rules that interact with them. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice. It gives no Pakistani foreign exchange, tax or citizenship advice. Rules are stated as verified against official sources in September 2026 and can change. Turkish citizenship is granted at the President’s discretion and is never guaranteed. Take advice from qualified Pakistani and Turkish counsel, and speak to your bank, before committing any funds.

On this page

• Can Pakistani nationals get Turkish citizenship by investment?
• What happens to your Pakistani citizenship
• What Pakistani investors need to invest
• Moving money from Pakistan: what the SBP rules say
• Worked example: a Pakistani family of four
• Family, military service and the 3-year hold
• Turkey vs other programmes Pakistani investors consider
• Frequently asked questions
• The bottom line

Can Pakistani nationals get Turkish citizenship by investment?

In principle, yes. Turkey’s investment citizenship rules (Law 5901, art. 12 and Citizenship Regulation art. 20) set no nationality list, so they do not exclude Pakistani nationals. Property purchases depend on a country list Turkey does not publish, so confirm Pakistan’s position with a Turkish land registry office. The decisive point is Pakistani law: becoming Turkish ends Pakistani citizenship under s.14(1).

If you hold a second nationality as well

Some Pakistani readers also hold another passport. For property purchases in Turkey, the least-privileged nationality governs. If any nationality you hold is not permitted to buy, the application is refused. Check every passport you hold, not just the one you plan to use.

For context, Pakistan is not on the EU list of high-risk third countries (as of 29 January 2026) or on the FATF grey or black lists (June 2026).

What happens to your Pakistani citizenship

Section 14(1) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 is the starting point. A Pakistani citizen who is at the same time a citizen or national of another country shall “cease to be a citizen of Pakistan”, unless they make a declaration under that country’s law renouncing the other nationality.

Pakistan’s Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P), part of the Ministry of Interior, publishes the official list of countries with which dual nationality is allowed. The page was last modified on 9 January 2026. It lists 22 countries:

• United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland, Australia
• New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Egypt, Jordan, Syria
• Switzerland, Netherlands, United States, Sweden, Ireland, Bahrain
• Denmark, Germany (only children of Pakistani parents who acquired German nationality by birth in Germany), Norway, Luxembourg

Turkey is not on the list. So taking Turkish citizenship by investment triggers s.14(1): you cease to be a Pakistani citizen unless an exception applies. Giving up the Turkish nationality would keep you Pakistani, but it would also undo the investment’s purpose.

If you have read elsewhere that Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta or Hungary is a dual nationality partner, or that Pakistan’s list has 16 or 19 countries, that source is wrong. Check the DGI&P page itself.

The exceptions. Besides the under-21 rule below, s.14(3) covers the United Kingdom and countries notified by the Federal Government in the Gazette (the list above), and s.14(4) covers a female citizen of Pakistan married to a person who is not a Pakistani citizen. Whether any exception applies to you depends on your facts. Take Pakistani legal advice before you invest, not after.

Children. Under s.14(1A), nothing in s.14(1) applies to a person who has not reached 21. Take Pakistani legal advice on your children’s position, including what happens when a child reaches 21.

Turkey allows multiple citizenship and asks for no renunciation document on this route. That does not help here. The Pakistani rule operates on its own, whatever Turkey permits.

What Pakistani investors need to invest

The seven routes at a glance

Turkey’s Citizenship Regulation, art. 20(2), sets seven routes:

• USD 400,000 in qualifying real estate, with a three-year no-sale annotation on the title
• USD 500,000 held for three years as a bank deposit
• USD 500,000 held for three years in government debt instruments
• USD 500,000 held for three years in real estate or venture capital fund units
• USD 500,000 held for three years in a private pension
• USD 500,000 in fixed capital investment
• Creating 50 jobs

The property route is the best known. The USD 400,000 threshold applies to purchases from 13 June 2022, under Presidential Decision 5554 published on 13 May 2022. For the full route table, see our guide to Turkey citizenship by investment.

