Checklist: dövizle askerlik application

Dövizle askerlik is decided on evidence of a working life abroad, not on a form. The application turns on proving 1,095 days of residence with work or residence status in the UK, and almost every document that proves it is British and in English.

Who this list is for

Turkish male citizens living in the UK who want to complete military service by payment plus remote training, rather than serving in Türkiye. Students and those not yet at the qualifying point should look at deferment first — see askerlik deferment from the UK.

The documents

• Passport with entry and exit stamps, or the travel record from e-Devlet — the raw material for counting the 1,095 days. No translation; the Consulate reads it directly.
• UK immigration status evidence — settled or pre-settled status share code, a BRP, or the eVisa record showing your right to live and work here. Translation into Turkish where the document is a letter rather than a code.
• Employer letter — on letterhead, giving your start date, role, contracted hours and continuing employment, signed and dated. This is the single most important item; translation into Turkish required.
• P60s and payslips — covering the qualifying years continuously. Gaps in the payslip record are what applications founder on. Translated; a P60 is one page.
• HMRC employment history or National Insurance record — the independent confirmation that ties the employer letters together. Translation required.
• Self-employed applicants — Companies House filings, self-assessment calculations and an accountant's letter, all translated.
• Proof of address across the period — council tax bills or a tenancy agreement, translated where the Consulate asks for the address history to be documented.
• The fee — set in Turkish lira each half-year and paid in euro at the central bank rate. For the second half of 2026 our research recorded 472,653.60 TL, in the region of €8,800, checked on 29 August 2026; confirm the figure in force on the day you pay, because it is revised every six months.

What people most often get wrong

Applicants count calendar years instead of days, and forget that time spent in Türkiye above roughly six months in a year interrupts the qualifying period. They also submit an employer letter that confirms current employment but not the start date, which proves nothing about 1,095 days. On the translation side, the frequent mistake is ordering a UK-style certified translation for a file that a consular notary unit will want certified through its own registered translator: a document going to an office inside Türkiye and a document handed over a counter in London follow different routes.

What we would translate and what it would cost

A salaried applicant with four years at one employer: an employer letter (1 page), four P60s (4 pages), an HMRC employment history (2 pages) and a status letter (1 page). Eight pages of English into Turkish at £6.50 is £52.00, certification included, no UK VAT, PDF in one to two working days. Where the file is submitted in Türkiye and notarised translations are required, Ankara notarisation adds roughly £13.50 per page plus £5. Payslips are cheap per page but numerous — ask the Consulate whether a summary year-end document is acceptable before translating twenty-four of them.

Before you rely on this list

Take this as a document aid only. Military service law, the qualifying conditions and the fee all change, the fee twice a year, and the Consulate General that covers where you live publishes the version that counts — for England and Wales that is londra-bk.mfa.gov.tr. Nothing here should be read as advice about your service obligation.