Guides Turkish → English
Bringing your Turkish spouse to the UK: documents step by step
You live in the UK, your husband or wife is in Türkiye, and you want to be together here. This guide follows the Appendix FM partner route from the first application in Türkiye to settlement, and shows at each stage which Turkish documents need a certified English translation.
Who this guide is for
You are a British citizen, a person with indefinite leave to remain or settled status, or someone else able to sponsor a partner under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules, and the person you are married to is a Turkish citizen living in Türkiye. The sequence below also works for civil partners and, with some extra evidence about living together, for unmarried partners. If you are not yet married and plan to marry in the UK, read the fiancé(e) visa page first; if you married in Türkiye and simply need the marriage record in English, the marriage certificate page covers that on its own.
The journey in one paragraph
Your spouse applies online for entry clearance as a partner, pays the fee and the immigration health surcharge, uploads the evidence and gives biometrics at a visa application centre in Türkiye. If granted, they travel to the UK on an initial period of leave. Before that leave runs out they apply from inside the UK for further leave to remain as a partner (form FLR(M)), and after five years on the route they apply for indefinite leave to remain. Each application repeats the core checks: that the relationship is genuine and continuing, that the sponsor’s income meets the financial requirement, that there is adequate accommodation, and that the applicant’s English is at the level set for that stage. The Turkish documents you gather for the first application will, in most cases, serve the later ones too.
What has to be proved, and where Turkish paperwork comes in
| Requirement | Usual evidence | Turkish documents that need translating |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship | Marriage record, family record, photographs, evidence of contact | Nüfus kayıt örneği with event history (vukuatlı), evlenme cüzdanı or Formül B extract, any earlier divorce decree with its finality note (kesinleşme şerhi) |
| Financial requirement | Sponsor’s UK payslips, bank statements, employer letter; savings | Turkish bank statements where savings sit in Türkiye; a tapu and sale contract where savings came from a property sale |
| Accommodation | Tenancy, mortgage statement, property inspection report | Rarely any; the home is in the UK |
| English language | Approved test certificate or degree taught in English | Test certificates are in English; a Turkish degree used instead needs translation and a UK ENIC statement |
| Identity | Passport | The Turkish passport data page is bilingual; stamped pages are translated only if an adviser asks |
| Children applying too | Birth records, consent of the other parent | Birth certificates, custody orders, a muvafakatname from the other parent |
The financial requirement for new partner applications has been £29,000 a year since 11 April 2024 and, at the time of writing, is held at that figure while a review continues. Check the current figure on GOV.UK on the day you apply, because it has moved before and may move again.
The translation rule you are working to
Appendix FM-SE, paragraph 1(j), governs documents that are not in English or Welsh in a partner application. You supply the original document and a full translation that the decision maker can independently verify; the translation must be dated, must confirm that it is an accurate translation of the original, and must carry the full name and signature of the translator or of an authorised person at the translation company, together with the company’s contact details. For the later applications made inside the UK, item (iv) adds certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials. Our certification statement is written to cover all of those points at once, naming the company, its Ankara trade registry number, the signatory and the date, so that the translation prepared for entry clearance does not have to be redone at the FLR(M) or ILR stage. Nothing in the rule asks for a notary or an apostille.
Timing and fees
Allow time for three things that cannot be hurried: obtaining a fresh nüfus kayıt örneği and any court documents from Türkiye, the sponsor assembling six months of financial evidence, and the appointment slot at the visa application centre. Home Office fees and the immigration health surcharge are published on GOV.UK and change periodically, usually in the spring; budget for both plus the cost of any English test. Translation of a typical entry-clearance set (nüfus kayıt örneği, marriage record and a six-month bank statement) comes to about £60–100 with us and is ready in one to two working days, with a divorce judgment adding £40–100 depending on length. No UK VAT is charged.
Mistakes that cost couples months
- Using the short nüfus kayıt örneği, which hides earlier marriages, rather than the vukuatlı version.
- Submitting a divorce decree without the finality note, so the caseworker cannot see that the previous marriage is over.
