DAB Certificate for a Turkish Property Purchase: A Buyer’s Checklist

DAB is short for Döviz Alım Belgesi, a bank document used in the property-purchase currency procedure. For a buyer planning a Turkish property purchase, the useful starting point is a written set of instructions from the handling bank and land registry for the particular transaction. Do this before transferring money or fixing a completion date.

This guide helps you organise those questions. It does not establish that your case is covered by a rule or an exception, promise a bank's processing time, or quote a fee.

Check applicability before choosing a payment route

Give your adviser and bank the buyer's identity details, the property reference and the proposed transaction. Ask whether a DAB is required, which current instruction applies and what evidence is accepted if an exception is relevant. Do not assume that residence in Turkey, an existing lira balance or the location of your account answers that question.

Read the TKGM announcement on DAB documentation as a starting source, then ask the registry to confirm its application to your purchase. Keep the date and source of the answer in your file.

Obtain bank instructions before sending funds

Request instructions covering the sender, receiving account, payment reference, currency conversion, fees and evidence the bank will issue. Ask which personal and transaction details the certificate must contain and who should check them. Confirm any intermediary-bank arrangements with your own bank as well.

Do not copy account details from an old transaction, a chat message or a general article. Verify the beneficiary and instructions through an agreed channel with the responsible professionals. A payment plan should identify the person responsible for each instruction and each confirmation.

Reconcile the paperwork as one transaction

Ask the adviser to compare the proposed contract, payment records, certificate details and registry documents. Record the price and currency consistently and clarify how any instalments or earlier payments are treated. If a figure, name or property identifier differs between documents, resolve it before the appointment.

Also ask whether the purchase needs a valuation document and how it relates to the payment and title records. Keep that question separate from a citizenship application: do not assume that every purchase follows the same valuation procedure.

A completion checklist to use with the bank

Keep copies of the instructions and confirmations together. Share identity and banking records only through the channel agreed with the responsible bank or adviser.

What to do when an answer is missing

Mark the issue as unresolved, name the person who will answer it and agree a review date. Ask your adviser how the unresolved condition should affect reservation or completion terms. A marketing timetable should not substitute for confirmation that the payment and documentation steps are ready.

For the wider preparation process, use our Buying Your First Property in Alanya: A Practical Buyer Guide and bring your unanswered document questions to an independent transaction review.