Obtaining Apostilles in Turkey can be complex. Avoid trusting untrained or inexperienced people who don’t understand the process well enough and who do not have intimate knowledge of the Turkish legal system and its unique demands.

If your paperwork is rejected, you will have lost valuable money and time. Don’t allow yourself to waste valuable resources in this way. Remember that you will need to have some of your documents notarized before an Apostille.

Apostille Services in Turkey (International)

What you need to know about the Hague Apostille Convention

Turkey became part of the Hague Apostille Convention in September of 1985. This was under the Convention 5 of October 1961 which abolished the requirement to legalize foreign public documents.

Turkey is now part of the Hague Apostille Convention and has introduced a legalization system for validating documents that is international and applies to all states that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention.

Any official document issued from a public institution in Turkey needs to be Apostilled before it can be used abroad. This includes documents issued by local authorities.

Competent Authority

Only a Competent Authority – one designated by the Contracting Party that has been designated by the originating Contracting Party as per the public document. Apostille certification approval in Turkey happens in Governorships and sub-Governorships. The Ministry of Justice, Justice Commission, and Heavy Penal Courts also issue Apostille approval for documents under the Ministry of Justice.

Documents Coming in From Abroad

For foreign country documents , only the applicable public institutions within Turkey can provide Apostille Certification in case the document was Apostilled or legalized by the Turkish Embassy or Consulate within the issuing country.

Apart from this, each country makes its own Apostille approvals for documents that were issued within its borders. Therefore, if a document originates from a foreign country, it needs to be apostilled in its country of issue and brought into Turkey already Apostilled.

The embassies and consulates of certain countries within Turkey provide Apostille services for documents issued from their countries. To be sure about this, contact the specific embassy or consulate and get more information about the opportunity. If such a service is not available, your documents will have to be sent back to their country of issue and be Apostilled there.

Intent of the Convention

The function of the Apostille Convention is to allow public documents which were executed in one member state of the Convention to be applicable in another member state.

The Apostille Convention frees contracting parties from having to go through the lengthy and expensive formalities of a complete legalization process by replacing it with an Apostille.

Some countries have no requirements for legalization of foreign public documents or have no concept of it in their law, and these countries have benefited from the Apostille Convention because their citizens can invoke it when they need to table a domestic public document in another remember country that requires the documents authenticated under the Convention.

What is the Effect of an Apostille?

An Apostille certifies signatures as authentic, as well as certifying that the person whose signature appears on the document was acting in the right capacity. Where appropriate, an Apostille also confirms the identity of the seal/stamp borne on the document.

The Apostille has no bearing on the actual content of the documents.

Which Documents require Apostille?

There is a wide range of documents that may require Apostille. The requirement may apply to all sorts of documents as long as they come from official institutions.

Here are some of the most commonly requested documents:

Birth Certificates

Divorce Decree

Marriage Certificates

Single Status Affidavit

Power of Attorney

Single Status Affidavit

Copies of Passports

Diplomas

Background Checks

Authorization Letter

Copy of Driver’s License

Company documents

Transcripts

Articles of Incorporation

Transcripts

Chamber Registration

Travel Consent Letter

Certification of Origin

Company Documents

Corporate Power of Attorney

Company Documents

Certification of Free Sale

Certificate of Good Standing

Judgment of Courts

Commercial Invoice

Criminal Records

Tax Certificate

Apostille Certifications for Documents Originating from Turkish Institutions

If the issuing authority is Turkish, there are still some procedures required in order to obtain Apostille approval. The Certificate of Apostille legalization has to be translated from Turkish to the official language of the country where it is going to be used. Only a certified translation office can undertake this task.

A notary will undertake the notarization after the document has been translated at a certified translation office. After this, the office of the provincial or district governor of the province where the approval is due will make the Apostille Approval and complete the entire process.

If the country of origin is part of the Apostil Convention, you will not require any further approval from embassies or consulates once this is done.

Validity

The Apostille Convention does not have standard stipulated validity period. Apostille legalizations have a validity period that varies depending on the individual country that is party. To get specific information about your document’s Apostille validity period, consult with the document’s country of use.

Non Members of the Apostille Convention

If you are looking to use your document in a country that has not enjoined itself to the Apostille Convention, there will be a different legalization procedure.

Apart from following the procedures already mentioned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the country’s Embassy or Consulate must approve the document.

For countries that are outside of the Apostille Convention (United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Sudan, Palestine, Nigeria, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq), the procedures for legalization approval of documents to be used in their territories is different.

First translate a certificate of Apostille legalization into the country’s official language. Only a certified translation office should do this for you.

For the document to be translated at a certified translation office, you also need the notarization carried out by a notary. Once the document is officially notarized, the office of the district governor or provincial governor where the approval is made completes the process by issuing the Apostille Approval.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will legalize the document after you have obtained Apostille approval.

The document should finally be submitted to the embassy or consulate for legalization approval which could take a couple of days.

Every country charges its own unique fee payable for legalization approval of documents. Some countries vary the fees depending on the specific document.

Approving like diplomas might be cheaper while other documents like company documents might cost more.

E-Apostille system

Turkey’s National Post and Telegraph directorate (Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı Anonim Şirketi) launched an e-Apostille system starting from 2019 which made it easier for public documents originally issued within Turkey to be certified online.

It is important to point out that the system now only covers documents that related to court decisions and criminal records.

PTT that it has an e-Apostille system to cover the following documents:

Identity Register Copy

Name Equivalence Copy

Birth Certificate Copy

Company formation documents

Death Certificate Copy

Work completion certificates

Marriage Certificate Copy

Diploma

Transcript