Turkish Citizenship Documents

Turkish citizenship can be acquired in several ways, such as through marriage, long-term residence, investment or descent, and each route has its own conditions. What they share is a stack of documents, and many of those have to come from abroad. That is the part where applications get stuck.

Check the conditions first

Eligibility conditions for each route, such as how long you must have been married or resident, or what an investment must be worth, are set by Turkish law and the authorities, and they change. Different websites often disagree on them. We do not give legal advice on eligibility, so confirm the current conditions for your route with the authority or a lawyer before you start, and then come to us for the documents.

Documents commonly requested

• Your passport and biometric photos.
• Your birth certificate.
• Marriage and, where relevant, divorce documents. See Divorce Documents and Turkey.
• A criminal record certificate, often from your home country. See Criminal Record Certificates.
• Route-specific documents. For an investment route, for example, this means documents proving the investment, and some of these may need to be notarized.

The authority gives the final list for your route. Ask for it in writing, and check it again close to your submission date, because lists are updated.

Which documents need preparation

Documents issued abroad generally have to be certified in the country that issued them, either with an apostille or with legalization, and translated into Turkish, before a Turkish authority accepts them. We explain the details in Foreign Documents for Use in Turkey. Documents issued in Turkey follow the ordinary notary and translation rules, depending on what the authority asks for.

Because certification happens abroad, start with the documents from your home country. They take the longest, and some, such as criminal record certificates, may need to be recent when you submit.

Mistakes that cost time

• Relying on an old or unofficial checklist. Requirements differ by route and change over time.
• Ordering documents too early. If a certificate must be recent, a long certification process can make it too old.
• Name and date mismatches. Names on certificates, translations and your passport must agree. See Names in Translation.
• Getting an apostille for a non-member country. The document needs legalization instead. See Apostille or Consular Legalization?
• Missing documents for family members. If the application covers a spouse or children, check what each of them has to provide.

How we help

Tell us your route and which documents you have. We will confirm which need certification, sworn translation or notarization, and handle those steps. We also help with the tax number and with residence permits. See Residence Permit in Turkey.