Apostille for Turkey in 2026: which documents, where to get it and what comes next

An apostille is a certifying annotation that makes an official document from one country usable in another without consular legalisation. Turkey has been a party to the 1961 Hague Convention since 29 September 1985, so documents from convention member states are legalised for Turkey by a simplified route: the apostille at home, then a sworn translation and notarial certification once you are in Turkey. Below is the procedure in both directions, along with the typical mistakes that get documents sent back.

What an apostille is and what it can be affixed to

An apostille (apostil in Turkish) is a stamp or a separate sheet in a prescribed format by which an authorised body confirms the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory acted, and the authenticity of the seal on the document. The convention requires the annotation to take the form of a square with sides of at least 9 cm; the presentation varies from country to country, but the set of ten data fields is the same everywhere.

It is important to understand the limits: an apostille confirms where a document came from, not what it says. It does not make a certificate "correct" and it does not extend its validity.

The convention covers public documents but expressly excludes two categories: documents executed by diplomatic and consular agents, and administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. In practice, apostilles are also not affixed to passports and identity cards, to documents with illegible text, to laminated documents, or to plain copies that have not been notarially certified.

Which documents are most often apostilled for Turkey

• Birth certificate — for a family residence permit, family reunification, paperwork for children, and inheritance matters.
• Marriage or divorce certificate — for a family residence permit, registering a marriage, and citizenship questions.
• Criminal record certificate — for citizenship and a range of permits.
• Degree certificate and transcript — for recognition of qualifications, work permits and study.
• Proof of income, statements, employment documents — where an authority or a bank asks for them.
• Death certificate and proof of kinship — for inheriting property.
• Power of attorney — with one important caveat, set out below.

An apostille will not rescue a power of attorney for transactions that pass through the land registry (tapu). Turkish law requires such powers of attorney to be drawn up by a Turkish noter (notary) or by a Turkish consulate; a foreign notary's document will not be accepted at the registry even with an apostille. Details in our article on the power of attorney in Turkey.

Where the apostille is issued: the authority of the issuing country

An apostille is always affixed by an authorised body of the state that issued the document — it cannot be done in Turkey. The underlying logic is much the same everywhere: there is no single window, and the apostille is issued by whichever authority the document falls under (civil registry offices for birth, marriage and death certificates; the ministry of justice for notarial and court documents; the relevant ministry for degree certificates; law enforcement bodies or the prosecution service for criminal record certificates). Specific addresses, timescales and fees change — check them on your country's official government services portal before you apply. An up-to-date list of the competent authority for every state is maintained by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (hcch.net).

Below are three examples of how that division works in practice. For other countries the principle is the same; only the names of the authorities differ.

Russia

Powers are allocated by a decree of the Russian Government: civil registry (ZAGS) offices apostille civil status documents; the Ministry of Justice handles notarial documents and documents of public authorities not assigned to other bodies; the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the prosecution service handle criminal record certificates and documents of their subordinate institutions; Rosobrnadzor handles education and academic degree documents; Rosarkhiv handles archival certificates; and the Ministry of Defence handles military service documents.

One misconception specific to this pair of countries is worth flagging: the 1997 treaty between Russia and Turkey on mutual legal assistance in civil, commercial and criminal matters never entered into force, and Russia notified the Turkish side of its intention not to become a party to it. There is no "exemption from legalisation" for Russian documents in Turkey — the apostille is required.

Kazakhstan

Civil registry documents are apostilled through the public service centres; documents of the justice authorities, other state bodies and notaries through the Ministry of Justice; criminal record certificates through the prosecution service (it is easier to order this alongside the certificate itself); and education documents through the relevant ministry. The current procedure and electronic filing are on the e-government portal.

Ukraine

Documents of the justice authorities, notarial and court documents, and documents from civil registration offices fall to the Ministry of Justice; education documents to the Ministry of Education and Science; and some documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2026 the procedure has moved to an electronic register, which has cut timescales appreciably. Identify the correct authority by document type: getting this step wrong is the single most common reason for refusal.

Sworn translation and notarial certification in Turkey

The apostille does not remove the need for translation. Turkish authorities work with documents in Turkish, and the translation must be done by a sworn translator (yeminli tercüman) — a professional who has taken an oath and is registered with a Turkish notary's office. The translation is then certified by the notary (noter tasdiki).

