Turkey a late entry in lucrative economic citizenship bandwagon – Daily Sabah

One of the latest countries to embrace the trend, without the pretence that this will help the economy beyond real estate:

The increasing phenomenon of citizenship-by-investment – economic citizenship – has come to occupy the Turkish agenda with Thursday’s amendment of a citizenship law that offers citizenship to foreigners via four types of investment choices, including a real-estate investment of $1 million. In particular, the real-estate option is expected to boost Turkey’s real estate market and increase the ratio of real estate purchased by foreign investors.

Granting citizenship to foreigners in return for a determined amount of investment is a global phenomenon applied in many developed and developing countries, such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Australia, Dominica and Bulgaria. The growing phenomenon of “buying citizenship” is defined as “economic citizenship” by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Economic citizenship is offered by a number of small states and advanced economies, some of which, such as Canada, the U.K. and U.S., have had immigrant investor programs since the late 1980s or early 1990s, offering a route to citizenship in exchange for specific investment conditions with significant residency requirements. The rapid growth of private wealth, especially in emerging market economies, has increased the interest of wealthy people in greater global mobility and fewer travel obstacles posed by visa restrictions.

Source: Turkey a late entry in lucrative economic citizenship bandwagon – Daily Sabah