Languages we translate into Turkish

We translate documents into Turkish from Arabic, Persian, Russian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijani, English, German, French, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Pashto and Dari, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Tajik, Georgian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Indonesian and Bosnian. If your language is not on this list, ask before you order. This page explains how the source language affects names, apostilles and the translators involved. For the wider service, see sworn translation in Ankara.

Who needs a Turkish translation from these languages

You need a Turkish translation when a Turkish office asks for a foreign document in Turkish. The most common cases are these:

• a residence permit file, where the Göç İdaresi (Presidency of Migration Management) list asks for documents from abroad with a notarised Turkish translation;
• a citizenship file, where diplomas, passports and similar documents are translated into Turkish and notarised;
• a civil-registry procedure at the nüfus müdürlüğü (civil registry office);
• the exchange of a foreign driving licence, which needs a Turkish translation approved by a notary or a consulate;
• a Turkish civil court, where a party who relies on a foreign-language document must also file its translation.

For residence permit files, the Göç İdaresi lists say a document issued by a Turkish authority needs no translation, but it must be e-signed, or signed and stamped. Other offices set their own lists.

Names and scripts in a Turkish translation

Names are where language problems appear first. Turkish civil records take a name written in Latin script letter for letter, without translating it. Accents and other diacritics stay. A German, French or Spanish name therefore keeps its marks in the Turkish version.

A name written in another script is transliterated letter by letter. Arabic, Persian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean names fall into this group. If two documents spell the same name differently, the documents of the person's state of nationality prevail. Check the spelling in your passport before you order, and tell us if your documents disagree.

Sworn translators for each language

A sworn translator takes the oath at a Turkish notary's office. The oath record stays on file there. Before a notary uses a translator, the notary must be satisfied that the translator knows the language correctly. Diplomas, other documents or other means can show this.

If no notary in your city can handle a language, the translation can be done at a notary elsewhere through the local notary. You can read about the people we work with on the page about the translators we work with.

Apostille and the language of your document

The apostille does not depend on the language. It goes on the original, in the country that issued it, and it certifies only the signature, the signer's capacity and the seal or stamp. It says nothing about the content. In Türkiye a notarised Turkish translation is then added.

Not every country is a party to the Apostille Convention, so check the status of the issuing country before you start. If it is not a party, or your document has no apostille, the document goes through the issuing country's authorities, then its consulate or embassy, then a Turkish authority. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not add a stamp to a document that already carries an apostille. The Turkish translation is certified by the notary in Türkiye, and a notarised translation used inside Türkiye needs no apostille of its own.

Documents already in Türkiye follow different routes. A document issued by a foreign embassy in Türkiye gets a sworn translation, the notary joins and certifies the original and the translation, and the Ministry's Authentication Unit then certifies it. A document issued by a foreign consulate-general in Türkiye is approved by the governor's office of that province only, and is then valid throughout Türkiye without the Ministry. Documents issued by honorary consulates are not accepted for civil-registry procedures.

Ordering a translation into Turkish

1. Check that your language is on the list above.
2. Gather the originals, not photocopies, because a Turkish notary cannot certify a foreign authority’s document as a true copy (Ministry of Foreign Affairs authentication FAQ).
3. Add the apostille, or complete the consular chain, in the issuing country.
4. Send us the documents and say which office will receive them. The steps are on our page about ordering a translation from us.

Common mistakes are easy to avoid. Do not translate a name differently in each document. Do not assume that a document from an honorary consulate will be accepted, because Turkish civil registries do not act on those. Do not order before you have read the receiving office's list. Do not send a photocopy where the original is needed. Do not expect the translation office to issue the notary's endorsement or the apostille, because it issues neither.