How can foreigners open a bank account in Turkey? Bülent

Turkey's geopolitical and economic position encourages foreign individuals and companies to invest, establish a company, obtain work or residence permits in Turkey. In this respect, opening a bank account for foreigners in Turkey provides convenience and speed in financial transactions. Natural and legal persons who are not Turkish citizens have the right to open a bank account in Turkey, just like Turkish citizens. Opening a bank account by a foreign natural person and opening a bank account by a foreign legal person are subject to different procedures.

Foreign natural persons first need a potential tax number in order to open a bank account in Turkey. A foreign national can request a potential tax number from any tax office (interactive tax office for natural persons) with a passport or residence permit. Apart from the potential tax number, the foreigner must also specify a delivery address. In any case, the bank will contact the person concerned via this notification address. Tax number, passport and notification address are mandatory conditions for opening an account, and some banks may also request a mobile phone number obtained from Turkish operators.

Foreign companies can open a bank account in Turkey if they meet the necessary conditions, as can natural persons. However, some additional documents are requested from foreign legal entities. First of all, since there is a legal person here, only a manager or an authorized person authorized to sign on behalf of the company can request a bank account to be opened. A foreign company wishing to open a bank account in Turkey is not required to have an office or engage in commercial activity in Turkey. However, the company must in any case present a notification address to the bank and obtain a potential tax number. In addition, the company's articles of association, chamber of commerce records, establishment and activity documents, trade registry records and in some cases licenses/permits are other documents that the foreign company must submit. These documents must be translated, notarized or certified by the consulate.

It should be noted that in practice, banks may request different documents other than the documents listed above. For this reason, in order not to encounter any problems in the future, it is preferred to choose the bank where the account will be opened first and then to determine the required documents by negotiating with the relevant bank.
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