The notary confirms not the substance of the translation but the fact that it was made by a sworn translator and that the signature is theirs. Some institutions will accept a translation bearing an agency stamp, but state bodies as a rule insist on notarial certification, so it is safer to arrange that from the outset.

Turkish authorities are reluctant to accept translations produced abroad. Plan on translating in Turkey — it is cheaper and faster than doing it twice.

The correct order of operations

1. Obtain the document in its current form. For certificates this is critical: they go stale.
2. Have the apostille affixed in the issuing country, by the authority that matches the document type.
3. Travel to Turkey (or send the original) and have the document translated together with the text of the apostille by a sworn translator.
4. Have the translation certified by a notary.
5. Submit the file to the migration office, the land registry, the bank or whichever authority requires it.

The sequence apostille → translation → notary matters. Translate before apostilling and the apostille annotation will be left untranslated, and the file will come back.

The reverse task: Turkish documents for use abroad

Here competence is allocated as follows.

A practical detail: if a document was certified by a district notary, you must apply to the kaymakamlık of the district that notary is attached to, not to the valilik.

For some documents Turkey operates an electronic apostille (e-Apostil) through the e-Devlet portal: population register extracts, multilingual birth, marriage and death extracts, court judgments and the criminal record certificate. This is convenient if you have already left Turkey: the document is generated and verified online.

A title deed (tapu) intended for use abroad is apostilled as an administrative document — through the kaymakamlık or the valilik where it was issued — and then translated into the language of the destination country.

Validity: what expires and what does not

The apostille itself has no expiry date — it is open-ended. But it cannot outlive the document it relates to: if a certificate is valid only for a limited time, the practical value of the apostille expires with it.

• Criminal record certificate — generally accepted within six months of the date of issue.
• Proof of income, bank and family status statements — usually also within a few months; the receiving authority sets the exact limit.
• Birth and marriage certificates and degree certificates — open-ended in substance, though an authority may ask for a freshly reissued copy.

One rule applies universally: first find out from the receiving authority how "old" a document it will accept, and only then set the chain in motion. Otherwise the apostille will be ready precisely when the certificate stops being usable.

Common mistakes

• Translating before apostilling. The text of the apostille has to be translated too.
• Apostilling a copy. The apostille goes on the original or on a notarially certified copy — a plain photocopy will not do.
• Applying to the wrong authority. A civil registry office will not take a degree certificate, and a ministry of justice will not take a birth certificate.
• Ordering the translation abroad. Turkish authorities expect a sworn translator's work with notarial certification in Turkey.
• Inconsistent transliteration of your name. Check that the spelling of your surname in the translation matches the passport you enter Turkey on — otherwise the document is not "about you".
• Counting on an apostilled power of attorney at the land registry. Property transactions need a power of attorney from a Turkish noter or a Turkish consulate.
• Apostilling a passport. Passports and identity cards cannot be apostilled.

Frequently asked questions

How many countries are party to the convention?

Around a hundred and thirty states, and the list keeps growing. Check it against the official status table of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (hcch.net), not against roundups on translation agency websites.

Is an apostille needed if the document was issued by a non-member country?

No — consular legalisation applies instead: certification by the foreign ministry of the issuing country and then at a Turkish consulate. The procedure is longer and more expensive.

Can an apostille be obtained without attending in person?

Yes. Most countries allow filing through a representative under a power of attorney, and some services have moved online. The requirements for that power of attorney are set by the body issuing the apostille.

Is a second apostille needed on the Turkish translation?

Not for use inside Turkey: a sworn translation with notarial certification is enough. A second apostille is only needed if you intend to take the completed Turkish file on to a third country.

Apostille or notarised copy — which does a residence permit require?

It depends on the document and on the migration office's requirements at the time you apply. Foreign public documents normally need an apostille and a sworn translation; Turkish ones do not. Confirm the document list before booking your appointment; see also our article on the residence permit in Turkey.

How much does an apostille cost?

Fees and tariffs are revised annually and vary by country and document type, so check current figures on the official government services portals. The sworn translation and notarial certification in Turkey are charged separately.

Need a hand?

New Time Investment handles transactions and document processing in Alanya and across Turkey. We will tell you which documents your particular case calls for, help you sequence the apostille and translation correctly, arrange a sworn translator and a notary, and put the file together ready for submission.

This article is for general information. Legalisation rules, required document lists and the requirements of the migration authority and the land registry change periodically — check the receiving authority's current requirements before you file.