Registering a Foreign Birth or Marriage in Türkiye

Turkish citizens who have a child, marry, divorce or lose a family member abroad must have the event entered in the Turkish civil register. The Population Services Law and its implementing regulation describe two routes and say what foreign documents need.

Two routes

The usual route is the Turkish mission. A birth abroad is notified by handing the official document or report from the foreign authorities to the Turkish embassy or consulate, and a death is notified the same way.

If an event could not be reported to the mission, the second route is a civil registry directorate in Türkiye. For a birth, the original birth certificate and a notarised copy of its Turkish translation are submitted to the directorate where the person is; according to the population directorate, any directorate in Türkiye may receive an unreported foreign birth. A marriage abroad follows the same pattern with the original marriage certificate, properly certified by the foreign authorities, and notarised copies of its Turkish translation.

What foreign documents need

The implementing regulation sets the rule. Documents issued by states that are party to the Apostille Convention are processed with the apostille attached to the original and a Turkish translation certified by a notary. Multilingual civil status documents issued under the CIEC conventions in their set format are processed without any certification at all; ask the issuing office for this extract where it exists.

Foreign divorce decisions are recorded by the missions abroad or by designated directorates in Türkiye, provided the decision is final and not clearly contrary to Turkish public order.

We prepare the notarised Turkish translation in Ankara. The registry office decides on registration.