News and updates
GRO certificate fees and ordering long-form certificates
The Turkish consulate will not register a UK birth on a short certificate. You need the full certificate from the General Register Office, and it cannot be legalised through the electronic apostille service.
Short and full are not interchangeable
A short certificate names the child only. A full certificate names both parents, with their occupations and places of birth, and it is the version the Turkish consulate needs to enter a UK-born child in the nüfus register. Hospital letters and NHS numbers are not certificates at all. Parents who send the short version have their appointment wasted, so check what you are holding before you book.
Ordering and paying
Order online from the General Register Office if the event was registered in England or Wales, or from National Records of Scotland or the equivalent office in Northern Ireland.The current figures are published on the official page linked from this update; check them there, because they change without notice. You will need the registration district and the date, and it is worth ordering two copies: one goes to the consulate and does not come back quickly.
The legalisation trap
GRO certificates are excluded from the FCDO electronic apostille service. They go through the paper route, which is slower and costs more, so build that into the timetable rather than discovering it a week before a flight. Once apostilled, the certificate is translated into Turkish. Our page on the GRO and consular birth registration covers both offices, and the guide to registering a UK-born child as Turkish sets out the appointment.