Registering a UK marriage at the Turkish Consulate

What the consulate does with a UK marriage

A Turkish citizen who marries abroad must have the marriage reported so that it is entered in the Turkish family register (aile kütüğü). Without the entry your nüfus kayıt örneği still shows you as single (bekâr), which causes trouble later with a spouse's residence permit, a child's registration, inheritance, and any application for Turkish citizenship for a British spouse. The report is made at the consulate general for your district, in person or, for straightforward cases, by post, and the consulate transmits it to the nüfus müdürlüğü in Türkiye. The entry usually appears within a few weeks.

Turkish law recognises only marriage; a UK civil partnership cannot be registered as a marriage and the consulate will decline it.

Documents for the appointment

• The UK marriage certificate, a certified copy from the register office or GRO (Scotland: extract from National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland: GRONI).
• Identity documents of both spouses: T.C. kimlik kartı or passport for the Turkish spouse, passport for the foreign spouse.
• The foreign spouse's full birth certificate, the long form naming the parents, and the foreign spouse's passport, so that the spouse can be recorded with parents' names, place and date of birth.
• If the foreign spouse is not British, the birth certificate should be a multilingual Formül A extract where that country issues one; otherwise the certificate must be apostilled and translated into Turkish.
• The fee: as of the consulate's current note, a £10 postal order.

The consulate also issues the certificate of no impediment (evlenme ehliyet belgesi) that a Turkish citizen needs to marry in the UK, which is a separate service and a separate appointment.

Translation: what the consulate reads itself

The UK marriage certificate does not need a translation for this step. The London consulate states that no outside sworn translation is requested for any document obtained from British authorities, and lists the marriage certificate as an example, alongside the passport and birth certificate. The same applies to a British spouse's full birth certificate. Do not order a translation for the consulate appointment.

A translation enters only where the foreign spouse's documents come from a third country. A birth certificate from Ireland, the United States, Australia or Canada, for example, is in English but is not a British document, and unless a Formül A extract is available the consulate wants it apostilled in its country of origin and translated. For the consulate's file the translation should be by a translator on the consulate's register; we are not on that list. If you later register the marriage directly at a nüfus müdürlüğü in Türkiye, or need the certificate for a residence permit or a court, the translation is done by a translator sworn before a Turkish notary, which is our route. See sworn translation for use in Türkiye for the comparison.

Surnames after marriage

Turkish law gives a married woman her husband's surname, with the option of keeping her own before it. A British wife who keeps her maiden name in the UK is nevertheless recorded in the Turkish register under the rules of Turkish law, and the consulate will explain the choice at the appointment. Where a Turkish wife has already changed her UK documents by deed poll, bring the apostilled deed poll; see deed poll translation if it also needs to go to an office in Türkiye.

Common pitfalls

• A short birth certificate for the foreign spouse; the consulate wants the full one.
• Trying to register a civil partnership.
• Registering a birth before the marriage, so that the child is recorded as born outside marriage until the marriage entry catches up.
• A third-country certificate without apostille or Formül A.
• Paying for a translation of the UK certificate for the consulate.

How we help and the cost

For the consulate registration itself we have nothing to sell you, and we say so. Our work is the UK marriage certificate and the foreign spouse's documents when they go on to Türkiye: a residence permit (ikamet izni) for the British spouse, a citizenship-by-marriage file lodged in Türkiye, a matrimonial property or divorce case, a tapu transfer between spouses. The certificate is apostilled by the FCDO first (paper apostille only for GRO documents, £45), then translated with its apostille by a translator sworn before an Ankara notary and notarised. The translation is £6.50 to £13.00 for one to two pages plus the notary tariff at cost, about £13.50 per page in 2026, and £5 handling; an apostille of the translation is £15. PDF by e-mail, wet-sealed original by courier for £30 to the UK or to Türkiye, no UK VAT, no collection. Full details are on UK marriage certificate translation.