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Mavi Kart (Blue Card): rights and applications
The Mavi Kart gives former Turkish citizens who renounced with permission most of a citizen's rights in Türkiye without the nationality. What it covers and excludes, applying at the consulate, the 2025 rule for children, and when British documents need a notarised translation.
What the receiving body requires
In summary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs description of Article 28 of Law 5901: persons who renounced Turkish citizenship with permission and their descendants may reside, work, acquire property, inherit and benefit from social security in Türkiye like citizens, but may not vote or stand for election, perform military service, hold permanent public office or import goods duty-free; from 2025 children in the Mavi Kart register may acquire citizenship without the conditions previously required.
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· checked 29 August 2026What the Mavi Kart is
The Mavi Kart (Blue Card, formerly the Pembe Kart) is issued under Article 28 of the Turkish Citizenship Law (Law 5901) to people who were born Turkish citizens and renounced with permission (izinle çıkma), typically to naturalise in a country that did not then allow dual nationality, and to their children and grandchildren. The card holder is a foreign national in law but is treated like a Turkish citizen for most everyday purposes in Türkiye.
Rights it gives and rights it withholds
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs description of the scheme, a Mavi Kart holder may reside, work, acquire property and inherit in Türkiye, and has the same social security rights as a citizen, subject to the rules of the relevant scheme, and needs no residence or work permit. The holder is entered in the Mavi Kart register (mavi kartlılar kütüğü) and receives an identity number that works in e-Devlet and with banks, hospitals and the tapu office.
Article 28 withholds four things: the right to vote and stand for election, the obligation and right to perform military service, appointment to permanent public service posts, and the right to import a vehicle or household goods duty-free as a returning citizen.
Applying from the UK
Applications are made at the consulate general for your district, in person, with your British passport, the renunciation document (çıkma belgesi) or the record of the parent's or grandparent's renunciation, and photographs. A first-generation applicant is already on the consulate's records; a child or grandchild proves descent through the parent's Turkish family record and a birth certificate. The consulate reads a UK birth certificate and passport itself and requests no outside translation for documents obtained from British authorities. A birth certificate from a third country is apostilled and translated. The card is produced in Türkiye and collected from or posted by the consulate, usually within a few weeks. Older Pembe Kart holders exchange the old card for the new one in the same way.
The 2025 change for children
Children of former citizens, born after the parent's renunciation, are not citizens by descent and were registered in the Mavi Kart register instead. Until 2025 a Mavi Kart child who wanted citizenship had to meet the ordinary conditions for acquisition. In 2025 the Ministry of the Interior announced that the conditions for children registered in the Mavi Kart register to acquire Turkish citizenship have been removed, so a UK-born child of a former citizen can now apply for citizenship through the consulate without residence or other tests. See Turkish citizenship for children born in the UK. A parent who wants citizenship back applies under the re-acquisition rules on re-acquiring Turkish citizenship.
Where a translation is needed
Not for the consulate application. The need arises when the card holder uses British documents inside Türkiye. A Mavi Kart holder buying a flat is asked by the tapu office for a British passport translation notarised in Türkiye; one who inherits presents a UK death certificate or a UK will apostilled and translated; one taking a job presents a UK degree for YÖK denklik; one whose UK name differs from the Turkish record (a deed poll, a marriage) has to reconcile the two. Each of these is translated by a translator sworn before an Ankara notary and notarised, with the FCDO apostille attached first and translated as part of the document.
Documents you may need
- British passport translation for tapu, banks and notaries
- Certificate of naturalisation translation where the nationality history is examined in Türkiye
- Deed poll translation and marriage certificate translation for name differences
- UK death certificate translation for an inheritance
Common pitfalls
- Assuming the card allows a duty-free car import on moving back; Article 28 excludes it.
- Letting the Turkish family record and the UK name drift apart, so that the tapu office cannot match them.
- Expecting a bank branch to know what the card is; carry the identity number and the card together.
- Applying for a child's citizenship under the old conditions instead of the 2025 procedure.
Our service and prices
We translate British documents into Turkish for the offices a Mavi Kart holder meets in Türkiye, sworn and notarised in Ankara: from £6.50 per page of 1,000 characters plus the notary tariff at cost (about £13.50 per page in 2026) and £5 handling per document, with an apostille of the translation for £15 where the tapu office or court asks. A passport translation is one page, about £25 in total; a will or grant of probate is priced by length. PDF by e-mail, wet-sealed original by courier for £30 to the UK or to Türkiye; no UK VAT, no collection. Compare the routes on notarised translation in Türkiye.
What you receive
- Advice on whether a British document needs translating for the Turkish office you are dealing with
- Notarised Turkish translations from Ankara of passport, naturalisation certificate, deed poll, marriage or death certificate with apostille
- Apostille of the translation where requested (£15)
- PDF by e-mail; wet-sealed original by courier, no collection
Frequently asked questions
I was born in London to parents who renounced in 1992. Am I entitled to a Mavi Kart?
Yes, as the child of a person who renounced with permission. Apply at the consulate with your full birth certificate, passport and your parent's Turkish record; the consulate reads the British documents itself.
Can I buy property in Türkiye on the Mavi Kart?
Yes, on the same footing as a citizen. The tapu office will still want your British passport translated and notarised in Türkiye, because the passport is the identity document you sign with.
Do I get a Turkish pension with the card?
The card gives social security rights like a citizen's, subject to the scheme's own rules on contributions. Buying back years abroad (yurtdışı borçlanması) is a separate question; see SGK yurtdışı borçlanması.
Is the old Pembe Kart still valid?
The rights are the same, but the old card is exchanged for the current Mavi Kart at the consulate, and the new one is needed for e-Devlet and the tapu office.
My name on my British passport is Anglicised. Will the tapu office match it to my Turkish record?
Often not without help. We add a translator's note reconciling the two spellings, and where the change was by deed poll the apostilled deed poll is translated as well.