Diploma recognition and school enrolment documents
Foreign diplomas, transcripts and school papers in Türkiye: who decides, which documents need an approved Turkish translation and the usual steps.
In 30 seconds
- University degrees go to YÖK, school certificates go to MEB, and health professions add Ministry of Health registration.
- Each office names its own approving body, so ask which translation form it expects before you order.
- The usual order is: find the office, collect originals, translate, approve, file.
- Find the office that decides your case
- Collect original diplomas and transcripts
- Check if the office wants a translation
- Have copies and translations approved
- File the application
- Keep an extra approved set
If you hold a diploma, transcript or school certificate from another country and need it accepted in Türkiye, the papers go to the office that decides your case. A university degree goes to the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). A school certificate goes to the Ministry of National Education (MEB). A health profession adds a registration step at the Ministry of Health. Translations and approvals sit inside each of these files. Our sworn translation office in Ankara prepares the translation side for foreign nationals and international companies.
Diploma recognition and school enrolment for foreigners
This area covers the documents that prove your education. It serves two groups. The first group is adults who want a foreign degree treated as equal to a Turkish one. The second is families who want a child placed in a Turkish school.
The documents are the diploma, the transcript with grades and course hours, report cards and leaving certificates. For some files they also include a Diploma Supplement, a master’s thesis cover and abstract, or a specialist certificate.
| Purpose | Deciding office | Documents and translation |
|---|---|---|
| Use a foreign university degree | YÖK | Diploma, transcript and, for EU graduates, the Diploma Supplement; approved copy and approved Turkish translation |
| Master’s degree | YÖK | Same papers; thesis cover and abstract also need an approved copy and translation |
| School certificate equivalence | MEB equivalence office | Originals; translation only if the office cannot read the language |
| Child’s school place | School under MEB rules | ID document; secondary school also needs a student visa unless the parent holds a Turkish permit |
| Doctor, dentist or nurse | YÖK, then Ministry of Health | Equivalence certificate, then registration with the translated diploma |
| Work permit file with a diploma | Permit authority | Originals or approved copies; the authority may have the documents translated again |
Who needs diploma and school documents translated
- Graduates. They need YÖK equivalence to use a foreign associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree in Türkiye.
- Parents. They bring a child’s report cards or diploma to an equivalence office run by the provincial or district directorate of national education.
- Doctors, dentists and nurses. Their diplomas go through YÖK equivalence first and Ministry of Health registration second.
- Foreign companies. They support employees whose work permit files contain a diploma.
If you are unsure which group you belong to, start from the paper you must produce and ask which office asks for it. The answer decides the translation form, the number of approved sets and the legalisation.
Equivalence is not the same as recognition. Recognition means YÖK accepts that a foreign institution and programme may award a degree. Equivalence means your own diploma counts as equal to a Turkish one.
Usual order of steps
- Find the office that decides your case. It is YÖK, an MEB equivalence office or the Ministry of Health.
- Collect the originals. Equivalence is done with original diplomas, transcripts and report cards.
- Ask the office whether it needs a Turkish translation. A school equivalence office asks for one only if none of its staff reads the language of the papers.
- Have the copies and translations approved in the form that office names.
- File the application, usually through e-Devlet or the e-Denklik module.
- Keep an extra approved set. YÖK keeps approved copies and translations and returns the originals.
Translation, approval and apostille for education papers
The deciding factor is who approves the translation, not the word “sworn”. YÖK asks for a Turkish translation approved by Turkish notaries or Turkish missions abroad. MEB asks for a notarised translation when the translation is made in Türkiye and consular approval when it is made abroad.
A notarised translation is a notarial act. A sworn translator, who has taken the oath at a Turkish notary’s office, translates the document. The notary adds an endorsement that names the translator and gives the translator’s address, then dates, signs and seals it. Read more about the sworn translator in Türkiye and what that role means.
A translation office issues neither the endorsement nor the apostille. The endorsement is a notary’s act. The apostille comes from a Turkish authority. For a Turkish diploma used abroad, a governor’s office (valilik) or district governor’s office (kaymakamlık), in any province or district, issues the apostille on the notarised translation. For foreign papers used here, YÖK’s general list does not require an apostille, though some country-specific cases do. See our overview of apostille and consular legalisation for the legalisation chain.
Regulated professions and diplomas
A translation does not open a profession. Practising medicine requires a medical degree approved and registered by the Ministry of Health. A foreign pharmacist must be a Turkish citizen to practise in Türkiye, and so must a lawyer.
A foreign engineer or architect on a project-specific work permit for a foreign contractor’s job needs no YÖK equivalence. Other foreign engineers and architects work under a permit issued after the opinion of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB).
When a work permit file includes a diploma, the permit authority may ask for originals or approved copies. It may also have the documents translated again. Keep the originals and one approved set for that purpose.
Get a quote
Send us a legible copy of your document and tell us the language, where it will be submitted and when you need it. We will reply by email with a quote and a delivery date.
