Schmidt & Schmidt offers the legalization of documents from Turkey by apostille.
Turkey acceded to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents in 1985. Therefore, no diplomatic authentication or consular legalization of documents from Turkey is needed for successful legal communication with other member states of the Convention. The documents only need to be attested by an apostille certificate with an "apostille" stamp on it by the issuing state's authorities in order to be valid in the state of destination.
The apostille is a stamp of rectangular shape. It should be filled in in the official language of the issuing authority. The heading "Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" written in French is a necessary requirement for the apostille's validity.
Responsible for issuing the apostille are the following institutions:
- County commissioner (Kaymakam) or governor (Valilik) - for documents of administrative authorities and notaries
- Director of the Committee of Legal Affairs or local Presidium of the Committee of Legal Affairs - for judicial documents.
Public documents drawn up in Turkish and issued by the authorities of the Republic of Turkey can be apostillized.
Legalizing public documents in Turkey implies authenticating the origin of the document and the authority of the officials who have affixed the signature, seal or stamp on the document. After such verification, a special stamp - the apostille - is affixed to the public document or its certified copy. The apostille is usually placed on the back of the underlying public document or on a separate attached page.
The following documents can be authenticated by apostille:
- Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
- Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
- Trade register excerpts
- Court decisions
- Notarized copies of documents
- Notarized translations
- Further notarial documents (authorizations of signatures, last will, declarations)
- Commercial documents legalized by a state registration bodies (articles of incorporation, registration certificates, tax registrations etc.)
Only original documents or notarized copies issued by public authorities can be apostillized.
Requirements for the documents:
The apostille can be exclusively issued for the original document. Therefore, the underlying document must be presented in good condition, with all stamps and signatures clear and readable. Furthermore, it should not contain alien markings or labels.
Apostille for diploma or ÖSYM certificate
The original document is required for this process. The original document is translated by a sworn translator. Then it is notarized by a notary in the place of the certified translation. Subsequently, an apostille is made at the competent authority. The competent authorities for this are the governors(Valilik) in the provinces and the district governors(Kaymakamlık) in the districts.
Additional services
In addition to the legalization of your public documents, we can provide you with high-quality translations.
Should you require company information for use in court, it needs to be legalized as well. We can therefore provide you with extracts from the commercial register of Turkey including the apostille certification and translation into the language of the document's state of destination.
Turkey also issues electronic apostille for some documents. PTT is the intermediary company that carries out the transaction. Currently, the electronic apostille is issued only for criminal records and court decisions in Turkey. Documents for which an e-apostille is processed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior are transmitted electronically via PTT. The applicant can access these documents worldwide. It should be taken into account how the apostille form should be in the country where the document will be used. If you have any questions about the validity of the e-apostille, we recommend that you check with the authorities of the foreign country.
On average, processing the documents takes up to 14 days.
Courier services are charged and invoiced separately according to the courier service’s rates.
You can pay for our services by PayPal, bank transfer or credit card.
Consular legalization from Turkey
An official document issued by foreign authorities is translated into Turkish or another language by a registered translator with the Turkish Consulate. This translation is used for consular legalization at the Turkish consulate abroad. Consular legalization confirms the authenticity of the seal and signature but not the content.
Required documents for legalization:
- ID (passport or blue card for foreigners)
- IThe original document
| Service | Price incl. German VAT 19% | Price excl. VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Price for an apostille for a document from Turkey without international shipping | from 297,50 € | from 250,00 € |