The property rules that matter

From the Regulation and TKGM, Turkey’s land registry authority:

• Own name only. A purchase in a spouse’s or child’s name, or through a company, does not count. A share purchase in a property does not qualify.
• The three-value test. The deed price, the TKGM valuation (Tutar Tespit Belgesi, or TTB) and the payments made must each reach USD 400,000. For transactions after 13 June 2024, a TTB below the threshold means rejection. A TTB is valid for 6 months.
• Qualifying property. Since 12 December 2023, only condominium or construction-servitude units, or land with a building holding an occupancy permit.
• Seller rules. Turkey restricts who you can buy from; our guide to Turkish citizenship by real estate sets them out.
• Lira conversion. On the real estate, deposit, debt, fund and pension routes, the foreign currency is sold to a bank in Turkey and on to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey before the transaction (Regulation art. 20(10)). Every foreign individual’s property purchase needs a foreign exchange purchase certificate, the Döviz Alım Belgesi (DAB). The deposit and debt routes are then held in Turkish lira.

Costs in Pakistani rupees

Converted at USD 1 = PKR 277.3018, the State Bank of Pakistan weighted average offer rate published for 28 September 2026. Rates move daily; recheck the SBP rate on the day. Turkey measures the investment in US dollars at the Central Bank of Turkey effective selling rate on the determination date, so PKR figures are illustrative.

Turkish government fees, title deed charges and the valuation fee come on top; amounts are not stated here (confirm with the land registry and Turkish counsel). VAT, commission, fees and taxes sit outside the DAB amount.

Moving money from Pakistan: what the SBP rules say

These are the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rules as written. We state each one on its own.

No general permission for foreign property or fund units. SBP gives resident individuals three general permissions to invest abroad: listed shares abroad up to USD 25,000 per calendar year per person (capped at 1% of the investee company), employee stock options up to USD 50,000 a year, and sweat equity (FE Circular No. 01 of 2024, Annex A). There is no general permission for foreign real estate, unlisted fund units or golden visa investments.

Other purposes need SBP permission. For a purpose the regulations do not cover, the published procedure is an application to the SBP Foreign Exchange Operations Department, part of the SBP Banking Services Corporation, through your bank’s foreign exchange portal. How such applications are treated in practice is not published.

Who these rules cover. These rules apply to residents of Pakistan.

Speak to your bank and a Pakistani lawyer before signing anything in Turkey.

Worked example: a Pakistani family of four

Household: applicant, spouse and two children under 18, on the real estate route. This sets out what each country’s rules require. It is not a plan.

1. Turkey requires one qualifying property of at least USD 400,000 (about PKR 110.9 million at the SBP rate of 28 September 2026) in the applicant’s own name, with the deed price, TTB value and payments each at or above USD 400,000. That one investment covers the spouse and both children; Regulation art. 20(2) sets no extra amount per dependant. A purchase in the spouse’s name would not count.
2. Pakistan’s foreign exchange rules give a resident individual no general permission to buy foreign property. The general permission for foreign listed shares is USD 25,000 a year per person. Anything else needs SBP permission through the bank.
3. Citizenship outcome for the adults. The applicant and spouse, on becoming Turkish, cease to be Pakistani citizens under s.14(1) unless they give up Turkish nationality, because Turkey is not on the list.
4. Citizenship outcome for the children. Under s.14(1A), s.14(1) does not apply to a person under 21. Take Pakistani legal advice on the position when each child reaches 21.
5. Military service. A son aged 22 or over in the naturalisation year is deemed to have served; a younger son joins the regular cohort, with a two-year deferral available on request.

Family, military service and the 3-year hold

Family. Law 5901, art. 12(1)(b) covers the investor’s foreign spouse and their own and their spouse’s minor (under 18) or dependent foreign children. “Dependent” is undefined in statute, so adult children are assessed case by case. Parents are not included. The investor’s citizenship does not change the spouse’s citizenship (Law 5901, art. 20(2)), so the spouse is granted citizenship through their own inclusion in the application, not automatically.

Military service. Under Law 7179, art. 43(1), men aged 22 or over in the naturalisation year are deemed to have done their service. Younger sons join the regular cohort, with a two-year deferral on request. The same article allows call-up in a mobilisation. Confirm with Turkish counsel how it applies to sons naturalised as minors.

