Guides English → Turkish
Setting up a company in Turkey from the UK
A Turkish limited şirket can be registered while you stay in Britain, but only if the UK paperwork arrives in the right order: apostille, then a translation notarised in Türkiye, then the registry. This guide sets out the sequence, the documents and the costs.
Who this is for
You live in the UK and want a company in Türkiye: a subsidiary of your British firm, a vehicle for property or tourism income, a software business paying developers in Ankara, or a family enterprise you intend to run from Enfield. Turkish law does not require you to be a citizen or a resident to own or direct a company, and the registry deals with foreign founders every day. What it does require is that every foreign document arrives authenticated and in Turkish, in a form its officers can accept. That is where most delays occur, and it is the part of the process we handle.
The shape of the process
Whether the founder is an individual or a British company, the sequence is the same: get a Turkish tax number; prepare the articles and register the company in the MERSİS system; produce the founders’ documents, authenticated and translated; register at the Ticaret Sicil Müdürlüğü, which publishes the entry in the Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi; open a bank account and deposit capital; register with the tax office, which sends an inspector to confirm the address; obtain the signature circular; and engage a mali müşavir, the certified accountant who will keep the books. In practice a Turkish accountant or lawyer runs this and you supply the documents. Our company formation page holds the current registry detail.
The UK documents Türkiye asks for
Where a British company is the shareholder, the registry expects its constitutional documents. Practitioner guidance lists the certificate of incorporation, a certificate of good standing or a current registry extract, the articles of association, a board resolution authorising the Turkish company and appointing whoever will sign for it, and specimen signatures. Each is apostilled by the FCDO and then translated into Turkish and notarised in Türkiye. Where the founder is an individual, the set is shorter: the passport data page, apostilled where the registry asks for it, with a notarised Turkish translation, and a power of attorney if you are not attending in person. Document pages on this site cover the certificate of incorporation, the certificate of good standing and the articles of association.
Apostille first, then the notary, and why the order is not negotiable
Turkish registries, unlike most UK bodies, do reject translations of unauthenticated documents. The FCDO apostille goes on the UK original; only then is the whole thing translated. The translation must also be the right kind: a UK certified translation is not what a Turkish notary or registry will accept. Turkish law treats translation as a notarial act performed by a translator sworn before that notary, so the document is translated in Türkiye and notarised there. We do this in Ankara, which is why the paper never needs to cross the Channel twice. The FCDO charges £45 for a paper apostille and £35 for the electronic version, with faster tiers costing more; see apostille for UK documents going to Türkiye for the routing, including the fact that documents signed by private bodies usually need a UK notary or solicitor to certify them before the FCDO will act.
Doing it without flying: the vekaletname
Almost everything can be delegated. A power of attorney authorising a Turkish lawyer or accountant to incorporate, sign the articles, register with the tax office and open the file is executed either at a Turkish consulate in London, Manchester or Edinburgh, or before a UK notary and then apostilled and translated. The consular route produces a document already in Turkish and needs no apostille; the notary route needs both. Draft the powers widely enough to cover the tax office and the registry, because a POA that omits one of them means a second appointment. The power of attorney guide explains how the two routes compare.
Capital, tax number and the practicalities
Foreign founders need a potential tax number (potansiyel vergi kimlik numarası), obtained from a Turkish tax office by your representative or through the tax administration’s online service, before anything else can be filed. Minimum capital figures for a limited şirket and an anonim şirket were raised with effect from 1 January 2024, and a proportion of the cash capital is payable within a set period; ask your accountant for the current figures rather than relying on an article, since they move. A registered address in Türkiye is required and the tax office inspects it, so a virtual office may or may not survive the visit, depending on the district. None of this gives you the right to live or work in Türkiye: a residence permit and a work permit are separate applications, and directors drawing a salary need one. See the work permit page.
Timing and fees
- FCDO apostille: £35 electronic or £45 by post at the time of writing, with the paper route capable of taking weeks; the electronic route is not available for every document type.
- Notarised Turkish translation in Ankara: from £6.50 per page of 1,000 characters, plus the Turkish notary tariff of roughly £13.50 per page and a £5 handling fee. Two to four working days.
- Courier of the notarised set within Türkiye or back to the UK: £30. No UK VAT is charged.
