Leaving Turkish citizenship is a significant legal decision. It can affect nationality status, travel, family records and rights in Türkiye. This 2025 guide explains the official permission procedure and the questions to check before applying.
1. What does renunciation mean under Turkish law?
Under Article 25 of Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, a Turkish citizen may request permission to leave citizenship. The Ministry of Interior decides whether to grant permission. Citizenship is not lost merely by filing the form: under Article 27, loss takes effect when the exit document is delivered to the applicant against signature.
2. Who can request permission?
- The applicant must be an adult with capacity to understand and act.
- The applicant must already hold another nationality or show credible evidence that another nationality will be acquired.
- The applicant must not be sought for a criminal matter or military service and must not be subject to a financial or criminal restriction.
Meeting these conditions does not create an automatic right to permission. A second nationality or a formal assurance of acquisition is important because the process must not be treated as a route to statelessness.
3. What happens to minor children?
A child’s status is assessed in connection with a parent’s loss of Turkish citizenship; it is not governed by a simple rule that every minor may independently renounce at age 16. The parent must request that the child be included. Where the other parent’s consent is required, it must be provided; if it is withheld, a judge’s decision may be needed. The child’s ability to acquire another nationality must also be checked.
4. Documents for a 2025 exit-permission application
- The official VAT-9 application form and two 50 × 60 mm biometric photographs.
- An approved document proving an existing foreign nationality, or an approved assurance that the applicant will acquire one.
- Identity and civil-registration information requested by the application authority.
- For a child included through a parent, the other parent’s consent where required, or a judge’s decision if consent is withheld.
The application office may request further evidence for individual circumstances. Foreign official documents must meet the applicable certification rules. An authenticated foreign passport may help identify an applicant, but NVI’s published list does not make a passport valid for six months, a court emancipation decision or a newly issued Turkish ID a universal requirement for every case.
5. Applying personally or through a lawyer
Applications are made to the provincial governorate of the applicant’s residence in Türkiye or to a Turkish diplomatic mission abroad. NVI permits personal application or a special power of attorney authorizing this specific right; postal applications are not accepted. The wording and form of a power of attorney should be checked with the receiving authority before it is signed.
6. How long does it take?
NVI describes approximately three months from receipt of the completed file by the Directorate General as an estimated administrative period, not a statutory deadline or a guarantee. Missing documents and individual review can change the timeline.
7. When does citizenship end, and what is the Blue Card?
The exit document is delivered after the required foreign-nationality evidence is presented. Turkish citizenship is lost on signed delivery of that document. Certain people who were Turkish citizens by birth and left with permission, and their eligible descendants, may hold a Blue Card under Article 28; Blue Card rights are not identical to citizenship and should be assessed for the individual.
8. Can Turkish citizenship be regained?
A person who lost Turkish citizenship by permission may apply to reacquire it under Article 13 of Law No. 5901 without a Turkish residence-period requirement, provided there is no national-security impediment. This is a distinct legal route from investment citizenship. Reacquisition is subject to the Ministry’s decision and is not automatic. Children who lost citizenship through a parent may have a separate right of choice after reaching adulthood.
9. Why legal review matters
Before applying, review the foreign nationality evidence, children’s status, consent, powers of attorney, Blue Card eligibility and the practical effect of losing Turkish citizenship. IGA Law Firm can help prepare the file, coordinate with the relevant authority and assess possible future reacquisition. No outcome or processing time can be promised.
2025 guide. Legal information last reviewed: 14 October 2026. Confirm current document requirements with the receiving authority before filing.
Official sources
NVI: citizenship services questions and answers
NVI: VAT-9 exit-permission document list and application procedure
