Turkey's geopolitical and economic position encourages foreigners to invest in businesses or obtain work/residence permits in Turkey and opening a bank account in Turkey provides convenience and swiftness in financial transactions. Foreign natural persons and corporations have the right to open a bank account in Turkey, just like Turkish citizens, but they are subject to different procedures.

Foreign persons primarily need to obtain a potential tax number to open a bank account in Turkey. Foreign nationals can apply for a potential tax number from any tax office (or in case of natural persons via the interactive tax office) by submitting their passport or residence permit. Apart from the potential tax number, a foreigner must determine a correspondence address and declare it to the bank so they can contact the account holder through this correspondence address. While potential tax number, passport and correspondence address are mandatory requirements for opening an account, some banks also request a telephone number from a Turkish operator.

Likewise, foreign companies can open a bank account in Turkey if they meet the necessary conditions, but some additional documents are requested. A manager or an authorized representative (based on a valid and specific power of attorney) of the company can request the opening of a bank account. It is not required for companies to have an office or a commercial activity in Turkey but the company must determine a correspondence address and provide a potential tax number. The bank may also request the company to submit its statute, trade registry records, certificate of commencement and in some cases other relevant licenses/permits. These documents must be notarized, apostilled, and translated before submitting to the bank.

It should be noted that in practice, banks may ask for additional documents other than those listed above and therefore it is recommended to determine the bank where the account will be opened and to ask for the list of required documents before initiation the application to avoid any bureaucratic obstacles throughout these procedures.

Tahan - Cem Attorney Partnership