The issue of obtaining Turkish citizenship is one of the most important matters that concern Syrians and Arabs in Turkey in general, so we discuss here a detailed account of the stages of the progress of naturalization files in Turkey after submitting them to the concerned authorities. The importance of this file is that it is widely circulated among the members of the Arab communities in this country, and unfortunately incorrect or erroneous information is spread regarding it, or even old ones about the decisions, required papers, conditions and stages of the process.

Law on obtaining Turkish citizenship

First of all, we have to get acquainted with the laws that allow foreigners to apply for Turkish citizenship, as in many cases they are entitled to obtain it within articles in Turkish law, if some conditions are met, which are summarized as follows:

1 - A foreigner who holds a work residence permit and resides in Turkey for five years.

2 - Investment in Turkey within specific conditions.

3 - Buying a property in Turkey with a specific financial value (at least 400 thousand US dollars).

4 - By marriage and marriage to a person of Turkish nationality.

5 - Through adoption.

6 - By proving Turkish or Ottoman origins.

7-  Long-term residence in Turkey for eight consecutive years.

8-  Exceptional Turkish citizenship

The government initially focused on naturalizing people with university degrees, in light of the presence of more than 3.7 million Syrians in Turkey, according to official statistics, and the most important way for Syrians to obtain Turkish citizenship, on which they pin their hopes, is the exceptional Turkish citizenship.

Read more: Does Turkey allow multiple nationalities

Stages of the Turkish citizenship file

According to the laws followed, naturalization files go through several basic stages, and the files vary in terms of the necessary time period, from applying for Turkish citizenship, to receiving the ID card, according to several different conditions and considerations.

We will talk about how to apply for Turkish citizenship and the stages separately.

First stage

This stage is about submitting the application.

That is, after you interview the application for Turkish citizenship at the Immigration Department, your application is officially registered and approved.

This stage includes studying the documents submitted in the application file, and verifying their authenticity and officialness, and the completion of the first stage is considered in the sense of approval by the Immigration Department of the file and the file becomes eligible to move to the second stage. It should be noted that the papers must be notarized at the notary.

Second stage

This stage is relatively short and only the procedures for transferring the applicant's Turkish citizenship file from the Immigration Department to the Directorate of Souls, or what is known in Arabic as the "General Directorate of Personal Status" are completed.

The Directorate of Population in Turkey is the institution authorized to grant the identity card to citizens after obtaining Turkish citizenship, and through this directorate the remaining stages of obtaining Turkish citizenship are followed.

Third stage

The initial audit of the file by the General Directorate of Souls, such as checking the completion of papers and documents, and if the file is for a family, personal files that prove kinship ties and some preliminary information will be checked, which is a short stage that does not consume much time.

Fourth stage

This stage is characterized by being specific to the security study of the file, and the expanded security audit of everything related to the security file of the person or persons applying, and this study may require transferring the file to security authorities specialized in research.

This stage is considered one of the most important stages of naturalization in Turkey, and the longest time, and its duration varies according to the security research, its duration and complexities, and may sometimes reach several months, or perhaps a year if necessary.

Most of the exceptional citizenship files take a long time during the security study, and many files are rejected at this stage, as for other types of naturalization, the fourth stage is considered for them a routine stage, unless the person applying for criminal judgments inside Turkey, or belongs to organizations and parties that pose a threat to Turkish security.

Fifth stage

At this stage, the file is sent to the Turkish Council of Ministers in order to officially approve the naturalization file, and the files are usually sent in groups, so the length or shortness of the time required for this stage depends on the number of files in the group, and the duration of the security study for them before transferring them to the Council of Ministers.

Sixth stage

The file is presented at this stage to the Council of Ministers in Turkey, and its acceptance or rejection is announced, and often reaching the sixth stage means acceptance, and rejection is not made at this stage except in very rare cases.

Seventh stage

After the Council of Ministers evaluates the naturalization file and announces its acceptance or rejection, it is sent back to the Directorate of Souls, and informed of the result, so that the Directorate can play its role in completing the transactions of those accepted, or sending notifications to the rejected.

Eighth stage

It is the last stage of obtaining Turkish citizenship, in which the identity card of those accepted is prepared, their file is fully prepared in the Directorate of Souls, and the cards are sent to the address of the applicant via Turkish mail. PTT

Thus, we can say that the applicant has officially obtained Turkish citizenship, and is treated on Turkish territory and abroad as a full-fledged Turkish citizen.

How do I track my citizenship profile?

After you submit the file to the Immigration Department, you will be given a special code for your file, which is considered the application number, keep it so that you can follow the developments of the stages of obtaining Turkish citizenship, and the transfer of your file from one stage to another.

Through the link to follow the naturalization file in Turkey , you can get the file information after registering the following information:

• Application number ( Başvuru Numarası)which is a number given to the applicant after the first interview.
• Applicant Date of Birth.
• Check the image (Resim Doğrulama) by clicking on the box.
• Then press the query button (Sorgula).

Then the result appears, showing the developments of the file and the stage it reached.

Notes on obtaining Turkish citizenship

1. The duration of obtaining citizenship varies from one file to another, and often naturalization files through investment do not take long, and the concerned authorities in Turkey are working to remove many routine and bureaucratic obstacles during the submission of the citizenship file to speed up the stages of studying the file.
2. The Directorate of Population may contact you to complete some missing documents when necessary, or to submit some inquiries related to your naturalization file.
3. Keep the code for your citizenship application and don't lose it.
4. In the event that the citizenship file is deleted, you can contact the Immigration Department and submit an objection to this, preferably with the help of a Turkish lawyer for this.
5. Do not share with anyone personal and citizenship application data, especially the application code.
6. Do not change your residential address or phone number given to the Migration Service during your citizenship application
7. Those coming to Turkey after the age of 22 are not required to do compulsory service in the Turkish army after obtaining Turkish citizenship, but you must check with your recruitment division after obtaining the ID card in order to obtain the exemption paper, or you can do compulsory service if you want not to be exempted.

In this brief report, Skyline provided you with an overview of the stages of obtaining Turkish citizenship, the advantages of each stage, and the mechanism of transferring the naturalization file from the application stage to the acceptance stage in detail, and we also introduced you to how to follow the file yourself, hoping that we have provided you with a useful guide on the subject you are looking for.