Registering a Child Born in the UK in Türkiye

A child born in the UK is registered in the Turkish civil registry (nüfus) through a Turkish foreign mission or through a civil registry directorate (nüfus müdürlüğü) in Türkiye. At the mission, the birth is notified by handing in the official document or report obtained from the UK authorities, such as the UK birth certificate.

If the birth could not be notified to a Turkish embassy or consulate general for any reason, the notification is made in Türkiye. You hand in the original birth certificate (doğum belgesi) together with a notarised Turkish translation to the nüfus müdürlüğü where you are, and the birth is entered in the family register (aile kütüğü). The Turkish civil registry FAQ states that, where no notification was made abroad, it can be made at any nüfus müdürlüğü in Türkiye.

Preparing the UK birth certificate

The Turkish population services regulation states that documents issued by the competent authorities of states party to the Hague Apostille Convention are processed with an apostille attached to the original and a Turkish translation approved by a notary. For a UK birth certificate, the competent authority named on GOV.UK is the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, which lists birth certificates as public registry documents that can be legalised. Applications are made online. General Register Office documents cannot get an e-Apostille, so a GRO birth certificate receives a paper apostille only.

If you need a certified copy of the UK birth certificate so that it can be legalised, GOV.UK states that the copy must be made by a notary based in the UK. The same regulation states that no procedure is based on documents from honorary consulates.

The regulation also exempts multilingual civil status documents issued under the conventions of the International Commission on Civil Status (CIEC) from any certification. The quoted texts do not say whether a UK document falls under this exemption; confirm it with the nüfus müdürlüğü that will register the birth.

Order of steps for the directorate route

First obtain the UK birth certificate, then the paper apostille from the Legalisation Office, then the sworn Turkish translation, made in Türkiye by a translator sworn before a Turkish notary (yeminli tercüman), and its notarisation by a Turkish notary. The quoted texts for the mission route do not state whether the embassy or consulate general requires an apostille or a translation; confirm this with the Turkish mission handling the registration. The receiving authority decides whether the documents are accepted.