Foreign Exchange Purchase Certificate (DAB) for property buyers in Türkiye
The Döviz Alım Belgesi, usually abbreviated as DAB, is a banking document used in the regulated foreign-exchange process that applies to covered real-estate acquisitions by foreign natural persons. TKGM announced that, from 24 January 2022, foreign natural persons purchasing real estate are required to sell the relevant foreign currency through a bank to the Central Bank framework and submit the bank-issued DAB for the land-registry transaction. Later instructions amended technical details, so a buyer should follow the current TKGM and banking procedure rather than reconstructing the process from an old online checklist.
Understand what the DAB proves
A DAB proves a defined foreign-exchange conversion event recorded by the bank. It is part of the evidence trail connecting foreign currency, the Turkish-lira amount used in the transaction process and the land-registry file. It does not prove that the seller owns the property, that the title is free of mortgages or attachments, that the building is legal or structurally safe, or that the purchase qualifies for Turkish citizenship. Those questions belong to separate title, technical, valuation and citizenship checks.
Plan the sequence before moving money
The safest approach is to establish the property, buyer, seller, agreed price and payment plan before initiating the regulated exchange step. Confirm with the bank what information must appear in the transaction and how the bank will transmit or document the DAB under the current procedure. Avoid converting funds first and trying later to make unrelated bank evidence fit the title transaction. Where more than one currency transfer, property or instalment is involved, keep a clear allocation so the final file shows which funds correspond to which acquisition.
Reconcile DAB, bank receipts and the official transaction
The DAB should be reviewed together with the bank transfer evidence and the price information used in the official sale. Names, amounts, dates and transaction references should not contradict one another. TKGM guidance states that the Turkish-lira equivalent represented by the DAB is reflected in the official deed process for the value used under the relevant fee rules. This makes accuracy important: an unexplained mismatch between the DAB, the amount actually transferred to the seller and the amount used in the land-registry file should be resolved before closing rather than left for later explanation.
Do not confuse DAB with citizenship evidence
Citizenship-by-investment transactions add further requirements, including the qualifying investment amount, valuation-related evidence, bank-approved payment evidence and the required land-registry annotation. A DAB may be one part of that file, but possession of a DAB does not by itself establish the citizenship threshold or suitability of the property. Conversely, DAB requirements can apply to a foreign natural person's ordinary purchase even when citizenship is not the objective. The buyer should therefore identify the purpose of the transaction and apply only the rules that actually belong to that purpose.
Watch beneficiary and payment-control risk
The foreign-exchange step does not make a payment instruction safe. Before sending the purchase price, independently verify the seller or authorised beneficiary and the IBAN. If the beneficiary changes after the DAB or after the sale agreement is prepared, stop and verify the change through a previously trusted channel. If funds are paid to a developer, creditor, lawyer or other third party, the transaction file should explain why that payment discharges the buyer's obligation to the seller. Traceable bank evidence is especially important when a later tax, citizenship or dispute review must reconstruct the money flow.
Correct errors before the land-registry appointment
Check the buyer name, currency, amount, bank data, date and any transaction reference required by the current TKGM process. If an error appears, ask the bank and the relevant land-registry authority how it must be corrected; do not edit a scan or rely on a broker's annotation. Technical guidance on DAB has been updated since the original 2022 implementation, which is another reason to verify the current process before closing.
Keep the banking file with the title file
Preserve the DAB, underlying foreign-currency transfer records, payment receipts, sale agreement, official transfer documents and any valuation or citizenship evidence that applies. The file should make it possible to answer four questions without guesswork: who supplied the funds, how much currency was converted, who received the property payment, and which property the money acquired. DAB compliance is strongest when it forms one coherent, dated payment trail rather than an isolated certificate collected at the last minute.