Registering a US-Born Child with Türkiye

A child born in the United States to a Turkish parent is entered in the Turkish family register on the basis of the US birth certificate. Turkish civil registration law sets out where the birth is reported; the state of birth decides which copy of the certificate it will apostille.

Where the birth is reported

Under Turkish law a birth abroad is reported by handing the official document or report from the foreign authority to the Turkish embassy or consulate. If the birth could not be reported to a mission for any reason, the original birth certificate is filed with a civil registry office in Türkiye together with a Turkish translation certified by a notary. According to the General Directorate of Civil Registration, any civil registry office in the country can take that report.

For documents from countries party to the Apostille Convention, the implementing regulation requires the apostille attached to the original and a Turkish translation approved by a notary. The same regulation states that no action is taken on documents issued by honorary consulates.

Which US certificate qualifies

The apostille is only as good as the copy it is attached to, and the states quoted below each set their own standard. Rhode Island accepts birth certificates only if they were issued by the Department of Health's Center for Vital Records and signed by the State Registrar or a Deputy State Registrar. In Maryland a birth certificate carrying the seal and authorized signature of the issuing department is taken straight to the Secretary of State in Annapolis. New Mexico obtains certified copies of birth certificates only from the State Registrar of Vital Records in Santa Fe, and its notaries may not copy a birth certificate. Utah authenticates original public documents certified by Utah agencies without notarization.

The notarised Turkish translation is prepared in Ankara by translators sworn before a Turkish notary. The mission or the civil registry office decides on the entry.