New York Records for the Turkish Blue Card

For a Turkish Blue Card (Mavi Kart), the New York State Department of State apostilles New York birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates. A certificate issued by a local or county official must first be certified by the County Clerk. Turkish diplomatic missions issue the Blue Card abroad. In Türkiye, district population directorates (ilçe nüfus müdürlükleri) issue it.

Preparing the New York record

Check who issued the certificate. Some birth, death and marriage certificates and Certificates of Divorce are issued by a local or county official or a county Department of Health. These go to the County Clerk for certification first and then to the Department of State. Other certificates are issued by the NYS Department of Health and signed by the Director of Vital Statistics or the NYS Registrar. These need no County Clerk certification.

A notarized document, such as a power of attorney, must first be certified by the County Clerk of the county where the notary is certified to notarize. The Department of State takes apostille requests by mail. It also offers walk-in service in New York City, Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Utica.

What the Blue Card rules ask for

You apply with a petition, two photographs, and an identity document or passport showing your foreign citizenship. The card is issued on the basis of your closed Turkish civil registry record. Changes to your identity details after you lost Turkish citizenship are not taken into account when the card is issued.

Law No. 5901 covers changed identity details. You must submit a document from your state of nationality showing the old and new details, with a duly certified Turkish translation. A descendant using the Blue Card provisions must document the line of descent to the ancestor. Blue Card holders must declare all civil status events. In Türkiye they declare them to population directorates, and abroad to Turkish diplomatic missions.

The implementing regulation says that certification of official documents issued by foreign authorities follows Article 167 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Population Services Law. The quoted texts do not spell out what that article requires for US records.

The published document lists quoted here come from the Consulate General of the Republic of Türkiye in Cologne. They include the following documents.

A change of marital status is shown with a document and its Turkish translation; children born after the parent left Turkish citizenship are shown with an international birth certificate; a death is shown with an international death certificate, or with a foreign death document carrying an apostille and a Turkish translation notarized at the consulate; and a name or gender change is shown with an official document and an apostilled or notary-certified translation.

For divorce, Cologne asks for a final German court judgment with an apostille. That is a court document, not a vital record like the New York Certificate of Divorce.

The quoted texts do not settle which New York document replaces each Cologne item. Confirm this with the Turkish diplomatic mission or district population directorate handling your file. That authority decides whether it accepts your documents.