Apostille of a birth certificate: a foreign certificate for Türkiye and a Turkish birth record for abroad

A birth certificate is the document most often asked for in a family file: a residence permit for a child, a marriage, school enrolment, registration of a child born abroad or a bank account. This guide explains when a foreign certificate needs an apostille and a notarised translation in Türkiye, when the multilingual Formül A is enough on its own, and how a Turkish birth record is apostilled for use abroad.

Two directions, two conventions

An apostille certifies the signature, the capacity of the signatory and the seal on a public document; it says nothing about the content. It is issued under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, in force for Türkiye since 29 September 1985. According to the HCCH status table, the Convention had 130 Contracting Parties as of 30 June 2026.

For birth records a second instrument matters: ICCS Convention No. 16, signed in Vienna on 8 September 1976. Türkiye ratified it on 31 May 1985 and it has been in force since 30 June 1985. Under Article 8 a multilingual extract on Formül A is accepted in every State party without legalisation or any equivalent formality, so neither an apostille nor a translation is needed between those States.

Foreign birth certificate for Türkiye: who asks and what for

The document list of the Presidency of Migration Management for the family residence permit asks for the child’s certified birth certificate only when the parents cannot be identified from the passport, a passport-equivalent document or a national identity card. If the child is applying after a divorce or the death of a parent, a certified custody document, consent or death certificate is added.

The same list sets the form for every document obtained abroad: an apostille and a Turkish translation certified by a notary. If the issuing country is not a party to the Convention, or the document carries no apostille, it must be certified by that country’s consulate or embassy and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or an authorised Turkish authority. Other bodies apply their own lists.

• Family residence permit for a child: Göç İdaresi, per the list above
• Marriage: the marriage office checks identity and civil status from foreign records
• School enrolment: the school or the provincial education directorate
• Registration of a child born abroad to a Turkish parent: nüfus office or consulate
• Bank account for a minor: each bank sets its own documents

The chain step by step and the non-Hague route

The apostille is issued only by the country whose authority signed the certificate; no Turkish office can apostille a foreign document. In Türkiye the translation is made by a sworn translator (yeminli tercüman) and the notary certifies the translator’s signature. A Turkish consulate abroad can also certify the translation, which many bodies accept in place of a Turkish notary.

Keep the order: apostille first, translation second, so that the apostille itself is translated. If your country issues a Formül A extract, ask the receiving body whether it accepts it as is, because a translation of a document that needs none is wasted money. For countries outside the Convention the Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes a consular chain instead of the apostille.

1. Obtain a recent certified copy or extract of the birth record from the civil registry of the issuing country.
2. Have it apostilled there by the designated authority (or ask for a Formül A if the country is party to Convention No. 16).
3. In Türkiye: sworn translation into Turkish and notary certification; or certification at a Turkish consulate abroad.
4. Non-Hague country: certification by the foreign ministry of the issuing country and the Turkish consulate there, or by that country’s consulate in Türkiye and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
5. Submit the original with the apostille and the certified translation; keep colour copies.

Turkish birth record for abroad: Nüfus Kayıt Örneği and Formül A

A Turkish birth is proved by the Nüfus Kayıt Örneği (population register extract), issued by any district population office (Nüfus Müdürlüğü) or downloaded from e-Devlet with a barcode. For use abroad the same offices issue the multilingual birth extract on Formül A; e-Devlet also offers a query and verification service for Formül A documents. The extract is written in Latin characters with coded fields.

For the apostille the competent authorities for administrative documents are the governor’s office (valilik) and the district governor’s office (kaymakamlık); the HCCH page for Türkiye records the price as no charge. Practice on e-Devlet printouts differs between offices: some apostille only a document signed and sealed by the population office. Ask the office you will visit before you go.

• Destination party to Convention No. 16: Formül A alone, without apostille or translation, unless the receiving body asks otherwise
• Destination party only to the 1961 Convention: Nüfus Kayıt Örneği or Formül A plus apostille, then translation as the receiver requires
• Destination outside both: consular legalisation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the destination’s consulate

Validity and common mistakes

The Convention sets no expiry date for an apostille, and the HCCH confirms that it does not lose validity with time. The receiving body, however, decides how recent the underlying record must be; many ask for a birth certificate or extract issued within the last three to six months, because civil status may have changed. Check that rule before ordering the document, not after.

Most refusals in birth-certificate files come from a handful of avoidable errors. The list below is worth checking with the receiving body in writing before you book a translator or a courier, and the reply should stay in your file together with the documents.

• Apostille requested in Türkiye for a foreign certificate: only the issuing country can do it.
• Translation done before the apostille, leaving the apostille untranslated.
• Names in the translation spelled differently from the passport.
• A translation attached to a Formül A that needed none, or a Formül A sent to a country that is not a party to Convention No. 16.
• An old extract where the receiver wanted a recent one.
• Destination country not a party to the 1961 Convention: consular legalisation was required.

Sources

• hcch.net — status table of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (Apostille Convention); Türkiye: in force 29 September 1985
• hcch.net — Türkiye, competent authorities under Art. 6 (governors, district governors, judicial commissions); price: no charge
• ciec1.org — ICCS Convention No. 16 (Vienna, 8 September 1976) on multilingual extracts; status chart: Türkiye ratified 31 May 1985, in force 30 June 1985; Art. 8: accepted without legalisation
• nvi.gov.tr — Turkish text of Convention No. 16, Law No. 3041, Formül A/B/C templates
• turkiye.gov.tr — NVİ services on e-Devlet: Nüfus Kayıt Örneği, multilingual birth record (Formül A) query and verification
• e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr — Presidency of Migration Management: documents for the family residence permit, including the child’s certified birth certificate and the apostille / notarised translation rule
• mfa.gov.tr — Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legalisation Unit: apostille vs consular legalisation chains

Questions