Marriage-based naturalization applicants' experience with unwritten requirements and bureaucratic discretion: The case of Turkey

In Turkey, Law No. 4866 (2003) represented a significant turning point in naturalized citizenship through marriage, simultaneously restricting and enabling access. While it permitted naturalization through marriage for men for the first time, it also revoked the automatic grant of citizenship through marriage for women and imposed various conditions on those applying. The passage of Law No. 5901 (2009) set forth additional requirements for marriage-based naturalization and established the Citizenship Application Review Commission. Each of these developments increased the role of bureaucratic officials—and bureaucratic discretion—in the naturalization process. In their dual role as de facto policy makers and as gatekeepers of the symbolic boundary of the state, bureaucratic officials determine who meets citizenship requirements and (re)define what is and is not in the public interest. Fieldwork, consisting of responses to an online survey and in-depth interviews with those applying for or granted citizenship through marriage as well as attorneys and consultants working with citizenship applicants, allows an applicant-centered examination of the role of bureaucratic discretion in within the Turkish context. I argue that bureaucratic discretion—demonstrated through unofficial policies and additional requirements imposed on would-be citizens by bureaucratic officials—is utilized in support of specific understandings of the Turkish national identity, a legacy of historical and contemporary nation building efforts. This leads to disparate marriage-based naturalization trajectories and outcomes as well as implicitly making marriage-based naturalization part of the ongoing nation-building project, requiring that applicants perform their understanding of the Turkish identity throughout the application process. Keywords: Turkey; citizenship; marriage; bureaucratic discretion; national identity