Documents: Turkish to English Turkish → English
Turkish ID card (T.C. kimlik kartı / nüfus cüzdanı) translation
Certified English translation of the Turkish identity card (T.C. kimlik kartı) and the older nüfus cüzdanı, front and back, for the Home Office, HM Passport Office, solicitors and notaries. £10, usually within one working day.
What the receiving body requires
“If you need to certify a translation of a document that's not written in English or Welsh, ask the translation company to confirm in writing on the translation: that it's a ‘true and accurate translation of the original document’; the date of the translation; the full name and contact details of the translator or a representative of the translation company.”
Source:
· checked 29 August 2026The two Turkish identity documents
Türkiye has issued the chip-based identity card (T.C. kimlik kartı) since 2017, and it has gradually replaced the paper booklet (nüfus cüzdanı) that most people over thirty still remember. Both are issued by the district registry office (nüfus müdürlüğü) under the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs, and both are still in circulation, so we translate either.
The new card is the size of a bank card. The front carries your photograph, surname, given names, date of birth, Turkish ID number (T.C. kimlik no), sex, nationality, expiry date and document serial number, all with Turkish and English field labels. The back carries your mother's and father's names, the issuing authority, a machine-readable zone and a second serial. The English labels do not remove the need for a translation: the values, the issuing authority and the abbreviations are still Turkish, and UK bodies want a certified rendering of both sides.
The old booklet is blue for men and pink for women. It records the family register location (il, ilçe, mahalle/köy, cilt no, aile sıra no, sıra no), marital status, blood group, place of issue, registration number and, in older issues, religion. It has no expiry date, and later pages carry handwritten entries by registrars. We translate every printed and handwritten entry, describe the photograph and stamps in square brackets, and reproduce the layout so a caseworker can match each line to the original.
When a UK body asks for it
- Home Office family applications. A sponsor or a dependant who has no passport, or whose passport is with another authority, can be identified by the kimlik kartı. It is also common evidence of a child's identity in a spouse visa or ILR application where the child is not travelling.
- HM Passport Office. When a child's first British passport is claimed through a Turkish parent, HMPO looks at the parent's identity documents; the card confirms the ID number that ties the parent to the birth record.
- Solicitors, notaries and conveyancers in the UK. Identity checks for a UK property purchase, a will or a power of attorney executed in the UK by a Turkish citizen. See notaries and solicitors.
- Courts. Establishing the identity of a party in a family or civil case with Turkish documents.
The card is not accepted for right-to-work or right-to-rent checks, and registrars giving notice of marriage normally want a passport; a translation of the card does not change that.
What the translation must contain
UK bodies work to the gov.uk certification wording: a written confirmation that the translation is true and accurate, the date, and the full name and contact details of the translator or the translation company. We add our company name, Ankara Trade Registry number, address and a signature, and we attach a copy of the card, front and back, to the certified translation. See what your certified translation looks like.
On this document the T.C. kimlik number is the field that matters most, because it links the card to your nüfus kayıt örneği, passport and diplomas. We copy the eleven digits exactly and check them against any other document you send in the same order.
Apostille and copies
No UK body has asked us for an apostille on an identity card. An apostille cannot be attached to the card itself; it can only be attached to a notarised copy, which is a Turkish notary process we can arrange in Ankara if a court abroad ever requires it. For UK use, a clear scan of both sides is what you need.
Price and turnaround
Front and back together come to well under 1,000 characters, so the whole card counts as one page: £10.00, certification included, no UK VAT. The old booklet with handwritten pages is usually 1 page as well, occasionally 2. We normally deliver the certified PDF the next working day, and the same day if the scan arrives before 11:00 UK time and you choose the fast option. A signed hard copy from Ankara by courier costs £30. There is no collection.
What you receive
- Translation of both sides of the card, or of every page of the nüfus cüzdanı, with handwritten entries and stamps rendered in full
- Certification statement in the gov.uk wording with date, signature and our company details
- Copy of the card attached to the translation
- Certified PDF by e-mail; courier hard copy optional
Frequently asked questions
Do you translate the back of the card?
Yes, always. The back carries your parents' names, the issuing authority and the document number, and a translation that stops at the front is routinely queried. Send a scan of both sides in one go.
My old nüfus cüzdanı has no expiry date. Is it still valid for UK purposes?
The booklet was never given an expiry date, and it remains a valid Turkish identity document until you replace it. UK bodies do not treat the missing date as a defect; we write “no expiry date shown” in the translation so the caseworker does not think a field has been omitted.
Do you reproduce the photograph and the chip?
No. The translation describes them in square brackets as [photograph] and [chip], and the copy of the original attached to the certificate shows them. A translation never contains images of the original.
If I am sending my passport, do I still need the card translated?
Usually not for yourself. The card is worth translating for a family member who has no passport, or where a body specifically lists national identity card among the documents it wants.
The old booklet shows my religion. Can that be left out?
No. A certified translation must be complete, so every field on the original appears in the translation. If you would rather not disclose the field, the new chip card does not carry it and can be obtained at any nüfus müdürlüğü or, for citizens abroad, at the Turkish consulate.