- Registry, gazette and notarial charges in Türkiye are set by tariff and paid by your representative; accountancy retainers are monthly.
- From complete documents, registration usually takes days rather than weeks. Assembling the documents is what takes a month.
Mistakes we see
- Translating in the UK, then discovering the registry will not look at it.
- Sending documents for apostille one at a time, so the set is never complete on the same day.
- A power of attorney drafted for the registry alone, leaving the accountant unable to act at the tax office.
- A certificate of good standing that has aged past the registry’s window while the translation was arranged.
- Assuming that owning a Turkish company entitles you to residence.
What we do
We produce the Turkish translations, arrange notarisation in Ankara and courier the file to your representative, keeping company names, registration numbers, share figures and director names exactly as they appear in the UK originals. When your Turkish company is running and your UK bank or accountant needs its documents back in English, we translate the ticaret sicil gazetesi, faaliyet belgesi and imza sirküleri the other way. We do not incorporate companies, hold shares, or advise on Turkish tax or immigration; a mali müşavir and a Turkish lawyer do that.
Step by step
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Appoint a Turkish accountant or lawyer first
Nothing else is efficient without one. A mali müşavir or avukat in the province where the company will be registered will confirm the current capital minimums, the documents that registry wants this month, and the address requirements. Ask them for a written document list before you spend anything on apostilles or translations, because provincial registries differ in what they will accept.
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Get a Turkish tax number for each foreign founder
A potential tax number is issued to foreign individuals and companies by a Turkish tax office, and your representative can obtain it with a copy of the passport or registry extract. It is needed before the bank account, the registry filing and the tax registration. This step is quick and cheap, and everything downstream stalls without it.
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Collect and apostille the UK documents
Order a current certificate of incorporation, a certificate of good standing or registry extract, the articles and a signed board resolution. Send them for FCDO legalisation, remembering that documents signed by a private body usually need a UK notary or solicitor to certify them first. Submit the whole set at once so the apostille dates are close together.
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Grant a power of attorney
Choose between a consular vekaletname, drawn up in Turkish at the London, Manchester or Edinburgh consulate on an appointment and needing no apostille, and a UK notarial power of attorney, which needs an FCDO apostille and a notarised Turkish translation. Draft the powers to cover incorporation, the tax office, the bank and the signature circular in one document.
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Have the set translated and notarised in Ankara
Send us scans of the apostilled documents and we produce the Turkish translations, have a translator sworn before an Ankara notary certify them, and courier the notarised file to your representative. Allow two to four working days plus delivery, at £6.50 per page of 1,000 characters plus the notary tariff of about £13.50 a page and a £5 handling fee.
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File at MERSİS and the trade registry
Your representative enters the company in MERSİS, submits the articles and the founders’ documents to the Ticaret Sicil Müdürlüğü and pays the registry and gazette charges. Registration usually completes within days once the file is complete. The entry then appears in the Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi, which becomes your proof of existence for banks on both sides.
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Finish the tax, bank and signature steps
The tax office opens the company’s record and inspects the registered address; the bank account is opened and capital deposited; the signature circular is issued so directors can bind the company. Ask your accountant for a full set of the resulting Turkish documents, which we can translate back into English for your UK bank, lender or auditor.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to travel to Türkiye to set up the company?
Not usually. A properly drafted power of attorney lets a Turkish accountant or lawyer do the registry, tax and bank steps for you. Some banks insist on meeting a director before opening the account, which is the one step that may require a visit.
Does owning a Turkish company give me residence or the right to work?
No. Residence permits and work permits are separate applications with their own conditions, and a director who will take a salary needs a work permit. Ask a Turkish lawyer before you plan a move around the company.
Can I use a UK certified translation of my company documents?
The registry and the notary will not accept it. Turkish law treats translation as a notarial act, so the documents are translated in Türkiye and notarised there, which we arrange in Ankara.
Which comes first, the apostille or the translation?
The apostille, always. Turkish registries reject translations of documents that were not authenticated first, and translating twice costs more than waiting a week for the FCDO.
How current must the certificate of good standing be?
Registries commonly want it issued within the previous few months, and the clock runs while you arrange the apostille and translation. Order it once the rest of the file is nearly ready rather than at the start.