- A wife’s surname differing between the marriage record and her passport, with no translator’s note explaining why.
- Translating only the pages that seem important; the rule says full translation.
- Waiting until the visa application centre appointment to think about translations, then paying for express service.
- Discarding the translation after the visa is granted; keep the PDF, because the same document is asked for again at FLR(M) and ILR.
What we do in this process
We translate the Turkish documents in full, reproduce stamps and seals, keep names as they appear in the passports you send us, and deliver a certified PDF with each original attached behind its translation so it uploads as a single file. Because our certification already includes the company credentials the later stages require, you should not need to buy the same translation twice. Our document-by-document guide goes deeper into what to translate and what to leave, and the checklist lets you tick things off as they arrive. For questions about eligibility, income calculations or a previous refusal, speak to an immigration solicitor or an OISC-registered adviser; we translate, we do not advise on immigration law.
Step by step
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Check the sponsor’s side first
Before anything is ordered from Türkiye, the sponsor in the UK confirms that the financial requirement can be met from the permitted sources and starts collecting six months of payslips and bank statements, or the savings evidence, together with proof of accommodation. These documents are in English and need no translation. If the income figure is close to the threshold, a solicitor or OISC adviser can say whether it counts under the rules before money is spent on the application.
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Obtain fresh Turkish records
Your spouse downloads a full nüfus kayıt örneği (vukuatlı) from e-Devlet, or obtains one from the nüfus müdürlüğü, dated within a few weeks of the application. Add the marriage record: the evlenme cüzdanı booklet or a Formül B multilingual extract. Where either of you was married before, obtain the divorce decree with its finality note from the court or through e-Devlet, or the former spouse’s death certificate. Children applying too need birth records and, where relevant, a custody order.
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Order certified translations
Send us clear scans or e-Devlet PDFs of every page, including reverse sides and stamps, and the passports so names match. We translate in full, certify each page with the details Appendix FM-SE lists, and return one PDF per document with the original attached. Turkish bank statements used for savings are translated for the whole six-month period, transactions included. Typical cost for the core set is £60–100 and delivery is one to two working days.
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Apply online and book biometrics
Your spouse completes the partner application on GOV.UK, pays the fee and the immigration health surcharge, and books an appointment at a visa application centre in Türkiye. The evidence, including our translated PDFs, is uploaded before the appointment; the centre can scan paper for a fee but it is simpler to upload. Take the original Turkish documents to the appointment in case they are asked for. Our visa application centre page explains how the centres work.
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Wait for the decision and travel
Processing times are published on GOV.UK and vary with demand; do not book non-refundable travel until the decision arrives. If further information is requested, respond with translated documents in the same format. On grant, your spouse travels within the validity of the entry vignette and follows the instructions for collecting or viewing their immigration status once in the UK.
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Keep the file for the next two applications
Store the translated PDFs and the originals together. The FLR(M) application comes before the initial leave expires and the ILR application after five years on the route; both ask again for relationship evidence, and a fresh nüfus kayıt örneği is often the only new Turkish document. Where a document has not changed, our earlier translation can be reused because the certification includes the credentials the later stages require. Read does a certified translation expire? for the detail.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to translate our Turkish marriage certificate if it is the multilingual Formül B?
Yes. The multilingual extract is issued under a convention the UK has not joined, and Home Office caseworkers treat it as a foreign-language document. We translate the Turkish text and the printed footnotes, which is quick because the layout is standard.
Does the £29,000 income requirement apply if my spouse and I both have savings in Türkiye?
Savings can be used in place of, or combined with, income under Appendix FM-SE rules, but the calculation and the six-month holding period are technical. Turkish bank statements used this way must be translated in full. Ask an adviser to confirm the figures before applying.
Can my spouse apply from the UK while here as a visitor?
The partner route normally requires an application from outside the UK, and visitors are generally not permitted to switch. This is an immigration-law question for a solicitor or OISC adviser rather than for us.
Will you translate the Home Office letters into Turkish for my spouse?
We can provide an informal Turkish translation of a refusal letter or request for information so your spouse understands it; that is a plain translation for your own use and not a certified document.