Most CBI cost pages assume a donation. Türkiye is structured differently. The qualifying contribution is an investment in real estate or in a regulated Turkish instrument, held for three years. After the hold, the principal is yours to sell, redeem, or restructure. This page itemises both tracks side-by-side and surfaces the E‑2 treaty downstream benefit that justifies the premium over Caribbean and Pacific options.
Track 1 / Real Estate
Purchase Turkish real estate at or above the minimum threshold. Property is held for three years; after the hold, the asset is yours to sell or retain. The simplest route for buyers who want a tangible underlying asset.
Track 2 / Alternative
$500,000 deployed in one of five regulated instruments: bank deposit, government bonds, fixed capital, fund shares, or private pension. Held for three years; principal recoverable after the hold. Suits buyers who do not want to manage Turkish real estate from abroad.
Family size barely moves the Türkiye number; the program does not scale the investment per dependent. The variable cost per additional applicant is the per-person government processing fee.
| Line item | Real Estate ($400K) | Alternative ($500K) |
|---|---|---|
Qualifying investment Recoverable after 3-year hold. | $400,000 | $500,000 |
Transaction costs Real estate only: transfer tax, VAT where applicable, notary, SPK valuation, FOREX certificate. Alternative track: minimal banking and legal fees. | ~$22,000 | ~$3,000 |
21 CBI advisory (5% of investment) Source-of-funds documentation, partner coordination, FOREX certificate liaison, Provincial Directorate filing. | $20,000 | $25,000 |
Government processing (per applicant) Ministry of Interior + Provincial Directorate fees. | $574 | $574 |
Due diligence and legal Turkish legal partner, AML/CTF, FIU coordination, document preparation. Flat at engagement. | $12,000 | $12,000 |
All-in (out of pocket, year 1) | ~$454,574 | ~$540,574 |
Net cost after 3-year hold + asset sale Assumes investment returns at par. Real estate may sell above or below purchase; alternative tracks return principal. | ~$54,574 | ~$40,574 |
$400,000 is the minimum qualifying real-estate investment. Total program cost (single applicant) is approximately $452,574, broken down as $400,000 real-estate purchase plus $20,000 21 CBI advisory (5% of investment) plus approximately $32,574 in transaction taxes (~6%), government processing, FIU due diligence, FOREX certificate, and notary fees. Bank deposit, government bonds, fixed capital, fund shares, and private pension routes start at $500,000.
For live BTC and sats equivalents on the recoverable and non-recoverable components, use the Cost Calculator.
Türkiye is a US E‑2 treaty country. A Turkish citizen who makes a substantial investment in a US business can apply for the E‑2 treaty investor visa to live and operate in the United States, with the spouse permitted to work in the US and the visa renewable indefinitely as long as the qualifying US investment is maintained.
For founders and operators who need long-term US presence without the EB-5 capital requirement ($800K+ and a years-long backlog), the E‑2 pathway is the lowest-friction option available to non-immigrants. Türkiye citizenship is the gateway. That single downstream benefit is the reason most Türkiye applicants in the 21 CBI book are paying the premium over Vanuatu ($130K) or São Tomé ($90K): they are not buying a passport; they are buying the E‑2 eligibility.
The E‑2 visa itself is a separate US filing administered by USCIS. Its requirements (substantial US investment, active operating business, intent to direct and develop the enterprise) are not 21 CBI scope; we coordinate with US immigration counsel for the E‑2 application after Turkish citizenship is granted.
BTC, Lightning, and USDT are our payment rails for the 21 CBI advisory fee and the due-diligence fee; credit cards and bank transfers also accepted as needed.
The investment amount itself (real-estate purchase, bank deposit, fixed capital injection, fund subscription, or pension contribution) must settle in Turkish Lira through regulated Turkish banking channels per Turkish program rules. The Ministry requires a FOREX Certificate documenting that the funds entered Türkiye through the formal banking system. We handle the conversion via licensed Turkish FOREX provider, lock the BTC/USD rate at the moment of wire, and document the FOREX Certificate end-to-end.