The 3-year hold. The property carries a three-year no-sale annotation. The investor residence permit is issued for up to 5 years at a time. Turkey publishes no official processing time.

No right to citizenship. Under Law 5901, art. 10(1), meeting the conditions gives no absolute right to citizenship. Art. 12(2) requires refusal where there is a national security or public order obstacle. Citizenship obtained through false statements can be annulled (art. 31), and under art. 32 the annulment extends to a spouse and children who acquired citizenship through that grant.

Turkey vs other programmes Pakistani investors consider

The real question is whether you want a second citizenship or a second home base.

Turkey gives citizenship, and for a Pakistani that means ceasing to be a Pakistani citizen. European residence programmes work differently: a residence permit is not citizenship. We found no official Pakistani rule on holding a foreign residence permit, though not finding a rule is not proof that none exists.

On the residence side, the nationality rules of Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Hungary (visa route) and Italy set no bar on Pakistani nationals that we found; for Greece this is our reading and worth confirming. Malta’s programme grants permanent residence, not citizenship, and Pakistan is not on Residency Malta’s list of ineligible countries (MPRP FAQ V2.6.5, which may be revised). See the Malta permanent residency programme guide and our breakdown of Malta permanent residency costs. Italy runs an investor visa with no property route, covered in our Italy golden visa guide.

Two points carry over from the Turkish discussion:

• Later naturalisation. If you ever naturalise in one of those countries, s.14 applies again. Italy is on Pakistan’s dual nationality list. Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Hungary are not.
• Funding. The SBP rules above apply to any foreign investment, European or Turkish.

Our guide to visa investments explains the difference between residence and citizenship routes, and how much a golden visa costs compares the European amounts. For some families, residence rather than citizenship is the better fit.

Frequently asked questions

Does Pakistan allow dual citizenship with Turkey?
No. Turkey is not on the official list of 22 countries published by the DGI&P (page last modified 9 January 2026), so s.14(1) of the Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 applies.

Can I keep my Pakistani passport if I get Turkish citizenship?
Not as a Pakistani citizen, unless an exception in s.14 applies to you. Take Pakistani legal advice before investing.

How much does Turkish citizenship by investment cost in Pakistani rupees?
The property route minimum is USD 400,000, about PKR 110.9 million at the SBP rate of 28 September 2026 (USD 1 = PKR 277.3018). The financial routes are USD 500,000 each. Government fees, title deed charges and the valuation fee come on top.

Can I send money from Pakistan to buy property in Turkey?
SBP gives resident individuals no general permission to buy foreign property. Other purposes need SBP permission, applied for through your bank. Speak to your bank and a Pakistani lawyer.

Does my family get Turkish citizenship too?
Your spouse and children under 18 are covered by one investment, and dependent adult children are assessed case by case. Parents are not included. Each person’s Pakistani citizenship position needs its own advice.

Which countries does Pakistan allow dual nationality with?
The 22 countries on the DGI&P list, set out in the section above. Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Hungary are not on it; Italy is. Renouncing Pakistani citizenship is a separate procedure, by a declaration on Form “X” to the DGI&P through a Pakistan Mission, effective from registration (s.14A).

Can a Turkish passport get me a US E-2 visa?
Not on its own. Turkey has had an E-2 treaty with the United States since 18 May 1990, but a 2022 change to US law (INA 101(a)(15)(E), as amended by Pub. L. 117-263, s.5902(b)) requires anyone who acquired their nationality through investment to have been domiciled in the treaty country for a continuous period of at least three years at any point before applying, unless previously granted E status. Consult US immigration counsel.

The bottom line

Turkey’s citizenship by investment rules do not exclude Pakistani nationals, but it is a trade: because Turkey is not on Pakistan’s dual nationality list, a Pakistani who becomes Turkish ceases to be a Pakistani citizen under s.14(1). Add SBP’s lack of any general permission for foreign property, Turkey’s own-name and three-value rules, and the unpublished property country list, and this is a decision for Pakistani counsel and your bank first, and a property search second. If the trade fits your family, our guide to Turkey citizenship by investment covers the Turkish rules in full. If it does not, a European residence route is a different kind of decision. Advisory fees are quoted per engagement.