Turkish marriage certificate for use abroad: booklet, nüfus extract or Formül B, apostille and translation

“Marriage certificate” can mean three different Turkish documents, and the wrong one costs a second trip to the registry. This guide separates the family booklet, the civil-registry extract and the multilingual Formula B form (CIEC Convention No. 16), shows where each is obtained, and explains when an apostille, a translation and a notary are really needed for use abroad.

Three documents, three different jobs

Three Turkish papers are called a marriage certificate. The first is the family booklet (aile cüzdanı, in everyday speech evlenme cüzdanı) given by the marriage office; under Article 55 of the Marriage Regulation (Evlendirme Yönetmeliği) the officer enters the booklet’s series and number in the marriage register. It shows that the ceremony took place, but it is a paper completed at the ceremony. The second is the civil-registry extract (nüfus kayıt örneği). Its event version, the vukuatlı nüfus kayıt örneği, is requested on e-Devlet by setting “Vukuatlı Belge (Olayları Göster)” to “Evet”, and lists the registered events instead of only the current status. The third is the multilingual marriage extract, Formula B (Formül B), a standard form created for use abroad. Which of the three is right depends on the receiving country and authority, so settle the destination before you order anything.

Formül B and the Vienna Convention

Formula B comes from the Vienna Convention of 8 September 1976 on multilingual extracts of civil-status records (CIEC Convention No. 16). It defines three standard forms: Formula A for birth, B for marriage and C for death. The fixed text appears in at least two languages, one of them French (Article 6), and the extract is based on the original entries and any later annotations (Article 2). The key rule is Article 8: an extract bearing the date of issue, signature and seal has the same value as a domestic extract and is accepted in every contracting state without any further approval or equivalent formality. Türkiye is a party; the NVI page lists about 25 states, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. That list should be checked against the official one before relying on it for a given country.

Where to get each document

On e-Devlet the Population Directorate offers “Çok Dilli Evlenme Kayıt Örneği (Formül B) Sorgulama”, alongside the Formula A and C queries and “Çok Dilli Doğum, Evlenme ve Ölüm Belgesi Doğrulama” for verifying a document. The nüfus kayıt örneği has its own query and verification services. A nüfus müdürlüğü or kaymakamlık counter also issues the extracts in person, and the NVI instruction on notifying foreigners’ events states that any population directorate can generate Formula A-B-C from the central MERNİS database. The booklet is not reissued by e-Devlet; it comes from the marriage office that performed the ceremony. If the data in the register is wrong, the directorate that created the record corrects it, and the NVI instruction adds that no multilingual document can be issued from an invalidated notice. Fix the register first, then order the extract.

Which one for which country

If the receiving country is a party to the Vienna Convention and the authority accepts civil-status extracts, Formula B is normally the cleanest route: the form is multilingual and, under Article 8, needs no apostille or other legalisation between contracting states. If the country is not a party, order the vukuatlı or standard nüfus kayıt örneği and have it apostilled. The apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention is placed by the governor’s or district governor’s office (valilik or kaymakamlık); see our apostille guide for the process. It certifies the signature, capacity and seal of the issuing official, not the content, and the country of destination still decides which document it accepts. Ask the embassy, registry or immigration office which form it wants and how recent it must be: Türkiye’s rules do not set the age of the extract, the receiving authority does. We cannot confirm from official texts whether every counter apostilles a printed e-Devlet document, so ask the desk first.

Apostille, translation and notary order

When the document is Turkish and the destination is not served by Formula B, the usual sequence is: obtain the extract, apostille it, then translate it as the destination requires. Some authorities accept a translation made abroad by their own sworn translator; others want the Turkish translation done here. In the second case the translator is sworn before a notary, the notary certifies the translation, and the notarial certification is then apostilled, because the apostille attaches to the notary’s act, not to the translator’s stamp (see our sworn versus notarised translation guide). Do not translate before you know the rule. Check three things before you leave the registry: the names and dates on the extract, the spelling of surnames after marriage as the receiving country will see them, and the number of originals, because each institution normally keeps its set.

Sources

• nvi.gov.tr — Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs: CIEC Convention No. 16 (multilingual extracts) and the instruction on Formula A-B-C
• turkiye.gov.tr — e-Devlet services of the Population Directorate: nüfus kayıt örneği and multilingual Formula B query
• hcch.net — Hague Conference: 1961 Apostille Convention, text and status table
• mevzuat.gov.tr — Law No. 5490 on Population Services and the Marriage Regulation (Evlendirme Yönetmeliği)

Questions