The Turkish FOREX Certificate is the program-specific overlay; the underlying source-of-funds package is the same Bitcoin methodology we use across every program. Origin discovery, custody mapping, on-chain analysis, reconciliation. The Ministry treats a well-documented Bitcoin-origin file the same way a Vanuatu or El Salvador FIU does: clear documentation clears; gaps stall the file.
The full methodology is public: Bitcoin source-of-funds methodology.
At $400,000 minimum investment, Türkiye sits between Vanuatu ($130,000 donation) and El Salvador ($1,000,000 contribution). The premium over Vanuatu is the recoverable-investment structure plus E‑2 access. The discount versus El Salvador is the absence of Bitcoin-native settlement and the longer processing window.
No. Türkiye is investment, not donation. The $400,000 real-estate path buys property you own; the $500,000 alternative path is held in regulated Turkish instruments (bank deposit, government bonds, fixed capital, fund shares, or private pension). After the three-year hold, the underlying asset is yours to sell, redeem, or restructure. The 21 CBI advisory fee and the transaction costs are non-recoverable, but the principal investment is.
Whichever track you choose, the qualifying investment must be held for three years from the date of acquisition. For real estate, that means the property cannot be sold to a non-Turkish-citizen buyer (or to a related party in a circular transaction) before the three-year mark. For the alternative tracks, the deposited or invested capital must remain in place for the full three years. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change (for real estate) and the relevant regulator (for alternative investments) verify compliance through periodic reporting. Selling early voids the citizenship.
Five sub-options at the $500,000 minimum: (1) Turkish bank deposit at a licensed Turkish bank; (2) Turkish government bonds; (3) fixed capital investment in a Turkish company; (4) shares in a Turkish investment fund; (5) contribution to a Turkish private pension scheme. Each carries different liquidity, yield, and downstream-utility characteristics. We walk the trade-offs on the strategy call; bank deposit is the simplest, fixed capital is the highest-friction and highest-utility for founders with an operating Türkiye presence.
Approximately 5 to 6% of the property purchase price. The bulk is the Turkish property transfer tax (4% under the standard rate, sometimes reduced for citizenship buyers); the remainder is VAT (where applicable on new construction), notary fees, valuation fees (SPK appraisal), the FOREX certificate (proving the funds entered Türkiye through regulated banking channels), and translation/apostille costs. On a $400,000 minimum-tier purchase, transaction costs add roughly $20,000 to $24,000 to the all-in number. We line-item these on the strategy call against the specific property and the current rate sheet.
Yes. Türkiye is a US E‑2 treaty country. A Turkish citizen who makes a substantial investment in a US business can apply for the E‑2 treaty investor visa to live and operate in the United States. The E‑2 is renewable indefinitely as long as the qualifying US investment is maintained, allows the principal's spouse to work in the United States, and is the lowest-friction long-term US presence available to non-immigrants from countries holding the treaty. This downstream benefit is the single biggest reason an applicant pays more for Türkiye than for STP ($90K) or Vanuatu ($130K).
Four to six months from filing the citizenship application to the Presidential Decree granting citizenship. The investment itself (closing the property purchase or making the deposit) happens before filing; that adds roughly three to six weeks at the front of the timeline depending on the route. Total wall-clock from engagement to passport in hand is typically five to seven months.
BTC, Lightning, and USDT are our payment rails for the 21 CBI advisory fee; credit cards and bank transfers also accepted as needed. The investment amount itself (real-estate purchase, bank deposit, etc.) must settle in Turkish Lira through regulated Turkish banking channels per Turkish program rules; we handle the conversion via licensed Turkish FOREX provider and document the FOREX Certificate that the Ministry requires. The conversion rate is locked at the moment of wire.
If Türkiye is the right shape (for the E‑2 layer, for the recoverable investment, or both), the next step is a confidential call. We will walk the real estate vs alternative trade-off against your specific situation on the first call. Encrypted. No obligation.
Adam Juchniewicz, CEO, 21 CBI
