Documents for company formation and work permits

Company and work permit documents for foreigners in Türkiye

If you start a company, join one as a shareholder, open a branch or apply for a work permit in Türkiye, a Turkish office will read your foreign papers in Turkish. So each paper made abroad usually travels with two things: legalisation (an apostille or a consular route) and a notarised Turkish translation. This section explains that document side. Which papers an office wants is for that office to say, and we send you to it for the current list.

Our main page for foreign clients gives the overview of our service. Here we stay with the documents.

Who needs company formation and work permit documents

Four groups meet this area most often.

• Founders and shareholders from abroad, who file papers with the trade registry office (ticaret sicili müdürlüğü).
• Foreign companies that open a branch or another presence in Türkiye and send papers from the head office.
• Foreign employees, and the employers who hire them, who file diplomas and other papers for a work permit.
• Foreign persons and entities that open a bank account or obtain a tax number as part of a larger file.

These groups need no immigration, tax or company-law advice from a translator. They need correct papers in the right form. That is the part we explain.

Foreign papers for a company: legalisation and translation

The Trade Registry Regulation (Ticaret Sicili Yönetmeliği) keeps registry records in Turkish. Every document that supports a registration must also be in Turkish. A document made abroad under foreign law must be certified by a Turkish consulate or carry an apostille, and it is filed with a notarised Turkish translation.

A notarised translation is a notarial act. A sworn translator translates the text. The notary then adds an endorsement under it that identifies the translator, and dates, signs and seals the page. We prepare the translation, and a translation office does not issue the endorsement or the apostille.

Our page on apostille and consular legalisation explains the legalisation routes in detail. In short, the apostille confirms who signed a paper and in what capacity. It does not confirm the contents. A notarised translation made in Türkiye and used in Türkiye needs no apostille of its own.

Turkish language rule for company papers

Law No. 805 on the Compulsory Use of Turkish in Commercial Enterprises asks Turkish companies to keep transactions, contracts, correspondence, accounts and books in Turkish. For foreign companies, it covers dealings with Turkish institutions and citizens, and the papers and books they must file with state offices.

A second language may sit beside the Turkish. The Turkish text is the original, and responsible signatures go under it. Even if someone signs under the foreign-language part, the Turkish text prevails. A document that breaches the rule is not taken into account in the company’s favour.

Commercial books and required records are kept in Turkish. Year-end financial statements are prepared in Turkish, and so are tax books and records. Another language is allowed in tax books only beside the Turkish entries. Your accountant or adviser applies these rules; we translate the papers.

Work permit papers and the usual order of steps

For a work permit, the rules for foreign-issued papers such as a diploma are set by the reviewing authority. The General Directorate that reviews the application may ask for the original or for a copy certified by a Turkish mission, the foreign country’s mission in Türkiye, the issuing institution or a notary. It may also have the documents translated again. Our page on residence permit documents covers the related residence side.

Not every paper needs a translation. For a short-term business residence application, the migration authority (Göç İdaresi) asks for notarised copies of a Turkish company’s papers, which are copies and not translations. A foreign individual who opens a bank account faces no translation requirement in the anti-money-laundering regulation.

The usual order of steps looks like this.

1. Ask the receiving office which papers it wants and in what form.
2. Collect the originals from the issuing authorities abroad.
3. Have each original apostilled, or certified by a Turkish consulate.
4. Bring the legalised originals to us for sworn translation.
5. The notary adds the endorsement to each translation.
6. File the set at the receiving office.

Send us the office’s list and the originals, or clear scans first. We tell you which papers need translation and in what form. We do not register companies, obtain permits or file at an office for you. A private translation office is not a public authority.